MSI is excited to announce that it has just launched the all-new AE220 21.5" touch control entertainment system equipped with AMD's latest Kabini APU platform. The design seeks to use the MSI 21.5" All-in-One PC as the spearhead of a new classic in AIO PC design that retains the best traditional features while continuing to set the trend in high-tech innovation. The MSI AE220 has a transparent bezel that helps the computer's appearance aside the conventional cold and sterile feeling about high-tech. The compact design blends seamlessly into designer interiors and enhances the overall look of style and sophistication.

The MSI AE220 is the first to feature the E2-3000/A4-5000 APU of AMD's Kabini platform. Based on a 28nm producing process, the new APU delivers high performance with a low power consumption of just 15W. AMD Kabini does more than just integrate the GPU and CPU into the same chip; the chipset functions are also integrated to create the industry's first System-on-Chip (SOC) APU processor. The AMD Kabini platform delivers exceptional rendering performance and packs massive power into a 15W processor. The MSI AE220 features the E2-3000/A4-5000 integrated with AMD Radeon HD 8280/8330 Graphics for a big boost in multimedia and 3D performance compared to previous generation. Users can now enjoy the performance and quality of a discrete graphics card without having to purchase one.

AMD reportedly updated its consumer products roadmap for 2014 thru 2015 to account for changes in the industry. The company is expected to unveil its next-generation "Volcanic Islands" GPU family by late-September, 2013. In the first quarter of 2014, the company is expected to unveil its 4th generation entry-level APUs, codenamed "Kabini." Built in ST3 socket for notebooks, and FS1B for desktops, this product family will include dual- and quad-core parts, with TDPs under 25W. Among the quad-core parts are the A4-5350 and A4-5150, and among the dual-core ones is the E1-2650.

"Kabini" will enter mass-production in February 2014, and will be formally announced in the following month. Kabini's early-2014 launch, delayed from late-2013, will have a cascading effect on its successor's launch. "Beema," its successor, will now launch in either late-2014, or early-2015. "Beema" will be based on the same socket types as "Kabini," but will incorporate more HSA technologies.

AMD's energy-efficient socket FM2 desktop APU, the A10-6700T, is expected to go on sale later this week. Its selling point is the 45W TDP, with no reduction in core-count, or other components. Based on the 32 nm "Richland" silicon, the A10-6700T features four "Piledriver" x86-64 cores clocked at 2.50 GHz, with TurboCore frequency of 3.50 GHz, and 4 MB of total L2 cache. It features a Radeon HD 8650D graphics core with 384 stream processors, and untouched clock speeds of 760 MHz core, and 844 MHz boost. The chip also features a dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz integrated memory controller, and a PCI-Express gen 2.0 root complex. The A10-6700T is expected to be priced around $150.

ASUS plans to expand its VivoBook series with a new AMD-powered member, the X102BA. This 10.2-inch ultra-portable should bring Windows 8 experience to the masses, with its cost-effective innards, including an AMD A4-1200 dual-core APU with Radeon HD 8180 graphics, 2 GB of RAM, and 320 GB of HDD storage. Its software bundle includes not just Windows 8, but also Office Home and Student 2013. ASUS reportedly plans to price the X102BA at 330 Euros, when the notebook hits stores some time next month.

AMD confirmed that its next-generation socket FM2+ APUs, codenamed "Kaveri," will begin shipping in Q4-2013, and will be available "very early" in Q1-2014, in the retail (desktop component) channel. Mobile variants of the chip will be available a little later in the same quarter. AMD also described the stuff that "Kaveri" APUs will be made of - four x86-64 cores based on the "Steamroller" micro-architecture, major heterogeneous computing enhancements, a newer integrated graphics processor based on the and "Graphics CoreNext" micro-architecture.

AMD today announced the opening of a new design centre in Hyderabad, featuring world-class lab facilities dedicated to furthering both software and hardware innovations at the heart of AMD's popular Accelerated Processing Units (APUs.) In a ceremony held today, the new design centre was inaugurated by Rory Read, president and chief executive officer at AMD.

