A first for Intel. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. For the first time, Intel has built a processor and chip set package designed from the start for notebook PCs. The company is spending more than three hundred million dollars to push the technology it calls Centrino. Toshiba is among the companies introducing new notebook lines built around the package. Senior product marketing manager Craig Marking...

"Centrino re-defines how CPU architecture and overall motherboard architecture is going to work. It is stepping away from faster, faster, faster. Instead, it's focusing now on productivity. We tie into this the integrated wireless connectivity so that we can free up users so that they can be mobile and productive, anywhere, any time."

Intel says Centrino will increase battery life to as much as six hours. And it is partnering with a variety of companies to increase the number of public areas or hot spots, where wireless Internet connectivity is available. Toshiba is partnering with Accenture in a similar effort. Intel and PC makers are hoping the new technology will provide a much needed boost to sales...

"As the notebooks that were purchased in part for the Y2K phenomena, they're starting to hit that three, three and a half, four year warrantee time period, and so strategically and from an infrastructure and a productivity perspective, these are the notebooks that we believe will be the most productive."

The task will be convincing buyers to ignore what appear to be slower processor speeds and pay more for the new technology. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.