02/04, 6:40pm
AMD hints openness to ARM
AMD in conversations at the end of the week wouldn't discount the possibility of making ARM-based processors. When pressed by Wired, CTO and former Apple executive Mark Papermaster made the unusual non-denial that "the answer is not no." The company's long-term plans were aiming for a modular chip design that could drop in ARM or another architecture without losing Radeon graphics or other AMD-specific touches.
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01/26, 2:10pm
ThinkPad X130e up for pre-order, ships February 9
The delayed Lenovo ThinkPad X130e notebook is now available for pre-order on the company's website. Due to ship on February 9, the notebooks will start at $429. That price includes an 11.6-inch, 1366x768 display and AMD's dual-core, 1.3GHz E-300 Fusion processor.
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01/20, 3:40pm
AT&T ships Aspire One 722 for $40 on contract
AT&T just revealed it has began selling Acer's 11.6-inch Aspire One A0722 netbook. The dual-core, 1GHz AMD C-50 system sports a full-sized keyboard and can connect to the carrier's HSPA+ network. A six-cell battery may give it long battery life, although it's not known by how long.
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01/05, 12:00am
Lenovo updates ThinkPad Edge ahead of CES 2012
Lenovo's lead-in to CES has included three new ThinkPad Edge models. Fronting the pack, the S430 has an 0.8-inch thickness bordering on ultrabooks but still keeps to regular notebooks: it uses Ivy Bridge-era Intel Core processors and is one of the first Windows PCs with Thunderbotl, giving it very high speed storage and displays on one cable.
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01/02, 9:30am
ASUS Eee PC Flare to mark late netbook era at CES
ASUS has given a tease of the full strategy for the Eee PC 1200 series with renders and details of how they'll appear at CES. Now called the Eee PC Flare, the netbooks will have curvier designs colored almost end-to-end, with black, blue, red, and purple wrapping around the entire body. They should have a MacBook-style hinge that brings the display behind the base as well as a chiclet keyboard and a 'stealth' trackpad.
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12/27, 6:30am
ASUS Eee PC 1225B inbound
ASUS has made the Eee PC 1225B with AMD Fusion APUs official. The new ultraportable-netbook crossover centres on an 11.6-inch display, which is slightly smaller than its 12.1-inch 1215B predecessor. Resolution, however, remains at 1366x768 pixels resulting in a sharper image thanks to the increased pixel density of the new display.
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12/20, 4:40pm
AMD intros second-gen A-series chips
Chipmaker AMD on Tuesday revealed updates to its A-series desktop and notebook Fusion processors. The flagship dual-core and quad-core chips get speed boosts, and users can for the first time overclock the x86 and graphics settings on unlocked models. All the chips also get the AMD Steady Video feature, which is meant to get rid of the shakes and jitters in home videos.
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12/12, 3:35pm
AMD may go thin and fast to rival Intel
AMD's Australian and New Zealand regional head Brian Slattery in a discussion [reg. required] Monday said that AMD could have its own take on ultrabooks could arrive as soon as January, likely at CES. Calling them "ultrathins" in a likely attempt to avoid colliding with Intel's term, he explained to The Australian that processors for thin but fast computing would be ready soon. In opposition to Intel, however, AMD didn't have set guidelines and would let companies use larger screens as well as thicker and heavier systems if they felt it necessary.
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12/09, 6:50pm
AMD replaces seven notebook CPUs with faster ones
Chipmaker AMD has replaced seven of its A-series CPUs for notebooks. The differences aren't major, as they basically amount to 100MHz faster base and Turbo processor speeds for all but one of the chips, Hardcore Hardware found after noticing the quiet update.
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12/06, 12:25am
Lenovo ThinkPad X130e mini notebook official
Lenovo early Tuesday upgraded its most inexpensive ThinkPad X-series with a mind to help students and the public at large. The 11.6-inch X130e has a stronger bezel, hinge system and even 33 percent stronger edges, all meant to let them survive casual bumps. Performance is now much better as well, with the option of a 1.65GHz AMD E-450 chip versus the earlier E-350 as well as a new Intel Core i3 2367U.
