AMD’s promise is a 40-percent boost in performance when the slate is docked in the keyboard hub, on the expectation that users are likely going to be doing content creation tasks in that orientation. On the flip side, performance is throttled back when the slate alone is used, still providing enough grunt for Full HD video playback and gaming, but extending battery life for longer runtimes.

The demo hardware is a Compal reference design, with a 13.3-inch 1080p touchscreen and running Windows 8 on the Temash SoC. Considering it’s not a final product, it’s impressively put together: the slate docks into the sturdy hinge section with a satisfying click (and no worrying wobble), with motorized latches grabbing it to keep it in place. The tablet is finished in matte white plastic, with chrome detailing around the vents, and there’s a welcome sprinkling of ports – including USB and HDMI – which are available even when you’re using it detached. We’ve seen far too many hybrid designs that basically jettison their ports with the keyboard.

As for that keyboard, its been hewn from aluminum, and has crisp edges that resemble some of the more recent ultrabooks we’ve seen from ASUS and others. The keyboard and touchpad are a decent size (though very glossy). AMD isn’t talking specific battery life, since this particular hardware isn’t destined for production, but both components have a battery.

Key is the performance shift, however. AMD is using Microsoft’s Fish Bowl HTML5 test for Internet Explorer to show the graphics capabilities of the quadcore Temash chip, filling a virtual bowl with as many individually rendered fish as is possible while also sticking to 60fps. The differences are clear: docked, the Temash ramps up from 8W to 15W, and that’s enough to see a 40- to 50-percent hike in the Fish Bowl score.

It’s a promising system, with the dock delivering not only the conveniences of a keyboard and mouse, but lending extra potency to the tablet overall. AMD is calling them “performance tablets” to differentiate them from the iPads and Nexus 10s of the world, though whether it’ll manage to convince consumers to see that separation remains to be seen. Still, as users who expect to do content creation as well as consumption with our tablets, AMD’s extra bump when docked leaves us excited about Temash’s future.

As far as the other two go, Richland is an APU that’s currently shipping to OEMs and it promises to deliver a performance boost of 20 to 40% over the previous generation of the company’s A-series chips, and the Kaveri is a new 28nm chip that features heterogeneous system architecture (HSA), and it should ship to customers sometime during the second half of this year.

Richland will also be bundling some new software with the chip, specifically a handful of gesture- and facial-recognition tools. These new chips will be used in various HP, ASUS, and Vizio ultrathin laptops, as well as Vizio’s 24-inch AIO desktop. The company announced these earlier in the day.

Senior vice president and general manager Lisa Su made an appearance at AMD’s press event and mentioned that the company is dedicated “to bring true surround computing and immersive experiences to our everyday lives.” She also mentioned that the new APU’s are “the industry’s first x86 quad-core SoC,” proving the company’s leadership in the gaming industry.

There’s also set to be Blu-ray, in the final console at least, along with a 256GB drive “as standard.” The developers briefed by Sony this week did not say whether that would be an HDD or SDD, but it’s worth noting that 256GB as a capacity is more typically associated with solid-state drives.

Connectivity includes both WiFi and ethernet, along with an HDMI output, and in general there’s no difference in ports between Orbis and the existing PS3. Sony supposedly told developers that the goal was a machine that would be capable of satisfying “today and tomorrow’s market,” such as running 1080p60 games in 3D, but while still being “very affordable”; that challenging balance could well explain the apparent use of closer to off-the-shelf components than the Core chips at the heart of the current-gen console.

The latest machine is apparently the second in what’s expected to be a four system roll-out for developers with early access to Sony’s hardware. The first model was “essentially just a graphics card” while this second-gen version dresses that up in a PC. A third machine, expected in January, will supposedly be near to the final PS4 specifications, followed by the final version due “next summer.”

In addition to the introduction to new hardware, Sony is also using the Orbis developer system to demo the PS4′s updated interface, it’s claimed. “They’re trying to make it as fluid as possible” it’s said of the new UI, with the ability to jump out mid-game and use any other feature before returning, such as to leap into the PS Store and buy extra game content before heading back into play to actually use it. Sony expects the PS4 to be perpetually left in standby, with (optional) downloads in the background.

Orbis, as Sony is insisting on calling the PS4 in these early briefings, is expected to be announced just prior to E3 2013.

[Image credit: Tai Chiem]

AMD’s latest APU chips, codenamed Trinity, run off of the company’s new FM2 socket, meaning that if you want to snatch one of these bad boys, you’ll have to upgrade your motherboard as well. However, the upgrade will certainly be worth it, seeing that you can grab the entry-level A4-5300 for just $65. This will get you a 3.4GHz dual-core processor with Radeon HD 7480D integrated graphics.

Along with the AMD’s last-gen A4-3300, it’s said that the other Llano chips will receive a generous price cut as well, including the A4-3400, which is said to be lowered to $35. It’s also rumored that A4-5300 will see a price slash down to $30 sometime next quarter (Q1 2013) in order to compete with Intel’s Pentium series.

If you’ve never played around with an APU before, we highly suggest getting one if you plan on building a budget computer anytime soon. Don’t let the low price fool you either. The last-gen entry level A4-3300 is plenty powerful to play HD content and even a few games on medium settings or so. They make for great processor for HTPCs, and Windows 7 runs really well on them.

The Z-60 includes Radeon HD 6250 graphics with 80 cores, as well as 1MB of L2 Cache and USB 3.0 support. There’s also support for AMD Start Now, the company’s fast boot/resume system, as well as an HDMI output capable of Full HD, and Microsoft’s DirectX 11.

