NVIDIA Tegra 2 to power more devices too

NVIDIA has revealed that it plans to show its upcoming next-generation Tegra processor at CES early next month. Senior communications VP Michael Hara provided few details of what the chip would involve at a Barclays investor conference last week but said it would be powerful enough to find its way into many more devices than today and will be built on a smaller, cooler 40 nanometer process that should keep power use to a minimum.

"You are going to see rollouts and deployments of tablet PCs, smartbooks, netbooks, MIDs throughout the first half [of 2010]," Hara said, adding that the first Tegra-based smartphones should appear in the second half of the year.

The part is believed to grow into a dual-core design that also uses a newer, faster version of the ARM architecture as well as a more recent GeForce-derived graphics core. The added speed will let even the smallest Tegra smoothly handle 1080p as well as improve performance in areas where 3D and multitasking performance are essential.

So far, Tegra has had limited use in devices and is found almost exclusively in media players, particularly Microsoft's Zune HD. It was originally intended for Windows Mobile and CE but should also improve Android and other operating systems.

By Electronista Staff