Last night we were able to sit on a presentation by nVidia’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. It was a packed room with several hundred media/analysts in attendance, but unlike other sessions there was room for all who wanted in. Jen-Hsun (pronounced Jensen) introduced us all to the new Tegra 3 5 core application processor and the new Asus Transformer Prime running Android Ice Cream Sandwich (now available). Of course we had recently seen this last week when we examined our newly acquired Asus Transformer Prime tablet (you can learn more about that on our teardown blog). But then, much to the surprise of all us, Jen-Hsun introduces us to Jerry Shen, CEO of Asus. Jerry tells us all about the new 7″, $249 Android Tablet, also running Ice Cream Sandwich on the Tegra 3. This seems to be the trend now. Tablets are becoming a $200-ish item. Maybe now I can get one for the house!
Jerry Shen showing off his new 7" Tablet complete with Tegra T3
Jen-Hsun showed us a die CAD image of the new Tegra 3 with its 5 cores and talked about how the 5th core was his “Ninja Core”, running around in the background in stealth mode doing all kinds of things. Sounds to me like some hidden horse power hiding out in the polysilicon. He then when on to talk about how his Ninja core could do all kinds of things, even provide better touch screen control.
The image he provided showed us a conventional touch screen control scenario where we have a dedicated touch screen controller, like the Atmel MXT768E (which is what we found in the Asus Transformer Prime) and then a new technique, that nVidia calls Direct Touch, where we just have an ADC to provide the capacitive touch interface and the Ninja core of the T3 providing the crunch power normally provided by a dedicated MCU. Does this mean that we no longer need the dedicated TSC controller? Are we dropping a socket from the motherboard and lowering the cost of our bill of materials? More integration, less devices, lower costs. These things can only mean lower costs for us (or bigger margins for them) I can’t wait to see what the boys in the lab think of this.
Tegra 3 providing touch screen control function
nVidia's Direct Touch on Tegra 3 running at 3x normal sampling rate of conventional TSC solutions
And just when we thought that we had had enough surprises, out comes Microsofts’ Aidan Marcuss to demonstrate Windows 8 running on the Tegra 3. The screens looked great and it started up amazingly fast. From what Aidan said, it sounded like Windows is taking advantage of the extra power contained within the cores of the Tegra 3. On a side note, on my bus ride from the airport to the Aria, courtesy of Nokia, I had the opportunity to play with the Nokia Lumia running Windows 8. All I can say is, that was one quick and slick interface. Perhaps Microsoft has a shot at the title currently being held by Google!
Windows 8 running on Tegra 3/Transformer Prime at nVidia CES press event
Last but not least, Jen-Hsun tells us about how nVidia and the Tegra are now in high end automobiles. The Audi Tesla will feature two Tegra 3’s. One for the infotainment and another to support the dash board systems. This is a real opportunity for nVidia. Not only do they hold one of the top positions in Smart Phones and Tablets, they are now going to be in our automobiles. Sounds like that mask set may pay for itself rather quickly. Now my question is, how long will it take for my GMC to have this kind of computing power? My kids will be in the back seat playing multi-player Starcraft and my wife will be catching up on her email. All while I am driving in a blizzard. Wonderful!
Audi running Tegra 3 5 core application processor
From Smart Phones and tablets to automobiles, nVidia seems to be touching us everywhere. I think it is safe to say that nVidia and the Tegra product line are enjoying a ride right now. They have a good product and they are holding a very good market position. This is an example of very good product management. Great job guys. Keep up the great work.
From Smart Phones to Smart Cars. Viva Las Tegras!
