AMD has formally introduced at CES 2006 its AMD Live! program under which its partners will manufacture media center PCs with advanced digital media capabilities. The announcement was undoubtedly designed to counter Intel"s Viiv program, which was announced at last year"s Intel Developer Conference.
AMD Live! PCs will run Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition and come equipped with Athlon 64 X2 dual core processors and remote controllers. The combination of hardware and software will allow users to perform a variety of tasks including the recording of TV shows, streaming and encoding audio and video, and transferring files to MP3 players, PDAs, and other devices.
Unlike Intel"s Viiv, AMD will not require products to use a particular set of components or install certain software to receive the AMD Live! label. This move, however, does not necessarily guarantee certain functionality out of the box as Viiv does.
Live! partners include companies such as Alienware, Broadcom, Nero, VIA, Motorola, NVIDIA, and ATI. The first AMD Live! PCs are expected by mid-2006.