According to a story over at Engadget ASUS has announced a pair of new Eee PC’s based on the newly unveiled Intel dual-core Atom Z550-series processors.  It should come as no surprise though as ASUS is usually on top of these new technology releases.  One of the two models will be the Eee PC 1015PEM that uses the 1.5 GHz Atom N550 processor and will feature the Intel integrated graphics and come with 2GB of DDR3 memory for about $450 US.  

ASUS prepping new dual-core ION 2 Eee PC - Mobile 2

The second option will be basically be the same but will integrated NVIDIA’s ION 2 technology for a more robust graphics solution.  Expect the 1015PN to run just a bit higher in price and it should be available in September. 

I am dubious as to the performance benefits the new Z550 will offer this already overwhelmed platform especially considering we have already seen dual-core processors in handful of netbooks; remember the Eee PC 1201N using the first ION platform?  If Intel and ASUS can offer the same levels of performance with better battery life though, we are all for it.