NVIDIA announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it is working with Google and the Open Handset Alliance to bring Android to Tegra Chips.
What this effectively means is that manufacturers and operators who support Android can use the Tegra chip to offer mobile phones with advanced user experiences that leverage web and internet content and provide services such as mobile mash ups and location based applications.
Michael Rayfield, General Manager of the mobile business unit at NVIDIA said “NVIDIA and Google are both working to unlock the visual computing potential of mobile devices and this announcement matches the power of Tegra with the innovation of the Android platform……NVIDIA will be working within the Open Handset Alliance to continually strengthen the ability of Android to tap into advanced mobile graphics and media acceleration to make interaction with handheld technology more intuitive and instinctive”.
Let’s face it guys, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) haven’t really been quite as successful as other devices, simply because they are not quite big enough to be a trendy teeny notebook or a little lappie and not nearly smart enough to be a SmartPhone.
That all looks set to change in the very near future with a new class of “always-on, always-connected HD MIDs” that come with intuitive interfaces, that are capable of playing high definition video and with that all important exceptionally long battery life.
What will it cost? It can be yours for as little as $99.
Wow! Do we get excited now or wait and see what actually transpires. Yes there are some attractive features, I’m sure many folk would prefer “always on” particularly if they are avid users of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, so as they become affordable to the masses that’s going to boost their popularity for sure.
At the moment we don’t really know yet which companies will offer the Tegra chip and we don’t know when it will happen except that they will start shipping from mid 2009.
And what are Google saying about it? Andy Rubin, Google’s senior director of mobile platforms said “We welcome NVIDIA’s support of Android on Tegra and we look forward to many more Android-based devices that deliver an outstanding consumer experience”.
NVIDIA currently have their Android phone complete with Tegra chip on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona so if you happen to be in the area, pop in and take a peek and if you do, let us know what you think.
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