AMD Gizmo Integrated Motherboard with G-Series APU

The G-Series accelerated processing unit didn't come up during conversation ever since it was launched back in mid-2012, but AMD is definitely not letting it gather dust, as proven by a certain product shipping through GizmoSphere.

GizmoSphere is an open source embedded system development company, one that Advanced Micro Devices has chosen to use as an outlet for its G-Series chip. AMD did say, the other day, that it would be shuffling the way it spends money on research and development, and that it would focus on embedded and mobile products more than before. The company tried to get a foothold in the embedded industry last year, but the G-Series didn't get many design wins. Nevertheless, it has taken a move that fits some previous AMD promises that they won't pursue brand promotion much as long as they get their chips used in devices.  The G-Series has definitely been adopted by a device now, specifically a very small integrated motherboard.

This board, called Gizmo (in keeping with the name of the aforementioned company that is promoting it), measures 4 x 4 inches (101 x 101 mm). Even on such a small surface though, it still crams a pair of Bobcat x86 cores (1 GHz clock speed each), an AMD Radeon HD 6250 graphics chip (on the same die as the G-T40E dual-core Bobcat cores) and various interfaces. For those who want more specifics, the Gizmo has lots of connectors for digital signage, x86 set-top boxes, IP-TV, information kiosks, casino gaming, media servers, industrial control systems, and thin clients.

GizmoSphere ships the Gizmo as part of a development kit for Google Android, Linux, RTOSes (real-time operating system) and Microsoft Windows. The price for the whole package is $199 / €147-€199. “Gizmo is an excellent board for the next generation of embedded systems development,” said Kamal Khouri, director of embedded products at AMD. “The new board will serve the diverse and growing embedded development community and is especially useful for those wanting to incorporate the advanced capabilities possible by harnessing a heterogeneous architecture. Developers ready to take advantage of a high-performance, full I/O-featured x86 development board will find tremendous value in Gizmo,”

AMD Gizmo Integrated Motherboard
Image credits to GizmoSphere

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