AMD’s tablet reference design is built around a Z-60 paired with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 30Whr battery, and running Windows 8. On that sort of setup, the company says it’s seeing up to eight hours of browsing or six hours of playing back a looped 720p H.264 video with the display brightness set to 60 nits.

That’s on the dim side, mind. AMD’s own anecdotal research from back in 2009 found that many people set their displays at more than 2.5x that brightness as a level of minimum comfort, and that 60 nits is roughly equivalent to 20- to 30-percent brightness settings on notebooks tested at the time.

At idle, AMD is supposedly seeing up to 10hrs of runtime. AMD is already shipping the Z-60 to its customers, with tablets running the chip expected later in 2012. No word on what sort of pricing we can expect.

Bruno was at graphics card manufacturer ATI before it was acquired by AMD, but left the company after the sweeping job cuts at the chip firm back in November 2011. AMD cut 10-percent of jobs in an attempt to save money, with some significant losses in expertise; as well as Bruno, several other processor experts left to take up SoC roles with Samsung and other firms.

At Apple, Bruno is likely to be taking up similar reins as he managed at AMD. That could be part of Apple’s rumored progress working on its own processors for mobile and desktop; the company has already pushed ahead with its Apple Ax range of ARM-based chips for phones and tablets, and long-standing rumors suggest the company is also planning to shift its desktop line of MacBooks and Macs onto ARM silicon at some point too.

Even if that’s not Bruno’s initial focus, his expertise in multi-core processors such as AMD’s innovative APU should serve Apple well for future products wanting to deliver superlative graphics performance alongside solid battery life. There’s more on what APUs like Trinity can do here.

[via SemiAccurate - thanks Stefan!]

The company hopes that the x86 compatibility paired with support for various display technologies will make the APU an ideal choice for businesses and industries. The G-Series has support for VGA, DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort, so there’s an easy migration path for engineers. On top of that, there are numerous motherboard designs already available for the platform, ranging in size all the way up to MiniITX.

Crucially, AMD is hoping that price will be the real deciding factor: “With the AMD G-T16R APU, we were striving for that critical balance of performance, power efficiency and cost for power, and cost-sensitive embedded applications, and we’ve achieved it.” Anyone currently using the Geode platform should see a nice bump in power management and performance, with the G-Series consuming 7% less power while featuring three times the performance.

AMD say that the G-Series will support the Windows Embedded Compact 7, Green Hills INTEGRITY and Express Logic ThreadX operating systems. The platform will also be available through to 2017, giving customers some peace of mind.

The keyboard section is the same as we saw on the W500, which is to say that it’s more a peripheral than a true dock. You get a QWERTY keyboard with reasonable key-feel, along with a trackpoint stick, but no extra battery life or storage.

AMD had already shown off a hybrid design of its own during its Computex keynote, which includes a larger hard-drive in the base as well as ethernet connectivity, HDMI and USB ports. We’re yet to hear if any OEM has signed up to use the Compal-made reference design.

Acer isn’t talking availability at this stage, but with Windows 8 not expected until sometime in the middle of 2H 2012 we shouldn’t expect to see it any time soon. The deciding factor between it and Android tablets or ARM-based Windows RT models may well end up being battery life, something else Acer is coy on.

The hardware itself is reasonably solid, though there’s some flex in the slate section. It docks with a reassuring click – the cradle itself has two latches and a cup-design that hugs the lower edges – while the speaker on the bottom of the tablet is replaced by integrated stereo speakers built into the hinges of the dock.

The keyboard section isn’t just a peripheral, but adds new functionality to the package as a whole: AMD says it has a large capacity hard-drive inside, along with automatic sync between it and the slate’s storage. Together, closed, they’re 20mm thick, which brings the whole package into ultrabook territory.

A couple of cameras, several USB ports spread out between the tablet and the dock, a wired ethernet port on the back of the keyboard and HDMI connectivity round out the main specs. It’s certainly not the first hybrid we’ve seen, but if AMD can deliver its Trinity APU performance claims in the real-world, it’s one we might consider opting for.

Last month, AMD was all about the ultrabook-rivaling form-factor; this time around, it’s more eye-catching tablets. The Compal slate slots into a keyboard-dock, turning it into a mini-notebook of sorts, just as we’ve seen from ASUS and others this week.

Exact specifications for the tablet/hybrid itself haven’t been revealed, though since it’s a reference design it’ll undoubtedly be different to anything that actually reaches the market. Inside there’s an AMD Trinity A6 APU, a relatively mid-range choice but one still capable of Full HD 1080p video and decent gaming.

That’s the theory, at least – and what we’ve seen tentatively explored in AMD’s own demonstrations – but we’ll have to wait a little longer to actually try out 2nd-Gen Trinity based tablets ourselves. That’s unlikely to happen, with Windows 8 in place, until midway through the latter half of 2012.

APUs debuted with AMD’s first-generation Llano platform, combining the best of CPU and GPU technology onto a single die, and harnessing the logic power of the CPU and the creative power of the GPU to deliver performance the company argues is far better suited to today’s typical computing use-cases. Today’s users, AMD points out, are far more likely to be gaming, processing multimedia or watching high-definition video than editing spreadsheets or doing other solely-CPU dependent tasks.