"AMD is committed to providing our customers with innovative, tailored technology solutions that empower people and deliver exceptional experiences," said Read. "Our Hyderabad Design Centre will play an important part in that mission as the team works in concert with our other design centers around the world to deliver AMD's next round of innovative products."

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today expanded its portfolio of ultrathin laptops with the new 14-inch Satellite E45t and 15.6-inch Satellite E55t/E55Dt models. Built with the latest technologies and intuitive touchscreen and voice controls, these ultrathin PCs offer versatility for both productivity and entertainment in a distinctively thin design.

"Thin is in," said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Our expanding line of ultrathins is designed to be more accessible to consumer looking for a thinner, more stylish PC that delivers the same class of performance and features as a traditional laptop - at a price point that is competitive with a traditional laptop."

A Finnish group of Overclockers who call themselves 'The Stilt' have managed to score a world record using AMD's newest Richland architecture based A10-6800K APU and using the Asus F2A85-V Pro motherboard. Back in June, The Stilt had managed to score 8000.48 MHz with a bus clock of 126.99 MHz and applying 2.008 volts to the CPU. The new world record, set by the same group, managed to score an applaud-worthy 8203.01 MHz with a bus clock of 130.21 MHz, multiplier set at 63x and a, believe it or not, lower core voltage of 1.968 volts. The recently discovered x87 patch was also applied, which allowed the poor A10-6800K to post better SuperPi scores.

Even though AMD's next-generation Kaveri APU, based on the Steamroller x86 CPU, GCN (Graphics Core Next) GPU, and HUMA memory architecture might not arrive until late in 1H of 2014, its successor is already named and being worked on by AMD. Carizo, successor to Kaveri, will arrive sometime in 2015, we are betting before the end of 1H 2015, and will feature further improvements in AMD's big APU push.

While nothing is confirmed, Carizo most probably packs AMD's next-in-line Excavator CPU core and perhaps an improved GCN based GPU core. Memory architecture will undoubtedly feature further improvements, in line with AMD's big push for heterogeneous computing and unified memory.

AMD's next generation Kaveri APUs might be delayed until early 1H 2014. The Steamroller architecture based APU is officially slated for Q4 2013, but a new report says that Kaveri based APUs are yet to achieve the mass production levels required for a full-scale launch. Of course, AMD could still launch the APUs in limited supply, with the supply eventually improving over the months, but that doesn't ever go well with consumers.

"AMD originally expected to start supplying its Heterogeneous System Architecture (HAS) Kaveri APUs in the second half of 2013, but according to the company's latest plans, the CPU maker will only provide two A10 and one A8 APU pilot production samples to its clients in December 2013, indicating that Kaveri APU-based PC products may have difficulties showing up in the retail channel before April 2014, the sources said."

GIGABYTE rolled out its newest entry-level socket FM2 motherboard, the F2A75M-DS2. With it, GIGABYTE established AMD A75 chipset and black PCB color as the new baseline for its AMD platform motherboards. Built in the compact micro-ATX form-factor measuring 174 x 226 mm, the motherboard seats AMD A-series APUs and Athlon processors in the FM2 package, with out of the box support for A-series "Richland" APUs.

The F2A75M-DS2 draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, a 4+1 phase VRM powers the APU socket, which is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. A PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI make for the rest of its expansion. Display outputs include dual-link DVI and D-Sub. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A75 FCH. Four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel two by header), 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports make for the rest of the connectivity. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by GIGABYTE's dual-UEFI technology. Expect this one to go for around $60.

CyberPower Inc., a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, today announced the Zeus HTPC, a sleek new series of Windows-based home-theatre PCs that can double as your primary desktop. The Zeus HTPC combines the compact and stylish design of a home theatre system with the power and performance of a gaming PC. The Zeus HTPC is your DVR, enthusiast home theatre PC, gaming console and DVD/Blu-Ray Player all in one thin micro-ATX chassis that fits perfectly in your home theatre stack or on your desk. The chassis utilizes a passive cooled heatsink technology paired with razor fins for maximum heat dissipation and minimal noise. CYBERPOWERPC will offer six Zeus HTPC models.

