According to a report, Intel is planning on launching its Pineview CPU later on this year.

DigiTimes, citing sources at notebook makers, claim that Intel will launch the next Atom CPU for netbooks in the second half of 2009. The company will apparently launch a single core version geared toward netbooks (shocker) and a dual-core version aimed at nettop PCs, which is the same strategy for the current Atoms.

The news comes just a couple of weeks after reports emerged claiming VIA is working on a low power Nano 3000 processor which is expected to launch around the end of 2009 or early 2010. Along with AMD’s plans for Conesus (check out more about it here), it’s no surprise to hear Intel plans to launch a next generation Atom to keep up with the competition.

It seems like everyone is trying to get a slice of the netbook pie and while healthy competition is good, we’re not sure how Intel will react to the new kids on the block. Last month we heard that HP was in talks with company to ease restrictions in place on the Atom processor. The company currently prefers to offer the Atom for netbooks that pack a 10.2-inch display or smaller (with just a few 12-inch exceptions) and HP is looking to add both 11.6-inch model and a 13.3-inch model to its netbook line. If Intel was to relent and offer the Atom for devices with larger panels it could cannibalize sales of the company’s more pricier processors.

Source : Tom's Hardware US