NVIDIA chief hints at Windows 8's Jupiter platform

NVIDIA chief Jen-Hsun Huang in an interview Tuesday hinted at Windows 8 possibly supporting Windows Phone apps. They would require ARM chips, but he was confident apps written in the mobile OS would work with the new desktop OS' tile interface. He didn't say to CNET how much of this was based on deeper knowledge.

The comments may be a reference to Jupiter, the codename for a widely referenced new platform for Windows 8 apps. It's expected to use Internet Explorer 10 as the renderer and would let developers program in virtually any Microsoft-friendly programming format but package it in a way that translates it to HTML5, JavaScript, and XAML, a Microsoft-developed but open XML variant that taps into the Windows presentation layer.

Supporting Windows Phone apps could lead to a rare direct integration between mobile and desktop apps. Microsoft is increasingly trying to integrate its services and still sees PCs as the foundation of computing despite smartphones and tablets threatening to outgrow computers. Unified app creation between Windows 8 and Windows Phone could bring mobile-style apps to Windows Phone and Windows 8 tablets alike while leaving room for added depth when a traditional computer is needed.

Apple bases both iOS and Mac OS X on the same basic core but doesn't have a direct way to make mobile apps run on the desktop. Both app types are created in Xcode, though, and leave a relatively short leap between the two.

Outside of the Windows discussion, Huang was direct and claimed that technology companies had to have a mobile strategy to survive. HP's bowing out of webOS hardware was a sign the company didn't really know what to do with mobile. "If you don't have a mobile strategy, you're in deep turd," the CEO said.

Intel was getting into mobile, but he saw the company as inherently limited by a dependence on its own x86 architecture. ARM is potentially years ahead in power efficiency and is the platform of choice for the most successful phone and tablet designers, including Apple and most Android 3 tablet creators. Rather than ultrabooks, Huang saw clamshell ARM devices taking over, especially as they could cost as as much as a tablet and thus half as much as the $1,000 ballpark figure for an ultrabook.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, computers, industry, Microsoft, HP, Android, NVIDIA, ARM, mobile phones, Tegra, Xcode, Apple, webOS, Windows Phone, Windows 8, iPad, Jupiter