NVIDIA working on Tegra mobile CPU line
updated 09:05 am EDT, Mon May 26, 2008
NVIDIA Tegra Leak
NVIDIA is about to unveil a whole line of mobile processors dedicated to handhelds, says a new leak from the Inquirer. The APX 2500 is now put under the Tegra brand of chips and will be marketed as an application processor for portable media players and smartphones. As suggested early on, the chip will be capable of decoding and encoding 720p video in real-time, including through optional HDMI output, and supports both the newer OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for mobile 3D as well as effects that have normally been too demanding for mobile chips, including anti-aliasing for cleaner graphics.
Also revealed are two previously unknown processors in the Tegra line, according to the scoop. The CSX 600 and 650 are both targeted at ultra-mobile PCs or other devices too large to be pocketable. The extra headroom in power will let the chips process video up to 1080p at a film-speed 24 frames per second; it will also support hard drives in addition to flash storage. 3D performance is still a mystery but likely to be stronger than for the APX 2500.
NVIDIA is reportedly planning to debut all three Tegra chips for the Computex show, which starts on June 3rd. NVIDIA has so far committed only to introducing APX 2500 to Windows Mobile devices and is rumored to be designing the CSX chips for Windows CE, though the company has historically supported other operating systems for all its processors.
