New Imageon processors announced
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, AMD announced a new suite of Imageon processors aiming to enable media-rich applications, 3D games and high-fidelity audio on mobile phones and handheld devices of the future.
AMD's current Imageon chips are used to power devices from a wide range of manufacturers, ranging from Motorola, LG, Panasonic, and Samsung.
AMD's new lineup of mobile solutions will consist of the Imageon D160 mobile TV receiver, Imageon M210 Audio Processor, Imageon A250 Application Processor, Z460 3D Graphics Core and Z180 Vector Graphics Core.
The chips, expected to make their way into devices by late 2008 or early 2009, are now shipping in samples to OEMs. AMD believes the new chips will be key to bringing cutting-edge applications to mobile devices and the Z460 graphics core utilises technology similar to AMD's Unified Shader Architecture found in Xbox 360 games consoles. We don't expect you to be playing Halo 3 on your phone in HD anytime soon of course, but AMD is promising "The Ultimate Visual Experience" on a mobile device.
AMD's Imageon technology came to be as a result of the companies purchase of ATI Technology. Though AMD continues to struggle against rival Intel's desktop range of processors, its Imageon chips could prove to be a significant thorn in the side of Intel's forthcoming mobile processor, Silverthorne.
Adrian Hartog, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s Consumer Electronics Group said:
"Today’s mobile consumers demand devices and services capable of providing outstanding entertainment. AMD is committed to enabling advanced graphical interfaces that deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience on the go. Our latest handheld technologies allow AMD to better address new and emerging applications, such as 3D gaming and mobile TV, as well as satisfy today’s consumers who crave portable music players and full-function touch-screen mobile phones."
Key features:
- AMD Imageon D160 mobile TV solution, a complete hardware and software package that will enable OEMs to design cutting-edge mobile devices that receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals transmitted in the DVB-T and DVB-H standards, currently used in various markets worldwide. This turnkey, antenna-to-display solution also will enable mobile TV functionality to be designed in a USB-powered device for watching live television on notebook PCs, PDAs, portable media players and other USB-enabled handheld devices.
- AMD Imageon M210 audio processor is designed to enable a high-definition, fully integrated audio subsystem capable of delivering more than 100 hours of music playback in airplane mode. This new audio processor will be ideal for both multi-function, mainstream mobile phones and portable music players.
- AMD Imageon A250 application processor for feature phones will combine the best of AMD’s latest multimedia technology for video recording and playback, photo imaging, and high-resolution displays, offering performance rivalling today’s stand-alone consumer electronics devices while maintaining long system battery life. This new application processor is designed to help phone manufacturers reduce the time and cost associated with system integration
- AMD Z180 OpenVG 1.x graphics core offers the only available hardware-accelerated native vector graphics solution, ideal for advanced user interfaces, navigational systems and portable devices optimised for animation and Flash®-style content.
- AMD Z460 OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics core will deliver fully programmable shader models for realistic 3D graphics, designed to revolutionise the mobile gaming experience for portable devices.
Official press release: AMD Sharpens Focus On Latest Multimedia Technologies To Create Immersive Mobile Entertainment Experiences