Meanwhile, AMD says, the standard abilities of Intel-powered PCs aren’t keeping up with those uses. 60-percent of laptops ship with integrated graphics only, AMD’s head of desktop and software product marketing Sasa Marinkovic, told us, and that despite 3rd Gen Core chips having their own onboard GPU, they’re still not quite up to scratch. “30fps at 1080p is not something [Intel] can do easily with Ivy Bridge” Marinkovic says, but Trinity can.

Trinity uses the same chip size as Llano, but squeezes 1.303bn transistors onto the die rather than 1.178bn. More importantly, AMD has introduced a new, lower power version, meaning Trinity APUs now start at 17W rather than 35W. The claim is twice the performance per Watt – in fact, AMD says users will see the same performance from a 17W Trinity ultrathin as they did from a 35W Llano notebook, or indeed 50-percent more performance from a 35W Trinity notebook as they did in its Llano predecessor.

There’s a new dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, a unified Northbridge and a new Northern Islands Radeon GPU along with an HD Media Accelerator. Up to four “Piledriver” cores with 2MB L2 cache are the other half of the chip, flanked with HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2 and DVI controllers, along with 24-lane PCI Express I/O. There’s support for DirectX 11, USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/S, AMD Eyefinity and HDMI 1.4a, and AMD quotes up to 736 Gflops and up to P1361 in 3DMark11.

Despite the performance increases, AMD also expects markedly improved battery life for Trinity-based notebooks. Up to 8.5hrs browsing is on the cards, or 4.7hrs of local video playback or 4hrs of YouTube streaming, from the average portable.

AMD isn’t leaving Trinity’s multimedia experience to chance, however. Trinity brings with it a new HD Media Accelerator, with H.264, MPEG-2, VC-1 and DivX support, and featuring a duo of headline technologies for improving video playback. AMD Quick Stream works as a bandwidth balancer, automatically identifying and prioritizing streaming internet video such as from YouTube, and throttling background data use so that foreground playback doesn’t stutter. It won’t help if your overall bandwidth is insufficient, of course, but it’s enough to prevent an active file download from impairing your video enjoyment.

AMD Steady Video, meanwhile, works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Windows Movie Player and, thanks to a new API for third-party developers, apps like VLC Media Player. It uses real-time image stabilization algorithms to smooth out video playback, even if the source clip is considerably jerky. In VLC, for instance, that functionality manifests as a new button to toggle Steady Video on and off, something which in AMD’s demonstration for us with a particularly jumpy handheld video clip made a significant difference.

Steady Video isn’t the only third-party enhancement on offer with Trinity. The new APUs are ready with hardware acceleration support for HTML5, and AMD has been working with Microsoft for 2-3 years on making sure the Windows 8 Metro UI and apps – themselves coded in HTML5 – are all Trinity accelerated. The necessary WDDM 1.2 drivers are already prepared, together with compatibility for existing software and peripherals.

AMD has a cavalcade of APU-accelerated applications from dozens of developers, with Google Chrome, Adobe Flash Player, Mozilla Firefox, Adobe Photoshop CS6, Microsoft PowerPoint, Handbrake and GIMP being notable stand-outs. In CS6, for instance, there are over thirty GPU-accelerated features, including Liquify, Transform and Warping, while OpenCL is now used to accelerate Blur rendering. Handbrake will be updated in June to support Trinity, while video finessing app vReveal has already been upgraded to support the AMD Accelerated Video Converter to reduce encoding times and deliver faster-than-realtime fixes for lighting, color, white balance and shake.

The Trinity range will span four feature points, from the Vision A4, though the A6 and A8, and up to the A10. AMD’s top-spe$379c model will remain the Vision FX, offering eight-core CPUs and still based on discrete x86 technology. A4 systems will kick off at $379, A6 systems from $449, A8 systems from $549 and A10 systems from $699.

Meanwhie, there will also be a new Brazos 2.0 entry-level range of APUs, sold under the Vision E2 line and featuring Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics and 1.4GHz or 1.7GHz CPU clocks. Also including integrated USB 3.0 and SD card reader support, SATA 6Gbps and the same Steady Video and Quick Stream technologies as Trinity, Brazos 2.0 promises up to 11hrs of battery life, roughly 30 minutes longer standby than the previous generation. AMD expects E1 netbook systems to begin at under $349 and E2 budget notebooks at around the $349 point.

It’s Trinity-based ultrathins that will undoubtedly catch the most attention, though, going up directly against Intel’s pet ultrabook project. AMD showed us a Compal ultrathin reference design, as thin as its ultrabook rivals, though certainly not yet ready for primetime with its chassis flex and plasticky build. Nonetheless, it was capable of outputting 1080p Full HD video to two separate external displays while simultaneously running its own LCD.

AMD expects the first commercial Trinity systems to show up from June 3, with components hitting the market later in 2012. “All the leading manufacturers” are planning Trinity-based models – either ultrathins, notebooks, desktops or all-in-ones, or some combination – Marinkovic told us, including Toshiba, HP and Samsung.

AMD’s first APU for tablets is codenamed “Hondo” and will be built on a 40-nm manufacturing process. APUs combine a microprocessor and graphics on the same chip and feature ultra-low power consumption. The company revealed that the first AMD-toting Windows 8 tablet will be available this year.

AMD will also be refreshing its lineup with Brazos 2.0 chips that feature faster TurboCore and universal serial bus 3.0 built on a 40-nm process. A second-gen Trinity APU will be built on a 32-nm process and feature significant improvements in performance and power consumption. Additionally, AMD will be launching a new stand-alone graphics chip called Southern Islands, which is built on a 28-nm process and should debut this year.

