AMD and ARM Team Up

Vigile writes "Today AMD is making an announcement that is the first step in a drastic transition for the company by integrating an ARM Cortex A5 processor on the same die with upcoming Fusion APUs. Starting in late 2013, all AMD APUs (processors that are combinations of x86 cores and Radeon SIMD arrays) will also integrate an ARM Cortex A5 processor to handle security for online transactions, banking, identity protection and DRM integration. The A5 is the smallest Cortex processor available, and that would make sense to use it in a full APU so it will not take up more than 10-15 square mm of die space. This marks the first time AMD has licensed ARM technology and while many people were speculating a pure ARM+Radeon hybrid, this move today is being described as the 'first step' for AMD down a new road of dexterity as an IP-focused technology company with their GPU technology as 'the crown jewel.' So while today's announcement might focus on using ARM processors for security purposes, the future likely holds much more these two partners."

Comments

Re:OMG TPM

[Chemisor]

Example: The newest motherboards don't need the ability to disable trusted boot. Heck, it'd have been easier to not include it!
Worse, we have no real power other than social pressure.

You have the power to not purchase locked down motherboards. And while it is true that most motherboards are made for mass-market packagers like Dell, the margins on those are not nearly as good as the high end motherboards from companies like Asus and Gigabyte. You can be sure that both of them are paying attention to what the hobbyists want and would not disable TPM modification capabilities. If they do, only their low-end stuff will sell and they would have to make a lot of volume to make up for smaller margins.

maod up

[Anonymous Coward]

And 5uggesting Declined in market you to join the guest and never get 80s, DARPA saw BSD