Intel Centrino 2 platform ready for July 14 launch

After a delay of more than a month due to issues related to integrated graphics and wireless licensing, Intel will launch the Centrino 2 platform during an event in San Francisco. A number of PC vendors, including Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu, are gearing up with a series of new notebooks to coincide with the release of Centrino 2, formerly code-named Montevina.

While Intel hopes to capture its share of back-to-school retail sales with Centrino 2, the new mobile platform is also an important launch for the enterprise as IT departments start to examine new laptops to purchase and vendors try to distinguish their notebooks from the competition.

When Centrino 2 debuts July 14, only some of the new chip sets and processors will be available at launch, which will delay lower-end notebooks that rely on Intel's own integrated graphics. Laptops that use discrete graphics from ATI or Nvidia will ship on time. An Intel spokesperson said all the products are shipping in volume and all the processors and chip sets will be available by early August.

The launch of Centrino 2 also comes at a time when both consumers and enterprise buyers are yearning for more mobility when it comes to computing. This is Intel's fifth version of its mobile platform and it comes at a time when notebook shipments and revenues are continuing to outpace desktops, making each new mobile platform more important than the last.