In direct competition to Intel's Viiv, home/media entertainment platform, AMD has been quietly developing its own version - AMD LIVE! The technology is to be based on a set of existing and upcoming technologies that are available or will be soon. AMD has divided LIVE! into two distinct systems: a home entertainment oriented computer and a regular desktop computer. These PCs will be built on dual-core chips and 64-bit architecture. The 64-bit dual core Athlon X2 processors, released by AMD in mid-2005, will power the new PCs. To go further AMD has already secured Vista Premium certification for its Live! Programme.
With AMD and Intel going great guns, Apple, the current market leader of the home entertainment segment is going to have a real battle on their hands.