Apparently Intel is planning to soon release an even more efficient variant of its existing ultra-low voltage 45nm 'Penryn' processor which it may call the Core 2 Duo Ultra.

It's possible Intel's main drive for releasing such a processor is in response to AMD's new Neo which offers better performance than Atom and nestles somewhere between the netbook and conventional notebook segment.

More info at APCMag.

The scuttlebutt from the Consumer Electronics Show, where Intel was out in full force to showcase innovations ranging from 'Widget TV' to its My WiFi personal mesh networking, is that the chip will be a tweaked version of Intel's existing ultra-low voltage 45nm Core 2 Duo 'Penryn' 3M small package processor.

That chip's predecessor, a 65nm 'mini-Merom' codenamed Santa Ynez, was at the heart of the MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X300. Most of the latest crop of thin and light notebooks are built around the ULV or LV Penryn but have price tags well above those of mid-range notebooks.