Microprocessor startups seem like the farthest thing from reality these days, with Intel and AMD both having death grips on the CPU market worldwide. Companies like Sun and IBM fill the niches those don't, leaving essentially no room for anyone else. And yet, a company based in California is supposedly prepared to break into Intel's territory. More than a year ago, we heard about Montalvo Perry, who announced a plan to launch high-performance, low-power CPUs. As the former CEO of Transmeta, he had the experience, but not much else has been heard for a long time.

Now “Montalvo Systems” is once again in the news, claiming they have a multicore energy efficient CPU aimed at notebooks and “ultra portables”. It is rumored that the company will make public announcements this year regarding their progress, though as of yet they are still tight lipped. More information about their staffing has come out, and it seems they have former employees of Transmeta, NexGen, AMD and others working towards this goal. It's still an interesting prospect, even though we have heard nothing of the company in the past year and a half.