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Transmeta seals China notebook deal

In the deal with China?s second-largest notebook supplier, the chipmaker will incorporate its Crusoe TM5800 processor into a light notebook dubbed Lilly.

Chipmaker Transmeta has struck a pact with Tsinghua Unisplendour Group, China?s second-largest notebook supplier.

The Transmeta Crusoe TM5800 processor is being incorporated into one of Tsinghua?s new notebooks for the Chinese market, Transmeta said in a statement. Financial details of the agreement were undisclosed.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Transmeta said the 1.6kg portable computer, coined Lilly, will be marketed to women as a lighter and smaller alternative compared with conventional laptops.

Aside from the weight advantage, the new notebook sports typical trimmings that include a 20GB hard drive, a 12.1-inch XGA screen and 128MB of RAM.

The new gadget was commercially launched in China on Wednesday at a price of $1,200.

The deal with Tsinghua is Transmeta's second with a vendor in China. In October, the chipmaker made a similar arrangement with electronics company SVA Group.

In an earlier announcement this week, Transmeta said it is building several security features into its TM5800 chip to make notebooks more theft-proof. These include an encryption engine, as well as the ability to store digital certificates and encryption.

Winston Chai reported from CNETAsia.