ATI used its unified shader architecture for the first time when it designed Xenos, the graphics circuit inside of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console. In a few months we will see the first graphics cards on the PC market using this unified shader architecture, but this time ATI is a subsidiary of AMD. It seems we can expect to see this architecture on yet another market as well, the mobile market. STMicroelectronics has namely licensed AMD’s unified shader architecture and will integrate this into its mobile platform Nomadik.
“ST has licensed AMD’s OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D and OpenVG 1.0 vector graphics core engine and related software. R&D teams from AMD and ST will work closely together to integrate AMD’s unified shader-based technology into Nomadik devices for the next generation of high-end feature phones, smartphones and other portable multimedia devices. The combination of Nomadik and AMD graphic technology is expected to considerably improve image quality while delivering industry-leading battery life.”
Exactly when and to what degree STMicroelectronics will launch products using AMD’s graphics card technology remains uncertain, but it’s obvious that the mobile market will get access to a lot more graphical performance pretty soon. A market which NVIDIA is also very interested in.
