Transmeta has named its next-generation processor for mobile PCs, and said that the chip will offer up to 80 percent better performance than its current Crusoe models.

Formerly referred to by the codename Astro, the new processor family has been dubbed Efficeon, a brand intended to suggest the chip's power and design efficiency. It will be formally launched at the Microprocessor Forum conference in San Jose that begins on 13 October. PCs based on the new Efficeon processors are due later this year.

Efficeon processors will be able to execute eight instructions per clock cycle, helping them to boost speed by 50 percent on normal applications and 80 percent on multimedia applications, compared with the current Crusoe 5800 chip. The Crusoe received a lot of attention when it was launched in 2000 but it has so far failed to make a serious dent in Intel's mobile PC processor leadership.

Few PC makers have adopted Crusoe and the part has also been hit by performance and manufacturing issues. With the launch of Efficeon, Crusoe will be demoted to the entry-level and embedded market.

The Efficeon is aimed at full-size notebook PCs as well as ultra-portables and tablets. "The product allows us to get into larger machines," commented Chris Russell, Transmeta's European operations manager. "Our customers believe it offers a better bang for buck and there are some clients who don't want to exclusively use the Intel Centrino wireless solution because there are all sorts of other 802.11 [wireless] products."

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