Acer shows its new Aspire notebooks based on AMD's Nile

Following AMD announcement, Acer has officially announced three new notebooks based on AMD's 2010 Ultrathin platform, the Aspire One 521, Aspire One 721 and Aspire 1551.

The Aspire One 521 features AMD's single-core AMD V-series V105 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz paired up with ATI Radeon HD 4225 GPU. The rest of the features include 1 GB of memory, a 160 GB HDD, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and D-Sub outputs, and an ability to easily run 1080p HD videos.



The bigger 11.6-inch Aspire One 721 features AMD's Athlon II Neo K325 paired up with the same Radeon HD 4225 GPU. As far as the ports and specs are concerned, this one is pretty much the same as the Aspire One 521 except for the obvious change in screen size and CPU.

The last but not least is the Aspire 1551 featuring the same 11.6-inch 1366x768 display but will be available with either AMD Turion II Neo K625 dual core processor, up to 4 GB of memory, 640 GB of HDD space, and the same Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics. It also comes with HDMI output and is capable of playing 1080p content.

Some photos & videos posted at Netbooknews.de

AMD Cannes film about VISION Technology

AMD has a short film on Youtube about their Vision technology. Miki Manojlovic, a Serbian actor is featured in it.



Quote : VISION technology from AMD provides such an immersive experience that you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between the virtual world and reality. A stunning level of detail, life-like gaming and amazing photos that turn into a vibrant video with a click of a button are just some reasons that will make every user feel like a film star.

Over 100 Laptops with AMD's Upcoming Danube & Nile Platform

Reuters reported that Advanced Micro Devices may make some of its largest inroads into the fast-growing laptop computer market thanks to a new generation of power-efficient chips to be unveiled next week. The company's latest microprocessors are expected to be included in 109 laptop models in the coming months, the company's best showing during the crucial back-to-school sales season. Last year, AMD's chips were available in 40 laptop models.

"Danube" is the new platform for mainstream notebooks replacing "Tigris". On Ultrathin segment, we will see "Nile" platform to replace "Congo" or the second generation AMD's Ultrathin.

Here are the 2010 Mainstream Notebook Platform CPU

Here are the 2010 Ultrathin Notebook Platform CPU

Notebooks featuring the new silicon will start showing up "as early as June" from the well-known vendors : HP, Acer, Dell, and Lenovo.

Early signs that the new range of chips to be unveiled next week are getting positive responses from top PC makers due to AMD's attempts to simplify its numerous offerings under its new "Vision" brand, as well as improved battery life and performance across the line. In the first quarter of 2010, AMD represented 12.1 percent of worldwide mobile chip sales, according to IDC.

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge

AMD today celebrated an expansion of its business relationship with leading computer manufacturer Lenovo, which is introducing new AMD platform-based laptops. The innovative PC manufacturer this week introduced the first commercial ThinkPad laptops based on VISION Pro Technology from AMD, a new extension of VISION Technology from AMD, that are designed to appeal to key enterprise, SMB and government segments: the ThinkPad X100e, an entry ultraportable starting under $449, and the ThinkPad Edge Series laptops designed for the SMB, starting from $579.

Priced right and engineered for small business, ThinkPad Edge is truly mobile and reliable, with features:
* Powerful AMD dual-core processors
* Windows® 7 operating system
* Gigabit LAN, WWAN with GPS, 802.11bgn WiFi, Bluetooth and WiMAX options
* Thin and light with a 13.3" widescreen
* Spill-resistant keyboard
* Up to 7.8 hours of battery life
* Worry-free ThinkVantage® Technologies
* Enhanced multimedia and HD audio
* Low-light-sensitive Web camera
* Three USB ports (1 powered), 5-in-1 media card reader and HDMI
* Various services and warranty options

The ThinkPad® Edge 13" model features a progressive new design, with clean lines and bold color and finish choices. For more, visit HERE.

Lenovo also plans this quarter to introduce a new IdeaPad based on the 2009 AMD Mainstream Notebook Platform, targeted at the consumer mainstream volume market.

