fusion

AMD aims new chip at quad-core laptops

Advanced Micro Devices will bring quad-core processing and powerful graphics silicon to mainstream laptops, as it seeks to strike the right balance between the two computing paradigms.

On Tuesday, AMD is announcing the Fusion A-Series chips for mainstream consumer notebooks as well as desktops. AMD's Fusion technology puts all of a PC's computational power on one piece of silicon--what AMD calls an APU or accelerated processing unit. Chips will be offered with both two and four processor cores.

For quad-core systems, the trick is to reduce the power consumption of traditional desktop-class processing to levels that are usable … Read more

AMD launches A-series processors, HP jumps on board

Following the recent leak of a 1.9GHz A8-3530MX CPU/GPU combo from chipmaker AMD, the company has now officially announced its new line of processors, the A-series. Though we're likely to still call them CPUs, these chips actually combine a traditional CPU and discrete-level GPU. AMD calls this combination of CPU and GPU an APU, or Accelerated Processing Unit. Formerly, the A-series was known under the code name Llano.

We've previously been impressed with the lower-end E-series CPU/GPU combo, most often seen in the form of the E-350 CPU/Radeon HD 6310 GPU found in 11-inch … Read more

Chromebook, Netbook, iPad: Which would you rather spend $500 on?

Yesterday's formal introduction of Chromebooks marked yet another category of portable computing gadget in a landscape that's starting to feel overrun.

For $499, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook has its work cut out for it--namely, because tablets and "high-end" 11- and 12-inch laptops and Netbooks (some with faster processors) have already occupied the same landscape.

It's a question we've been pondering for a while now, writ again: what truly constitutes the perfect small-screen portable? Suddenly, instead of one or two OSes to consider, there are four: Windows 7, Apple's iOS, and Google's Android and Chrome.

While the high end of the computer spectrum remains relatively stable (desktops, laptops), the increasingly fertile (or, perhaps, unstable) ground between laptops and smartphones has bred a variety of tech forms that all, in some way, are portable. Options have never been more diverse, or confusing.

Which one would you rather spend about $500 on? Well, let's see what you get.… Read more

Amazon's Bezos, VCs back nuclear fusion start-up

When it comes to energy technology, nuclear fusion is the ultimate "swing for the fences." Now at least one fusion venture is getting serious attention from start-up investors.

British Columbia-based General Fusion said today that it received US$19.5 million in a series B funding from venture capital and Canadian government funds. Among them was Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment fund of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

The funding, spotted by Toronto-based journalist Tyler Hamilton, will give General Fusion the money to complete the first phase of its planned development program. The company's target is to commercialize its "magnetized target fusion" technology within the decade, CEO Doug Richardson said in a statement.

Today's nuclear power plants use nuclear fission, or splitting atoms to release energy in the form of heat. Nuclear fusion, which occurs on the sun, is when two hydrogen atoms are heated to the point where they can fuse to form helium, a process which releases huge amounts of energy. In theory, that energy can be converted into electricity.

Research on nuclear fusion has been going on for decades and many people consider any practical use of fusion decades away. General Fusion's approach is a combination of existing methods, which it says will allow it to create a generator that will harness the heat from fusion to make electricity as power plants do today using cheaper methods than existing fusion research efforts.

According to a technical description on the company's Web site, General Fusion's process creates plasma, a state of matter where electrons move freely from the rest of atoms, of certain forms of hydrogen. That plasma, which is similar to a gas, is then heated in a magnetic field to 1 million degrees using a bank of capacitors, which produces a form of plasma in the shape of a doughnut.

That plasma is then compressed from a shock wave using pneumatic pistons surrounding a central sphere, causing the fusion reaction. The company also has a process for capturing the heat from the reaction. Given a significant amount of energy is needed to run the operation, General Fusion's Web site notes that one of the main technical challenges of nuclear fusion in general, once a reaction can be repeated, is creating a net output of energy. … Read more

AMD to back USB 3.0 in its chips

Advanced Micro Devices will support USB 3.0 in its chips, marking the first instance of a major PC processor supplier getting behind the standard. Intel has yet to support the high-speed interface.

