nvidia tegra

Tegra 2 brings speed demon to Mobile Phones

November 7, 2009 | By WenWP

NVIDIA is a company that has recently been taking on some more established mobile processor companies like Qualcomm and others. The original Tegra has however met with only limited success, famously mainly finding a home in the new ZuneHD. They have now pre-announced a new power house processor meant to take on the incumbents. The Tegra 2 is set to have a dual core processor that will double the performance and graphics of its predecessor, the original Tegra chip, and finally bring the ARM processor core up to date.

The chip is currently strongly rumoured for the new Nintendo DS, and of course the company already has a sterling relationships with Microsoft, so we could very well see the processor show up in a Windows Mobile smartphone sooner than later. Certainly we know Windows Mobile 7 will demand a processor at least of the class of the original Tegra, and at the rate the OS ship date is slipping, the chip may be ready around the same time the new OS will be.

Remember, if the stupendous HTC HD2 is only the Star, imagine what the Superstar will be capable of!

HTC moving away from Qualcomm, evaluating Broadcom chipsets

September 22, 2009 | By Surur

In a move which will delight many, Digitimes reports HTC is looking at alternate chipset suppliers for their smartphones.

On the entry-level and mid-range side HTC is looking at Broadcom, possibly their cost-effective Broadcom’s dual-core CPU solutions.

On the high end HTC is only now entering the design process for Nvidia Tegra CPUs paired with 3.5G baseband chips coming from ST-Ericsson, but in what will come as a disappointment for many expecting a Tegra device from HTC this year nothing has been shipped so far yet.

Via unwiredview.com

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LinkedIn profile confirms Tegra on Windows Mobile 7

September 22, 2009 | By Surur

Not that it was ever really in doubt, but after we have seen the amazing performance of the Tegra-powered ZuneHD it is nice to see confirmation that Windows Mobile 7 will indeed by powered by this amazing processor.

Sanneblad.com did a search for Windows Mobile 7 at LinkedIn and revealed this interesting entry:

Sandeep Shinde’s Summary

I have 6+ years of Experience in Embedded Technologies – Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Embedded Linux, Multimedia Frameworks, Device drivers, and Post Silicon Validation.
I have worked on different Hardware platforms like ST’s Nomadik, NVIDIA’s Tegra (APX2500).
I have worked with STMicroelectronics as a Software Architect for Nomadik platform, and currently working as a member of Windows CE & Windows Mobile Software development team at NVIDIA. I am responsible for designing and developing the Multimedia subsystem development for Tegra (APX2500) on Windows platforms including latest OS Windows Mobile 7.

Sandeep Shinde’s Specialties:

- Experience in Design & Development of Multimedia frameworks in Windows CE & Mobile, expertise in DirectShow filters, Windows Device drivers, Windows CE & Mobile Multimedia Applications.
- Experience in Design & Development of Video framework & Base port for MontaVista Linux on NOMADIK.
- Experience in Post silicon Chip Validation

Sandeep Shinde’s Experience

Senior Software Engineer

NVIDIA

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; NVDA; Computer Hardware industry)

October 2007 — Present (2 years)

Working as a member of Software Multimedia Team for Windows Embedded CE&Mobile.

PDA.pl suggests the post also confirms the common base for Windows CE, ZuneHD and Windows Mobile 7, suggesting the new OS is not that far from market after all. Nvidia has said in the past that the first Tegra-powered smartphones should still be coming this year.

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Tegra powered Samsung Smartphone coming to AT&T soon?

July 24, 2009 | By Surur

Here is some pretty interesting news. Laptop Magazine has confirmed with a Samsung rep that Samsung is working with NVIDIA’s Tegra processor in an upcoming device. Samsung did not say where or when the device will be released, but previous rumours have suggested one such device will come to AT&T from a top 5 tier manufacturer for under $200.

The only question which remains is whether the device will be Windows Mobile or Android powered, but on Tegra Windows Mobile has a significant head start, so its definitely in the running.

Via Engadget.com

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15 Tegra powered devices coming this year

July 6, 2009 | By Surur

In an interview with Mobinaute, Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia, talked about the upcoming release of Tegra powered devices.

Responding to questions about the seemingly slow roll-out of the chip in devices, Huang said:

“Today, we have already won more than fifteen designs, including the Zune HD but also other media players, smartphones and SmartBook, which will hit the market by the end of the year.”

We already know of 3 Win CE based devices running Tegra (The Zune HD, the Mobinnova Elan and the HTC Superstar) and given how the product was developed with Windows Mobile in mind I expect even more of the 15 will run our favourite OS.

Read the full interview at Mobinaute here (French)

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Mobinnova elan Win CE Tegra netbook shown off

June 30, 2009 | By Surur

The Mobinnova elan is the first Tegra powered netbook, and its features were shown of by netbooknews.com.

