In spite of the name it's not really the second generation - Centrino stickers have been pasted on high-end laptops for five years. During that time the platform has been updated and upgraded several times over with new circuitry and processors. 

The name change is still a welcome one, as it brings some logic to the company's branding policy. So far, it's been hard for the average consumer to keep track of the latest and greatest of Intel's different mobile platforms, whereas all of them have carried the identical Centrino brand.

Even happier than the average consumer, however, are probably the Laptop makers, who now get to use the "2" in the name as the perfect incentive for said consumers to go ahead and upgrade.

Of course - just like previous generations - Centrino 2 will be a little faster and less power-hungry than its predecessors. Among the new features are a new integrated graphics chip, updated Wi-Fi adapters, and optional, second-generation Intel Turbo Memory. A new set of processors with clock speeds of up to 2.8 GHz will also accompany the new platform.

The first shipments of Centrino 2-branded laptops should arrive this summer, and Dell is one of the first laptop manufacturers expected to adapt the latest platform

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