NVIDIA's Tegra jumps on the Android bandwagon
By Sean Cooper 
posted Feb 16th 2009 3:00AM
posted Feb 16th 2009 3:00AM
We've been hearing all kinds about NVIDIA's Tegra the last couple weeks, and have all been quietly wishing and hoping that we'd see Android getting some action -- and we will, and how! Apparently while the initial focus is Windows Mobile, NVIDIA sees Android surpassing Windows Mobile sales into 2012 and has decided to put some serious grunt into the new OS's development. The NVIDIA Tegra 2600 part is being developed with an optimized and accelerated Android release aimed squarely at OEM development and set for release sometime in Q2 this year. We've no idea how long it takes from reference to finished-in-our-hands-product, but the briefing hints at a couple mystereious sets, the "IAC S2" in Q3 and a "Yulong N8" by Q4. This guy is under glass over at NVIDIA's H.Q. here at MWC, so expect more once we stroll over for a look-see. Few more pics after the break.
That Yulong unit looks... imperial.. Platinum + gold. I hope it is worth something. BTW: Yulong could be translated as Jade Dragon.
well they had better also talk to Google, about opening up android to more lower level code so developers can actually use Tegra, funny how WinMo is still better than the open-source OS at something like that
Only if you define "better" as "pay $10,000.00 a month to Microsoft for the Windows Mobile license". If you don't pay the extortion...err I mean overhead it is not "better".
I lubs me that graphic that shows Android eclipsing WinMo...
...it happen way before 2012 if you factor in all the industrial machinery and measuring instruments that currently run Windows CE ( with its outrageous licensing costs! ) replaced with Android ( zero licensing fees ).
Silver lining to global depression/recession? Massive, over night switch from closed expensive proprietary OSes to Open Source by the entire world's manufacturing companies. It's not just the telcos and handset makers seeing Android's cost savings!
I think I just heard a chair hitting the wall...
@Todd: Hey, now -- let's not get crazy. It's not free to dev on Android either.
There's a $25 one-time fee to become an Android dev. LOL
CORRECTION:
Windows Mobile = $10,000.00 a month ( forever and ever, in perpetuate ).
Android = $25 one time fee
:)
Todd, where are you getting that figure from?
I love a good bit of Microsoft bashing as much as the next person and also agree that Android (in various different forms) will overtake Windows CE shipments, but I doubt it will be because of the "outrageous licensing costs"..
Windows CE core licences have cost $3 in low volume since 2003 and I suspect are a lot less in high volume. The development software (platform builder) you need to start making customised WinCE devices costs $1500... There is no monthly licensing fee for Windows CE!
Now Windows Mobile is more expensive than that because it includes things like Word / Outlook / Powerpoint / Internet Exploder, which Microsoft have convinced themselves are worth something.
Let's assume you're right and HTC need to pay $120k per year to Microsoft... how much is that compared to the money they make selling millions of Windows Mobile phones?
But, for an company making a few thousand pieces of industrial equipment a year, which do you think would cost more? Paying Microsoft under $10k a year or employing a team of Linux experts who know how to port Android to their hardware and maintain it with no support from Google?
@fnuky
"Internet Exploder" Freudian slip?? HAHAHAH!
HTC + Andriod + Tegra + G2 phone = would be sometime amazing.....
G2 uses Qualcomm MSM72xx chip.
no tegra for you.
@Fnuky
Sir, your detailed analysis is for more accurate than my snotty comments.
But I stand by my opinion that the economy will rapidly accelerate the world wide switch to Open Source OSes by both the mobile phone and industrial manufacturing corps. IF there is two cents advantage to be had, with this economy looming, the share holders ( if not Sans Oxley ) ma demand the abandonment of Windows licensing fees.
The switch will occur in MONTHS, not years.
The Accounting departments and share holders are in charge of the decision, not the Engineers.
P.S. Re: your paying licensing vs. hiring new devs - You forgot the savings to be had in laying off the internal Windows development staff, and the requisite QA personnel to quash all those bugs!
;)
If the official word is that a Tegra-powered phone running Android is coming in Q2, then sorry Pre, I just found my perfect phone.
I just hope HTC doesn't ruin it with ugly hardware.
I meant coming in H2.
Otherwise, this "official" photoshop is the worst photoshop ever. They even used a screenshot of the old build of Android showed by Google in May.
Nice that there are some mockups of tegra phones. But they forgot one thing.
BUTTONS. What use is a telephone that can play quake 3, when it doesnt have any buttons to play quake 3 with. Please let them be smart enough to put some gaming buttons on the real phone.
Why would they need this? You can play 3D games on the iPhone pretty well, no need for fancy hardware acceleration.
iphone has 2D&3D hardware acceleration. without you're not getting ANY 3D because the CPU would give you seconds-PER-frame performance trying to do so.
everything from the iphone's 2D interface to the 3D is accelerated by the graphics module in the SOC.
Indeed, I really am looking forward to the Pre, but I still have Tegra in the back of my mind. Seeing that Q3 Demo and 3d GPS was awesome, and I really want to wait for a Tegra phone, but not seeing a phone, or even a solid release date for one makes me think it'll still be '10 before we actually see a phone that can run Q3 @ 30fps with full AA/AF.
the IAC is the mockup rendering of the Blackberry Storm from last year. Its a photoshoped Bold.