tegra

Tegra 2, with double the power being announced at CES 2010

December 16, 2009 | By Surur

Nvidia has been talking about their Tegra roadmap since earlier this year, and now they have made things a bit more official. According to Michael Hara, senior vice president of investor relations and communications at the company, a major announcement is coming in at CES.

“At CES we are going to make a major announcement about Tegra family. It is highly possible that we will see some very interesting form-factors coming out at the same time. [There will be products] shown by our partners using the next-generation Tegra device. You are going to see roll-outs and deployments of tablet PCs, smartbooks, netbooks, MIDs throughout the first half [of the year]; and then you will see major roll-outs of smartphones in the second half” Michael Hara, senior vice president of investor relations and communications, NVIDIA

The second generation of Tegra devices is expected to have double the power of today’s chipsets, and have a more modern ARM instruction set.

“You want to have fast response times and switching between your windows [on the desktop], you want to see high-definition videos, you want to see high-definition images, so, your experience is about HD Internet. Our objective with Tegra is to deliver the same experience to your handheld devices” Michael Hara

Devices featuring the chip are expected to arrive towards the end of 2010. One do however need to bear in mind however that Nvidia has been promising many more Tegra devices than they have actually delivered this year, and face formidable competition from Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, who appear to have better industry relations than the company.

Source: Slashgear via WMExperts.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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Mitac Tegra-powered MID revealed

September 18, 2009 | By Surur

Engadget spotted the above Windows CE powered MID from Mitac which apparently features a Tegra chipset similar to the ZuneHD. The device features onboard HDMI with 720p HD out, TV tuner, a custom user interface and fold-out case/ keyboard.

Unfortunately nothing more is known about the device, but hopefully more will be revealed shortly.

ZuneHD handled, pretty cool, has great browser

August 5, 2009 | By Surur

CNET correspondent Donald Bell has had an hour long hands-on with the the ZuneHD, and has come away pretty impressed.

He says:

The Zune HD feels expensive, solid, and sexy. The metal enclosure is a little more angular than the curvy chrome of the iPod Touch, but feels just as nice and has the advantage of laying flat instead of teetering around. The body is just a little thicker than the iPod Touch, and not nearly as wide

While we’re talking output specs, here’s something else to note. The Zune HD supports 720p video content, which you’ll be able to purchase directly though the Zune Marketplace software. Video content purchased (or rented) through your Xbox can also be downloaded and transferred to your Zune by checking for them in your Zune Marketplace purchase history.

Some other cool stuff happening on the music front: recently added tracks are now grouped together a little more prominently using a more visual music submenu, along with a new feature called pins, where frequently accessed content can be bookmarked.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Zune’s new Web browser smokes. Not since first using the iPhone have I been this impressed with a mobile Web browser. There’s no branding on the browser, but I was told it was cooked up by Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team (makes sense). Page load was snappy, and pinching and reorienting pages work just like the iPhone and iPod Touch. You also get a fast onscreen keyboard with a nice little magnifier effect with each keystroke. The only bad news on the browser is that there’s no support for Flash audio and video content. So Pandora and YouTube are out, but I was able to get onto Facebook and Twitter.

Its the last paragraph which is most promising for Windows Mobile users, and gives us an idea of what to expect when we run the next version of our OS on the latest processors available.

Read the full review here.

Via Engadget.com

Thanks Cybermaster for the tip.

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The Mobile Phone In 2012

August 5, 2009 | By skyler17

2012 is only 3 years away. If the world does end in December of 2012, let’s stop and think about how much our smartphones will have evolved. (disclaimer: I do not think that the world will end in 2012 and I believe that it will just be the year 2000 over again- nothing will happen.)

Snapdragon and Tegra will be old, slow platforms
In three years, the cutting edge mobile phone processing platforms of today will be considered slow. In fact, a phone built on Tegra or Snapdragon will be laughably sluggish. (sure they will be the same speed that they are today) but we will think that they are slow because superior products will be present in the market.
So what kind of speeds are we talking about? 2Ghz at the very least. Also expect dual core, quad core, or some new architecture for processors. It all has to do with Moore’s Law. But then again there is that pesky Page’s Law to spoil the fun. Don’t expect a better processor to ensure that the user interface and programs will never lag on your phone. They still will, despite the 1GB+ RAM in your phone.

