The Cortex-A9 ARM chip has two cores and runs at 2 GHz – faster than the 1.6 GHz and 1.66 GHz Atom models. While it will be available for a number of form factors, netbooks are clearly in ARM’s headlights.

The A9 has some perks the Atom doesn’t. It’s 60% smaller, uses two cores, and may offer “up to 5x the performance of Atom for a lower cost and comparable power consumption.” It sounds like an attractive package, and with no limits on the components it can be combined with, ARM may just have found the formula we’ve all been waiting for.