NVIDIA CES 2011 bringing Tegra, more

NVIDIA is holding its CES 2011 keynote, and Electronista is here to provide coverage. It's expected to talk Tegra 2 in smartphones and tablets as well as about its computing strategy, such as the GeForce 500M. Check after the break for updates as they appear from the gathering.

4:02PM: What about Windows? I'm not here to announce Windows, but points to a Bloomberg article saying "said to be unveiling Windows for ARM chips." Huang is going to Microsoft's keynote -- WINDOWS ON ARM CONFIRMED.

PRoject Denver: NVIDIA-made high-performance ARM core. Fully custom processor, in cooperation with ARM. Veterans from the industry. Targeted at high-end computing, beyond mobile computing: servers, PCs, supercomputers, cloud computing.

3:58PM: If you're not working on ARM, you've got your head in the sand. Shows a graph where there should be 9 billion ARM devices in 2014. More devices at that point shipped that year than all x86 chips combined. Now the world's most important ISA (system architecture).

3:55PM: Was going to show Skype on an Android tablet, though bandwidth was very tight. United Airlines very excited about it.

3:52PM: Verizon's Kyle Malady up to talk about deploying apps for Tegra 2s. Shows an LTE tablet -- Acer Iconia Tab? -- as an example. LTE speeds make multiplayer gaming possible. Down to 30ms or better. Looking forward to working together.



3:49PM: Showing Soulcraft; all 3D, high geometry detail. 2-3X polygons, 4X textures compared to iPhone and other devices.

3:47PM:: Showing DD running on a PC, a PS3 and an Optimus 2X. Same Unreal Engine 3 code underneath, didn't have to scale things back.



3:44PM: Narayen off stage; Jeremy Stieglitz from Trendy (Dungeon Defender) up to show gaming on Tegra 2. Multi-platform, multiplayer action RPG.

3:42PM: Flash versus HTML5? It's really a non-issue. Trying to create compelling experiences, and even enterprise apps. Transformed with that kind of functionality. Create the best tools; if you want to do that in HTML5, that's great. If you want to do that in Flash, that's great. We want to do the creation, distribution and development. Contributing to WebKit development too.

3:39PM: Adobe's Shantanu Narayen on stage. Jokes that if Tegra 2 could leap buildings, what else could it do? Companies working together on creative things like Mercury (in Adobe CS). Huang says we haven't internalized the effect of Flash. Narayen: Flash 10.1 had the fastest adoption of any version. Used for video, ads. Video use online has doubled in the past couple of years.



3:36PM: Quick pre-recorded demo of Flash gaming; the Tegra 2 runs it smoothly where another Android device with Flash bogs down. Adobe is often in that ecosystem, Huang said. Flash should run about 5X faster on the Tegra 2.

3:34PM: Huang trying to load Flash content to show how fast it is; the WSJ video podcast site isn't loading quickly. Can you guys spare some bandwidth? he asks. Still takes a long time, and Huang eventually gives up. Just imagine a delightful experience. Talks about Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile instead. Notes that Flash is important: a lot of kids' sites, like Barbie.com, don't work without Flash.



3:25PM: Curved glass, ridges designed for a great grip. Married it with this powerful chip. Two teams running in parallel: one on customer research, the other focusing on the inside talking to NVIDIA. Jang offstage; Huang on a live demo -- it's running on AT&T right now. Very responsive and shows a huge HD version of Angry Birds and the photo album.



3:22PM: Started on it a year ago. Beauty outside, monster inside was the idea.

3:19PM: Focusing on the superphone category; likening it to a phase of PCs where software taxed the hardware and sent people going out to get faster computers. One of those weird markets where the most desirable device is paradoxically the most affordable. Carrier subsidies help. [showing Motorola Atrix 4G). Introducing the LG Optimus 2X as the first superphone, LG's Yongseok Jang on stage.



3:16PM: First fully hardware-accelerated Flash playback. We want game developers to come to this game enviroment; bringing GeForce DNA to mobile. Should be able to perform as well as any smartphone today. In a lot of tablets at CES, and even cars (BMW and Tesla); small footprint and low power good for fuel efficiency and power.



3:14PM: Tegra 2 is NVIDIA chasing that new computing strategy. You're reading the web, playing games and so on. 50 times more power efficient than a PC. Very tiny. Believe that multitasking is an important characteristic of how you use a device. Going to be a computer first and a phone second. First dual-core, best web experience, best game content.

3:11PM: Why is the iPhone/iPad growing so much faster than the Mac? Because the revolution is happening much more quickly. Rate of growth is staggering. No company can adapt that quickly. Landscape is changing. Who makes it and who you buy it from are different; switching from x86 to ARM.



3:08PM: Acknowledged that the iPhone and iPad's introduction was extremely important. Now over a billion connected devices, getting into the tens of billions; references the "Internet of things" where everything is online. Beginning of a new era. Going to look back on 2011 as a turning point.

3:05PM: As important as Comdex 1995 and Windows 95. Processors get faster, memory gets larger. PC became absolutely most important in 1995. Ten years later, new companies showed up; networking got faster, let you get connected very easily, created new companies (Google, Yahoo).

3:03PM: Jen-Hsun Huang on stage. This particular CES is different than all the others. Changed the technology landscape that we know. Personal computing revolution underway; used to be the PC, now it's the phone in your hands. Magnitude of the change is still being determined.



3:01PM: Running slightly late.



2:56PM: Waiting for the conference to start.

By Electronista Staff