AMD To Launch a Windows 8.1 Gaming Tablet 119
SmartAboutThings writes "Chip maker AMD has announced that it's won 2 CES Innovation Awards for a gaming tablet the company plans to show off at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The device is called "Project Discovery" and will come with AMD's Mullins chip that is a 64-bit, x86-based chip, perfectly suitable for Windows 8.1. The low-power Mullins APU (accelerated processing unit) is AMD's answer to Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm, aimed at fanless tablets, ultrathin notebooks, and 2-in-1 devices. The 28nm processor is expected to consume as little as 2 watts of energy while in use. The obtained images show that the upcoming AMD tablet is quite similar to Razer Edge."
Gaming tablet? (Score:2, Funny)
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IT BLENDS?
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..if it's like the razer then it has console type controls...
"brain control" is shite for gaming, really.
AMD's 'window' of opportunity (Score:2)
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The same as Xbox One and PS4, so none of them can actually run any games!
No word yet on if it spies on your unit like the xBox One does ...
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Wait, it spies on my 'unit' now? ;-)
Re:With integrated graphics! (Score:4, Funny)
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That's gotta be uncomfortable for your boyfriend.
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I'm pretty much okay with MY COMPUTER listening to me/watching me all the time to be able to respond. I'm NOT okay with that feed being accessible to others. And that's a problem, because short of the observation/analysis hardware being practically airgapped from the portion of the system communicating with the internet you can't really prevent it. If the obvious 1984 parallels don't worry you, then consider just how long it will be before some pervert infects the Xbox network with a virus that lets her w
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Aaaaand... queue the Microsoft slamming... (Score:1)
... shouldn't be long now.
Re:Aaaaand... queue the Microsoft slamming... (Score:4, Insightful)
To be followed by random Apple bashing, several forms of "can it run Linux", and a whole lot of people saying the entire concept of a tablet is stupid because they can't figure out why they'd have one.
Throw in some sideways swipes at Obamacare, a couple of digs at the Tea Party, and several references to the NSA (with appropriate defense and bashing of Snowden). One or two dalliances into the merits of capitalism, and a couple of vigorous defenses of Haskell, and a full on vi vs emacs flamewar.
And then you'll have pretty much summed up Slashdot these days.
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... and a full on vi vs emacs flamewar
Honestly these days I would say the majority here have no idea what either of them are.
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you mean you use a mouse, don't you?
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No, that's an unrelated term generally reserved for randy airheads.
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you would think that, but for some reason that pile of crap emacs keeps trudging on~
Re: Aaaaand... queue the Microsoft slamming... (Score:3)
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Then there are mentions of BitCoin, pro, and against. Before that, it was goatse, then before that, Natalie Portman statues, hot grits, and cold containers of diluted diesel exhaust fluid.
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Re:Aaaaand... queue the Microsoft slamming... (Score:4, Insightful)
"To be followed by random Apple bashing, several forms of 'can it run Linux', and a whole lot of people saying the entire concept of a tablet is stupid because they can't figure out why they'd have one."
Seriously: "Can it run Linux" was the first question that popped into my head. I might be interested in the tablet, if the hardware is decent. But I have exactly zero interest in Windows 8.x.
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"And this is an "insightful" comment? Oh my! Confirms my suspicion that Slashdot is a gathering of social misfits typing from their parents basements nurturing each other by modding up each other's inane comments."
Or, probably more likely, it is an indication that you're the one who is out of touch.
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I am sure you were hoping for "No it cant because it has some restriction" but the answer is "yes it can" so now the ball is in your court. It is all free and open but guaranteed nothing will come of it, it is *always* like this with Linux nerds.
I would not be so "sure" if I were you. I wasn't "hoping" for anything of the sort. I made a simple, honest statement of fact.
Why do you assume some kind of secret psychological motivation? Why do you discount the possibility of someone having an honest opinion, free of ulterior motives, that is different from yours? That seems awfully arrogant.
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This has to be aimed more at casual gamers, or those that play Plants vs Zombie style games as opposed to say the latest flavor of the week FPS/RPG.
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Well, the tablet form factor isn't for FPSs, but that's a pretty tired genre.
I've been waiting for a good fun RPG designed around the simpler UI of a tablet - one that's more about exploring and puzzle solving than focused only on the combat. Don't Starve, if you pretend it's an RPG (it kinda sorta is) is great for a tablet. I'd love to see more traditional RPG content with an interface like Don't Starve.
And for true obsessed gaming, 4X games can work fine with a tablet (MOO2 is nearly perfect as is). It
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Civ 5 actually has an explicitly touch-oriented UI option which is enabled for Windows 8 (optionally; I still use the default controls). Many turn-based strategy games could be played very readily on a touch device, though, even without tweaks to the UI/controls.
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Depends a lot on how finicky the positioning is, and how important sliders are. MOO1 wouldn't work at all on touch (the whole game seemed like finicky sliders), for example. But yeah, I'm sure there are many that would work just fine as is.
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Win 8.1 is superior to win 7 in every way.
No, it doesn't. I know people who play steam game on there surface pro. Hell, proper motion utilization and TF2 would be a blast to play.
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Ballmer is gone.
Why would we slam MSFT today of all days?
"Ding dong the witch is dead, which old witch, the Ballmer witch ..."
