After failing pretty hard to get a decent market share in the PC chipset business Nvidia took a good decision when signing up into the portable multimedia chipsets with its Tegra family that currently powers Zune HD and a few others PMPs and tablets announced at CES. It’s a good thing that Nvidia isn’t sitting on their success and announced today the Tegra 2 family chipsets which is in fact a big enhancement over the previous generation, not a revolutionary change.

    Jen-Hsun Huang holding a tablet prototype

    Jen-Hsun Huang holding a tablet prototype

    From what the CEO on Nvidia said during his keynote we found out the following things, summed up below in a easy to read manner:

    • dual core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU which offers 10X performance increase (I suppose over previous Tegra chip used) while consuming only 500 miliwatts of energy
    • 8 independent processors: here’s where I would want to get more details as I don’t understand if there are 8 different chips on the motherboard or 8 ARM dual core CPUs in there
    • 140 hours music playback and  16 hours HD video. Again no details on which screen size and battery those numbers apply
    • Tegra 2 will run Full HD 1080p videos, run some 3D games and play Flash 10.1 video online
    • Tegra 2 will be integrated in devices like tablets, MIDs and smartbooks, not a chance to power a netbook or laptop, hence the compatibility with Windows CE, Windows Mobile and Android
    • Nvidia sees a future for digital magazines in conjunction with Adober Air technology
    • Tegra 2 is capable of running games designed for high end PCs three or four years ago so there’s plenty of power in there, especially for a mobile device
    • over 50 designs of tablets using Tegra 2 are in works from manufacturers like Asus, Compal, ICD, MSI, Mobinova, Quanta
    • Tegra 2 will power Audi’s MMI interface starting 2011
    Sum of all fears

    Sum of all fears

    That’s it folks, the most important things you need to know about Nvidia’s Tegra 2 platform. I guess we’ll be seeing devices running it pretty soon so check back on AllTouchTablet for more info.

    Source: Engadget