AMD Fusion Media Explorer

Free software is quickly becoming the standard of measure for many tech-savvy consumers. Open Office does for users one thing that Microsoft Office does not: save hundreds of dollars. Linux distributions deliver a fully-functional Operating System to users, with better stability and security than the expensive Windows and Mac O/S counterparts. In this article, Benchmark Reviews introduces another very helpful software program which will soon improve the user experience without an attached price tag: meet the AMD Fusion Media Explorer.

By now, anyone who can browse their way to Benchmark Reviews is probably well-aware of the many social networking websites available on the World Wide Web. Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, My Space; these are all just a few of the sites casual computer users and connected mobile mavens visit. We've all seen at least one program that tries to tie you back into one of these websites, but none have been extremely successful. AMD even joined into the fray with their own attempt, offering the AMD Live Explorer for free, which was also met with little popularity.

But what if you could combine the search-engine relevancy power of Google, the mural interface of Cooliris/PicLens, the music database of iTunes or Windows Media Player, and the familiar feel of Windows Explorer? What you would get is AMD's new project, named Fusion Media Explorer. It's more than just a tool for photo-active tweens or music collecting fans, it's a free software tool built for everyone and specialized for anyone.

In the illustration above, which is an actual screen-shot of the Fusion Media Player opening layout, you can see that AMD has divided their focus into six key areas: Music, Photos, Videos, Web, TV, and Web Tasks. Although the software we tested at the 2009 International CES was an Alpha-level program, it was fully functional and left quite an impression. Read on to discover how something that's free can be so useful to the commercial world.

About Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is an innovative technology company dedicated to collaborating with customers and partners to ignite the next generation of computing and graphics solutions at work, home, and play.

AMD Offers more information on fusion from the "Future is Fusion" microsite, where there's also a Fusion for gaming Utility Beta available.

EDITORS NOTE 01/29/2009: The AMD Fusion Media Explorer has entered a public beta phase of development today. This free multimedia library organizer is an excellent tool for anyone who keeps several websites, images, and video or music files on their computer. The AMD Fusion Media Explorer Beta 1 Version 0.9 can be download directly from AMD courtesy of Benchmark Reviews.

First Look: Fusion Media Explorer

Let it be known that Benchmark Reviews does not have a copy of AMD Fusion Media Explorer for testing, and that our interface with the program was limited to a fifteen minute demo while visiting AMD at CES. With that said, please don't expect everything you see here to look and act the same in the final version, since this is an early Alpha release.

The Fusion Media Explorer is AMD's 3D replacement for the not-so-popular 2D Live Explorer, which is currently available for free via download from AMD. The difference is everything, in my opinion, as the Live Explorer wasn't ready to harness the collection of data sources we witnessed in the Fusion Media Explorer. This is primarily because of dependence on high-power graphic processing, although not necessary required, nor does it need to be an AMD/ATI product. Users with NVIDIA graphics cards (and other manufacturers) can use the Fusion Media Explorer jus the same. Although high-performance graphics processing is needed for certain functions, integrated graphics can power nearly all of the features offered.

In the demonstration I received, the program opened to a starting page that offered categorized sections for Music, Photos, Videos, Web, TV, and Web Tasks. Most of these sections led into a mural-like interface with could move with the flip of a mouse wheel. While Music and Photo sections were relatively static, Videos and TV were actually able to play introductions to each clip in a user-defined number of cells. Benchmark Reviews has a short video demonstration available of the active-video interface in action which explains it all...

Once I experienced the active-video interface offering short looping intro's for the available media library, I immediately thought of how this could benefit everyone from the video producer to the casual computer user. If you edit large amounts of video, this could help you easily organize your clips. But even if you simply collect movies and TV programs on your system, the AMD Fusion Media Explorer can turn your library into a living collection. I was told that the number of active-motion video cells is dependant on the power of the graphics card, because hovering over one of the cells will play the item in a larger expanded window.

Essentially, each item is being decompressed and played in its native resolution, and the cell creates a thumbnail-sized window. You can imagine the potential load this could create on a system, if all of the media was high-definition and the graphics card was not a newer generation. Since the software allows this feature to be turned on or off, there won't be an issue on older computer systems or under-powered notebooks. After seeing the active-video introductions, I thought that the Fusion Media Explorer had revealed its grand finale. As it turns out, there are a few dimensions to this program, and they all deserve equal attention.

EDITORS NOTE 01/29/2009: The AMD Fusion Media Explorer has entered a public beta phase of development today. This free multimedia library organizer is an excellent tool for anyone who keeps several websites, images, and video or music files on their computer. The AMD Fusion Media Explorer Beta 1 Version 0.9 can be download directly from AMD courtesy of Benchmark Reviews.

Final Thoughts: AMD Fusion

AMD Fusion Media Explorer is not going to change the world, I can admit, but it will change the way we interface with media. Active-motion video introductions displayed across any number of cells can be great, but what about real-world every day activities? AMD Has encouraged development for making social networking websites a mere click away from the Fusion Explorer interface. In one demonstration, there was a collection of popular Quick-Launch buttons along the top-left corner of the screen. If you've got a photo that you would like to upload into Flickr, a video clip for YouTube, or even a song for MySpace, then a single click completes your task. Shortcut buttons aren't all that amazing though, and so AMD went one step further.

At the same time as you can upload media to your favorite website, you can also expect the Fusion Media Explorer to search the web for related content. If you're uploaded a picture named "bachelorette party" for example, you might get a collection of related websites for gift registries or bridal shower party supplies. If you've just uploaded a music file, you might get search results on the artist and updated tour dates. Of course, the Fusion Media Explorer can also search the web for whatever it is you're looking for, too.

Considering the cross-connected social possibilities, the Fusion Media Explorer seems to be an extremely good media and web content virtual organizer. I imagine AMD might tweak and twist certain features before it arrives in final form, but the Alpha release appeared to offer much more than commercially available software presently sold on the market.

Someone out there might be asking if there's a catch. Does this software require a subscription, or have hidden fees? Not from what I was told by AMD at the 2009 CES. Although AMD is not yet offering the Fusion Media Player for download, you can submit your email address to their amdlive.com website and be notified when there's news. For the price of FREE, it seems that AMD is on the right track with the Fusion Media Explorer in 2009.

EDITORS NOTE 01/29/2009: The AMD Fusion Media Explorer has entered a public beta phase of development today. This free multimedia library organizer is an excellent tool for anyone who keeps several websites, images, and video or music files on their computer. The AMD Fusion Media Explorer Beta 1 Version 0.9 can be download directly from AMD courtesy of Benchmark Reviews.

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