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Leaked AMD roadmap reveals next-gen Fusion tablet chips

PC News Zone — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Until recently, AMD has kept pretty mum on its tablet plans, with it only officially entering the fray last month. It's clear that the first batch of Z-Series chips, codenamed Desna, are are not terribly different from the rest Fusion line but, according to a leaked roadmap, that will all change with its successor -- Hondo. Supposedly the next gen of tablet APUs will ditch a number features that aren't essential to burgeoning form factor, including VGA output, PCIe support, and couple of USB pathways. It will also add an "active standby" mode for maintaining connectivity while reducing power draw and cut TDP by about a third. Hondo is expect to enter production in Q2 of next year, and be succeeded by Samara which will feature a new graphics core. Check out the source link for a few more slides.

Sony VAIO Z21 Series mentioned on various European sites, isn’t actually for sale yet

pcnz_admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:45:13 +0000

Here in the states, Sony’s 13-inch VAIO Z series has been missing from the company’s online store for months, but in Europe, at least, it lives on — a quartet of Z21 series laptops have surfaced on various e-tailers as the possible successor to last year’s Z11. So far, we’re seeing a pair of configurations with a Core i5-2410M processor and 128GB of solid-state storage and two more with a Core i7-2620M CPU and 256GB in storage. Judging by this sample, at least, 1600 x 900 resolution is standard, as is a backlit keyboard, 3G SIM card slot, fingerprint reader, 3D output, and an HD webcam with Sony’s Exmor imaging technology. Alas, the available specs suggest Thunderbolt’s a no-show, though rumor has it Sony’s implementation of Intel’s Light Peak technology will use USB connectors, of which this has three. Here’s to wishful thinking, right?

The peculiar thing is, you can’t actually buy it yet. F2F lists staggering prices ranging from â‚¬1,809 ($2,642) to â‚¬2,839 ($4,146), though it’s not, in fact, available. Meanwhile, search results turn up mentions on staticICE UK and Belgium’s Execute, but they’ve been scrubbed from the actual pages. So, it looks like it’s up to Sony to announce this already — and dish up some pictures while it’s at it.

Intel’s Ivy Bridge roadmap narrowed down to March 2012

pcnz_admin — Tue, 31 May 2011 09:30:17 +0000

Intel’s Ivy Bridge chip architecture may have its launch timing narrowed down based on an updated roadmap leaked out Wednesday. Where a previous copy had only given the 22 nanometer desktop processors a vague first-half 2011 target, MyDrivers’ new version narrowed the release down to a “March-April” timeframe. The schedule wasn’t strictly a delay but would be later than Intel’s usual tendency to have shipping designs ready in or near January.

Publicly, Intel had planned to start shipping Ivy Bridge in late 2011, although its usual practices would still have meant a more likely early 2012 release in actual computers. Current timing might mean Ivy Bridge shipping only at the start of next year to meet the new goal.

Notebook processors don’t yet have a corresponding roadmap and are eitehr likely to follow in lock-step with the desktops or else sit on another schedule.

The launch could leave most computer builders leaning on the existing, 32nm Sandy Bridge architecture for longer than usual. Intel may have been aware of this for awhile as it has been planning an interim upgrade, Sandy Bridge E, with more cores and larger cache sizes. System builders like Apple, Dell, and HP, who are often dependent on Intel’s release schedule to dictate their own strategies, may have to wait later than this year.

Beyond the shrink to the smaller, more efficient 22nm process and the resulting boosts to clock speeds, Ivy Bridge adds official USB 3.0, PCI Express 3.0, and a new graphics chipset capable of supporting both DirectX 11 (OpenGL 4) and OpenCL 1.1.

Original roadmap at top; new version at bottom