ARM says it will launch a new, dual-core CPU next year, and it's promising the new 45nm A9 part will be even more power efficient than the current A8, in spite of the extra core.

"You'll definitely see handsets shipping with a dual-core A9 in 2010," said James Bruce, wireless segment manager for ARM in an interview with CNET. "The A8 is just a single core while the A9 will be dual-core, all the way up to quad-core to give smartphones an even bigger performance boost."

Thanks to the 45nm production process, the new CPU ends up more power efficient than the A8, and Bruce claims its overall power consumption is a tad lower than the A8, although under load it can draw 10-20 percent more power.

Apart from high-end smartphones, you can probably expect to see new multi-core ARMs in smartbooks and netbooks.

More here.