Nvidia Tegra, ION Processors Widely Shown At Computex
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By Joseph F. Kovar, ChannelWeb
3:57 PM EDT Tue. Jun. 02, 2009
Nvidia is capitalizing on its Tegra computer-on-a-chip and its ION graphics processor with a multitude of OEM wins unveiled at the Computex 2009 exhibition in Taiwan.
The company on Tuesday said that at least 12 Tegra-based mobile Internet devices, including netbooks and tablet PCs, are being exhibited at Computex, along with more than 20 desktop PCs, notebook PCs and all-in-one PCs featuring its ION GPU.
The Nvidia Tegra processor features a multiprocessor architecture, with each processor unit architected for specific tasks, including a CPU for running HTML and Java, an HD video processor for streaming HD video playback and a graphics processor, all integrated in a low-power consumption computer-on-a-chip, Nvidia said.
The Tegra is aimed mainly at mobile devices that offer the ability to stream high-definition 1080p video from the Internet with always-on operation for instant Internet access and a battery life of about five times that of standard notebook PCs, Nvidia said.
New Tegra-based devices include netbooks from Compal Communications, Inventec Applications, Mobinnova, Pegatron and Wistron, as well as tablet PCs from ICD and Mobinnova.
Nvidia's ION GPU is aimed at bringing high-definition video, mainstream gaming and GPU-accelerated video and photo editing to low-power consumption desktops, notebooks and all-in-one PCs, Nvidia said.
The GPU supports Nvidia's CUDA technology for compatibility with existing applications. It also works with low-power CPUs, such as Intel's Atom and Celeron and the VIA Nano to support Windows 7 and Windows Vista Home Premium with 1080p HD video and DirectX 10 graphics.
Lenovo, Telcast and Weibu are using Computex to show ION-based notebook PCs. Also being shown are motherboards from Asus, Pegatron and Zotac; desktop PCs from Acer, AsRock, Colorful, ECS, Flextronics, Funtwist, MSI and Pegatron; and all-in-one PCs from Asus, ECS, Flextronics, ICD, MSI, Pegatron and TCL.