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Interesting, if done right, it could be a decent desktop replacement (I assume one isn't locked into UEFI secure boot on x86.) Even more so if it had Thunderbolt and USB 3.5 capabilities. Use it as a desktop with a BT keyboard, then take it on the road.
This is how MS should have sold the Surface Pro.
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The T100 is a new device. In fact, all baytrail devices are only a couple of weeks old. There's some preliminary efforts getting linux going on the T100
http://liliputing.com/2013/10/booting-ubuntu-asus-transformer-book-t100.html
Though ALL baytrail devices are pure UEFI, it looks like secure boot isnt an issue on the T100. Linux boots from a flash drive but the internal storage is not yet accessible and neither is the wifi. My guess is that there isn't yet support for the new intel SDIO controller, or it's n
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Interesting, if done right, it could be a decent desktop replacement (I assume one isn't locked into UEFI secure boot on x86.)
Windows certification requires SecureBoot be optional and to provide the ability to turn it off, even Microsoft's own Surface Pro allows this.
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If it's running Windows, I want it to be a Tablet PC and therefore come with a pressure-sensitive pen.
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It looks to have minimal holes in it, but based on the dodge of the case/handle/whatever it slides into, I'm voting yes.
"perfectly suitable for Windows 8.1." (Score:1)
"perfectly suitable for Windows 8.1."
Not even subtle slashvertisement
KDE (Score:1)
But does it run Linux? (Score:1)
Being an AMD processor running the amd64 architecture (not arm), it will have secure boot disabled, so we can install any operating system. I'll buy a few of these if they work out of the box with Debian. Maybe I'll get to find out if that Windows refund rule still works.
I'd love one! (Score:3)
Not a gaming tablet, but one of the Mullins CPUs, to build a new low-power fanless home server.
This sounds like it could be an excellent Atom competitor.
2 watts of energy (Score:1)
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Wrong.
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GIYF, but the slash means per or divide. Why would you divide a watt - a joule per second - by seconds again and expect to get joules? You'd get joules per second squared.
A man-hour and a man per hour aren't the same. I can't even imagine what the latter would be used to measure...
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Men per hour is the standard rating system for your mom, I believe...
</joke>
Hmm I'm interested... (Score:1)
I'm a gamer but sometimes I'm tired and don't feel like sitting at a desk. I got the Asus T100 that has the new baytrail atom and while great, it can only run pre 2009 games or low end games. I can run Stanley Parable well (source engine game) but I also have Final Fantasy 14 and that only runs 10fps on the lowest setting.
Well basically what I'm saying there is a market out there, though a small one.
Start watching AMD closely... (Score:2)
They're swirling! I think they have about two years before the inevitable "Drain of Doom".
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Joy. Then Intel can charge $1,000 for a chip that would be released for $300 with a little competition. We should be so lucky!
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Sony Vaio Flip is close, but it's got terrible battery life, about half of what you could expect from a macbook air. Instead of a Wacom digizier, it's got an N-Trig, which might be close enough depending on what you want to do with it.
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Surface Pro 2 hits all your criteria, including the last, except for the battery life. Add in the Power Cover (not yet out, but coming "soon" according to the rumor mill) instead of the normal keyboard covers (it's a type cover - the kind with the real keyboard - plus auxiliary battery) and maybe that meets your needs?
Its a good start (Score:4, Insightful)
If AMD wants to get into the tablet game then have at it. From the supposed design pictures it looks like the tablet slides into a controller which in turn can plug into a dock with what looks like USB, Ethernet, displayport and HDMI. Those images might be fake but hell, if they are close to the final design then its a damn good start. It kinda reminds me of the Wii U controller. Now if they could get a technology like airplay integrated then the dock can be omitted and the thing hooked to a TV wirelessly. Then plop it into a dock with keyboard, mouse and monitor for some more productive use. Or slide it out of the controller and dock for a traditional tablet. I don't know how powerful the CPU/GPU is but it may suffice for most of the tasks people would use it for (games, internet, typing). Might have trouble running Crysis though :)
Now if it only ran Linux...
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The dock also seems to have 7 [visible] USB ports, a pair of mini displayports, an ethernet jack, and two unidentified holes (1 on the side, 1 on the back). I assume at least some of those USB ports are USB3, seems like having the dock is definitely worth it.
I really don't get it (Score:2)
I don't get why companies insist on trying to make gaming tablets, sure they might be fine for angrybirds, but I think you'd be hardpressed to find any hardcore gamer looking to buy a tablet to game on. Maybe there is a target audience out there that isn't imaginary, but I just know I don't see it.
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I don't get why companies insist on trying to make gaming tablets, sure they might be fine for angrybirds, but I think you'd be hardpressed to find any hardcore gamer looking to buy a tablet to game on. Maybe there is a target audience out there that isn't imaginary, but I just know I don't see it.
Maybe hardcore gamers aren't where the money is. There are fewer of them than normal gamers, which are probably fewer than normal people that just occasionally play some games. Plus, the hardcore gamer market would be competing with consoles as well as computers. A gamer tablet would pretty much just be competing with other tablets and would need something to make it stand out anyway in that market.
AMD (Score:1)
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(Didn't post this yesterday because offtopic...)
Oh and lots and lots of doctors aren't taking Obamacare, same for hospoitals. So much so that there is already talk of legislation forcing doctors to take it.
Why couldn't they have such legislation? There is already this legislation in place forcing the plebs to buy this thing from companies.