Santa Clara (CA) - It hasn’t been quite what one would call a secret, but today Intel has taken the wraps off its $2 billion investment to refresh the firm’s more than 37-year-old logo, the 14-year-old "Intel Inside" campaign and, according to media reports, even confirmed the name of its new mobile processor generation "Core".

The new brand arrives just in time when the company gears up to unveil several major new products at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 5. A more dynamic logo that drops the "dropped e" in the Intel logo will take the company into a time, when consumer electronics will play a greater role in the firm’s product strategy.

"With the coming launch of new brands such as Intel Viiv technology, the new branding system simplifies and unifies the look and feel across Intel products and platforms in an effort to better communicate important characteristics and value to consumers," the company said in the brand announcement. Intel will promote the new logo in a $2 billion effort and replace the old one on new logos such as Viiv as well as existing logos for platforms individual processors, chipsets and motherboards.

According to a report published at The Register, Intel also confirmed the new "Core" brand for the Pentium M successor, previously code-named Yonah. Core has also been an open secret for several weeks and will be introduced as dual-core ("Core Duo") and single-core (Core Solo) versions as part of Intel’s new Centrino platform (Centrino Solo, Centrino Duo) on January 5, sources told TG Daily.

"Intel has one of the most valuable brands in the world, and we intend to grow the value of our brand as we evolve the company," said Eric Kim, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the Sales and Marketing Group. "This evolution will allow Intel to be better recognized for our contributions, establish a stronger emotional connection with our audiences, and strengthen our overall position in the marketplace."

While Intel’s processor logos will keep using the expression "inside", the "Intel Inside" branding campaign will soon be gone. Instead, Intel will use the phrase "Leap Ahead," which is expected to spark more emotions when the company moves from cold core technologies deeper in consumer electronics.