Next Centrino family member coming in January

January 2006 will be the month that Intel launches Napa, the code name for the third generation of Intel's Centrino mobile technology, said Pat Gelsinger, general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group, during a keynote address here Wednesday at the Intel Developer Forum.

Previously, Intel had disclosed only that the mobile technology was due in the first quarter.

Intel's Centrino platform packages a processor with a supporting chipset and wireless networking module. In the Napa version, a processor code-named Yonah is combined with the Calistoga chipset and the Golan wireless networking module.

Yonah is a 32-bit processor. Intel plans single-core and dual-core versions.