The Zeus HTPC is a multimedia monster powered by your choice of a 4th Generation Intel Core processor or AMD APU to provide easy access to all your favorite multimedia applications from PC gaming and movie streaming to surfing the web. Combined with discrete graphics with the AMD Radeon HD 7750 users can dive into the latest PC gaming titles in full HD and beautifully rendered graphics in rich detail.

Hardware news site WCCF Tech spotted an interesting entry listed in the Bionic research database. The ES (Engineering Sample) chip could be a part of AMD's next-generation APU series featuring the new and improved Steamroller core. While we don't expect performance to increase by leaps and bounds, but Steamroller builds on the Bulldozer architecture and has a target to offer as much as a 30% improvement in performance over the original core.

The ES code 2M186092H4467_23/18/12/05_1304 tells us even more. According to earlier observations (here and here), the four numbers in the middle part tell a bit about clock speeds. If the first one is not 00 (no turbo, see Kabini ES), it indicates a turbo clock of 2.3GHz. The "18? stands for 1.8GHz nominal frequency. I'm not so sure about the "12?. It could stand for 1.2Ghz North Bridge clock. Finally the "05? indicates a 500MHz GPU clock. The right part "1304? is the GPU code, which - thanks to earlier revelations - can be identified as AMD1304.1 = "KV SPECTRE MOBILE 35W (1304)".

A 2.3 GHz Turbo core is pretty low, which can be attributed to the early state of the Engineering Sample. Hopefully clock speeds hit further north of just 1.8 GHz CPU and 500 MHz graphics, especially for the 35W part. The next-generation chips will be manufactured on the new bulk 28nm manufacturing process at Global Foundries.

AMD's A-series "Richland" APUs are great to have in HTPC builds, but their 65W to 100W TDPs can be a put-off for some. The company is working on a pair of energy efficient socket FM2 APUs based on the silicon, with TDP rated at 45W. The first of the two is the A10-6700T, which features a significantly lower CPU clock speed of 2.50 GHz, with an unknown TurboCore speed; and GPU clock speed of 720 MHz. It's not known if the chip is dual-core or quad-core, but given that quad-core non-K A10-6700 rates in at 65W, it's not improbable for A10-6700T to be one, as well. Also unknown is the stream processor count. Moving on, we have the A8-6500T. Its CPU clock speed is further lowered, to 2.10 GHz, and GPU to 720 MHz, like the A10-6700T, its CPU and GPU core/SP counts are under the wraps.

BIOSTAR, maker of embedded/IPC solutions, graphics cards, and motherboards, has introduced their latest motherboard that supports AMD's FM2 APU family (Trinity / Richland), the Hi-Fi A85W 3D. It comes with BIOSTAR's own in-house audio technology called "Hi-Fi 3D".

The Hi-Fi A85W 3D is an ATX form factor board that features AMD socket FM2 APU support and 4 DDR3 memory slots. It includes the usual high-end motherboard features like USB 3.0, HDMI and PCI-E slots. Additional utilities from BIOSTAR including: Watch Dog, BIO-Relife, BIO-Flasher, e-Hotline, BIO-Watch, T-Overclocker, GPU (Green power uitlity), and Smart Speed LAN.

With Microsoft readying a Release Preview of its upcoming Windows 8.1 operating system; AMD jumped in with a specialized Catalyst driver. Windows 8.1 features an upgraded display driver model, WDDM 1.3, which lets users take advantage of a few new features. GPUs based on AMD's Graphics CoreNext architecture will be supported by Windows 8.1 over WDDM 1.3, while older VLIW4 and VLIW5-based GPUs (Radeon HD 6000 series and older), will be supported over older WDDM 1.2 based drivers.