LTE and WiMAX everywhere to blow your mind
Chances are that if you are reading this article, you have a high-speed internet connection that is reliably fast at your home. Now imagine your home’s broadband speed: but everywhere, on your phone. Want to watch a movie right now? Download it in under a minute. You don’t have to use WiFi. (naturally, data usage caps will increase over 3 years to allow this). But what kind of quality of media playback will you have on your phone…

720p OLED screens are common
Take your time watching that movie, you will enjoy it in 720p on your crisp OLED screen. But wait, did you really want to stare at a 3-something-inch screen for two hours?

Pico Projectors Built-in
This is more speculative than proven standards that will be on the market… but I fully expect the majority of smartphones to have built-in Pico projectors. The Pico projector technology is rapidly evolving right now.

Beautiful user interfaces
Each generation will build on the last. The usability, convenience, and eye-candy of every modern smartphone operating system will all be drastically improved. Expect the verison of Windows Mobile in 3 years to have a standard UI on-par with (or better than) the rest of the competition. Oh and Flash/Silverlight will be avaliable in a useable way.

5mp camera will be the bare-minimum
Never worry about buying a separate camera- your phone will have the goods. At least a 5mp camera on every smartphone? Yes. Better pictures, better optics? Yes yes!

All the storage you will need
Expect 250GB+ storage solutions in your phone and if that isn’t enough, don’t forget about the cloud.

THE CLOUD
All of your stuff, accessible from everywhere, anytime. cool.
Excellent Facebook integration? Why do you even ask… of course!

And yet…
We will not be satisfied. We will complain. Something will be wrong, and no phone will have all the features that you want because you will always want more more more! That is the nature of the human-technology relationship. It is a bright future though. Just don’t expect to be able to ‘beam’ yourself instantly to the Moon with your smartphone within 3 years….

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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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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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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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So what’s Tegra all about?

March 21, 2009 | By Surur

Now that we "know" a HTC device will finally ship with nVidia’s Tegra chipset on board, many who have not followed the issue closely may wonder that its all about. Here is a reminder of the features we expect the chips to bring, and a demo video.

NVIDIA HD AVP (High Definition Audio Video Processor) with NVIDIA® PureVideo® technology
- Capture or playback HD 720p movies with your mobile device
- Unprecedented picture quality and ultra-smooth, vivid movie playback with low CPU use and power consumption
Superior Imaging
- Take sharp and steady pictures with a 12 MP camera with a built-in image stabilization algorithm
- Integrated image signal processor (ISP) with proprietary algorithms that enables image and video stabilization, face tracking, and advanced trick modes.
NVDIA ULP GeForce technology
- GeForce graphics technology architected for low-power applications
- Superior 3D user interface capabilities based on a unique compositing framework that delivers seamless web browsing
NVDIA nPower™ technology
- Enables the industry’s longest HD video and MP3 playback on your phone or mobile device
- Optimizes system power use
True dual-display subsystem for flexibility of use
- Entertainment—watch a movie on an HDMI display and use your phone as a remote control device
- Business—present your proposal on a FWVGA projector using your phone as a pointing device
- Personal—show your favorite photos on a television while previewing them on your phone

I wonder if the Palm Pre took any inspiration from here…

By the way, not all media devices need to be devoid of keyboards…

Windows Mobile and Tegra: Match Made in Heaven?

January 28, 2009 | By marios96

In a recent interview with Laptop Magazine, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talks among other things about NVIDIA’s own Tegra platform being incorporated in Windows Mobile based MIDs.

“You can create a full keyboard device with about a 10-inch display. With a 10-inch display and a full keyboard you also have the opportunity to include a full notebook battery. You could have a two- or three-day computing experience without another charge. Now you’re talking about a device that exceeds the users’ expectations, and delight them in a way that would cause them to buy the product and keep it. I expect to see $199 full notebook–form factor MIDs, based on Windows Mobile and Windows CE; based on processors like Tegra with full HD capability, but consume less than a watt. It’s like a little motorcycle with a tanker behind it. How far can you go? Well, around the earth. Telcos could be giving them away for Internet access as part of your cable service. I fully expect to see a whole new class of MIDs with full keyboards.”

I don’t know how viables those specifications are, but they do sound fantastic. A Tegra powered device with great battery life for just $199? Sign me up for two please…

The above quote, is also a good indication of what to expect from the recently leaked HTC devices Whitestone and/ or Thoth (Athena 2) as previous reports claimed that HTC will use Tegra processor with some of the new models.

Via: CrunchGear

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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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