Hasta La Gadget!

Nvidia has outed its next-gen Tegra 4 mobile CPU at CES. As expected, the chip packs 72  GPU cores, offering a 6x bump on the Tegra 3′s graphics processing performance — to make the most of higher resolution displays — along with the first quad-core ARM Cortex-A15, to boost web browsing speed by 2.6x and deliver improved app performance. Also on board: LTE support.

Nvidia is talking up the computation photography capabilities of the Tegra 4, with automatic support for HDR photos and video, and also its power efficiency — claiming it consumes up to 45 per cent less power than the Tegra 3 in “common use cases”, thanks to features such as a battery saver core for low power during standard use. The Tegra 4 supports up to 14 hours of HD video playback on phones.

Also today at CES, Nvidia has launched an open gaming handheld — dubbed ‘Project Shield‘ — powered by the new Tegra 4 chip. The handheld can download Android games from Google Play and Nvidia’s TegraZone game store, and also wirelessly stream Windows PC STEAM games — provided you have a PC powered by Nvidia GeForce GTX GPUs elsewhere in the home. The use-case here is presumably if you want to flop out on the sofa to play to play PC games, rather than sitting at your desk.

The handheld hardware includes a 5-inch, 1280×720 HD retinal multitouch display, hinged atop the controller:

Nvidia’s releases follow below:

NVIDIA Introduces World’s Fastest Mobile Processor

 

Tegra 4 Features 72 Custom GPU Cores, Quad-Core Cortex-A15 CPU for Superb Performance and Efficiency; LTE Enabled with Optional Chipset

LAS VEGAS—CES—Jan. 6, 2013—NVIDIA today introduced NVIDIA® Tegra® 4 , the world’s fastest mobile processor, with record-setting performance and battery life to flawlessly power smartphones and tablets, gaming devices, auto infotainment and navigation systems, and PCs.

Tegra 4 offers exceptional graphics processing, with lightning-fast web browsing, stunning visuals and new camera capabilities through computational photography.

Previously codenamed “Wayne,” Tegra 4 features 72 custom NVIDIA GeForce™ GPU cores – or six times the GPU horsepower of Tegra 3 – which deliver more realistic gaming experiences and higher resolution displays. It includes the first quad-core application of ARM’s most advanced CPU core, the Cortex-A15, which delivers 2.6x faster web browsing and breakthrough performance for apps.

Tegra 4 also enables worldwide 4G LTE voice and data support through an optional chipset, the fifth-generation NVIDIA Icera® i500 processor. More efficient and 40 percent the size of conventional modems, i500 delivers four times the processing capability of its predecessor.

“Tegra 4 provides enormous processing power and efficiency to power smartphones and tablets, gaming devices, auto systems and PCs,” said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of the Tegra business at NVIDIA. ”Its new capabilities, particularly in the area of computational photography, will help improve a whole range of existing products and lead to the creation of exciting new ones.”

Computational Photography Capability

Among the Tegra 4 processor’s breakthroughs is its Computational Photography Architecture, which automatically delivers high dynamic range (HDR) photos and video by fusing together the processing power of the GPU, CPU and the camera’s image-signal processor.

Its HDR capability captures images, including those taken with a flash, the way they are seen by the human eye – with detail in both bright and dark areas.

Unprecedented Power Efficiency

Designed for maximum energy efficiency, Tegra 4 includes a second-generation battery saver core for low power during standard use, and PRISM 2 Display technology to reduce backlight power while delivering superior visuals.

Tegra 4 consumes up to 45 percent less power than its predecessor, Tegra 3, in common use cases. And it enables up to 14 hours of HD video playback on phones.

Tegra 4 Key Features

• ·         – GeForce GPU with 72 custom cores
• ·         – Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU, plus a 2^nd Generation Battery Saver Core
• ·         – Computational Photography Architecture
• ·         – LTE capability with optional Icera i500 chipset
• ·         – 4K ultra-high-def video support

Useful Links
www.nvidia.com/tegra
www.tegrazone.com

NVIDIA Untethers Gaming with Project SHIELD

 

Gaming Portable for Open Platforms Designed for Gamers
to Play When, Where, How They Want

LAS VEGAS—CES—Jan. 6, 2013—NVIDIA today announced Project SHIELD, a gaming portable for open platforms, designed for gamers who yearn to play when, where and how they want.

