Archive for the category AMD PR
The surf report from here to eternity (or at least 2011)
Posted by John Taylor in 9:31 AM
Loading ...As I wrote last week, the AMD Financial Analyst Day held this year in Sunnyvale, CA , is an exciting day in that it represents a high-profile update on the state of AMD as an important innovator and business. We unveiled product and corporate roadmaps through 2011, including a technology direction with AMD Fusion that transcends that timeframe. The insights we shared on Fusion development, more widespread use of teraflops-class GPUs for compute, and our parallel performance/low-power x86 cores development in particular made waves in the business and tech trade press.
But as my high school friends might say on those stormy days when it was possible to truly surf off the west coast of Florida: “Some waves are tasty rides, and some knock you on your tail and get sand in your jams.”
So here’s the waves created by some of the media who attended in Sunnyvale or participated via Web cast.
Tasty waves:
- “Frankly, we’re jazzed about the possibilities…” – Darren Murph, Engadget (Thanks Darren, we are too!)
- “AMD has only recently made strides toward putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but it looks like it’s hitting the home stretch.” – Andy Patrizio, Internetnews.com
- “If all of this works, Fusion could be the basis for some compelling products. Rick Bergman, the head of AMD’s Products Group, promised the technology would “literally deliver a supercomputer on your lap . . . with all-day battery performance.” That’s an ambitious plan, but it’s good to see AMD get some of its mojo back.” – John Morris, ZDNet
- “[Bulldozer is] really a very elegant design and the basis for what AMD, Intel and NVIDIA have been talking about for years now. The CPU will do what it does best while the GPU does what it is good at.” – Anand Shimpi, AnandTech
- “Companies rarely make big news at financial analyst day events, but AMD bucked that trend Wednesday by unveiling details of its newly revamped roadmap, its two brand-new processor architectures, and its plans for CPU/GPU integration.” – Jon Stokes, Ars Technica
Life’s-No-Beach Waves:
- “If chip makers competed on the basis of code names rather than products then Advanced Micro Devices might have beaten Intel a long time ago.” – James Niccolai, IDG News Service
- “AMD has long struggled in the mobile segment, but the company’s 2010 roadmap is potentially strong enough to change its fortunes.” – Joel Hruska, Hot Hardware
- “AMD’s Opteron once held the high ground when compared to Intel’s server offerings. We reckon the boot is just about on the other foot…for now at least, and we wait with bated breath to see what kind of performance Bulldozer-driven Opteron can deliver in 2011.” – Sylvie Barak, HEXUS.net
Whether it’s criticism or praise, tasty or sandy, it’s always interesting to see how different media view our telling of the AMD story, and reshape it for their respective audiences. Overall, I like the “surf report” on the 2009 AMD Financial Analyst Day in the sense that media, to a deeper extent than before, perceive AMD has a unique strategy and unique IP to execute it. Yes, there were questions about how well AMD could win at a game currently defined by its competition (CPU-exclusive marketing and benchmarking). And that question can only be answered as AMD executes to its technology vision and design points.
Now, we’ve heard what the media have to say. What’s your feedback? Make some waves.
John Taylor is Director, Global Platform & Product Communications at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied. This blog contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” or “intends.” AMD Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
What a Day, a Year, a Future
Posted by John Taylor in 5:49 PM
We just wrapped AMD’s annual Financial Analyst Day, and throughout the event I couldn’t help but think “What a big year it’s been.” But more importantly, I can’t help thinking, “Wow, we’ve got a great future ahead, and people need to get in on the excitement.”
I tend to get excited about the product and technology disclosures we shared for the first time today. It’s why I drive to work down Hill Country back roads to the AMD Lone Star Campus each morning with a smile on my face – it’s very cool being a part of a company that creates technology that truly matters in people’s lives. It’s also professionally gratifying when media start picking up on that excitement, and I think they increasingly are. After today, I predict the positive vibes will flow even more. I can see media are beginning to recognize our sustained product momentum and unique technology roadmap, and what we presented to them today further illustrates how we plan to sustain this momentum and create high-value experiences across our entire product line.
