14 DAY TRIAL // In the past few days, there have been a series of reports on one of Intel's most anticipated products, the chip maker's next-generation Pine Trail Platform, designed to be incorporated into an upcoming wave of new netbook computer systems. According to previous rumors, the platform has recently been rescheduled to be launched in the first quarter of next year, although it was initially planned for the end of 2009. However, according to updated details, the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker has confirmed that the Pine Trail platform is actually on schedule, contrary to reports on the Internet.
In a recent post on Engadget, Mooley Eden, Intel's general manager of Mobile Platform Group, is quoted as saying that “Pine Trail is on schedule. You can quote me on that... The three chip solution down to two chip solution [is] coming this year.” According to him, the details that have recently been leaked on the Internet have been greatly exaggerated and the company's Pine Trail platform is still on schedule for launch, later this year. Unfortunately, Intel's Mooley Eden hasn't delivered any details regarding the specific launch date of said platform.
Pine Trail, as most have already found out, has been designed to provide netbook vendors with a choice for a more energy-efficient netbook platform. The new solution will adopt a different motherboard design, bringing forward the new Pineview and Tiger Point chipsets. The new architecture has enabled Intel to put the Pineview CPU on the same chip die as the memory controller and graphics chip, while the I/O chipset will be handed by the chip maker's new Tiger Point product.
This solution is considered as a more energy-efficient alternative to today's current line of netbooks and nettops, which have adopted a three chip solution, featuring the Atom processor, chipset and I/O controller.