The company also intends to blaze a trail in mobile-computing markets by boosting processor efficiency enable seven-hour battery life in notebook computers. VP Marty Seyer told analysts that AMD would add faster dual-core processors, virtualization and security to its processor map next year.

’05, it’s the year of AMD and dual core. We will dominate that space, Seyer said.

AMD’s 64-bit architecture will evolve with greater features and greater scalability, he said. We will also be the architecture of choice for blades … this is a significant architecture for blades.

Over time we’re going to be adding increments to dual-core, for faster dual-core processors, he said.

Next year, for instance, AMD Pacifica virtualization would be added to its cores, which enables a machine to run multiple operating systems, said Seyer, who is general manager of AMD’s microprocessor business unit.

By 2007, the company would move beyond dual-core to toward four or more processor cores on a single chip, he said. We will be able to scale to 16 cores, he said.

Mobile computing also was emphasized during the meeting. We are investing quite heavily in our CPUs and our roadmaps and our platforms for mobile, Seyer said, pointing to the company’s Turion 64-bit processor for notebooks launched in January.

The company’s mobile focus includes a commitment to boost processor efficiency in order to extend battery power of notebook computers. This year, the company is headed toward enabling four-hour battery life in notebooks. The company expects to enable five hours of battery life next year and six hours or more by 2007, he said.

In some ways, AMD’s future roadmaps may seem to vaguely resemble chief rival Intel Corp, since both are intent on putting more processor cores on silicon die and both are pushing strongly into notebook markets.

However, president and COO of AMD’s processor division Dirk Meyer seemed to imply the companies were going in quite different directions. In talking about platforms and platformization, which has been Intel’s strategic push this year, said it signals a move away from pushing speeds and feeds onto end-users and a grab bag of random technologies.

He also said, AMD is increasingly becoming a microprocessor-centric company.