Today NVIDIA announced 12 new mobile internet devices including a number of netbooks that are using the NVIDIA Tegra processor. A few of the new machines using Tegra are tablets.
NVIDIA claims that the Tegra platform allows netbooks and handhelds to deliver a desktop-class Internet browsing experience and accelerate Flash video and animation. Handheld Tegra devices don’t run PC programs. They use Microsoft Windows Mobile or Android operating systems.
NVIDIA says Tegra processors will add 5x more run time to the battery life for netbooks. The company says there are more than 20 different Tegra-based devices in the works right now and devices from Computex Compal communications, ICD Ultra, Inventec Applications Corp, Mobinnova Mabo, Pegatraon Vivid, and Wistron M5 machines will be unveiled at the show.
NVIDIA and Adobe also announced a collaboration to enable Adobe Flash Player to accelerate GPU video and graphics on a wide range of mobile Internet devices, including netbooks, tablets, mobile phones and media devices. Their Open Screen Project provides a consistent runtime environment for open web browsing and standalone applications. The Adobe Flash Player will be accelerated across the range of NVIDIA processors, including NVIDIA Tegra, enabling full H.264 video playback and rich Flash technology, any time, any place, and on any platform. NVIDIA is a member of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Partner Program and the Android Open Handset Alliance.
Nvidia released some of the names and models of its Tegra-based netbooks and notebooks on Monday at Computex in Taiwan. The first Tegra-based laptops, shown at the Computex exhibition in Taipei on Tuesday, are expected to hit the market before the end of this year, are are expected to be priced around $200.
Tegra includes an 800-MHz ARM CPU, a high-definition video processor, an imaging processor, an audio processor and an ultralow-power GeForce GPU in a single package. It will compete not only with Intel’s Atom, but also Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Via’s Nano.
The company is already talking up its successor, Tegra II, with high-definition video and 3D graphic, due next year.
Meanwhile, their NVIDIA Ion graphics processor, which can couple with Intel’s Atom processor, is in 21 new products at the COMPUTEX 2009 from big players like Asus, Acer, Lenovo and MSI.
Lenovo’s IdeaPad S12, for example, uses NVIDIA ION, enabling 1080p video and external monitor connections via an HDMI connection. The IdeaPad S12 netbook will be available in June. Pricing for models starts at $449. Models with NVIDIA ION graphics will be available later this summer for $499.