Vision Pro Technology

On January 5th, AMD announced VISION Pro Technology, a new commercial PC platform brand that delivers a superior visual computing experience, and can help businesses increase productivity and gain competitive advantage by enabling visually stunning communications, marketing and sales materials.

Graphics matter more than ever in business communication and innovative companies are leveraging balanced PC platform technology to generate and view rich visual presentations including videos and 3D graphics to communicate winning ideas.

Commercial PCs based on VISION Pro Technology from AMD offer out-of-the-box support for multiple monitors, seamless viewing of videos, use of video conferencing software, and the performance necessary to create and view rich presentations with embedded video and 3D graphics.

Additional industry support comes from HP which offers VISION Pro Technology from AMD on select models of its HP ProBook line of business notebooks. The HP ProBook 4415s, ProBook 6445b, and ProBook 6545b are powered by VISION Pro Technology from AMD, enabling these notebooks to deliver compelling PC-based visual support for all forms of business communications including sales presentations, webcasts, and videoconferences.

Security features supported by VISION Pro Technology include the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), AMD’s Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP), and key Windows® 7 Professional features3. AMD client virtualization technology [AMD Virtualization™ (AMD-V™) technology] provides the full, chip-level optimization needed to support legacy applications under Windows XP Mode3.

Find out more about Lenovo and their new ThinkPad Edge and ThinkPad X100e notebooks featuring VISION Pro technology from AMD.

Windows 7 Launch!

There is a lot to be excited about with this new operating system and AMD technology has been designed specifically to help PC users benefit from the visual experience and features that it brings.


The Windows 7 release is important to AMD for a few reasons:

OEM systems powered by AMD VISION Technology will ship with Windows 7, so on October 22 consumers can walk into retail stores and purchase a new PC with VISION Technology from AMD.

With Windows 7 comes DirectX 11, a key feature supported by award winning ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series graphics products. DirectX 11 will bring new levels of performance, realism and computing power to the PC.

For business customers, Windows 7 has a lot going for it including a new feature called Windows XP Mode that leverages the AMD-V virtualization technology in our CPUs to run older Windows XP software applications in a virtual copy of Windows XP on top of Windows 7.

Acer's new Ferrari One - VROOM!

Acer's new, Ferrari One netbook will be among the first wave of low-cost portables to be based on AMD's new Vision platform. The new system downplays technical specifications, instead dividing AMD-based machines into three simple performance tiers, dubbed “Vision”, “Vision Premium” or “Vision Ultimate”.

Accordingly, the three tiers are characterised as “See”, “Share” and “Create”. Basic Vision laptops offer basic capabilities for playing music and videos, while the more powerful Vision Premium adds ATI Stream support for transcoding video (plus DirectX 10.1 support for gaming) and Vision Ultimate adds extra power for video editing.

The Acer Ferrari One netbook will feature the new low-power, mobile processor from AMD – the Athlon Neo X2 Dual-Core L310 – which boasts twin cores, a clock speed of 1.2GHz, 1MB of L2 cache and support for 800MHz DDR2 RAM, plus ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics.

The Ferrari One will launch on 22 October, to coincide with the official launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. It will ship with either a 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium or 64-bit Windows Starter Edition.

There's still no optical drive, but the Ferrari One is well-appointed, at least in netbook terms. It comes equipped with a luxurious 11.6in screen with bright LED backlighting and a crisp resolution of 1,366 x 768. Other specifications include draft-n wireless, Gigabit Ethernet, optional 3G and Bluetooth, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk, with more expensive models offering up to 4GB and more capacious hard drives.

The new netbook also sees the re-emergence of the ATI XGP interface. This odd-looking socket sits alongside the One's standard D-SUB video output, and allows the connection of an optional docking station, equippined with HDMI port, and six more USB sockets to supplement the three that are arranged around the One's standard three.

Where Acer's new netbook could struggle, however, is longevity away from the mains. Although it ships with a seemingly impressive 5,600mAh, six-cell unit as standard, Acer's press material stated a rather conservative battery life of around five hours.


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