NVIDIA Enters the Mobile CPU Market

Vigile writes "NVIDIA just announced the new Tegra line, a complete system architecture on one chip. Built around a licensed x86 ARM 11 CPU, this tiny chip (smaller than a US dime) includes a processor, memory controller, southbridge, and 3D and video processors. The SoC design is meant to give iPhone-type devices a more impressive visual experiences while maintaining idle power consumption under 100 mW. While not a direct competitor to Intel's Atom or VIA's Nano processors, the NVIDIA Tegra will no doubt push the envelope in handhelds and cement NVIDIA's place in the world of computing going forward."

Don't underestimate ARM.

[serviscope_minor]

Modern ARMs are very good. Much, much better than the XScales. They can come with floating point units which are many times faster than software emulation and do not drain much power. Even under load they draw much less than the atom. Also, it looks like the modern cores come with OoO, something which is missing from the atom.

Secondly, the ASUS EEE has shown that it may not br necessary to be x86 compatible any more. It is compatible, but it has sold many copies running Linux. That means that x86 compatibility is not required, since Linux runs well on many processor types.

Death by interactive TV

[heroine]

Hopefully NVidia won't sink in this mine field. Just look what happened to ATI & Intel's ventures into interactive TV. Broadcom is the immobile giant in interactive TV. U better know what you're doing if you're going to go up against The Broad. Now let's port OCAP to Tega or Tegra, or whatever it is.