Not only the hardware, but also the software appear very well specified, and the power of the Nvidia Tegra processor can really be seen in the smooth interface and high resolution video playback.

Hardware

Software

Via BGR.

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First Tegra smartphone coming in Q4 2009

June 29, 2009 | By Surur

According to The Street, a Nvidia Tegra powered smartphone will reach the market as soon as Q4 2009. In an interview with Mike Rayfield, the general manager of Nvidia’s mobile unit, Mike said he expects the company’s Tegra chip to debut in a phone from one of the top five cell-phone makers as early as the fourth quarter of this year.

While The Street and everyone else is speculating an Android device, we know of at least one Tegra-powered Windows Mobile device coming this year, the Windows Mobile 6.5 WVGA 600 Mhz Nvidia AP16 HTC SuperStar. While HTC is not yet a top 5 cell phone company, they are at certainly top 5 when it comes to smartphones.

Via unwiredview.com.

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ZuneHD looks amazing in hands-on video

June 25, 2009 | By Surur

The lucky folks over at Engadget has had a hands-on with the ZuneHD and published this vide, showing the UI in action, and it all looks pretty impressive.

If this is any indication of what Windows Mobile 7 will be looking like, we have quite a bit to look forward to.

See more pictures at Engadget here.

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Win CE better than Android, says Nvidia

June 18, 2009 | By Surur

Nvidia has confirmed it is working with Microsoft to optimize Windows CE for Tegra in so-called “smartbooks”, ARM powered netbooks.

Nvidia chose to work with Windows CE first, said Mike Rayfield, general manager for Nvidia’s mobile business unit, because it "is a rock-solid operating system that has been shipped billions of times."

Windows CE also has a "low memory footprint and a good collection of apps," Rayfield said.

Nvidia is also working with Google to accelerate Android when running on Tegra hardware. But it will be about a year before that delivers for smartbooks, due to existing limitations in Android, he said.

For instance, Android screen icons that fit on smartphone screens (usually 4-inches and under) are oversized on a smartbook’s 8- or 9-inch screen. Also, all video and graphics rendering in Android is done today by the operating system’s Java code, a technique he says is too slow for HD video.

"There’s no hardware acceleration. It’s all software," Rayfield said. "Everyone’s talking about Android for cell phones, but the reality doesn’t exist for the larger displays [of a smartbook.]"

Nvidia has garnered 42 design wins from 27 different manufacturers all building devices using Tegra, said Rayfield. More than half of the wins (26) are for smartbook or tablet designs. Those can arrive to market in just six months, versus two years for smartphones designed for telecom carriers, Rayfield said.

Rayfield echoed comments by Nvidia executives during its analyst day on Tuesday that Tegra could make up more than half of Nvidia’s sales ($3.4 billion in fiscal year ending January 2009) very soon.

"It’s an aggressive statement, no doubt. But we’ve got a pretty good pipeline," Rayfield said. Also, it won’t be long before consumers, rather than re-ripping Blu-ray movies to watch on different devices, will expect to be able to carry a single, HD-quality version of their videos around with them for easy sharing and viewing on large-screen TVs.

Nvidia is also improving Tegra for use on Windows Mobile, a close variant of Windows CE, for ARM-based smartphones. Tegra bundles an ARM CPU (the 750 MHz ARM 11) with specialized chips designed by Nvidia for graphics, HD video encoding and decoding, stereo sound and more. The next generation of Tegra due early next year will boast 4 times the performance of today’s version, while the 2011 update will improve performance 10 times over today’s, he said.

Tegra getting 4 times faster next year

June 17, 2009 | By Surur

Nvidia’s Tegra has hardly hit any devices yet, but their General Manager is already talking about the future of the processor, with chips being planned for 2010 which have 4 times the performance of current devices, while maintaining the same low power as current generation devices.

Who knows, by the time these chips hit devices we may even have actual 1080p screens on our smartphones to take advantage of all that power.

Via PDA.pl

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First Tegra based netbook shown off- runs Windows CE

June 2, 2009 | By Surur

Well, well. For all the talk of Android powered netbooks, it was Windows CE running on the first NVidia Tegra device.

The Mobinnova élan is the first in line of ultra-portable computing devices powered by the NVIDIA® Tegra™ Computer-on-a-Chip. The 2 lb. élan is like a netbook in that it’s small, has a keyboard, and offers easy access to the Internet. However that’s where the similarities end. The élan powers up instantly, connects directly to a 3G wireless network, offers hours of continuous use, full page web browsing, and delivers graphics performance never seen before on a mobile computing device–all packaged in Mobinnova’s stylishly thin design.

