Intel, ARM, nVidia Show Off Mobile Chops - Page 2

nVidia also announced a new version of the Tegra, the 600 series, which use a system-on-a-chip designs for mobile internet devices (MID) that can go days between battery charges.

Mike Rayfield, general manager of the mobile business unit at nVidia, said he envisions the 600 series' smaller, more efficient design allowing for $99 high-definition MIDs with many hours of performance life.

"The next generation of high-definition content is Web and connected activities, and bringing it down to this price point will allow it to take off like the handset market did ten years ago," he said during a conference call with reporters to discuss the new processor.

"For it to work, it has to be in very low-power devices," he added. "These [chips] are made for days of use. They allow people to watch movies, surf the Web, do the things as much as they want and not worry about being able to return e-mails."

The Tegra MID delivers 720p and 1080p high-definition video playback, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications and a complete software solution stack for developing Windows Embedded CE OS to run on the chip.

Intel brings out "Moorestown"

LG Electronics and Intel are announcing at the show plans to collaborate on MIDs based on Intel's next-generation Atom system on a chip (SoC) platform, codenamed "Moorestown," and the Linux-based Moblin v2.0 software platform. The LG device is expected to be one of the first Moorestown designs to market.

"Moorestown" is the codename for Intel's next-generation, Atom-based SoC that integrates the processor core, graphics, video and memory controller on a single, low-power chip.

The new LG device will also be one of the first to use Moblin v2.0, the Linux operating system designed specifically to deliver a great PC-like Internet experience while also supporting mobile phone voice capabilities.

The Moorestown-based LG MID platform is expected to come to market by 2010.