Intel has announced a new dual-core notebook CPU that can run on less than one watt of power. 

The Ultra-low Voltage Core Duo CPU will be on the market during the second half of this year, and will consume "a median average" of just 0.75 watts, the company said in a statement.

Speaking at the Computex trade show in Taipei today, Intel senior vice president Anand Chandrasekher said that HP, Dell and other vendors are already developing notebook PCs which will use the chip. 

Notebooks remain a very important market for Intel's chips, according to Chandrasekher, who claimed that, contrary to popular belief, notebook sales are still growing faster than those of gadgets such as mobile phones and Apple's iPod.

Chandrasekher also noted that the low-power chips are a perfect match for handheld PCs based on Microsoft's Ultra Mobile PC platform specification.

Intel has been surprised by competition from Taiwanese chip maker VIA Technologies in this market. VIA's low-power, low-cost C7-M CPU has found its way into handheld devices like the PaceBlade Easy Book E7.