Created with the philosophy that gaming should be open and flexible, Project SHIELD flawlessly plays both Android and PC titles. As a pure Android device, it gives access to any game on Google Play. And as a wireless receiver and controller, it can stream games from a PC powered by NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPUs, accessing titles on its STEAM game library from anywhere in the home.

“Project SHIELD was created by NVIDIA engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer at NVIDIA. “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do.”

Project SHIELD combines the advanced processing power of NVIDIA Tegra® 4, breakthrough game-speed Wi-Fi technology and stunning HD video and audio built into a console-grade controller. It can be used to play on its own integrated screen or on a big screen, and on the couch or on the go.

 

Tegra 4 at Its Heart

At the core of Project SHIELD is the world’s fastest mobile processor, the new NVIDIA Tegra 4, which delivers enormous power from its custom 72-core GeForce GPU and the first quad-core application of ARM’s most advanced CPU core, the Cortex-A15. These, combined with its battery-saver core and energy-saving PRISM 2 technology, deliver hours of gameplay on a single charge.

Windows and Android Games

Windows and Android are the world’s most successful computing platforms, with massive ecosystems of system and software developers. While not specifically designed for gaming, both open platforms have drawn gamers by the millions. Project SHIELD is designed to allow them to enjoy Android and Windows games in a new, exciting way.

Project SHIELD can instantly download Android games, including Android-optimized titles available on NVIDIA’s TegraZone™ game store, which has already delivered more than 6 million downloads to gamers. It can also be used as a wireless game receiver to a nearby PC equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 GPU or higher.

Console-Grade Controller

Project SHIELD’s ergonomic controller was built for the gamer who wants ultimate control and precision.

Retinal Gaming Display

Brilliant gameplay and video are provided by Project SHIELD’s integrated 5-inch, 1280×720 HD retinal multitouch display, with 294 dpi. Plus, Tegra 4 with Direct Touch technology gives it touch responsiveness that is a more consistent, accurate and smooth-flowing touch input experience than a standard touch device.

Tuned Port, Bass Reflex Portable Speaker System

Deep, rich audio is critical for a great gaming experience. And Project SHIELD provides fidelity and dynamic range never before available on a portable device, through its custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – with twice the low-frequency output of high-end laptops.

Project SHIELD can also access Android apps such as Hulu, Netflix and Slacker Radio, so users can enjoy their movies and music anywhere without expensive, clumsy wired or wireless speakers.

 

Support by Leading Industry Analyst

Patrick Moorhead, president and lead analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said: “The market has waited years for a breakthrough gaming device that offers the flexibility, quality and total enjoyment of Project SHIELD. Few companies other than NVIDIA have the vision, guts and deep gaming experience to have pulled this off.”

Support by Leading Game Developers

Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ubisoft, said: “Ubisoft is always excited about new hardware developments, and Project SHIELD promises to bring both mobile and PC gamers a great new gaming experience. Seeing the PC version of Assassin’s Creed III run on the device is a great example of this, and further strengthens Ubisoft’s long-standing relationship with NVIDIA.”

Mark Rein, vice president and co-founder of Epic Games, said: “With Project SHIELD, NVIDIA brings an uncompromising, high-performance console experience to mobile devices. Amazing games including Real Boxing and Hawken, which utilize the latest Unreal Engine technology, look fantastic on Project SHIELD. This is just the beginning, and we’re truly excited to see what more Unreal Engine developers will do with so much horsepower in such a compact gaming device.”

Bill Wagner, chief production officer at Meteor Entertainment, said: “Coming from the openness of a PC platform, we love how accessible Project SHIELD is, and the flexibility it gives gamers everywhere. Project SHIELD gives us the cutting-edge ability to bring a huge free-to-play PC game like Hawken to the handheld gaming audience.”

Support by Broader Industry

“Shadowgun and Dead Trigger showed how Tegra can redefine mobile gaming on Android. Project SHIELD’s performance has allowed us to bring an even better experience with Dead Trigger 2,debuting first on Tegra 4 devices. Our fans are going to love it.”

– Marek Rabas, chief executive officer of MADFINGER Games

“Project SHIELD has changed how we approach mobile game development. Tegra 4 helped us create Bloodsword – a new game debuting with the highest resolution textures, graphics and shading we’ve ever seen on a portable device.”