In 2013, AMD will launch a successor to the Hondo tablet chip called Temash, which will feature new Jaguar processing cores. Kabini chip for laptops with Jaguar cores, a third-gen Kaveri APU with Steamroller cores, and a Trinity mobile chip will also be introduced in 2013.

[via VentureBeat]

ASUS, Acer and HP are all tipped to be throwing in with AMD and building new ultrathins based on Trinity, though none of the manufacturers are confirming anything at present. Trinity was last shown off in June 2011 at the AMD Developer Fusion Summit 2011, as a preview of what the 32nm chip could do.

AMD gave a surprise preview of Trinity at CES last week, promoting the APUs’ performance and power improvements over existing Llano chips, as in the following demo video filmed by AnandTech.

Power consumption is expected to drop significantly, with AMD claiming a 17W Trinity is equal in capabilities to a current 35W Llano. CPU performance is up 25-percent, it’s suggested, and GPU performance doubled.

[Image via PCInpact]

The integrated graphics on the single APU chip can also be bolstered by a standalone AMD Radeon graphics card, delivering up to 144-percent more performance when the A-Series is paired with an HD 6500 Series GPU. There’s also Internet Explorer 9 integration for Steady Video, offering smoother streaming video playback.

As for unlocked models, the AMD A8-3870K and A6-3670K APUs can be overclocked by up to 500MHz for the CPU and 200MHz on the GPU.

AMD’s first new A-Series desktop APUs will begin showing up in commercial systems and as standalone components from today, the company tells us. The A8-3870K has an RRP of $135 while the A6-3670K has an RRP of $115.

AMD A-Series Desktop APUs

A8-3870K: Four CPU cores, 3.0 GHz CPU base (unlocked), 100W TDP, 400 Radeon cores, 600 MHz GPU base (unlocked), 4 MB L2 cache
A8-3820: Four CPU cores, 2.5 GHz CPU base (2.8 GHz Turbo Core), 65W TDP, 400 Radeon cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A6-3670K: Four CPU cores, 2.7 GHz CPU base (unlocked), 100W TDP, 320 Radeon cores, 600 MHz GPU base (unlocked), 4 MB L2 cache
A6-3620: Four CPU cores, 2.2 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 65W TDP, 320 Radeon cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A4-3420: Two CPU cores, 2.8 GHz CPU base, 65W TDP, 160 Radeon cores, 1 MB L2 cache

AMD A-Series Notebook APUs

A8-3550MX: Four CPU cores, 2.0 GHz CPU base (2.7 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 400 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A8-3520M: Four CPU cores, 1.6 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 400 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A6-3430MX: Four CPU cores, 1.7 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 320 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A6-3420M: Four CPU cores, 1.5 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 320 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
A4-3330MX: Two CPU cores, 2.2 GHz CPU base (2.6 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 240 Radeon Cores, 2 MB L2 cache
A4-3320M:Two CPU cores, 2.0 GHz CPU base (2.6 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 240 Radeon Cores, 2 MB L2 cache
A4-3305M:Two CPU cores, 1.9 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 160 Radeon Cores, 1 MB L2 cache
E2-3000M: Two CPU cores, 1.8 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 160 Radeon Cores, 1 MB L2 Cache

The new processors include the A8-3520M, A8-3550MX, A6-3430MX, A4-330MX, A4-3320M and A4-3305M. All of the processors with the exception of the A4-330MX, A4-3320M and A4-3305M units are 100MHz faster on their base frequency and on the Turbo Core frequency.

Other not so good changes include the A4-3305M losing 1MB of cache and keeping the same operating frequency as the A4-3300M that it is replacing. The 3305M does have a GPU with a higher clock speed than the 3300M GPU at 593MHz compared to the 444MHz of the older part. That new part sounds like a downgrade to me.

[via Hardcore-Hardware]

In fact, there are two USB 3.0 ports and six USB 2.0 ports, along with stereo line-our and stereo line-in, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi b/g/n. The two entry-level models use Radeon HD 6290 graphics, with the two higher-end versions packing Radeon HD 6250 and Radeon HD 6320 graphics respectively. Each can output up to 1920 x 1200 over HDMI or 2560 x 1600 over DisplayPort, and the top-spec Pro model supports 3D over HDMI.

Room for an internal 2.5-inch hard-drive, along with a miniPCIe socket with mSATA support, handles storage. All four use less than 24W under load. Compulab will also offer an interchangeable FACE Module, swapping out the normal four USB front panel ports for an alternative set of connections, for instance a quartet of gigabit ethernet and four USB.

Smooth and ribbed cases are on offer, with various SKUs ranging from the bare basics (with no RAM) at $328 plus tax, up to a $698 model running Windows 7 Pro on a 1.6GHz dual-core G-T56N APU with 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard-drive, both wireless options and the four USB front-panel.

[via iTechNewsNet]

BlueStacks released an alpha of its Player software for Windows earlier this month, allowing Windows users to load Android apps and run them with no modifications involved. Apps can be loaded from the regular .APK file, and played in either full-screen or windowed. A Mac version is in the pipeline, and the company confirmed it was in further talks with PC manufacturers regarding preloading BlueStacks onto new computers and tablets.

AMD says it expects to use the BlueStacks investment to leverage tablets and computers running on AMD processors, while Citrix is eyeing the software’s potential in enterprise settings. AMD has previously admitted that it was slow to broach the mobile computing market, only recently launching chips suitable for tablets and still ignoring smartphones.