Before we jump to 2011, let’s look back at 2009.
The entire tech industry, including AMD, entered 2009 on a down note, fallout from a worldwide economic implosion. In spite of that, we’re exiting 2009 in clear, crisp fashion. In 2009 AMD consistently executed, delivered what we promised, and launched well-received new platforms and products for every market we serve, most of them ahead of schedule. And we made sure to focus on delivering these platforms with the right blend of computing performance and superior graphics. Moreover, this year we focused on growing our partner ecosystem and strengthened our customer and OEM relationships by truly listening to customers’ and consumers’ demands and offering complete solutions to match their needs—including the AMD Server Platform featuring the Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, AMD Platform for Ultrathin Notebooks, AMD Vision Technology, ATI Radeon™ 5800 series graphics cards, and Dragon platform technology featuring AMD Phenom™ II processors.
So what exactly did AMD talk about today?
We talked about all the exciting and innovative things to come in 2010 and 2011. Senior executives including AMD President and Chief Executive Officer Dirk Meyer briefed media and analysts on the great things AMD has in store for the future and discussed the state of our business. During the day, other senior execs talked about our technology strategy, future product and platform plans and led a series of more technical sessions. Attendees got to see firsthand the roadmaps outlined for platforms and technology that span the most popular usage scenarios for customers at work, at home and at play. With the growing importance and ubiquity of multimedia, AMD’s momentum and lead in the graphics market will differentiate us from competitors, enabling a complete computing experience with stunning graphics and video that consumers demand. Our strong roadmap for 2010 is scheduled to be followed with the advent of “Fusion” and the first Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) codenamed “Llano,” in 2011. This arrival will mark a new era in computing, succeeded the previous generations of first clock frequency, then multi-core driven performance gains. We also plan to bring to market the first “Bulldozer” and “Bobcat” core-based platforms, focusing on power, performance and size.
As highlighted in the platform and technology roadmaps presented today, here are the highlights of what’s scheduled to come in 2010 and 2011 (by codename):
Next-Generation Technologies for Next-Generation Graphics
- While AMD maintains momentum in rolling out several more DirectX 11 capable parts from its wildly successful ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 series in 2H09 and 1H10 including graphics cards codenamed “Cedar,” “Hemlock,” and “Redwood,” AMD will also introduce DirectX 11 capable members of the ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5000 series in 2010, bringing incredible graphics capabilities and stunning HD video to AMD’s new notebook platforms.
- “Bobcat” is AMD’s low-power x86 processor core aimed at notebook processing in ultrathin and netbook form factors, and designed to be extremely small, highly flexible and single threaded.
- “Bulldozer” is AMD’s completely new, high performance architecture for the mainstream server, mainstream desktop and notebook PC markets that employs a new approach to multithreaded compute performance for achieving advanced efficiency and throughput. “Bulldozer” is designed to give AMD an exceptional CPU option for linking with GPUs in highly scalable, single-chip Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) configurations.
Notebook Platforms:
- “Danube” is AMD’s new platform for the mainstream notebook market and will feature the new “Champlain” CPU, the first quad-core processor offered by AMD specifically for the notebook market that includes 2M cache and DDR3 memory support.
- “Sabine,” is AMD’s new mainstream notebook platform slated for 2011 and will be the first notebook platform to feature the quad-core “Llano” APU.
- “Nile” is AMD’s next generation platform for ultrathin notebooks and is scheduled for 1H10, with the dual-core “Geneva” CPU using DDR3 memory technology and is being designed to yield more than 7 hours of battery life under normal usage conditions.
- “Brazos” is AMD’s ultrathin notebook and netbook platform slated for 2011, and “Ontario” is the APU based on the “Bobcat” core.
Desktop Platforms:
- “Leo” is AMD’s next generation enthusiast-class desktop PC platform. Scheduled for 1H10, “Leo” will feature the industry’s first six-core desktop CPU, codenamed “Thuban,” for greater multi-tasking, as well as DirectX 11 capabilities for a visually enhanced gaming experience.
