Computex: AMD outlines its tablet vision as battle with ARM and Intel heats up

Firm announces Z-series, including Desna and Hondo chips

TAIPEI: AMD sought to stake its claim on the tablet market on Wednesday with the launch of a new line-up of Fusion chips optimised specifically for Windows-based tablets.

In a move which is unsurprising given the noise Intel and ARM have been making in the tablet space, AMD unveiled its Z-series chip line, based on the energy-efficient Fusion APU design which combines GPU and CPU on the same die.

This year will see the launch of the Brazos-based Desna chips, while Hondo chips will follow in 2012, according to the general manager of AMD's products group, Rick Bergman.

"People have been asking where AMD stands on their approach to tablets," he said. "We've done something we didn't forsee going into the beginning of this year. We've found Brazos provides a nice experience on Windows tablets."

The Z-series chips also feature thermal design power of less than 6W, an important feature given the lack of chip cooling capabilities on tablet devices, and will support HTML5 and Flash 10.2, according to AMD.

The launch comes as arch rival Intel ramps up the pressure on ARM in the tablet and smartphone space, showing off several units built on its Oak Trail Atom and Medfield processors.

ARM has also stated its intention to continue growing in the space it has virtually made its own, predicting that it will take a 50 per cent share of the mobile PC market by 2015.

AMD also announced its 9-series chipset on Wednesday, featuring a discrete Radeon HD6000 series graphics card and 8-core Zambezi processor for improved HD and gaming.

The firm also shared more of its APU roadmap, showing off a Trinity chip, the model which will replace AMD's upcoming Llano in 2012 for mainstream desktop computing.