ATI's 3D Gaming Chip For Cellphones

[Julio Franco]

Press Release: Playing truly 3D enabled games on cellphones is now possible thanks to the new IMAGEON™ 2300 multimedia and graphics family of co-processors from ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX: ATY, NASDAQ: ATYT). Introduced today, these new co-processors enable game developers to go beyond simplistic game design approaches and give users complete freedom of movement, and visually rich 3D gaming experiences.

ATI’s IMAGEON 2300 media co-processor is currently sampling. Mass production shipments will start in Q1 2004. ATI Technologies will exhibit its handheld products at International CES 2004, Las Vegas Convention Center.

 

[Federelli]

What do you think this "card" will do...
DirectX 6? 7? 8? 8.1? 9??
Or perhaps Ogl?
Or simply software rendering at high speed? i'd really like to know what "viasually rich 3d gaming experiences" mean

 

[Nodsu]

http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2004/4719.html

IMAGEON is no exception, and offers support for the OpenGL ES rendering API – a royalty free 3D API consisting of well-defined subset profiles of OpenGL, with custom ATI extensions to further improve rendering performance.

DirectX.. I doubt it would be worth it to implement a bloated closed standard in embedded devices.

 

[Federelli]

I still wonder which dx generation... though it'd be nice to see what is this chip further capable of

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Originally posted by Federelli
I still wonder which dx generation... though it'd be nice to see what is this chip further capable of

Well, as it doesn't support DX, the closest thing you might find is what features from the diff DX gen's it supports...

But I doubt you'll find any direct comparison...
From what I've read so far, it's a mix of several DX version from 3 to 6 or 7, when you look at features...

The thing to remember is that this is a first gen phone/pda chip, and as such won't support all the latest features due to conservative watt req's alongside a way different target compared to pc/console...

 

[tripleione]

Yeah... I'm thinking ATi is trying to break free from the software giant's grasp by using a "royalty-free" API, OpenGL ES. I believe in layman's terms, that means they aren't having to pay money to MS for DirectX.

 

[Federelli]

Imagine a Pda with a radeon 9800XT
nahh

 

[Masque]

I don't know.....call me lame but I've got enough issues with people on cell phones when they're driving. Damned if I want to see any playing games while they're driving. :hotbounce

 

[Federelli]

Aren't there laws for that yet?

 

[Masque]

They're sporadic. I think we're supposed to see them here......but when, I don't know.