Intel is quietly manufacturing a new Celeron processor that could determine the direction of its notebook processor line.

The chipmaker is providing Sony with a new custom mobile Celeron chip, dubbed the Ultra Low Voltage 600MHz Celeron processor A, an Intel representative said. Sony is using the chip in a Vaio mini-notebook, sold only in Japan.

Intel is treating the new Celeron as a one-off. The chipmaker manufactures special-edition processors for individual manufacturers frequently. It created another special-edition chip, a 1.6GHz Celeron, for Sony's Vaio W desktop PC. And the company recently launched a new 1.26GHz mobile Celeron chip, based on customer requests.

But special-order chips sometimes foretell the company's upcoming products. Some of Intel's first low-power mobile Pentium chips were specially built for early versions of Toshiba's Libretto mini-notebook, for instance.

Furthermore, Intel built a special-edition mobile Pentium 4, dubbed the Pentium 4C, for Hewlett-Packard that presaged the chipmaker's trend of delivering more desktop-like mobile Pentium 4 chips.

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