Rumor: AMD hiring to add Android support

AMD is reportedly recruiting talent for the development of Android driver software. The chipset vendor is also likely to eventually offer its notebook and tablet PC partners chipset solutions supporting the Android platform, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes. While this is certainly possible, it's going in the rumor box for now as the company has yet to confirm the claims.

Lenovo, Fujitsu, and Samsung Electronics will showcase a number of tablet PCs built on Intel's Oak Trail platform at the Computex Taipei trade fair in June. On the other hand, Micro-Star International (MSI) will start marketing its latest tablet PCs built using AMD's Brazos APUs. AMD previously landed Brazos APU orders from Acer. The launch of Brazos-based tablets by MSI indicates that AMD's APUs are increasing their presence in the tablet PC market.

AMD previewed its Brazos platform in November 2010. The Brazos platform put the first Fusion chips into low power systems and incorporates the "Bobcat" core design, which itself is integrated into two processors known as Zacate and Ontario. Both of these chips are very low power units (18 and 9W TDP, respectively) and were launched with the sub-$500 ultraportable, netbook and nettop systems in mind. With the tablet market exploding however, AMD looks to be positioning them there as well.