Like Intel, AMD has struggled to gain traction among slates, seeing rival ARM picked for the majority of tablets for its chipsets’ low power consumption and solid multimedia potential. So far Windows-based models have been the exception, but Microsoft has confirmed it is working on Windows 8 on ARM builds for 2012.

Having cross-platform Android app compatibility could certainly work in AMD’s favor, and help the company differentiate between its chips and those of rival Intel. Reports out of Taipei have suggested AMD’s bargain pricing is already biting into Intel’s Atom sales.

[via GigaOm]

Both the AMD A4-3300 and A4-3400 desktop APUs combine the power of two x86 CPU cores with 160 Radeon cores, these enabling DirectX 11-capable discrete-level graphics as well as dedicated HD video processing on one single chip. In addition to basic functions, AMD A4-3300 and A4-3400 desktop APUs support the following features:

AMD Steady Video makes possible instant removal of jitters and shakes while re-watching video, all content looking smooth from here on out – users may activate this feature via their AMD Catalyst Control Center or the VISION Engine Control Center application. This feature will work on any player which has been programmed to work with AMD’s DXVA engine including Adobe Flash Player 10.2.

AMD Dual Graphics gives you a performance boost when paired with AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series graphics cards. AMD RadeonTM Dual Graphics requires an AMD A-series APU plus an AMD RadeonTM discrete graphics configuration and is available on a wide variety of versions of Windows OS. — Check with your component or system manufacturer for specific mode capabilities and supported technologies.

Integrated USB 3.0 Controller for lovely storage of digital content and rapid transfer of that content.

AMD VISION Engine Software to provide you the user with regular updates to system performance and stability and to introduce you to new software enhancements.

The AMD A4-3300 has a 2.5GHz CPU, 444MHz GPU, 160 Radeon Cores, 1MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 65W, and has a suggested retail price of $70 USD. The AMD A4-3400 has a 2.7GHz CPU, 600MHz GPU, 160 Radeon Cores, 1MB of L2 cache and a TDP of 65W, and has a suggested retail price of $75 USD. All AMD A-Series processors are made for use with FM1 motherboards, A4 APU’s requiring the AMD Vision Engine Control Center 11.8 driver release or later, and the two announced here in this post are available at Amazon.com, NCIX, and other fine retailers today.

The updated C and E series APUs will deliver enhanced HD graphics capabilities, performance boosts with enhanced memory, DisplayPort++ support for connecting to any HDMI or DisplayPort-enabled monitor or TV, and an extended battery life. The C series now has a resting battery life of up to 12 hours, while the E series is now up to 10.5 hours.

The updated E series will also feature DDR3 1333 support for enhanced memory bandwidth as well as faster performance and video playback. Additionally, it will support HDMI 1.4a connections, which allows for viewing 3D pictures and home video on 3D-enabled TVs and displays. Notebooks, netbooks, and other small form factor mobile PCs and all-in-one desktops using these updated APUs are available starting today.

To learn more about AMD Fusion APUs, make sure to check out our SlashGear 101.

[via AMD]

The A6-3500 APU combines three x86 CPU cores with 320 Radeon GPU cores, enabling DirectX11-capable discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. It also comes with AMD’s Turbo Core and Steady Video Image stabilization technology as well as DDR3 1333 support, HDCP compatibility, and AMD VISION Engine software.

The triple-core APU runs at 2.1GHz but can be clocked up to 2.4GHz depending on workload, while the GPU cores are clocked at 443MHz and a TDP of 65W. Like its predecessors, the APU can be paired with select AMD Radeon HD 6000 series discrete graphics cards. The A6-3500 is available now for $95. For more information, you can visit the AMD product page. For more information on AMD’s Llano or Fusion APUs, make sure to check out our SlashGear 101 post.

“We haven’t announced any plans to go in that handheld space. We’ve got plenty of opportunities… in server, notebook and now tablets, that’s our immediate focus. But if the right circumstances come up and we can see a way to impact the market, we’ll obviously continue to look … We’re excited about what the tablet market can do for AMD” Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Product Group, AMD

Just as Intel has positioned its Atom processors, AMD’s strategy is to deliver the “full PC experience” of graphics, app compatibility and performance and hope that it is what buyers – and OEMs – are looking for from their slates. Models actually using the Z-series processors are still in short supply, however. The MSI Windpad 110w went up for pre-order recently, but is yet to begin shipping, and Acer is reportedly looking at using the chips for Windows 7 based tablets though has no public release dates.

Getting x86 processors to the level where they can compete with ARM chips in the frugality/performance balance is still a work-in-progress, and early feedback of Atom chips has been less than glowing (as well as muddied by poor response to Windows 7 on tablet hardware). Intel has promised Android Honeycomb support but early feedback indicates the company still has work to do.

The Gateway ID47H02u has a Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB 5,400rpm hard-drive, DVD burner and Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU, and is priced at $699.99. If you don’t mind taking a trip to Canada, however, and spending CA$799, you can get the ID47H03h, which has the same CPU but throws in 6GB of DDR3 memory, a 750GB hard-drive and NVIDIA GeForce TG 540M graphics with 1GB of video RAM and Optimus auto-switching. Canadians will also get the CA$899 ID57H03h, with a 15.6-inch display and 8GB of DDR3 memory, along with the same GPU and HDD as the ID47H03h.

In the US, the 15.6-inch segment is catered for by the NV55S05u, a $629.99 notebook with an AMD A8-3500M quadcore 1.5GHz APU (that can overclock to 2.4GHz), AMD Radeon HD 6620G graphics, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a 640GB hard-drive and DVD burner. All of the models have an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi b/g/n, stereo speakers and a copy of Windows 7.