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11/26, 1:55pm
Compulab comes from nowhere with Fusion mini PC
A surprise entry into the mini desktop market may have upset the traditional definition of a nettop. Compulab's fit-PC3 is both thin (one inch) and small (6.3 inches long) but manages to fit AMD's lower-powered Fusion-based processors, giving them enough performance to handle 1080p video, as much as a 2560x1600 DisplayPort monitor, and even 3D video over HDMI in its most advanced configuration. Although its size pushes it into using a 2.5-inch notebook drive for storage, it has both mini PCI Express micro SATA to provide room for specialized upgrades.
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11/03, 5:35pm
AMD reveals job slash
AMD waited until the market closed Thursday to say it would cut 10 percent of its workforce. The decision will touch on all of the company's sections worldwide. Its cuts were officially intended to refocusi the company on non-traditional areas, such as lower-power chips, cloud-friendly computers, and developing countries.
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10/24, 12:10pm
Lenovo C325 offers touch to entry desktops
Lenovo hoped to bring a rare level of features to lower cost all-in-one desktops through the C325. The 20-inch PC manages to fit an optional touchscreen and native apps but keeps the price down by using AMD's 1.65GHz E-450 processor. The chip gives it graphics fast enough for modern 3D and 1080p video, including over HDMI.
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09/08, 12:00am
HP Pavilion dm1 gets mid-life Beats and new apps
HP put out its second PC revamp in as many days on Thursday with an update to the Pavilion dm1. Its 11.6-inch crossover notebook now has Beats Audio processing to get better sound from the speakers and headphones. Faster processors also back it up with AMD's Fusion-based, 1.65GHz E-350 and unspecified low-voltage Intel chips now making their way into the ultralight.
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09/07, 1:00pm
Keeps graphics, CPU on one chip
AMD has added two entry-level A-series desktop processors to its Fusion line, the A4-3300 and A4-3400. Both are what AMD terms an APU, combining 160 Radeon graphics cores and two x86 CPUs on a single chip. The A4-3300 CPU cores run at 2.5GHz, with the GPU at 444MHz. The A4-3400 CPUs are clocked at 2.7GHz, with the GPU at 600MHz. Both APUs contain 1MB of L2 cache and consume 65W (TDP).
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08/17, 5:25pm
AMD A6-3500 costs just 95
AMD has added a new desktop processor to its A-Series Fusion processors. The A6-3500 runs three 2.1GHz cores along with a 444MHz Radeon HD 6530D for integrated graphics still fast enough to handle 1080p video and some games. Turbo technology bumps the speed of the main cores up to 2.4 GHz.
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08/02, 6:05pm
Intel still dominates market
Intel still dominates the PC microprocessor market, but its share has slipped slightly, according to results just published by IDC. For the second quarter of this year, which represents about $9.5 billion in sales, Intel garnished a 79.3 percent share of the overall market, down 1.5 percent, while AMD grabbed exactly as much as Intel lost to reach 20.4 percent. Processors with integrated graphics represented over 60 percent of all CPUs shipped and was given a kick by AMD's Fusion graphics.
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07/26, 10:40am
Verizon to bring HP Pavillion dm1 for $599
Verizon Wireless will soon offer the refreshed HP Pavilion dm1 netbook introduced at CES in its stores. The 4G-connected PC, the dm1-3010nr, is less than 1.2 inches thick and sports an 11.6-inch, 1366x768 screen. AMD's 1.6GHz dual-core E350 Fusion chip does duty under the hood, and there is 2GB of RAM onboard.
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07/21, 6:55pm
Financial results exceed expectations
AMD has posted its second-quarter financial results, which point to a net income of $61 million from total revenues of $1.57 billion. The company appears to have returned to profitability, as the latest quarter compares to a net loss of $43 million for the same period last year, however overall revenue was down by 4.8 percent.
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07/07, 10:40am
14-in. models have edge to edge displays
Gateway has launched its new ID- and NV- series notebook computers. The new notebooks all feature USB 3.0, HDMI ports, and WiFi 802.11n. They have Windows 7 preloaded. The ID47 series uses an 14-inch, edge-to-edge panel where one might expect a 13.3-inch screen, and higher-end models also sport NVIDIA Optimus graphics switching. The new ID-series models use Intel Sandy Bridge processors, while the 15.6-inch NV55S05u uses an AMD Fusion processor.
