March 3 - 7:20am EST   AMD has used the start of CeBIT to launch two new notebook graphics chips that represent firsts for any video chipset from the company. Both the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 and 4860 are made using a 40 nanometer manufacturing process that lets AMD step up the complexity of the processors without significantly impacting relative power or heat output. The feat lets either chipset carry 640 stream (effects) cores and run at clock speeds of 450MHz or 600MHz (for the 4830) and 650MHz (4860) without necessarily requiring a large, desktop replacement-class notebook. [full story]

January 7 - 12:30am EST   AMD's turn at CES announcements has added the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series, its latest graphics chipset for notebooks. Similar to what standard Radeon HD 3000 line did for desktops, the Mobility version is said to bring visual and interface features that have never been seen for portables; it adds new graphics shader support for games and other 3D apps that can use the new features of DirectX 10.1 or more recent updates to OpenGL 2.0, such as new lighting techniques. The HD 3000 range also adds PCI Express 2.0 and can theoretically send data out much faster than the original version. This also adds the first-ever option of relaying video to DisplayPort monitors ... [full story]

December 10 - 2:55pm EST   AMD's graphics brand ATI has quietly posted details of the Mobility Radeon HD 2700, a new upgrade to the mid-range HD 2600 graphics chip for notebooks. ATI's update is built around the smaller 65-nanometer manufacturing process as the desktop Radeon HD 3800 and runs both cooler and more efficiently than the 2600 it replaces. To run safely in thin-and-light notebooks, it will carry 120 shader processors versus the 320 of the desktop parts and a smaller 128-bit (versus 256-bit) bus. Clock speeds for the core and memory are likely to increase. [full story]