Battery life on the 14-inchers is up to 8hrs, while the ID57H03h can also run at up to 8hrs. The AMD-based NV55S05u can go for up to 4hrs, and has a smaller battery as standard. All of the new ID and NV models are on sale now.

Inside the Eee Top ET1611PUT is Intel’s 1.8GHz single-core D425 processor, paired with GMA3150 graphics, 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard-drive. There’s a single-touch display, WiFi b/g/n, a 0.3-megapixel webcam and five USB 2.0 ports, along with gigabit ethernet and a pair of 2W speakers. It’ll be available either with Windows 7 preloaded or OS-free, priced at €449 ($641) or €369 ($526) respectively.

As for the larger Eee Top ET2011AUKB and ET2011AUTB, they both have a 1.6GHz AMD Fusion Brazos E350 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200rpm hard-drive and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. There’s also a tray-loading DVD burner, WiFi b/g/n, twin 2W speakers and four USB 2.0 ports. The ET2011AUKB and ET2011AUTB will be priced at €539 ($769) and €589 ($840) respectively, each preloaded with Windows 7.

[via NetbookNews; Thanks Marco!]

The platform also supports 3D stereoscopic recording and has separate 2D and vertex acceleration engines that won’t slow the system down. The platform also has an optional e-paper display controller making it fit for dedicated reader applications as well. When the platform surfaced, it was pegged for sampling in late 2011. It looks like the platform is on track to start sampling this year.

The reference platform using a quad-core APU has turned up on video from FTF 2011. The board in the video is the first of the i.MX6 reference designs and the demonstration is pretty impressive. The platform is the industry’s first quad-core ARM Cortex A9 SoC combined with a 64-bit memory bus. Check on the videos below to see the platform in action.

[via Armdevices]

Notebooks running A-Series APUs can achieve over 10.5hrs of battery life, AMD reckons, as well as offering discrete-performance graphics on an integrated chip. Each APU packs up to four CPU cores and up to 400 Radeon cores; that’ll allow OEMs to bake in gestural interfaces, multi-monitor support, 3D entertainment and real-time image stabilization.

There’s also support for HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.1 and USB 3.0 connectivity, as well as pairing an A-Series APU with discrete Radeon graphics in a system AMD calls Dual Graphics. That’s good for a 75-percent boost in performance, the company reckons.

Meanwhile, AMD has partnered up with VUDU to give Fusion and its AMD Vision technology a dash of real-world charm. More details in the video below. AMD’s Trinity APUs, the successor to the A-Series, are expected in 2012.

AMD & VUDU: Streaming Video Enhanced by AMD Vision:

Press Release:

AMD Ushers in Next Generation of Computing with AMD A-Series APUs

New AMD Fusion APUs enable brilliant graphics, supercomputer-like performance and all day battery life1

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the next generation in mainstream consumer computing with the availability of the new high-performance AMD Fusion A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs). Enabling truly immersive computing experiences in consumer notebooks and desktops, the AMD A-Series APUs enable brilliant HD graphics, supercomputer-like performance and over 10.5 hours of battery life2.

In an increasingly digital and visually oriented world, consumers are placing ever-higher priorities on multitasking, vivid graphics, lifelike games, lag-free videos, and ultimate multimedia performance. To meet these needs, the AMD A-Series APUs combine up to four x86 CPU cores with powerful DirectX®11-capable discrete-level graphics and up to 400 Radeon™ cores along with dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. AMD A-Series APUs also allow for advanced capabilities such as gestural interfaces, multi-monitor support, 3D entertainment and real-time image stabilization3.

“The AMD A-Series APU represents an inflection point for AMD and is perhaps the industry’s biggest architectural change since the invention of the microprocessor,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Products Group. “It heralds the arrival of brilliant all-new computing experiences, and enables unprecedented graphics and video performance in notebooks and PCs. Beginning today we are bringing discrete-class graphics to the mainstream.”

The AMD A-Series APUs (previously codenamed “Llano”) are currently shipping and scheduled to appear in more than 150 notebooks and desktops4 from leading OEMs throughout the second quarter of 2011 and beyond. Delivering powerful serial and parallel computing capabilities for HD video, 3D rendering and data-intensive workloads in a single-die processor, the AMD A-Series APUs offer software developers unprecedented power and potential in an ever smaller package.

AMD AllDay™ Power: Battery Life that Lasts
The AMD A-Series APU delivers the power to match how consumers actually use their PCs: all day – without sacrificing performance. Delivering more than 10.5 hours of resting battery life – a more than 50 percent increase compared to the 2010 AMD Mainstream Platform – users can get their work done or watch multiple HD movies on a single charge5. Additionally, AMD dynamic switchable graphics optimize battery life on PCs featuring AMD dual-graphics solutions by intelligently managing power states on the APU and separate discrete AMD Radeon™ GPU.

“The battery life of the AMD A-Series APU is a huge leap forward and will surprise many consumers and commercial customers,” said Chris Cloran, Vice President and General Manager, Client Division, AMD. “And the supercomputer-like performance will give people some revolutionary capabilities, like real-time image stabilization –taking out all the shakes and jitters in those hand-held videos on the fly, while you’re watching.”

