Ubuntu Tips n Tricks

Sunday, January 23, 2011

NVIDIA Set to Unveil Tegra 3 with Quad-Core Processor for Android Devices

Posted: 22 Jan 2011 06:47 PM PST

Although the Tegra 2 chip with integrated dual-core processor has recently been released, NVIDIA is already poised to announce its successor at the Mobile World Congress next month. According to Mike Rayfield of NVIDIA, Tegra 3 may incorporate a quad-core processor with main focus of supporting Android smartphones and tablet PCs.

Described as computer on a chip, Tegra is packed with a built-in ARM architecture CPU, GPU, northbridge, southbridge, and memory controller. Since it is designed for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, the chip is energy efficient but powerful enough to handle demanding tasks and applications.

A good number of tablet computers and smartphones from top hardware manufacturers are already powered by Tegra 2, and most of which are scheduled for release this Q1. NVIDIA Tegra 2 is equipped with a Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU (1 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache), Ultra-low power (ULP) GeForce GPU, and 1080p video playback processor.

The next generation iPad and iPhone is said to feature a powerful dual-core processor. For Android to beat these two immensely popular handhelds, it must run on a more powerful hardware. Utilizing NVIDIA Tegra 3 with quad-core processor could easily give Android devices the edge over those made by Apple.