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07/04, 11:20pm
HP dv6z Quad Edition brings four-core AMD Llano
HP on Monday quietly posted some of the highest end of its new AMD Fusion-based Pavilion notebooks. The dv6z Quad Edition uses AMD's faster Llano-based chips and ranges from a 1.4GHz quad A6-3400M through to a 1.9GHz A8-3530MX, the two extremes of which can boost to 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz respectively. The Fusion technology gives them graphics capable of playing 1080p video smoothly, but they can be optioned up with an unspecific dedicated AMD Radeon chipset to handle more demanding games.
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06/23, 7:50am
ASUS releases slim U36, Eee Top with Fusion
ASUS has added two notable products to its range, the ultra-slim U36 notebook and a new Eee Top all-in-one PC powered by AMD’s Fusion APU. ASUS claims that the U36 is the slimmest Core i5 notebook currently on the market at just 0.74-inches thin. It is also lightweight, at just over 3-pounds, which has been achieved through the use of magnesium alloy in the chassis.
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06/21, 7:50am
Toshiba Satellite L750D-ST4N01, Llano-based PC
Toshiba has begun shipping one of the first notebooks equipped with AMD’s Llano-based Fusion quad-core processors. The Toshiba Satellite L750D-ST4N01 incorporates AMD’s mid-range A6-3400M chip with an integrated AMD Radeon HD 6520G graphics core on-board. The new hybrid chips, which AMD refers to as APU’s (Accelerated Processing Units) incorporate DirectX 11-capable graphics processing on the same die as the CPU.
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06/15, 11:15am
Sony VAIO C and E get spring 2011 remakes
Sony on Wednesday morning reworked the VAIO C and E for the summer. The 14-inch EG, 15.5-inch EH, and 17.3-inch EJ are the more radical breaks with new patterns and fingerprint-resistant shells. Buyers still have the pick of more recent Sandy Bridge-era Core i3 and i5 processors but can pick an AMD Fusion-based 1.6GHz E-350 in the EH to keep the price down but still get HD-capable video.
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06/14, 11:40am
Budget line uses AMD Bobcat chips exclusively
Toshiba has announced its new Satellite series laptops.
Entry-level Satellite C600 series, Satellite L700 series, and premium Satellite P700 Series laptops will begin shipping later this month.
The Satellite L700 and P700 series offer the choice of Intel Core processors or AMD's new A-series mobile APUs. The Satellite C600 series uses AMD's Bobcat processors exclusively.
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06/14, 11:05am
AMD Fusion A-series chips go live
AMD on Tuesday formally launched its Fusion-based A-series chips and detailed their performance. The 32 nanometer chips make the expected leap in integrated graphics, which can have 400 visual effects cores and compete with some mainstream dedicated chips yet sit inside the processor itself. A move to a 32 nanometer manufacturing process not only keeps the chips relatively small at 228mm2 but can lead to as much as a 50 percent boost in battery life: AMD has promised as much as 10.5 hours.
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06/14, 12:00am
HP dv series and ProBooks get AMD A4, A6, A8
HP on Tuesday embraced AMD's A-series in a big way by updating its Pavilion dv and g models, as well as the ProBook line, with the new chips. The 14-inch dv4, 15.6-inch dv6, and 17.3-inch dv7 as well as their g4, g6, and g7 budget counterparts all use processors ranging from the dual-core A4 up to the quad-core A8. They both get a brute force improvement over the older Athlon, Phenom, and Turion chips as well as twice-as-fast integrated graphics that can still handle 1080p video and some gaming.
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06/13, 4:40pm
Aimed at small businesses
HP has brought out the Compaq 100B Small Form Factor Business PC. The 100B incorporates an AMD Fusion-based E-350 1.6 GHz dual-core chip with an integrated AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics processor to give it uncharacteristically fast graphics for the size. Built around a micro ITX motherboard, the 100B takes up about half the space of a traditional ATX or mini-ATX based business desktop.
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05/31, 2:05pm
3 PCs feature next gen processors with HD graphics
MSI is using the Computex conference in Taipei to showcase two new desktop PCs in its Wind Box family of mini-PCs, the Wind Box DC100 and the Wind Box DC540. The company is also displaying its higher-performance Hetis H61 PC.
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05/23, 3:10pm
AMD claims 39pc power drop over earlier designs
AMD has announced the availability of two new APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) in its Fusion G-Series family of embedded processors. AMD claims that these APUs, with peak power ratings of only 5.5 and 6.4 watts and a small footprint of 361mm, make them well suited for fan-less operation when embedded in devices ranging from digital signs to set-top boxes. The power consumption is about 39 percent less than AMD's previous G-Series models.
