GeForce G310 Fermi - Nvidia news! 2010

Earlier this month, some rumors from China indicated the arrival of a smartbook based on the Tegra platform and featuring the new Google Chrome OS. The rumor mentioned names as Acer and Lenovo and indicated the end of September as the launch date of those smartbooks.

Three weeks later, nVIDIA mobile’s General Manager, Mike Rayfield, has confirmed the collaboration between the two companies and the mysterious Chrome OS is one of the solutions for the Tegra platform. Basically, besides Windows Mobile, Windows CE and Android, Chrome OS will also be among the Operating Systems that will be used on the next smartbooks. The choice, according to Rayfield, will be entirely up to the manufacturers. He didn’t specify precise dates, but it should be launched by the end of this year.

The arrival of the first smartphones with the potent Tegra chip from Nvidia should be arriving in Autumn. The chip offers advanced graphic features and an evolved user interface.

Mike Rayfield, responsible for nVIDIA’s mobile division, has confirmed it, although he hasn’t mentioned any specific brands that will have the Tegra chip integrated. During the last few weeks, many names have been rumored, such as Samsung, Motorola and HTC, as well as Microsoft for their new multimedia device Zune HD.

nVidia has decided to use the Microsoft Windows CE OS for the new Tegra platforms. The analysts maybe expected this move, but the Open Source world perhaps didn’t.

According to nVidia, the Linux and Android solutions are not yet evolved enough to support the technical necessities of the future netbooks based on Tegra. For example, Android doesn’t support the latest generation of graphic units. Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Moblin, instead, seem to still have some hardware compatibilities.

Windows CE will obviously be pushed aside by the netbook edition of Windows 7, but at the moment, it seems to be the only OS that support the ARM multi-core architectures perfectly and allows device manufacturers to optimize their products.

nVIDIA has confirmed that inside the Zune HD there’s a Tegra processor that manages all the functions. In particular, the Tegra allows the Microsoft player to manage high-definition video playback. The all-in-one chip offers the hardware acceleration for the decodification of video streaming up to 720p with consumptions of 140mW. Besides the video acceleration, this platform also offers 3D rendering performances that are definitely superior than any other palm device.

The new Zune HD should use the APX 2500 or 2600 version of the Tegra processor, which combine an ARM11 core with a graphic controller based on GeForce architecture. From a technologic point of view, thus, Microsoft puts itself one step higher than the competition, such as Apple iPod touch and iPhone, that support videos only up to 640×480 pixels, even when connected to an HD external screen.