Intel better get its act together AMD is no fruitcake, after taking in ATi its now barging into the mobile phone arena. AMD processors and mobile graphics technology were disclosed at the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday. The Imageon A250 applications processor is used for video recording/playback and photo imaging, among other applications, and can be programmed for multimedia and high-level graphics, referred to as vector graphics. The Imageon D160 mobile TV solution is a hardware and software package that allows mobile phone makers to receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals in a USB-powered device. The chipmaker also introduced the Imageon M210 audio processor for high-definition audio. AMD is also offering graphics technology separately. The company's Z460 3D graphics taps into the same patented AMD Unified Shader Architecture that provides a graphics platform for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game system, AMD said. Shaders are used for rendering 3D objects. AMD Z180 graphics technology is targeted at navigational systems and portable devices designed to handle animation, mapping, and Flash-style content. The Z180 features a native hardware-accelerated vector graphics solution, designed to render graphics between 20 and 40 times faster than software-based solutions.

Imageon chips are currently used in over 50 mobile phones and devices from companies like Motorola, LG, Panasonic, and Samsung. And AMD offers graphics technology to Freescale Semiconductor, Qualcomm, and STMicroelectronics, among others. The new chips, however, won't appear in products until the end of this year or next year because of the length of the design cycles, AMD said.

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