Even though Nvidia point-blank said that it has no plans to build devices that are already on the market, the supposed 7 inch Nvidia Tegra Tab has resurfaced in the form of actual photos and a new benchmark. This backs up reports that Nvidia filed for a "Tegra Tab" trademark back in April which sparked the whole branded tablet rumor.
While nearly any creative artist could slap together a "prototype" and upload images to the Internet just to get a few clicks, these show a 7 inch tablet-like device with a back panel similar to the new Nexus 7 sporting a texture and matte finish, and the Tegra Tab logo stamped in landscape mode. The images also show what's supposedly a 5MP camera mounted on the back.
The batch of pictures also reveals a micro HDMI port, a micro USB port, a possible SIM/SD card slot and a headphone jack. If the device does have a SIM card slot, then this particular model caught on camera will likely feature Nvidia's Tegra 4i chip with built-in 4G LTE connectivity. The version showing up on benchmarks with a Tegra 4 most likely would be a second Wi-Fi only model generating better scores.
Of course, that's if Nvidia plans to enable 4G LTE connectivity on a branded tablet. Shenzhen Granville technology is supposedly manufacturing the device(s) who in the past admitted to working on a Tegra 4 tablet with a stylus.
The new benchmark was posted on Sunday showing the Tegra Tab 7 Premium sporting Android 4.2.2 and a chip clocked at 1.81 GHz, scoring 27,643 points, which is lower than the new Nexus 7. It follows another recent benchmark of the Nvidia Tegra Note Premium which featured a Tegra 4 chip clocked at 1.8 GHz, a 1280 x 800 resolution, and Android 4.2.2, which scored less than the just-launched Nvidia Shield Android console.
Despite Nvidia stating that it has no plans to create a device already on the market, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that the company has its own Tegra tablet in the works. The company even showcased a tablet-like device during Computex back in June to introduce a new technology called DirectStylus. Coincidence? Probably not.
The new DirectStylus tech allows a Tegra 4 tablet owner to draw lines of different widths by using a fine-tip passive conductive stylus and different amounts of pressure. Thus the combination filters out the user's palm and fingertips, and replicates the natural ease of writing and erasing on paper. It's believed that the device seen during the presentation is the same one that showed up on GFXBench.
There's also been talk of a 10 inch "premium" model that will sport Nvidia's Tegra 5 "Logan" chip packed with Kepler GPU cores, bringing a PC gaming-like experience to a tablet form factor. But given Nvidia's road map doesn't even have Logan going into the full production until 2014, the company may opt to power it with Tegra 4 if it wants the larger tablet to arrive this year.
As reported last week, we were partially hoping that Nvidia would offer a version using Windows RT 8.1 given the company's positive stance on the platform, but all the latest data points to solely using Android 4.2.2 "Jelly Bean" instead. A 7 inch Windows RT tablet powered by a Tegra 4 chip would make for an interesting device, but it would lack the portfolio of GeForce-optimized games offered on Google Play and x86-based Windows PCs.
As always, Nvidia doesn't comment on rumors and speculation.