Windows 8.1 brings some enhancements to PC graphics, with support for Microsoft's own standardized wireless display technology; 48 Hz dynamic refresh rates for video playback, V-sync interrupt optimization, video conferencing acceleration, and a new instruction to the DirectX 11.1 API, named "tiled resources." Like the operating system itself, AMD's Windows 8.1 Preview Catalyst driver is a beta, and its use comes with no warranties. Microsoft expects to launch Windows 8.1 later this year, reportedly available as a free upgrade for current Windows 8 users.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst Windows 8.1 Preview Driver

Lists of AMD GPUs supported by WDDM 1.3 and WDDM 1.2 follow.

After a successful collaboration with AMD over the past two years to leverage open standards to drive amazing quality, scalability, and performance for our customers - Adobe has just released Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Now users can get the production releases of these flagship products which have been optimized to the massive compute power of AMD APUs, AMD Radeon HD graphics and AMD FirePro professional graphics to enable GPU-accelerated performance across a broad range of form factors through the OpenGL and OpenCL open standards. As highlighted in recent blogs, these optimizations are significant because, not only do they result in faster final render times, but more importantly, they enable users to apply effects and preview their edits in real-time, enabling greater productivity. This is great news for end-users everywhere, who now have unprecedented choice in using the hardware that best suits their needs. AMD-based systems coupled with Adobe's shift to the affordable and innovative Adobe Creative Cloud model for managing licenses and software updates can now put these latest Adobe creative tools in the hands of more users than ever.

ECS Reveals Its First AMD Kabini Motherboard - KBN-I

Elitegroup Computer Systems reveals its latest Mini-ITX motherboard family KBN-I featuring the world 1st Quad Core SoC (system-on-a-chip) processor with the newest "Jaguar" 28 nanometer architecture. The ECS KBN-I integrated AMD Quad Core A6-5200 APU with AMD Radeon HD 8400 Graphics, supporting new generation DirectX 11.1 graphics. The ECS KBN-I with official Windows 8 WHCK certification (Windows Hardware Certification Kit) allows users to take full advantage of the touch browser and function-oriented design of Windows 8. The KBN-I is optimized for home entertainment, general computing productivity, and multimedia applications.

AMD today publicly disclosed its strategy and roadmap to recapture market share in enterprise and data center servers by unveiling innovative products that address key technologies and meet the requirements of the fastest-growing data center and cloud computing workloads.

Additionally, AMD revealed details of its 2014 server portfolio including best-in-class Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), two- and four-socket CPUs, and details on what it expects to be the industry's premier ARM server processor. This is on the heels of announcing the general availability of the AMD Opteron X-Series processor, code named "Kyoto," which dominates the small-core server market on every performance benchmark. These forthcoming AMD Opteron processors bring important innovations to the rapidly changing compute market, including integrated CPU and GPU compute (APU); high core-count ARM servers for high-density compute in the data center; and substantial improvements in compute per-watt per-dollar and total cost of ownership.

AMD's new A10-6800K "Richland" APU is turning out to be quite the chip for competitive overclocking. Finnish overclocker "The Stilt" cracked the 8.00 GHz mark with the chip. Skills aside, "The Stilt" relied on liquid-nitrogen cooling that kept the chip at -185°C, a core voltage of 1.992V, a base clock of 126.99 MHz (~127 MHz), and 63.0x BClk multiplier. All four cores were enabled during the feat. Other key components of the bench include an ASUS F2A85-V Pro motherboard, and 2x 4 GB dual-channel memory of an unknown make, running at 1692 MHz (DDR) Find details and validation links here.

The world-renowned motherboard manufacturer MSI announced that its full line of FM2 series motherboards support AMD's 3rd GENERATION APU processors. MSI cooperated with AMD and became the first to pass all verifications and tests even before the announcement of the new APUs. That's why MSI's FM2 series motherboard (A85X, A75 and A55) users will be able to enjoy the excellent performance brought by the new processor simply by updating the BIOS and drivers through MSI's official website! The all new A10-6800K has outstanding CPU performance and 3D gaming capabilities as powerful as using independent graphics cards! When used with MSI's FM2 series motherboards, it can unleash superior performance through MSI's exclusive one second overclocking technology, OC Genie II. It only requires one action to overclock the CPU and the frequency of the built-in GPU. OC Genie II can increase the performance by 13%.

