Intel previews Asus Centrino 2 notebook with WiMax

As a Computex preview, Intel is showing off its "delayed" Centrino 2 platform via an Asus notebook.

Asus M51VA with a 2.4GHz P8600 processor

(Credit: Intel)

A chunk of the Centrino 2 roll-out has been delayed until August 5--and WiMax even beyond that. Intel, however, is slated to do a Centrino 2 processor refresh on July 14.

"Today I've got my privileged hands on a brand spanking new Asus Centrino 2 ("Montevina" for us nerds) system," according to a pre-Computex Intel blog.

Intel, not surprisingly, is trying to build enthusiasm for Centrino 2 and WiMax. But, with chipset and WiMax delays, all this euphoria comes with qualifiers.

The Intel blogger, Craig Raymond, senior technical marketing engineer for Corporate Demonstrations at Intel, is--not surprisingly--ebullient about the "new mobile powerhouse"--An Asus M51VA with a Penryn P8600 2.4GHz processor. The P8600 is part of the upcoming Centrino 2 processor refresh.

But he quickly qualifies the euphoria with: "Oh Montevina...You broke our hearts with the launch delay."

He cites one of the best features as testing "World of Warcraft over the live Fitel WiMax here in Taipei."

"That's right. You heard me correctly. Montevina, WiMax; live in Taipei. Kind of strange to say it all in one mouthful, but it's finally here."

This statement has to be qualified too since WiMax won't ship with Centrino 2 until later this year. "When WiMax ships with Centrino 2 later this year, no add on card required, the Echo Peak mini-card hidden under the hood (like the one inside this Asus) promises the 'always on' connection we've been lusting for."

"Online gaming over a live carrier network has long been my holy grail around WiMax. Here from my outside park bench, after downloading my Warcraft client, I'm able log into the game world to slay all manner of goblins and over sized gerbils," he gushed. (More here).