14 DAY TRIAL // Computex 2010 appears to be the place where the magic happens, with a number of companies going all out on announcing new technologies or demoing some of their upcoming products. Such is the case with the Sunnyvale, California-based Advanced Micro Devices, which has taken the opportunity provided by this year's show to demonstrate some of the capabilities of its future processing units, better known as APUs (Accelerated Processing Units). During the outfit's Computex Press Conference, held yesterday in Taipei, the company's Senior VP and GM, Rick Bergman showcased a DirectX 11 demo of the 2011-bound APUs.
The demonstration was focused on providing the end-users with a sneak peak into what the future will bring, namely a single, power-efficient chip that combines both the CPU and GPU into a single Fusion APU. When they come out in the first half of 2011, these new processing engines will enable PC makers to bring new designs that will deliver a mix of power-efficiency and performance, in a single package.
“Hundreds of millions of us now create, interact with, and share intensely visual digital content,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Product Group. “This explosion in multimedia requires new applications and new ways to manage and manipulate data. Low resolution video needs to be up-scaled for larger screens, HD video must be shrunk for smart phones, and home movies need to be stabilized and cleaned up for more enjoyable viewing. When AMD formally launches the AMD Fusion family of APUs, scheduled for the first half of in 2011, we expect the PC experience to evolve dramatically.”
In addition to the announcement and the demon of the new APUs, Rick Bergman also introduced AMD's new Fusion Fund, a program that is intended to promote and support the development of new solutions that will take advantage of the processing power and design of AMD's future Fusion APUs. Details about the new Fusion Fund are available at the company's website.
“The computing industry is undergoing a long-envisioned and inevitable transition from text-based computing to a digital world of natural human-to-system interfaces and rich visual experiences that are incredibly vivid and realistic,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program, and Fusion Fund managing partner. “AMD Fusion APUs are designed to expand the art of the possible for software developers, accelerate application performance, and deliver levels of power efficiency conducive to cooler and sleeker PC devices. The Fusion Fund will help expand the Fusion ecosystem focused on realizing the next generation of computing for the mainstream market.”
A video of AMD's press conference is available below, with the demonstration starting at minute 58.
UPDATE: Updated article with working link for embedded video.