For the past few days we've been hearing rumors from multiple sources about a Pine Trail launch delay. Originally scheduled for a Q4 release, Intel had supposedly pushed the release of its new Atom platform until early 2010 so that netbook vendors can clear out old inventory. While it wouldn't be the first time the company altered its plans to appease its partners and accommodate to market conditions, speaking at the Intel Technology Summit in San Francisco yesterday, Intel's Mooly Eden refuted the claims.

The general manager of Intel's mobile group said "Pine Trail is on schedule" for release later this year. Eden kept somewhat coy about exactly when the platform would be released, but said that Intel may show some prototype Pine Trail-M netbooks at the Intel Developer Forum in September. Working Pine Trail netbooks were also shown off during Computex in June and previous rumors have pointed at a launch in October 2009.

For those not up to speed on Intel's netbook plans, Pine Trail will include a new system-on-a-chip containing an Atom microprocessor core, memory controller, and graphics core. The SoC will sit alongside a separate Tiger Point chipset for I/O operations, in a two-chip design that should result in a cheaper platform and lower power consumption.