The USB Implementers Forum today announced that AMD will deliver the first chipsets to integrate support for USB 3.0, aka SuperSpeed USB. A chipset accompanies the main processor.

"With [today's] announcement AMD is...disclosing our support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 in upcoming AMD A75 and A70M Fusion [chipsets]. Both chipsets are shipping today," said Phil Hughes, an AMD spokesman, responding to an … Read more

AMD Fusion laptop roundup

It's only been a couple of months since the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, but we've already seen the new CPU platforms from AMD and Intel turn up in most of the just-released or upcoming laptops we've heard about. Much has been written about the incredible speed and battery life of Intel's Sandy Bridge chips, and they certainly are impressive, but they are thus far reserved for high-end machines.

AMD's Fusion APU (which combines a CPU and GPU), has been found in sub-$500 laptops, and makes for a marked improvement over the Intel Atom, Pentium dual-core, and various low-end AMD chips previously found in the budget category.

Oddly, you'll never see the Fusion name actually on a laptop. AMD says it's an internal-only designation, and instead puts a sticker that says "Vision" on the actual laptops, with no mention of the actual CPU model inside. So far, we've seen models with an E-350 CPU and a slower E-250 CPU (the latter of which should be avoided at all costs). … Read more

Next-gen storage firm Fusion-io files for IPO

Enterprise storage company Fusion-io--whose largest customer is Facebook--filed today for an initial public offering, but the financials reveal an outfit that's still a work in progress.

For the six months that ended December 31, Fusion-io reported a net loss of $8.24 million on revenue of $58.3 million. For the same period a year earlier, Fusion-io reported a net loss of $13.2 million on revenue of $11.93 million. Those results show a lot of growth, but relative to other tech companies that are planning to go public--Skype and LinkedIn, for example--Fusion-io looks a little green. Still, … Read more

AMD takes a Valentine's Day swipe at Intel

Update: AMD adds some additional V-day fun with chocolate processors. See below for details.

Any holiday is an excuse for tech companies to send out little reminders to those likely to write about them, and Valentine's Day is no exception.

During the first half of today, only one V-day swag package arrived, and that was a box of Mortal Kombat candy, encased in an edible chocolate box. This was shortly followed by a somewhat more mysterious package--a single rose, wrapped in paper, hand-delivered from a local florist.

Except, this rose seemed a bit off. It was dark red, almost black, and had an odd scent. A dead rose? A poisoned flower? The only clue to its origin, a note quoting Edgar Allan Poe. Clearly some sort of teaser item for a video game, but off the top of my head, I'm not sure which one. Also--a dead rose is terrible for Valentine's Day regifting.

Finally, the guys at AMD joined the party with a ceramic mug with an I [heart] APU logo, touting the combo CPU/GPU platform known as Fusion, and currently found in laptops such as the HP Pavilion dm1.

What really made this worth mentioning was the snarky note that accompanied it. It reads:

Dear Dan, I heard that Sandy B. broke your heart and wanted to let you know that I'm here for you. Oh, and I have a cousin from Llano, Texas I'd like to introduce you to soon--I think you two will really hit it off!

XOXO, AMD Fusion APU

… Read more

How do they game? Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Fusion graphics, overview

Both Intel and AMD, the two main companies that make the vast majority of computer processors, have new platforms for 2011. AMD's Fusion and Intel's second-generation Core i-series (formerly code-named Sandy Bridge) share a common goal: to package improved integrated graphics on the chipset that work much better than the previous generation, making it possible to play better games and stream more HD content without the need for a dedicated video card.

For most people, computers with integrated graphics are the default, because they cost less. Unless you're a serious tech enthusiast, you don't want to … Read more