"This truly portable device is a pleasure to hold and to use. It offers 720p high-definition video playback, full Internet browsing and an impressive battery life," says KC Kuo, Chairman and CEO of Mobinnova. "We like to say it ‘runs on fun’. It’s a real game changer."

The size of a hardback book and weighing less than 2 lbs., the Mobinnova élan is compact, quiet and cool. "It’s the most powerful mobile Internet device you can easily pack in your purse, backpack or briefcase. You can use the élan for hours, even days between charges," says Mike Holland, Vice President of Business Development for Mobinnova. You can also use it anywhere–on a plane to Nepal, at a café in Paris, on the sidelines of a soccer game, in a college dorm room, or sitting in bed. "The élan’s advanced power management means hours of viewing pictures, HD videos, Internet browsing, and reading and responding to email," says Holland.

The Mobinnova élan offers:

5-10 hours of continuous HD video playback on a single charge (dependent on screen usage).
Up to 24 days of continuous audio playback on a single charge (if screen not in use while listening to audio).
8.9 inch screen size provides a rich viewing experience and full page web browsing.
Ultra-light, compact design at 1.84 lbs (836g), 9.1 inches (232mm) x 7.3 inches (186 mm) x .8 inches (20.5 mm).
NVIDIA Tegra-based platform that supports accelerated Adobe® Flash® animations and 720p high-definition video playback.
Both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connectivity, enabling you to check your email, social networking accounts, and do internet searches wherever you are.
An innovative 3D graphical user interface.
QWERTY keyboard and touchpad.
Ability to view Microsoft® Office® and Adobe® documents.
A webcam for sharing video.
Fast, high resolution photo rendering, upload, and download.
Fanless operation for a quite, cool experience.
Advanced power management, allowing the élan to draw as little as 50mW during typical operation and 150mW during video playback, a fraction of most devices on the market today.

Also being shown at Computex is the Mobinnova T8, which combines the same powerful platform with a 10.1" touch screen, GPS, and HDMI and VGA video output. "Mobinnova has designed several interesting Tegra-based, mobile Internet devices that will surprise the market with their sleek, lightweight design and long battery life," said Mike Rayfield, General Manager Tegra Business at NVIDIA. "Tegra adds the secret sauce to deliver a desktop-like Internet experience and cell phone-like battery life in these new designs." "The Mobinnova élan and T8 answer the portable communications challenge," says Mobinnova’s Chairman and CEO, KC Kuo. "We are honored to partner with NVIDIA to create products that make people’s lives easier, more productive, and more enjoyable."

Via Engadget.com

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HTC’s 2009 line-up – now with more nVidia Tegra

March 20, 2009 | By Surur

It seems we will soon know exactly how many screws hold together HTC’s 2009 smartphones. FuzeMobility has just come across a spreadsheet listing some more details and some new code names we have not heard mentioned before.

New to us are the Star, Superstar, Tachi, Chief and Captain.

The Captain is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Smartphone with a QVGA screen, likely similar to the Cedar and Willow.

The Chief W is also a Windows Mobile 6.1 Smartphone with a QVGA screen. The W designation indicated a World phone, ie dual CDMA and GSM. Chief and Captain may be older code names for the Cedar and Willow.

Tachi is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device with a 2.8 inch VGA screen. Likely the last generation of Windows Mobile 6.1 devices, it seems to be the device known until now as the HTC Twin.

The Star is likely to be the HTC Firestone.

The Superstar however is the real mystery, and the only device which can not be identified from the known specs. The Nvidia AP16 chipset is likely referring to nVidia APX Tegra platform, which I am sure it very encouraging news to us enthusiasts disappointed by Qualcomm. The 3.7 inch WVGA screen near guarantees a media-focused device, which is something I think very many of us are waiting for.

See FuzeMobility for more info.

Thanks Wreiad for the tip!

38

Nvidia Tegra processor find first home in Asus laptop

January 8, 2009 | By Surur

We have been hearing about Nvidia’s much touted Tegra processor for some time, with first devices expected in the middle of 2009.

It is therefore quite a surprise to see it turn up, not in a handheld, but as part of a side-show-like subs-system for Asus’s prototype netbook. The device has an independent 4.7 inch screen, which features the same UI Nvidia has been showing of for some time, presumably running on a version of Windows Mobile.The device can run independently from the main laptop, much like the Windows Mobile OS on the HTC Shift, but, unlike the shift, remains confined to its small screen. This however does result in more than 12 hours of active battery life when running from the laptop’s main battery.

While it is nice to see the Tegra processor out in the wild, I know many of us cant wait for the chip to run up in an actual handheld device (that does not need a laptop bag) which we can buy.

Via Engadget.com

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