AMD has been feeling the combined weight of Intel and Nvidia for quite some time now. Since the release of Core 2 and following the purchase of ATI, it has been a slippery slope for them. They definitely need to take some powerful action very soon. It's being speculated at the moment that they might be pushing the release of their dual-GPU cards ahead by a week. A week may not seem like much, but sometimes it can be enough. According to the rumor, AMD will release these new units just eight days from now.
The cards have been anticipated by many, though probably more out of curioisity than interest in seeing it perform. It will take more than just a "wow" for AMD to start raking back in marketshare lost to Nvidia.