Some big claims are coming from Nvidia who believe that mobile graphics performance will beat that of the Xbox 360 by 2014. It seems like a few years away is a long time, but when you think about it, it's not. The Xbox 360 graphics are still very impressive and the games coming out are moving the bar up even higher. To have a portable handheld device that matches this performance are astounding. Granted the Xbox 360 was introduced back in 2005, but the graphics are still up there. Rumours are we'll see a new console from Microsoft and Sony in the next 18-24 months. 

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Feb. 20, 2012--NVIDIA and ZTE today announced the ZTE Mimosa X, the first smartphone to be powered both by the NVIDIA ®Tegra ® application processor and its Icera® modem, which came to NVIDIA through its Icera acquisition in mid-2011.

"The ZTE Mimosa X is exciting for a few reasons," said Michael Rayfield, General Manager of the Mobile business at NVIDIA. "The Mimosa X marks the first time NVIDIA technology powers all the major processors in a single smartphone, and also the first time a premium mobile computing experience is coming to the mainstream smartphone market."

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON— December 30, 2011 — SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced a new year’s resolution that’s sure to please gamers worldwide: the iconic blue hedgehog will be making his 2D return in Sonic the Hedgehog™ 4 Episode II in 2012. Following the award-winning success ofEpisode I, which took the world by storm in 2010, Sonic will continue his journey through the epic Sonic 4 saga on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network, as well as mobile platforms including the App Store, Android Market and Xbox LIVE on Windows Phone 7.

With the introduction of the Asus Transformer Prime, the first quad core (Nvidia Tegra 3) Android tablet. So what makes the Tegra 3 so special and why should you invest? We'll lay out the reasons why but firstly let me quickly detail the Asus Transformer Prime. The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is ultra-thin at 8.3mm (0.33") and lightweight at 586g (1.29lbs) while featuring a stylish metallic swirl design with class leading enhancements including ASUS SonicMaster audio technology, an HD 8MP rear auto-focus camera with LED flash and battery life rated for up to 18 hours* when combined with the optional mobile dock. Pricing will range from US$499 (32GB) to US$599 (64GB), with the optional mobile dock accessory priced at US$149.

Nvidia has released some white papers today documenting what we can expect to see in Tegra 3 or Kal-El.

The most notable snippet of information released is the inclusion of a 5th smaller core. This smaller "companion" core will take over simple functions like background tasks and media playback. This will allow for decreased power consumption when the phone is in a near-idle state. While the full performance cores will crank up for more demanding tasks like heavy internet browsing and "console class gaming."

Android tablets sporting the new NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core processor may be available before year end.

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has announced that they are hoping to release the quad-core processor ahead of competition Qualcomm in hopes to stay ahead in the game.

Both companies have been neck to neck in the race to release new and faster processors for both smartphones and tablets. Personally, I am a bigger fan of NVIDIA because I have used their products (GPUs) since forever.

Some of you may have jumped on the Android tablet bandwagon already. Others will be wondering what tablet to buy. There's so many decisions to make when purchasing a tablet. Do you go Android, do you go Apple? Android ofcourse is the answer you'll decide on. But then should you get a dual core Honeycomb tablet or a single core Gingerbread tablet? These are all good questions but there's something you may not have thought about. The end of 2011 is going to be a big one for Android tablets as "Kal-el" or "Nvidia super chip" quad core tablets come to market. Dual core and single core tablets will look somewhat dull compared to the beasts that emerge out of the mist. 

We mentioned this week that Amazon are getting ready to launch a family of Android devices. More details have just surfaced by way of Boy Genius Report (BGR). Two tablets are on the way, Coyote and Hollywood. Coyote is said to be a dual core tablet and Hollywood a quad core tablet. Yes I said Quad Core! The processor will be Nvidia's T30 “KAL-EL” (demo video below) and the tablet may be the first quad core device to hit the market. It seems Amazon will more than likely customise their Android experience, to what level depends on their developers getting hold of the Honeycomb source code in time for their release. Perhaps the Android market won't be present as Amazon look to fill up their appstore with everything you could possibly need. 

The Nvidia CEO has expressed his frustration over poor sales for Android Honeycomb tablets. If you compare the first Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Xoom to the iPad 2, there really is no comparison. As far as sales that is. Motorola mentioned in April that they had shipped around 250,000 tablets. That figure was dwarfed by the iPad 2 which sold 1 million units in its first weekend. Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said "Consumers want more apps for Android tablets." However Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, doesn't think that's the sole reason for poor sales. "It's a point of sales problem. It's an expertise at retail problem. It's a marketing problem to consumers. It is a price point problem," he said, for starters.

Nvidia are the power behind the latest dual core smartphones and tablets with their Tegra 2 chip. They'll be no doubt working on other multicore chips such as quadcore. In fact the rumour is we'll see them in 2012. Nvidia have further strengthened their position by acquiring Icera. They offer 3G and 4G cellular modems which puts Nvidia in a very strong position in the smartphone/tablet market. They can now offer two pieces of the puzzle to Android device manufacturers. Read on for the press release...