– Seunghee Do, co-founder at OneQ Soft

“We are very excited to be part of Project SHIELD, and are quite amazed by the gaming potential of this device. Project SHIELD is by far the fastest mobile device we’ve worked on and it lets us put console quality graphics on a handheld device.”

– Stine Waern, chief executive officer at Ravn Studio AS

“Thanks to Project SHIELD’s performance, we’re able to use the same quality textures and shaders in Rochard as on the PC version. We’re super excited to bring Rochard to Project SHIELD, the first time it’s ever been playable on a mobile device.”

– Jan Achrenius, chief executive officer at Recoil Games

“Put simply, Project SHIELD is an amazing leap forward, enabling us to create console-quality visuals previously unthinkable on a mobile platform.”

– Arden Aspinall, chief executive officer and project lead at TickTock Games Ltd.

More information is available at shield.nvidia.com.

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Today, its processors power a broad range of products from smartphones to supercomputers. NVIDIA’s mobile processors are used in cell phones, tablets and auto infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy spectacularly immersive worlds. Professionals use them to create 3D graphics and visual effects in movies and to design everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers utilize GPUs to advance the frontiers of science with high performance computing. The company has more than 5,000 patents issued, allowed or filed, including ones covering ideas essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

[CES 2013] If you are in the market for a gadget that offers versatile and on-the-go networking, then the D-Link DIR-508L SharePort Go II should fit bill easily. To put it in a nutshell, the SharePort Go makes it a snap to ensure that all of your devices remain connected to the Internet regardless of where you are. All you need to do is hook up your compatible devices to its wireless network, and the SharePort Go II will ensure that everything else runs smoothly. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Toshiba Cloud TV, VIZIO 80-inch Razor LED Smart TV Leads CES Lineup,

[CES 2013] When it comes to routers, you know that the name D-Link can be trusted. After all, they have been around for a fair number of years, and this time around, gamers might want to sit up and take notice at the D-Link AC 1300 (DGL-5500) gaming router which is said to deliver the best kind of performance possible at a decent price range for both gaming and HD video streaming purposes. The inclusion of Dual Band technology ensures interference-free bandwidth under most circumstances, while StreamBoost technology will be able to intelligently allocate the right amount of bandwidth for the best gaming experience.

Going by the full name of “Wireless AC1300 Dual Band Gigabit Gaming Router” (what a mouthful!), let us talk more about how StreamBoost technology works. With the integrated StreamBoost QoS engine, it is capable of intelligently prioritizing bandwidth in order to relegate both lag and buffering into history books as it manages your connection automatically, while giving you the option of manually routing additional bandwidth to a specific activity, with even the choice of routing such bandwidth to a specific device, now how about that? Does it deserve the “World’s Fastest Wi-Fi” tag? Only time will tell as the AC 1300 hits the market, so hopefully D-Link’s latest gaming route would have the “muscle” to back up such lofty claims.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Tegra 4 Announced By NVIDIA, Lenovo Erazer X700 Gaming Desktop,

Unfortunately for D-Link, the unbroken blue skies of Nevada aren’t helping the company promote its latest raft of cloud-connected networking products. It’s launching a pair of coke cans dual band routers and cloud-connected cameras that’ll let you coat your house in WiFi and broadcast your antics across the internet. The cameras will save VGA footage to a hard drive, while the routes promise to offer speeds of up to 1750Mbps. If you want an impromptu security system, the cameras will arrive in February, the 1050 setting you back $80 and the 1150 a cool $100, while the routers make their way into stores from April — the AC1200 costing $150 and the AC1750 marked up at $170.

Continue reading D-Link launches a raft of routers, cloud cameras at CES

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D-Link’s second crack at its SharePort Go portable router comes with a raft of new features designed to help road warriors lighten their gadget load. The device is designed to turn a single Ethernet connection into a WiFi hotspot (like the SharePort DIR-505) with the added bonus of a built-in battery and media sharing capabilities. The new edition gets a squared-off new look, a built-in SD card reader and the ability to share the connection from external 3G and 4G modems. It’ll arrive in April, setting you back $120, so you’ve got a few months to work out what other accessories you can now leave at home when you’re on the go.

Continue reading D-Link releases the $120 SharePort Go II pocket router / hotspot with added SD card reader

Filed under: Wireless

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