Intel Rebrand With Core i3, i5 And i7; Centrino Shifted To WiFi/WiMAX

Intel have announced that it will be rebranding its CPU range to supposedly simplify the lineup, focusing on the "Intel Core" prefix and transitioning the Centrino brand to cover the company's WiFi and WiMAX products.  Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 will eventually replace Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad, distinguishing different feature sets; somewhat confusingly, some processors will slot into multiple i-prefix categories, depending on their capabilities.

For instance, the upcoming Lynnfield desktop processor will be an Intel Core chip, but have various models that slot into the i5 or i7 segments.  Broadly speaking, i3 is an entry-level chip, i5 is a mid-level chip and i7 is the flagship high-level processor.  It's not all change, though, as the Celeron and Pentium brands limp on to cover "affordable entry-level" and "basic computing" respectively.

Finally, one of the most popular chips over the last twelve months, the Atom range, will also survive, and vPro technology will be offered on certain i5 or i7 chips.  There'll also be a new star-system, shown under the Intel Core logo, which indicates whether its feature-packed or not.