- “Dorado” is AMD’s next-generation mainstream desktop platform with AMD Athlon™ II processors, DirectX 11 discrete graphics options, and stream application acceleration.
- “Lynx,” and “Scorpius” are AMD’s desktop platforms for 2011. “Lynx” is the first desktop platform powered by the quad-core “Llano” APU. “Scorpius” is an enthusiast-class desktop platform featuring the “Zambezi” CPU, the first 8-core solution for enthusiast desktop users based on the “Bulldozer” core.
Server Platforms:
- “Maranello” is AMD’s next generation server platform and remains on track for introduction in 1H10. “Maranello” is a DDR3-based server platform which is expected to offer a new socket infrastructure, Socket G34, to support upcoming 8 or 12-core “Magny-Cours” processors.
- “San Marino” is AMD’s new server platform suited for large, dense deployments that require power efficiency and flexibility that is ideal for small/medium businesses, as well as web, cloud and infrastructure applications.
You can also check out AMD Senior Vice President and General Manager Rick Bergman’s presentation below.
We have an exciting road ahead of us, cool technological advancements and new innovative products we plan to bring to the market, so buckle up your seat belts and enjoy the ride and full featured experience we have in store. AMD has turned the corner, going in the right direction of a fully enhanced user computing experience for every market, there’s no looking back now – full speed ahead.
John Taylor is Director, Global Platform & Product Communications at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied. This blog contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words such as “plans,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” or “intends.” AMD Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Not Just Another Day in the Office
Posted by Catherine Greenlaw in 11:31 AM
PRSourceCode recently wrapped its 2009 Top Tech Communicators Study, in which more than 300 IT and business journalists told them which companies’ public relations departments they felt did the best job getting them the info they wanted to know. Hopefully some of those ‘judges’ are out there reading this post. We are thrilled (we really are – it’s not just PR talk) that AMD’s Global Communications team was named to that list.
Before you think this is just another example of PR on PR, let me assure you this is not about patting ourselves on the back for being good communications professionals. I am going to share some of the reasons we may get it right – but these reasons may surprise you.
AMD DNA
Ask any current or even former employee of AMD to name a few things that stick in their mind about the company, and they’ll invariably say something about how AMD manages to get into your blood, almost becoming another gene on one of those DNA double helix diagrams. It manifests itself most often as a fighting spirit. No matter how you describe it, once you’ve got it, you’ve got it. The people who work in PR are no exception. We possess that spirit. We believe in the company. We believe in the products. We believe in our leadership. And we believe in what we do. We’ve got good stories at AMD, and our company sits at the center of a critical industry that enables great things for people the world over. So at the end of the day, you can believe in us because we believe in ourselves.
VALUE OF PR
We’re fortunate in AMD Global Communications to have a management team that across the board, understands the value that our team brings to the equation. They ‘get’ our contributions, even if it they sometimes difficult to quantify in terms of bottom line dollars. AMD has a management team that empowers us to take risks, while at the same time demand that truth, transparency and integrity remain supreme. So we might diminish the focus on AMD’s own individual product brands in favor of a mainstream consumer brand like VISION to help make purchasing decisions easier for consumers. Or we might create a heated discussion on industry issues such as battery life reporting, even if it the arguments don’t always fall in our favor. When you’ve got truth, transparency and integrity on your side, communication is rewarding.
WE LIKE IT
Let’s face it. Working in communications is not the same as schlepping away as a telemarketer making cold calls. No, in our jobs, we get to talk with you. And here again, we’re fortunate. The media we deal with on a regular basis are extremely well-informed and receptive to the news we provide. We can also have a productive dialogue with our journalists, because we’ve developed mutual respect and trust. In other words, if we do a good job at being communicators, it’s because our customers help make our job easy.
(We also get work with some great people who also help make our jobs easier, both inside of AMD and notably the extended AMD PR team at Bite Communications.)
So a big thanks to all of the media out there who helped bestow this award on us. Raise a glass and toast yourselves. Cheers.
Catherine Greenlaw is a public relations manager at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
(4.90 out of 5)
(4.20 out of 5)