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AMD Targets Web Pad & PDA Processor Market

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the something-else-inside dept.

According to this press release and this article from The Register , AMD has leveraged the technology portfolio of recently acquired Alchemy Semiconductor to introduce an ultra-low-power processor designed for sub-PC applications. The chip is based on the Alchemy Au1 core and features, among other things, an integrated LCD controller and a pair of Secure Digital controllers.

6 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Re:If they jumped right in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    And yet, had parent post contained "Intel" instead of "AMD," this would have been modded up for being funny. Go figure.

  2. "Leveraged" by TheMonkeyDepartment · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Sorry, when I see the word "leveraged" used as a verb, I filter out the entire article, because it's usually marketing robot speak.

  3. This is good news!!! by blankmange · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Strange, we see AMD branching out, moving into what would seem to be an obvious market, and people bitch about it (jeering their desktop procs, etc), and yet, the same crowd can bitch about MS and AOL and Intel (and any other big corp) monopolizing their respective markets.... AMD branching out forces existing players into re-thinking their current and future strategies, creates new opportunities and possibilities, and gives end-users more choices in the marketplace. All kewl... It is always good to hear of additional competitors for my (our) dollars. Go to it, AMD.

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    ...we are from the government - we are here to help...
  4. A very brief article by Schwamm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    can be found here.

  5. Re:Sub-PC applications? by JesseL · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Geez, God forbid that we have more than one instruction set available for the embedded market. There's nothing wrong with ARM, but there's nothing wrong with MIPs either, and a little competition never hurt.

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    "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
  6. Re:Why MIPS? by JesseL · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Is it really so hard to make a small, power-saving Pentium-compatible chip?

    Yes. This is the problem Transmeta tried to address. There are a few embedded x86 processors out there but most of them aren't all that low power. The first "Pentium Compatible" one that springs to mind is the National Semiconductor "Geode". There are also 486 compatible embedded microcontrollers like the AMD SC410/520, and the ZFMicro MachZ.The real problem is that CISC doesn't really lend its self to low power consumtion - too many transistors.

    --
    "Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"