NVIDIA announces quad-core Kal-El SOC

[Preston786]

I wonder if Nvidia paying any royalties for using Kal-El
Or tings so bad for them they need superman to rescue them
anyways see below for more info:

NVIDIA announces quad-core Kal-El SOC, coming to a tablet near you this August
February 16th, 2011 byJohnny
Misc gadgets, Mobile computers

NVIDIA announced their new quad-core Kal-El processor at the MWC 2011 and even showcased bragging about its computing skills. It should be the next Tegra 3 but for now we’ll have to get used to the codename Kal-El.



The new processor should be running at a 1.5GHz with all its four (4!) cores. NVDIA has even promised up to 12 hours of HD playback, so the new processor should be more efficient than Tegra 2. Better battery life, in layman’s terms, I hope. And the NVDIA Kal-El should be, what, 5 times faster than the current Tegra 2! Thats serious power for a handheld device.



The NVIDIA Roadmap actually put the new Kal-El in first place and, taking a closer look, we see that three new processors are lined up for the next 3 years. Codename Wayne is scheduled for 2012, Logan for 2013 and Stark for 2014. NVIDIA obviously have big plans for future tablets and smartphones.



We’re guessing that the name will change to something like Tegra 3 or 4, because interestingly enough, the Kal-El nickname derives from Superman’s birth name, before he came to Earth and was named Clark Kent. Cheesy, right?

Here’s an official video by NVIDIA of the new Kal-El’s performance.

I didn’t even dream of dual-core smartphones and tablets half a year ago, and Nvidia is already promising quad-core devices right this very year. I guess that leaked Nvidia roadmap was right after all.

And they say these quad-core chipsets will be available in August this year, cool!

[Eroo]

Well now I have yo buy a device using this

[TriniXaeno]

likewise, interest piqued

[Arcmanov]

Nvidia being dishonest once again. 

You might want to keep your wallets closed a little while longer. 

[Preston786]

those lying bastards

but this still isn't bad at all

[Preston786]

A few months back, we unveiled Project Kal-El – our next-gen Tegra super chip – as the world’s first mobile quad-core processor. Kal-El combines a battery-friendly, powerhouse of a quad-core processor with a 12-core NVIDIA GPU that supports 3D stereo.



Given that dual-core processors are already on market, you might be wondering how Project Kal-El’s quad-core technology will improve the mobile experience. Rather than try to explain it, we’ve put together a hands-on demo to give you a sneak peek at the new capabilities coming to superphones and tablets later this year.

The video, below, features a demo we created called “Glowball,” which draws its namesake from the feature character: a brilliant lit, bouncing ball.



The ball serves as the light source. As it rolls, it casts its effect on different objects. This shows off the power of true dynamic lighting, rendered in real-time with physics (no canned animations here, folks). Thanks to Project Kal-El, Glowball’s true dynamic lighting brings more life and interactivity to a 3D environment. This marks the first time this type of lighting is feasible on a mobile device.

Glowball also leverages the accelerometer inside the device, affecting real-time movements of drapes throughout the game. As the user tilts the device, the gravity in the scene changes and drapes respond accordingly.

The movements are calculated using physics and are simulated across Project Kal-El’s four CPU cores. Again, no canned animations. As the ball rolls through the drapes, they respond how you’d expect them to in real life. In addition, as the ball collides into the jack-in-the-boxes and barrels, the scene responds. Notice how the visual quality degrades when only two CPU cores are used. It’s clear that the quad-core processor in Project Kal-El is required for this level of realism.

Let us know what you think of the new demo. And stay tuned as we reveal more about the new mobile experiences coming to consumer devices with Project Kal-El.

Source

[W1nTry]

I know arc skeptical about this product (rightfully so) but the key word here is MOBILE, so imagine that kinda graphical capabilties in a tablet... now if they can get the pricepoint right... imagine all dat in a tablet that cost 400USD....

[mailman166]

I wonder what's apple's response to this hardware wise?

[Preston786]

NVIDIA's historically outspoken CEO, Mr. Jen-Hsun Huang, just took the stage here at AsiaD, and among other things, he confirmed to Walt that the Tegra roadmap is well established, and in fact, the entire next-gen range is being produced (internally, of course) right now. That's Kal-El, Wayne, Logan and Stark, all codenamed after superheros -- Superman, Batman, Wolverine and Ironman, in order of mention. In response to a question of if ASUS' Transformer Prime would be "the first Tegra 3-based product," Huang simply answered "probably."

He continued by explaining that it generally takes around three years to build a new generation of Tegra: "We'd like to have a processor every year, and so we're building three in a row." Tegra 3 will end up being the world's first quad-core ARM processor (much like the Tegra 2 was the first dual-core), and he confirmed that NVIDIA has invested some $2 billion in Tegra alone. Finally, he confirmed that the inner workings we've heard about in Project Denver will first be present in the Tegra line with the introduction of Stark -- a long ways out, but at least you've got something (else) to look forward to.

[Spazosaurus]

I can appreciate the need for more power in ARM chips if they are to not be bogged down by the new version of windows.

At the same time, wtf is my Kepler gpu's mr Huang???

[W1nTry]

Well we ARE talking about huang here... not exactly known for his... *cough* credibility

[Preston786]

^? Tegra 2 was delivered on schedule so I don't think Tegra 3 would have any problems..... they should have named it Tegra 4 tho ... since it would be Quad Core

[W1nTry]

^Think back to rebranding of Geforce GTX2xx series AND his rant on Nvidia having an Intel Core i7 license AND on his GPU is more brains than CPU, etc etc... yeah... MR. Credibility there XD

[Preston786]

lolz ^ true hopefully that wouldn't find it's way into mobile

[W1nTry]

lolz ^ true hopefully that wouldn't find it's way into mobile

QFT!!!