AMD today announced exclusive collaboration with Square Enix to optimize "THIEF" for the Graphics Core Next architecture in select AMD Radeon graphics processors, as well as the x86 and graphics architectures featured in AMD A-Series APUs. Developed in conjunction with the AMD Gaming Evolved program, "THIEF" will extensively leverage the advanced capabilities of AMD Radeon graphics processors, including AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology for panoramic gaming, AMD CrossFire multi-GPU technology for supreme performance, and state-of-the-art DirectX 11 rendering for pristine image quality.

"The 'THIEF' franchise has a storied history that we are proud to join in this latest installment," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, Graphics Business Unit, AMD. "We are even more pleased to work so closely with their development team to realize the vision for these games with the incredible gaming performance of a PC powered by AMD Radeon graphics. And as the exclusive hardware partner for 'THIEF,' we continue to demonstrate that the best experience for gamers and developers lives at AMD with the Gaming Evolved program."

While Sapphire's LGA1150 motherboard lineup came across as a little lukewarm, the company more than made up for that with its fleet of motherboards that take advantage of AMD's newest A-series and E-series APUs and SoCs. First, there's the PGS A320M, a micro-ATX motherboard that ships with a FirePro A320 socket FM2 APU pre-installed. Largely identical to an A10-5800K, and based on the "Trinity" micro-architecture, the A320 features FirePro-branded professional graphics that's certified for most modern 3D productivity applications, and can give display output at resolutions as high as 4096 x 2160. The board features one each of DisplayPort 1.2, dual-link DVI-I, and D-Sub display outputs. Other features include eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet (Broadcom controller), and 8-channel HD audio.

Things get interesting with a contraption called IPC-FS1r2A75. This board comes in a proprietary IPC form-factor, features an FS1 rev 2.0 socket, which seats R-series APUs, an embedded AMD Radeon E6000 series GPU based on the Graphics CoreNext arhitecture, with its own dedicated GDDR5 memory on-package, and AMD A75 FCH chipset. The board offers six mini-DisplayPort and four HDMI outputs, two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, an open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4 slot, four mPCIe slots (in stacks of two), five SATA 6 Gb/s ports, six USB 3.0 ports, two gigabit Ethernet connections, and 6-channel audio.

AMD today announced its 2013 Elite A-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) for desktops, codenamed "Richland", which delivers a superior PC solution with increased computational performance, discrete-level graphics and an easy upgrade infrastructure. At COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2013, AMD showcased the complete breadth of its 2013 APU portfolio with the launch of the new Elite A-Series APU for desktops which power a diverse range of OEM systems and feature new generations of software and applications that harness the unrivaled compute power of the 2013 AMD APU product lineup: the fastest AMD APUs ever.

"The new AMD A-Series APU is ideal for desktop PC builders and mainstream gamers wanting outstanding performance for their money, and today AMD delivers an excellent new follow-on to the recently announced mobile lineup," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products Division at AMD. "The combination of high-performance, third-generation desktop APUs with our existing portfolio of low-power, mobile APUs gives us our strongest-ever lineup of products for our customers and our technology partners."

ECS unveiled one of the very few mini-ITX motherboards to ship with an AMD "Kabini" A6-5200. The chip integrates both the APU and FCH, making it a true system-on-chip (SoC). It packs four x86-64 "Jaguar" CPU cores, a Radeon HD 8400 series GPU with 128 stream processors, a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, and a modern FCH chipset. On the KBN-I, the 28 nm chip is cooled by a small fan-heatsink. The PCB area gained by the single-chip solution is used to create two mPCIe expansion slots, in addition to the PCI-Express 2.0 x16. The board draws power from just a 24-pin ATX connector. Connectivity include two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 6-channel HD audio, D-Sub and HDMI display outputs, four USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet connection.