08.01.2007 — Good news, the Digital Media group at AMD is now officially the Cross Divisional Solutions Group. Just trips off the tongue.

It actually is good news. It means this little engine that could—the group responsible for AMD’s Media Center and Media Server initiatives are now “officially sanctioned” to hound the various AMD divisions for their time and expertise—something the Digital Media group did before, but they had to beg a little harder.

“Support comes from the very top levels [of AMD] now,” says Micah Stroud, marketing manager for the new Cross Divisional Solutions. “We actually have ‘corporate sponsorship.’”

Furthermore, the rogue unit formerly known as Digital Media is now part of the AMD Live! group. That group in the past has only provided the processor and a set of specifications for AMD Live! Media Center PCs.

On the other hand, the old Digital Media group built a whole platform called AMD Live! Home Cinema for PC makers who prefer a more integrated solution for an entertainment-centric PC.

A Home Cinema product acts like a Media Center should act (mostly). The beeps, background tasks and pop-ups that can disrupt the usual Media Center experience “are all disabled so things runs as perfectly as possible,” Stroud says.

He cites other entertainment-friendly features of the Home Cinema platform. It has a good video card, for starters, and the machine automatically powers up to the resolution of the TV.

“It is Vista,” he says, “but it is a very finely tuned Vista.”

He concedes, “There is a desktop, but we’re with working with Microsoft on that. There may come a day ….”

The CE/IT Dilemma

AMD has faced the same conundrum as its peers in the Media Center business: The product kind of fits into the IT space, and kind of fits into the CE space, but never the twain shall meet, it seemed.

AMD had already worked on the IT side. The company wanted to try its hand on the CE pros. “The guys that seem to be the most interested are CE guys,” Stroud says.

At the Digital Convergence Summit in May, AMD proved it was serious about CE pros, when it explained yet another iteration of its AMD Live! Home Cinema philosophy. Previously, it was “just a platform.” Now AMD is putting together an entire package for the CE crowd. “We understand that this [CE] market is different so we cannot sell the same solutions as to the IT channel,” says Stroud.

AMD is working with “one or two” CE-minded system builders to create a “brandless box” that integrators can slap their name on.

Equus Computer Systems, which calls itself the “largest whitebox system builder to the channel,” is one of the PC makers working with AMD. Stroud says Equus will sell the Media Centers bare-boned, or build them to a dealer’s specification.

“It won’t have anyone’s name on it,” he says. “Individual installers or system builders can put their own brand on it.”

The approach is a new one for AMD—historically a chipmaker. “No other organization at AMD is building a complete solution,” Stroud says. “We need to get the public’s attention. We have to build something.”

Alienware, Ace Roll Out Units

Alienware sure got the public’s attention all right. The company’s Hangar 18, the first machine based on AMD Live! Home Cinema, sold out within days of its June 25 ship date. The next batch of Media Centers was back-ordered until July 31.

Alienware has indicated that it would make a play in the CE pro channel, and the success of its Hangar 18 apparently has accelerated that desire.

The Dell unit, most known for its gaming machines, offers three versions of the consumer-oriented product ($1,999 and up). They all feature a 5.1 surround sound amplifier pumping out up to 200 watts per channel of “high-octane audio.” (Who would want the low-octane variety?)

There is no option for CableCARD or a high-def DVD player…yet. The company is expected to roll out those features soon.

And the momentum is building.

Ace Computers recently announced it would roll out a Media Center based on Home Cinema. The product will be a sequel to the company’s entry-level LMS Media Center, so for now we’ll call it the LMS II.

The LMS II, like its predecessor, is also considered to be an entry-level machine, even though it adds a 5.1 surround sound amp (125 watts per channel) to the mix.

“We are finalizing the designs and don’t have final configurations determined yet, but we are aiming this to be similar to the LMS with a few enhancements,” said ACE chief John Samborski in late May. What is known for sure is that the base model is shown without a tuner because “we are allowing dealers to specify if they want single, dual or multiple tuners,” Samborski says.

Samborski says the LMS II has at least one key distinction vis-à-vis Alienware’s Hangar18: “Ours will be sold only through the CE professional channel and of course should be lower priced to dealers than Alienware.”