Transmeta has been named by Microsoft Corp. as a "reference design partner" for smart display units. Although Transmeta initially intended to compete directly with AMD and Intel in the low-end market, it has done quite better lately into alternative markets such as Tablets, sub-notebooks and other devices where battery life is more of a priority than performance throughput.

Smart displays are touch-screen monitors wirelessly connected to their host allowing users to access PCs from remote locations in home or office, Transmeta said. They could take the form of a handheld screen or tablet that provides the display but communicates via a wireless LAN to send user commands and to upload content.

In the other hand, Intel has already recognized the potential of such alternative markets and although they haven't announced any specific products yet, Sony will build a sub-notebook based on a hybrid Celeron CPU, derivative of its new Pentium M processor (Centrino), the product will only be sold in Japan, though Intel has said this same CPU could be available to other manufacturers, if requested.

The value segment mobile chip, called the Ultra Low Voltage Celeron A processor, operates at 600MHz, compared to the 900MHz lowest clock rate of Pentium M.