Computer chipmaker AMD took the opportunity at its yearly Financial Analyst Day to show off upcoming products for 2012 and 2013. They include CPUs and APUs (combined CPU and graphics) for ultrathin notebooks, tablets, all-in-ones, desktops, and servers, with most focusing on lower power use. Some are also designed with the developing world in mind and accessing the cloud.
A slip detailing Computex show launch plans may have given away AMD's plans to get into Android in earnest. Industry contacts claimed AMD has been recruiting engineers to write Android drivers. The move is likely the first step before offering chipsets for notebooks and more likely tablets that work with Google's platform, Digitimes also heard.
Toshiba as part of its CES rollouts brought out its first notebook based on AMD's new Fusion chips. The Satellite C665D is unique in running on AMD's 1.5GHz E-240 but with the same 15.6-inch display as other Satellites with more power-hungry processors. Toshiba hasn't given battery life figures but, through the Radeon HD 6310 built into the processor itself, should still deliver 1080p video and DirectX 11-grade 3D.
MSI today gave an early look at the all-in-one Wind Top desktops it will show at CES, including a pair of new concepts. The Butterfly is a unique attempt to address criticisms from Apple and others that using an upright touchscreen can be tiring. The 10-point multitouch LCD slides down and out, letting users more comfortably touch it when necessary but bring it back to its regular position for mouse and keyboard use.
AMD plans to begin internal testing of a new, next-generation Deccan platform for netbooks and tablets in the first quarter of 2011, industry sources claimed on Wednesday. A sequel to AMD's first Fusion platform, Brazos, Deccan uses AMD's Krishna Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), which combines graphics directly within the core processor, and the Yuba chipset, according to Digitimes. Brazos has a similar setup using the matching Ontario processor and Hudson chipset.
At a recent event to which it invited HardOCP, AMD has revealed more specs on its upcoming Brazos architecture chips, including the Bobcat. The chips are further divided into Ontario and Zacate codenames, both of which are ultra low power units meant for notebooks and desktops priced at under $500. The chips are from the Fusion family, meaning they have both a CPU and a GPU on the same die.
AMD in the wrap-up of the IFA show detailed a new processor based on its Fusion hybrid CPU and graphics combos that would be targeted at a larger class of system than the netbook-oriented Ontario. Zacate will consume twice as much energy at 18W, likely due to a higher clock speed, but will be fast enough to drive ultraportable and budget notebooks as well as all-in-one and small desktops. It will have twin cores based on the Bobcat architecture and should be paired with graphics in the chip that can support DirectX 11 (OpenGL 4) 3D effects, hardware 1080p decoding and OpenCL.
AMD in its annual analyst event provided details of some of its future processors and platforms. The highlight for the semiconductor firm is "Bulldozer," a major revision for both desktops and notebooks that should be much more efficient at multithreaded codethan existing designs. It will be particularly optimized for pairing with graphics chipsets and will be supplemented by "Bobcat," a variant of Bulldozer tailored to ultraportables.
