Nvidia Tegra Possible Debut by April 2009

By Aaron Heibert
published

The Tegra – Nvidia’s addition to the mobile device market, could be in the hands of consumers as early as April of 2009 – directly competing with Intel and Apple’s low-powered mobile processor solutions.

The new Tegra chip will have an ARM based processor core, high-definition video decoder, a variation of the GeForce graphics core, among other promising components. According to Jen-Hsun, Nvidia’s president, the lineup would launch with the Tegra 600 operating at 700 MHz, and the Tegra 650 operating at 800 MHz, Tegra APX 2500 operating at 600 MHz.

According Jen-Hsun, the development phase of the chip is going very well and the company plans to launch it sometime between April and June of 2009. According to information currently available, this is what we know about the proposed lineup:

Tegra APX 2500
Processor: ARM11 600 MHz MPCore Processor
Memory: NAND flash, Mobile DDR or NOR
Graphics: Image Processor [FWGA 854 * 480 pixels]
Up to 12 Megapixel camera support
LCD controller resolutions up to 1680x1050
Storage: IDE for SSD
Video Codecs: Up to 720p H.264 & VC-1 Decoding and Up to 720p H.264 Encoding
MP3, WMA, and AAC playback
Includes GeForce ULV support for OpenGL ES 2.0, Direct3D Mobile, and programmable shaders
Output: HDMI, VGA, composite, S-Video, Stereo Jack, USB
USB On-The-Go
NVIDIA nPower™ technology, enabling over 10 hours of HD video playback and up to 100 hours of audio
Processor speed, graphics and southbridge will vary depending on the lineup each of the products target.

Tegra 600
Targeted for GPS segment and automotive
700 MHz
Memory: low power DDR
SXGA, HDMI, USB, stereo jack
HD camera 720p

Tegra 650
Targeted for GTX of handheld and notebook
800 MHz
LP-DDR (200 MHz)
2.5 4 watts envelope

Common Features
All-day media processing, for 130 hours audio, 30 hours HD video playback

HD image processing for advanced digital still camera and HD camcorder functions

Optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications for a true desktop-class internet experience

Display support for 1080p HDMI, WSXGA+ LCD and CRT, and NTSC/PAL TV-Out

Direct support for WiFi, disk drives, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals

A complete Board Support Package (BSP) to enable fast times to market for Window Mobile-based designs

No mention has been made which partners will be taking on the Tegra craze, however it looks to be a pretty solid contender for the mobile device market. Its proposed capabilities, clock speed, and apparently low battery usage requirement definitely make it interesting. Tom’s will be keeping a close eye on developments surrounding this topic!

If the Tegra does well and a lot of device manufacturers onboard with Nvidia, it could be a pretty good revenue year for 2009.

Original story here.

Aaron Heibert
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jaragon13
    They should get these on consoles....
    Reply
  • customisbetter
    I want one of these in a suped up iphone...
    ...running Crysis.

    Come on people, i know your creative minds can do it.

    Reply
  • cow_moo
    ya my ITouch would appercate the tegra + I could run crysis
    Reply
  • enewmen
    This is way beyond what I see in any current phone.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    The Tegra 600 looks interesting. I'm also into digital photography as well as computers. This could hopefully bring video recording into lower priced DSLRs.
    Reply
  • ceteras
    jaragon13They should get these on consoles....these could lead to mobile phones that work as multimedia centers and game consoles as well.
    Reply
  • Niva
    i think the processor can play back full HD video. As far as capability to run games at full HD... that's a whole other story.

    I guess we should wait and see. It will be right around the time I'll be looking for a new smartphone anyways. It's good to have choices!
    Reply
  • wkcar
    I hope Apple puts this in the iphone. Unfortunately, knowing their slow adoption of the latest hardware, I doubt this will make in for a few years.
    Reply
  • EZEQUAL
    demonhorde665these are intended for mobile devices , such as cell phones , and pcoket pc's any console already beats these things by a loooong shot , while they will record hd and such it is highly unlikely that any device they will be put on can actually do hd (keep inn mind teh smaller a screen is the smaller of resolution you would need to make a clear image). ie: a low resolution of 320x280 on a tiny 4-7 inch creen would look great , however that same 320x280 on a 20 inch or say a 40 inch screen would look like crap when you shrink a screen size it is the same as redefining what is hi def , there is no need for a small screen on a mobile device to catually do TRUE high def so i doubt this chip woyuld compete with consoles on that end
    Firstly displays are already at 800x480 (SDTV is ~640x480), secondly if you read tfa you would see that it has both monitor and HDMI out and this has ALREADY been demoed live so saying that its not possible yet is wrong.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7R90A7ZqLU and the 650 is 1080p capeable.

    I personally want this jammed in an HTC HD with a 720p mini multi touch display on it, 3.5mm jack and all the other good stuff like GPS, FM, Wifi a/b/g/n etc built in.
    Reply