Nvidia gets contract for next-gen Sony console?

Here's another one to toss into the rumor mill: Nvidia, which got about $30 million from Sony for the PS3 graphics engine, has signed on with Sony for another product -- and Nvidia execs say the new deal will run through 2007, and should earn the company "slightly more" than the PS3 deal. So, what's it gonna be, rumor-mongers? PSP2? Vaio media center? A color Reader?  For now, though, Nvidia is playing coy, boasting about the deal, but going all silent on the details, which, of course, just forces us into rampant speculation mode. So, for now we're counting on either the Clie 2007 or an MD player with integrated video -- and with Sony being Sony, we could just be right.

[Matt @ Mar 24th 2006 11:29AM]

Definately the MD player, and it has to be priced >$700 or its not a Sony MD player ;)

[Racky @ Mar 24th 2006 11:36AM]

By the time Sony are ready to launch the PS3 in 'November' it's GPU will be pretty out of date. Just a thought.

[TZK @ Mar 24th 2006 11:43AM]

IT would be nice for Sony to have this deal, maybe one sweetens the other.

A PSP2 rumor is about due, also :)

I vote touch screen!

[dpk @ Mar 24th 2006 11:53AM]

I'd bet on a Sony/Ericsson gaming cell phone. I don't think the taco was a bad idea in principal, just badly assembled. Anyway, it's the only thing I can think of that would beat out the PS3 for nVidia, since there'll probably always be more cell phones than game consoles out there.

[nemi @ Mar 24th 2006 12:02PM]

sony have alaways talked about the Cell CPU being the cornerstone of all their future consumer line (TVs, STB, etc. etc.) so makes sense that they woudl stick witht he same GPU supplier who already has the know how of itnerfacing to the Cell. Perhaps Nivida just signed up a very broad deal to supply low power consumption GPU's for a huge range of future sony products (TV's STB, Cell phones, PSP 2 etc. etc.).

[Gary @ Mar 24th 2006 12:44PM]

lets get a lil crazy here:
Upgradeable GPU's for the PS3 since this console is supposed to last for 10yrs

lets be conservative:
Some kind of mobile video player

Only if Sony would have made the MDs open sourced like CDs were i'm sure they would've caught on, and now with UMDs there still not opening them up to 3rd party burners and writers... Oh sony how you have not learned, no amount of UMD players will make UMD succesful beyond the PSP games

*smacks sony on the nose* "NO!!! thats a bad Sony! Don't make me rub your nose in the MD failure"

But lets hope nVidia does something good with sony

[Paul @ Mar 24th 2006 1:57PM]

PS4.. since we all know the PS3 will flop big time

[Liam Billington @ Mar 24th 2006 2:42PM]

Why a PSP2???? And PS4 wont be til 2009 in my opinion.

The thing has only been out a year and already a second version? They would do what Nintendo has done and call the 'redesign' PSPone.

Sony may wan't to do a UMPC itself which can stream with Vaio's based on Linux no doubt, more style and a UMD slot as its smaller than a DVD and could easily fit in a UMPC. I wouldn't mind buying a Sony UMPC if I could play Playstation games which could be downloaded off a Sony Connect store and a UMD slot for PSP games. Didn't Sony do a MD burner/reader in some of it's Vaio PC's BTW.

If Sony was to replace MD's with UMD it would make the format far more popular and a UMD PMP would be good by itself, if its made cheaper for the consumer. I know they did in Europe. I think I would buy a UMD PMP if it had a HDD and perhaps DVB-H.

This deal is also very short term and quite low in my opinion $30 million for R&D, surely more was spent on R&D for consoles.

I think this is for a range of HD capable STB's, BD-ROM players, HDTV's or a range of mobile phones.

[Fantaz @ Mar 24th 2006 5:21PM]

"Overall, it is plainly obvious that NVIDIA is working with Sony on PSP2. They expect NREs to last nearly two years on that, so I'd expect it to be a mid/late 2008 part."

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29406

[badbob001 @ Mar 24th 2006 6:01PM]

Most likely Nvidia is contracted to continually redesign their gpu to make it cheaper, since Sony needs to cut prices to stay competitive.

[Steviepunk @ Mar 24th 2006 6:29PM]

Badbob is right in my opinion, was thinking the same thing myself. Sony had many revisions of the PS2, so same will apply to PS3. Didn't Sony get the orginal PS down to one or two chips from the original collection?

Few chips = cheaper to make.

[Obake @ Mar 25th 2006 5:08AM]

I predict its just a deal to supply GPU's for the Vaio.

[John John @ Mar 25th 2006 10:39AM]

All I have to say is it better not be a "psp2"-- UNLESS sony plans to offer some kind of incentive/compensation to the pioneer psp buyers who... I'll reiterate... are being f-ed in the b-hole in terms of games (ok, I mean thank god square enix is bringing FF at some point this summer.... but still). Sony couldn't possibly be planning to boost sales by adding an updated console that doesn't first have a decent selection of games to play!

[rob @ Apr 10th 2006 5:56PM]

Looks like it will be psp2. Too early for ps4 and not likely to be a phone with this kind of cash. Hopefully just a refinement of psp but with sony who knows?