Nvidia Corp announced a processor line-up it believes will power a new class of fast, small devices with long battery life that can surf the full internet, play high-end games and display high-definition video.
The graphics chipmaker is calling the Tegra 600 and Tegra 650 processors "computers on a chip" for highly portable, visual devices, and it is aiming squarely at a market also targeted by no. 1 chipmaker Intel Corp.
Nvidia hopes the Tegra chips, which also include its previously announced application processor APX2500 used in smartphones and handsets, will go into a broad array of computing devices. But it's aiming first for an emerging category called mobile internet devices, or MIDs. Intel was among the first to start bandying about the term, and its Atom family of chips is targeted at MIDs. But Intel and Nvidia both say people are still unsure exactly what a MID is. Nvidia says it is more than a dumbed-down notebook PC or super-portable notebook with keyboards suited more for the hands of Smurfs than humans.
Mike Rayfield, general manager of Nvidia's mobile business, said MIDs have screens of four to 12 inches in diameter and may have a touch-screen or keyboard, a connection for a game controller or a wireless high-speed internet connection.
"The systems now look more like dehydrated notebook computers," Mr Rayfield said. But super-compact notebooks, smaller even than so-called ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), have already taken off.
The graphics chipmaker is calling the Tegra 600 and Tegra 650 processors "computers on a chip" for highly portable, visual devices, and it is aiming squarely at a market also targeted by no. 1 chipmaker Intel Corp.
Nvidia hopes the Tegra chips, which also include its previously announced application processor APX2500 used in smartphones and handsets, will go into a broad array of computing devices. But it's aiming first for an emerging category called mobile internet devices, or MIDs. Intel was among the first to start bandying about the term, and its Atom family of chips is targeted at MIDs. But Intel and Nvidia both say people are still unsure exactly what a MID is. Nvidia says it is more than a dumbed-down notebook PC or super-portable notebook with keyboards suited more for the hands of Smurfs than humans.
Mike Rayfield, general manager of Nvidia's mobile business, said MIDs have screens of four to 12 inches in diameter and may have a touch-screen or keyboard, a connection for a game controller or a wireless high-speed internet connection.
"The systems now look more like dehydrated notebook computers," Mr Rayfield said. But super-compact notebooks, smaller even than so-called ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), have already taken off.