There's no mistaking that Intel's Atom is where the ultra-portable action is, and VIA's impressive Nano has done little to impact Intel's netbook dominance.
Intel's other big-name rival, AMD, may have more luck with the launch of its Ultra-Value Client (UVC) solutions. According to the following leaked slides from CHW.net, AMD is lining up its Atom-offensive with a series of low-power, low-cost chips aimed at delivering a desktop-like experience in an el-cheapo system.
The two UVC processors revealed are the 22W 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 3250e and the 15W 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e. The chips use the familiar AM2 socket for desktop use, but the slide reveals that similar models for AMD's mobile S1G1 socket are also available.
The chips will be OEM-only, and reports suggest that they'll reach the market as soon as December in systems from ASUS, Acer and Shuttle.
According to the slide, the chips will be paired with AMD's 65nm 740 chipset - so we can expect a single PCI-E slot in desktop configurations, or a DirectX 9 IGP in portable systems.
A second slide hints at AMD's marketing strategy; Intel's Atom provides a sub-traditional PC experience, and AMD hopes to rectify that with its more-capable UVC solutions.
