NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh, booting to Android and pumping out 1080p video

NVIDIA really has a technical wonder in the Tegra APX 2600 chipset, and is more than happy to show it off, with a myriad of tech demos on display here at MWC. Some of this they showed off back in June of last year, but it's no less impressive -- there aren't really any mobile devices out there capable of this stuff right now. Still, we're here for the new, and NIVIDA showed up with Android running on one of its proof-of-concept units, and with another unit pumping out 1080p video, with a claimed 10 hours of battery life at that task. NVIDIA says it took them just a few weeks to port Android to the system, and we found it already quite snappy and even usable on the capacitive touchscreen-ed device. We also saw the forthcoming Android-running Yulong N8 and IAC S2 Tegra APX phones, along with an untitled CompalCom set -- they were all in non-working prototype form, but it's clear this chipset isn't just for MIDs. Check it all out in the videos after the break and the gallery below!

NVIDIA's Tegra in the flesh

[Duckman Posted Feb 17th 2009 3:52PM]

i personally would much rather have something much bigger with crappier hardware that only lasts for 1.5 hours....

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 17th 2009 12:57PM]

Yea, that's cute and all but when will this thing, if ever, be able to be in my hands?

[2late2die Posted Feb 17th 2009 1:26PM]

I'm really impressed with the battery life numbers, and hope they don't turn out to be exaggerations. Can't wait to start seeing phones with these.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 17th 2009 2:07PM]

Seems like this chipset would be a win for the customer that Dell would appeal to. That or maybe NVidia just needs to dive into the hardware arena finally. With that skin they showed off before it seems like a logical move. All it needs is a sliding QWERTY and I'm not only in, but I'm tossing my laptop to the curb!!

[look a cow Posted Feb 17th 2009 6:25PM]

I was wondering if we'd ever see tegra based mid's. Guess this with Android is win.

Wonder how expensive it'll be?

[captainduck Posted Feb 17th 2009 6:33PM]

Dear Nvidia

You have sold me on this idea. HD video, quake 3, and full 3D multitouch browsing, i want it.

Now when and where can i buy it? It will probably cost a lot, but i dont care since i dont have a laptop anyway.

Give me a sign nvidia!

PS: dont forget to put some gaming buttons on the thing so we can actually play games on it.

===

Seriously though, i want this thing, ASAP. But since there still isnt any developer/provider/model known im afraid this will come somewhere very late in 2009, if it doesnt get pushed back to 2010 :(

[shadymilkman Posted Feb 17th 2009 7:04PM]

HTC wants this in one of their phones by the end of this year ... so i would say that itll cost alot and only come out for the russian market ... poor poor usa :(

tegra ftw, i cant wait till i can have a pc in my pocket, that would be amazing.

[morissen3k8 Posted Feb 17th 2009 9:53PM]

makes me wonder if nvidia scored any design wins with apple on the next iphone iteration since they already scored on the macbook designs... then i might probably consider an iphone otherwise no dice i'll wait for winmo 7.

[Levi Posted Feb 17th 2009 10:32PM]

I hope they tool with Android to make it look like that incredible WinMo skin they've demoed for the last year. So impressive. This video shows the menu opening with just as much chop as on the G1 - which is, I'm sure, far less powerful than a device like this boasting a Tegra. Tegra impresses me, and it's the reason I'm holding out for a new phone at the moment.

That, and I don't think the iPhone 3G is enough of a jump to upgrade from the original. Every time I've put them side by side and ran speed comparisons, the 1st gen is mere seconds behind (both with good reception). Not worth the $200 + extra monthly fees for 3G. If they do release something new this year, it better be more impressive than the last jump.

Either way, I'm more interesting in seeing more from Android and Tegra.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 18th 2009 5:16AM]

Can ZiiLabs/nVidia/Intel do video editing on the fly?

Movidia's (http://www.movidia.com) MA1110 can, and much more.

Demo: http://www.youtube.com/movidiacorp

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 18th 2009 2:10PM]

In the last video, at about 27s, the speaker says that the device is running Windows CE.
Isn't that funny ? ;-)

[Atlantian Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:08PM]

i think i just busted one in class reading this