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05/18, 1:55pm
AMD Fusion-based 1.9GHz A8-3530MX CPU detailed
AMD will soon release a quad-core Fusion-based chip for notebooks, the A8-3530MX, according to Turkish site Donanimhaber. The chip is housed on the so-called Sabine chip and is said to arrive in June. The fastest from the family will be the 1.9GHz A8-3530MX and will have 4MB of Level 2 cache.
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05/09, 11:30pm
ASUS Eee PC sales down to 350K, new models
ASUS has had to whittle back its Eee PC shipments after sustained impact from tablets like the iPad, tipsters said Monday evening. It moved just 350,000 netbooks in April after tablets still "significantly impacted the demand," Digitimes claimed. In response, it would shoot back with a "killer" new Eee PC in June and an ultra-budget model at below $199 to widen the price gap with Apple and others.
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05/01, 11:20am
Lenovo IdeaPad S205 Fusion notebook ships
Lenovoon the weekend quietly started selling the IdeaPad S205. The crossover ultraportable it showed at CES starts at $499 but has performance well above netbooks through its 1.6GHz AMD E-350, whose Fusion roots give it a Radeon HD 6310 graphics core that can handle 1080p video and HDMI video out. A 320GB hard drive and 3GB of RAM also put it closer to full-size notebooks in baseline features.
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04/27, 8:30am
AMD working to tune Fusion processors for OpenCL
AMD and MulticoreWare on Wednesday said they were working together to help optimize AMD's Fusion processors for OpenCL. Multicoreware will produce "advanced tools" to help make software that can use the graphics core woven into the processor to speed up general purpose computing. The techniques would make the most of the available hardware including both through keeping the graphics and CPU busy as well as by optimizing apps to balance them properly on multiple cores.
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04/26, 4:25pm
HP 3105m for pros with AMD Fusion due in May
HP is readying to release an ultra-portable notebook for business professionals, NotebookItalia reported on Tuesday. The 11.6-inch HP 3105m is nearly identical in appearance to the existing, consumer-oriented Pavilion dm1z but uses slightly different specs under the skin. This mainly includes a 1.6GHz, dual-core AMD Fusion E-350 CPU.
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04/21, 6:35pm
AMD's strong quarter built on the back of Fusion
AMD has revealed strong first quarter results for 2011 generating $1.61 billion in gross revenue, which yielded a net income of $510 million. Much of its bump in earnings was generated by the arrival of its Fusion CPU/GPU hybrid chips. "First quarter operating results were highlighted by strong demand for our first generation of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)," said Thomas Seifert, CFO and interim CEO. "APU unit shipments greatly exceeded our expectations, and we are excited to build on that momentum now that we are shipping our 'Llano' APU."
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04/14, 7:45am
Intel says USB 3 due for Ivy Bridge
Intel during the Developer Forum in Beijing confirmed late Wednesday that its 2012 processor architecture would have native USB 3.0 support. Backing leaked slides, architecture group VP Kirk Skaugen explained that Ivy Bridge, a 22 nanometer version of the Sandy Bridge design used in today's Core processors, should support the interface. He saw the 5Gbps interface as "complimentary" to Thunderbolt in an online event CNET caught.
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04/11, 1:25pm
Iconia W500 priced at $549, arrives April 15
The Acer Iconia W500 tablet has now gone up for pre-order at B&H, revealing US pricing for the first time. The Windows 7 tablet will cost $549 and ships on April 15, according to the listing. This price includes the detachable keyboard dock and the Wi-Fi-only tablet itself.
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04/07, 10:40pm
AMD recruiting for Android work
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.
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04/05, 11:20am
AMd ships Llano Fusion processors
AMD on Tuesday said it had started shipping its first batch of Llano processors. The 32 nanometer A-series chips are the first destined for both small nettops and netbooks but to scale up to performance levels that would be competitive in some full-size notebooks. They can scale up to four cores and have relatively fast DirectX 11 (OpenGL 4) graphics on the processor die that AMD said should beat Intel clearly even in the wake of the upgraded video on 2011 Core chips.