Brilliant HD: Every Pixel Matters
People are making, sharing and enjoying more digital content than ever on their PCs, and the AMD VISION Engine – cutting-edge hardware and software featured with every AMD A-Series APU that automatically helps digital content like videos, games and photos look their best. HD video is crystal clear through dedicated video playback technology and dynamic post-processing, and websites render faster with accelerated HTML5 and Direct2D performance. Editing, transferring and viewing HD content is fast and easy with support for advanced connection standards, including HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.1, and USB 3.0, along with native support for multiple monitors.

Also introduced with the AMD A-Series APU is a new feature called AMD Steady Video6 designed to stabilize videos during playback – making unsteady, jumpy content look steady and smooth. The AMD A-Series APU can also enables advanced capabilities like gestural interfaces, 3D gaming and 3D Blu-ray video entertainment – features that are now key to consumer PC experiences and expectations.

Every PC built with an AMD A-Series APU delivers brilliant HD by offering discrete-class DirectX® 11-capable graphics – with models available at virtually every price point. Only AMD Fusion APUs offer true AMD Dual Graphics, with up to 75 percent graphics performance boost, when paired with an AMD Radeon™ discrete graphics card7. This faster, higher-quality, more vivid and lifelike delivery makes consumers feel fully present in their digital world, especially when gaming.

Personal Supercomputing: Ultimate Performance
Consumers are doing more than ever before with their PCs – from work to play – and with the AMD A-Series APU, even their laptops can keep up, delivering next generation parallel processing. With up to 400 gigaflops for notebook, and up to 500 gigaflops for desktops8, AMD A-Series APUs ensure users have the horsepower needed to handle the most demanding applications such as video and image processing, facial recognition, gesture recognition and multitasking scenarios. For the most challenging environments, AMD Fusion A-Series APUs offer AMD Turbo Core Technology, which dynamically optimizes and boosts CPU and GPU performance to power-efficient levels depending on the applications being run.

The Growing AMD Fusion Ecosystem
AMD has seen great momentum in the software developer community since the launch of AMD Fusion APUs in January 2011, with more than 50 leading applications now accelerated by the family of AMD Fusion APUs and advanced browsers like Internet Explorer 9 delivering even more immersive, next generation web experiences when running on an AMD Fusion APU-powered PC. And, the inaugural AMD Fusion Developer Summit, running now through June 16 in Seattle, Washington, is providing a forum for developers, academics and innovators to collaborate around parallel programming and industry standards, like OpenCL™, helping the software ecosystem build on the promise of the latest computing methodologies.

The chip company hasn’t detailed what makes those three levels different, though clock speed and cache seem likely factors. Meanwhile, the Z-Series for tablets – codenamed Desna – will target Windows based slates and have a sub-6W TDP, as per the leaked slides we saw last week. The first model to use the platform will be MSI’s WindPad 110W, launched earlier this week,

We won’t have to wait until 2012 and Trinity for the first Bulldozer products, however; AMD confirmed that the first mainstream chips – including Zambezi for desktops and Orochi for servers - will arrive in Q3 2011. The new 9-Series chipset that will support them is already available, the company said, and will be showing up in products from next month.

AMD also brought BlueStacks on stage for a demonstration of the company’s Android virtualization software for Windows-based devices. That will allow Z-Series based slates to run Android apps alongside Windows software.

AMD is still looking to ship about a million notebook focused Llano APUs in June, 1.5M in July, and a total of 8-9 million Llano APUs for 2011 as a whole. The Llano quad-core A8-3550P will sell for $170 and the A8-3550 will sell for $150 with both targeting the Core i5-2300 from Intel. The quad-core Llano A6-3450P will sell for $130 with the A6-3450 selling at $110 with both targeting the Core i3-2120/2010 processor.

The Llano A4-3350P will sell for $80 and is aimed at the Pentium G6960/6950 and Sandy Bridge G800/600 parts from Intel. The AMD Llano E2-3250 is only $70 and targets the Pentium G620 processor. On the higher-end of the range are the Bulldozer offerings with an octo-core FX-8130P going for $320 and the FX-8130 for $290 with both aiming for the Core i7 2600K/2600. The last two Llano parts include the six-core FX-6110 at $240 and the quad-core FX-4110 at $220. Those last two parts target the Core i5 2500K/2500.

[via DigiTimes]

The design that Adapteva is showing off has 64-cores and will sit inside a device like a tablet or a smartphone and offload the work from the APU or GPU. That will allow the devices to do more work on the gadget rather than sending that data over WiFi or data connections to be processed elsewhere. One of the key features of the Adapteva chip needs only a single watt of power to operate. The less power the chip needs to operate the longer the battery inside the device can run.

The design can be scaled up for other uses all the way to 4,096 cores, which would need 64W to operate. However, it will be pushed for gadgets like smartphones and others to start. Another key feature of the Adapteva 64-core processor in the smartphone is that it is very small at 8mm square. That small size will make it easy to package inside the thin and portable gadgets popular today. Other than game consoles and smartphones, the chip also has potential uses for speech and facial recognition.

[via Gigaom]

The reason for such a long delay has to do with the amount of testing required once the assembly is replaced, a procedure which will take several days. The testing requires 48 hours to verify the assembly is working properly and then certify it as flight ready. Workers have already begun the process, starting with draining of the shuttle’s external fuel tank. And the crew of STS-134 has returned to Houston for additional training until the next launch attempt.

The launch of the Shuttle Endeavor had attracted great attention since it was the next to the last shuttle flight before NASA undergoes a long dark period with no man rated launch vehicle in it’s inventory. NASA had developed the Ares 1X test launch rocket in anticipation of a return to the moon with the Constellation Project. But the Obama Administration canceled that program after just one test launch and directed NASA to design and build a new launch vehicle, a process that’s expected to take several years. During which, NASA will have to hitch rides from the Russian Space Agency to ferry crew and material to the International Space Station.

