facebook rss twitter

AMD’s ‘Project Discovery’ tablet images are leaked

by Mark Tyson on 15 November 2013, 09:45

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD), Windows 8

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qab5aj

Add to My Vault: x

Earlier this week we saw the new AMD 2014 roadmap which included two mobile APUs we hadn’t seen detailed before; ‘Mullins’ and ‘Beema’. Now, just a day after the close of APU13 conference, pictures have already emerged showing a Mullins APU powered Windows 8 tablet called ‘Project Discovery’. What is more, the tablet has secured a CES2014 Innovation Award, according to a TechRadar report.

What we can see in the images is a pretty standard looking AMD branded slab. It looks to have a fairly generous array of ports and connections on the sides. On the front we can see a single Windows button with the rest of the face of the device completely clean. On the back we can see the AMD branding and camera unit within the red-team highlighted top panel.

However the AMD tablet is accompanied by two different kinds of docks or stands in other pictures. One is obviously a gaming grip, sporting what look like analogue sticks, face buttons and shoulder buttons – also this unit has a large speaker(s) panel on its lower edge.

The other accessory we see is a standard looking rectangular dock/stand. Of the aspects we can see of this dock it contains at least 10 ports including USB, Ethernet, audio and video connectivity including DisplayPort 1.2.

What AMD has produced here is a ‘proof of concept’ device which it is hoped will prod its hardware partners into action and make similar tablets using AMD processors. An AMD spokesman speaking to TechRadar about ‘Project Discovery’ said “AMD's goals are to show the world what we can do in the tablet space around our next generation APU, Mullins.” He hinted that this hardware was a kind of reference device, “AMD does not plan to enter the market with a branded tablet and peripherals at this time.”

The ‘Project Discovery’ tablet will run Windows 8.X and be powered by the Mullins APU SoC. Mullins will be built on the 28nm process and contain between 2 and 4 ‘Puma’ CPU cores, GCN graphics, and an AMD ARM backed security processor. The SoC, with an approximate SDP of 2W will be a powerhouse within fanless mobile gadgets offering “up to 139 percent better productivity performance per watt” when compared to the previous generation ‘Temash’ platform.



HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

Login with Forum Account

Don't have an account? Register today!
I think this is what the whole world has been waiting for… sort of
I like that especially the two docks. One thing tablets need is better compatibility with plug and play devices like external hdd's, cameras, keyboard and mice etc, so hopefully the second dock can do that. Another letdown on tablets is the touchscreen only controls, so hopefully the first dock would take care of that.

What a pity they don't want to take it to market !
The controller dock puts me in mind of the Razer Edge, well specced but hampered by it's price, bulk and weight. I'd be interested to see how well the Mullins APU does especially considering its TDP. I'm much more interested in the desktop dock though; a great number of devices have promised to merge mobility with desktop convenience but more often than not, you get a poorly optimized desktop solution or performance not useful for the scenario.

And what kind of connector is AMD using on the tablet to output all that USB, ethernet and dual Displayport at the same time?
I'd guess it's the same tech as dockport, as mentioned in this anandtech article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7514/amd-2014-mobile-apu-update-beema-and-mullins so USB3 and DP bundled into a single cable/connector. In the AT article it's discussing laptops, but actually a single connector docking solution makes a lot more sense for tablets, and presumably this proof-of-concept device is exactly why AMD weren't discussing dockport in any great detail earlier…
scaryjim
I'd guess it's the same tech as dockport, as mentioned in this anandtech article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7514/amd-2014-mobile-apu-update-beema-and-mullins so USB3 and DP bundled into a single cable/connector. In the AT article it's discussing laptops, but actually a single connector docking solution makes a lot more sense for tablets, and presumably this proof-of-concept device is exactly why AMD weren't discussing dockport in any great detail earlier…

Ah, missed reading that article. Dockport looks interesting and sounds like USB 3.1 supersized (USB 3.0 + high power capacity + displays). I'd love Dockport to go big and perhaps have some monitors integrating it, one cable out of my laptop/tablet/desktop goes to my monitor which is a hub for my peripherals (mouse, printer, keyboard, headphones, USB drives, etc).