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03/24, 11:15am
MSI AE2050 and CR650 get US appearances
MSI brought two of its earliest PCs using AMD's Fusion technology to the US on Thursday. The Wind Top AE2050 headlines the group by putting AMD's 1.6GHz E-350 into a 20-inch, multi-touch all-in one. Moving to the chip cuts power use by as much as 74 percent over a typical desktop but still gives it proper 1080p playback and otherwise modern Radeon HD 6310 graphics.
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03/23, 9:15am
Netbooks offer full HD, 8.5 hour battery life
ASUS has introduced two new netbooks with AMD's low power Fusion processors with integrated Radeon GPUs, the Eee PC 1015B and Eee PC 1215B. The 1015B uses a 10.1-inch, 1024x600 LED backlight display, while the 1215B has a 12.1-inch, 1366x768 screen. Both models offer a choice of processors. The C30 is a single-core, 1.2GHz CPU, while the C50 is a 1.0GHz dual-core processor. An optional six-cell battery provides up to 8.5 hours of battery life.
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02/24, 11:20am
MSI WindPad 110W and 100A due at CeBIT
MSI plans to escalate its tablet ambitions at the CeBIT tech show next week, sources said Thursday. The company would improve on its WindPad tablets with the 110W, an upgraded Windows 7 slate that will switch from an old Intel Atom to AMD's new Fusion-based, dual-core 1GHz C-50 chip. The update seen by Digitimes would finally give it full DirectX 11-class graphics, Aero Glass in the Windows interface and better support for HD video.
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02/07, 11:20am
Sony Vaio YB netbooks now in the US
Sony is now shipping its VAIO YB netbooks in the US. The computer we tried at CES sports an 11.6-inch, 720p display and is powered by a 1.6GHz AMD Fusion processor that gives it 1080p video and faster 3D than Intel CULV notebooks in the class. A stock configuration comes with 4GB of RAM onboard, along with a 500GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HDMI output and Ethernet.
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01/24, 6:35am
Leaves only Acer Aspire One 522 for Fusion
Toshiba’s Fusion-based NB550D is currently not slated to head to the US. The netbook is one of the first netbooks to feature the AMD Fusion C-50 1GHz dual-core Ontario chip with integrated Radeon 6250 graphics. US users will now have to rely on Acer shipping the Aspire One 522 in order to get their hands on a netbook shipping with an AMD Fusion configuration.
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01/19, 4:05pm
Acer insists netbooks and tablets to co-exist
Acer quickly stepped in with a response to a Taiwan sales manager's claims that Acer's tablet line was part of a strategy to phase out netbooks. The company claimed that its new slates were an expansion as the industry shifted. Both netbooks and tablets would exist side-by-side, it said.
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01/19, 8:35am
AMD Fusion G-series chips may succeed Geode
AMD today expanded its just-started Fusion chips to include its first chip for embedded systems and other low-power environments. The G-series is a spiritual successor to the Geode used in the OLPC XO-1 and is meant for very tight spaces in game consoles, mini PCs, TV media hubs and other areas. The much faster graphics gives a level of visual performance that isn't normally found in a processor that can still run a desktop OS like Linux or Windows.
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01/17, 3:20pm
Acer Aspire One 522 available at Amazon
Some of Acer's unveilings from CES came closer to reality today as its Aspire One 522 came up for pre-order at Amazon. The company's first netbook based on AMD's Fusion should sell for $330 and ships in three to five weeks. Amazon's edition comes in a single trim with the 1GHz dual-core C50 chip, Radeon HD 6250 graphics and a 250GB hard drive.
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01/13, 12:00pm
NVIDIA, TSMC celebrate 1b GeForce chip shipments
NVIDIA and manufacturing partner TSMC on Thursday announced they've shipped the one-billionth GeForce graphics processor. The achievement shows the popularity of the line of GPUs from NVIDIA, which are offered by most PC makers in desktops and notebooks. The two took roughly 12 years to achieve the feat following the original GeForce 256 from 1999.
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01/11, 8:15am
AMD CEO Meyer pushed out due to tablets
The sudden ouster of AMD's CEO Dirk Meyer was owed to poor competition against Apple and Intel in tablets, insiders said Tuesday. Although the company didn't give a formal explanation, those aware said the board of directors forced him out as they were frustrated with a lack of growth in server-class hardware and the tablet field established by the iPad. A presentation in November revealed that Meyer just wasn't moving fast enough for the board's liking, the WSJ said.
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