[via NASA Shuttle News]

I’ve heard of a CPU and a GPU, but what’s an APU?

An APU is an “Accelerated Processing Unit”, and at its most basic it’s a mixture of CPU – the core brain of your computer – and GPU – the chip responsible for graphics processing – on a single unit. Although Intel’s new 2011 Core processor range has a basic video chip living on the same core unit as the CPU, AMD has gone one step further and included extra intelligence in how the tasks you ask of your computer are worked on.

So, rather than the CPU being responsible for all general tasks, and the GPU only being called upon to handle what you see on the screen, a system using APUs can assign tasks to both. Some tasks are better handled by the CPU, as is traditional, while other tasks are better handled by the way the GPU can work on multiple problems simultaneously. Although GPUs have been used in this way before, AMD’s Fusion technology is special because it pulls everything together in one place, and so reduces the delay normally found as data shuttles from one part of your computer to another.

AMD calls this “Heterogenius” computing, processing that can take advantage of the best of both CPUs and GPUs, and has branded it AMD Fusion. The first Fusion chips began to show up in netbooks earlier this year, under AMD’s VISION brand.

So is it just for netbooks, then?

Not at all. The first range of Fusion APUs – the C- and E-Series chips – were targeted at netbooks, with relatively low processor speeds and frugal power consumption, but the APU concept ramps up in performance just like a traditional CPU. What AMD has announced today is that its mainstream range of Fusion chips are now in mass production and headed off to notebook and desktop computer manufacturers.

These new Fusion chips are the A-Series, which AMD internally calls “Llano”, and they work in exactly the same way as described before. The difference is, they contain more CPU and GPU power to handle trickier tasks like gaming and video processing, just as the sort of people looking for a mainstream laptop or desktop might be asking for. They also demand more power to run. AMD expects the first computers using these A-Series APUs to go on sale before the end of June 2011.

Why should I care?

AMD argues that, by using the combined brains of the CPU and GPU in everyday computing, users will see their software run quicker without needing a hugely expensive processor. That should mean cheaper netbooks, notebooks and desktop PCs which are still capable of playing games and doing video processing – as well as browsing the internet quickly and doing all the usual Office tasks. If a manufacturer decides to prioritize battery life, then AMD reckons its Fusion chips will be happy sucking just a little juice while still offering the option to play high-definition video.

It’s also important that AMD Fusion is based on open standards for software developers to use. That means more likelihood that your favorite applications will work properly with the Fusion APU’s intelligence, and take advantage of the two kinds of processing on offer.

What’s next?

“Faster” and “frugal” are the two keywords in processors these days, and AMD Fusion is no different. As you’d expect, AMD will be increasing the speed that the CPUs and GPUs in the Fusion chips can run at – that will mean a shorter time to crunch video and other tasks – with lower power consumption so that notebooks and netbooks can run longer on a single charge.

Next in line for release will be AMD’s Fusion chips for performance notebooks and desktops, which the company hopes will take a bite out of Intel’s Core i7 range.

More on Fusion at AMD’s site.

Still, there’s a reasonable incentive to do so. Llano pairs discrete-level graphics with AMD’s dual- or quad-core Accelerated Processor Units, more modular processors that can turn their hand to traditional CPU or GPU duty. Select models will be able to natively pair their graphics with a separate video card in a hybrid CrossFireX setup.

[youtube mdPi4GPEI74]

TDP is 25-100W, obviously significantly higher than the previous E- and C-Series processors already found in shipping products. Still, that extra power consumption will be put to good use in chasing Intel’s 2011 Core processor line-up.

The initial round will include the A8-3550 and A6-3450, while the second round will include the A8-3560 and A4-3360. Full specifications are unknown at this stage. Meanwhile, AMD will also have three new E-series Zacate APUs, the dual-core E-300, E-450 and E2-3250, for Q3. The company has its processors in 24 notebooks already on the market.

Storage on both models is up to 500GB of regular HDD, and there’s WiFi b/g/n and a choice of Bluetooth 2.1+EDR or 3.0+HS. RAM is up to 2GB on the ASUS Eee PC 1015B and up to 4GB on the 1215B. Connectivity, meanwhile, includes three USB 2.0 ports, a USB 3.0, 10/100 ethernet, VGA, HDMI, audio in/out and a multiformat memory card reader.

The 1015B display runs at 1024 x 600, while the 1215B steps that up to 1366 x 768. ASUS reckons the 10-incher will run for up to 8.5hrs (C30)/7.5hrs (C50) on the 6-cell battery, or 3.5hrs (C30)/3hrs (C50) on the 3-cell battery, while the 12-incher will run 8hrs on its standard 6-cell. No word on pricing or availability at this stage.

[via NotebookItalia]

The commercial adoption of the company’s APUs is not surprising, low-power solutions are drawing a lot of interest lately and AMD seems to be leading the calvary since it’s ship date of early November.

During the company’s 4th quarter conference call [Press Release] Thomas Seifert, interim chief executive officer of AMD, stated that momentum for the APUs is growing strong. “Industry momentum for Fusion is strong and growing. OEM adoption of Brazos is excellent. We shipped more than 1 million Brazos platforms in its debut quarter to world class OEMs including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.”

With more and more focus going to lightweight powerful notebooks, we can expect the industry adoption of AMD’s APUs grow significantly over 2011.

[Via XBitLabs]