Nvidia ION 2 to support Optimus power saving technology?

All fingers are pointing to the fact that Nvidia ION 2 will be a discrete graphics part, rather than a chipset as seen in the original Nvidia ION. One of the benefits of this is that it will support Nvidia Optimus technology according to Fudzilla. Optimus is a power saving technology, particularly useful for netbooks/laptops, as it can switch between both discrete and integrated graphics depending on the task at hand, ultimately extending battery life.

It differs from current switchable graphics technology as there is no manual selection, Optimus will automatically detect what kind of application is running (i.e. word processing or gaming) and switch between the GPUs with no input required from the user. Intel’s Centrino 2 platform does have similar functionality although it only automatically detects when a laptop is running on AC or battery power, it doesn’t work at the application level. Read more

Jolicloud announces Pine Trail 1080p video support

Jolicloud has already demonstrated 1080p HD video on netbooks running on Intel’s Diamondville processors (N270 & N280), but now it has also announced 1080p support of Intel’s new Pine Trail processors (N450 Atom). No external decoder (like the Broadcom Crystal HD) is needed and most codecs should work. Liliputing says that only 1080p H.264 content will not work.

This new update is expected to go live in the next couple of weeks and will also bring with it support for Nvidia ION, Intel GMA 500 graphics as well as the VIA C7-M. Until then, check out a demo of 1080p video content playing through Jolicloud on a Samsung N210 netbook. Read more

MSI prepping 10-inch Tegra/Android tablet for $500 later this year

MSI is planning on launching its 10-inch Tegra tablet, first shown off at CES, later this year for $500 according to Digitimes. It should be armed with Tegra’s Cortex A9 chipset and Android operating system.

This will pit it against the Apple iPad, with a similar price point, display and computing power. However the MSI tablet should benefit from multitasking and it is reported to be “thin and light.” Tegra should also be able to handle 1080p video as opposed to 720p for the Apple iPad. There are still question marks over a full spec-list but we’ll keep you posted.

Netbook shipments drive Intel’s graphic chip share

The rise and rise of netbooks has helped to drive Intel’s graphic chip share over both AMD and Nvidia. According to the latest Jon Peddie Research, Intel’s Q4 2009 market share stood at 55.2 percent, comparing to Nvidia at 24.3 percent and AMD at 19.9 percent.

Out of the three main players, Intel saw the strongest quarter-on-quarter growth of 17.9 percent in the fourth quarter last year, which also relates to the largest year-on-year growth of 114.7 percent. Intel’s growth came mainly from Atom sales in netbooks as well as strong growth in the desktop segment due to the Windows 7 launch. Read more

Asus prepping ION 2 powered Eee PC netbook for April?

We still don’t know exactly how Nvidia plans to introduce its ‘next-generation’ ION chipset/GPU into Pine Trail netbooks, but despite that Digitimes is reporting that Asus is planning an ION 2 powered Eee PC to launch in April.

The report goes on to say that Pine Trail netbooks should drop in price by the end of the second quarter as N270/N280 Atom-based netbooks fall out of the market. It also said that the Eee PC T101 touchscreen netbook will launch in February.

Broadcom’s HD media accelerator benched against Nvidia ION

Those looking to enjoy high-definition video content on their netbooks currently have two main choices. The first is to seek out an Nvidia ION-powered netbook and the second is to get one installed with Broadcom’s Crystal HD media accelerator card for $30.

The guys over at Laptop Mag did some tests comparing a Dell Mini 10 netbook with Broadcom Crystal HD card against the HP Mini 311 armed with the Nvidia ION chipset. Read more

Nvidia ION 2 to be GeForce G310 discrete GPU?

If there was one disappointment at CES, it was a lack of information (or products) using the Nvidia ION 2 GPU. Nvidia used CES to mainly talk about its Tegra 2 chipset, however it wasn’t only ION 2 that got left to the wayside, even its upcoming Fermi line of desktop cards were barely mentioned.

Anyway, whilst much rumour and speculation continues over what form the ION 2 will take, Pierre over at Blogeee came across some promotional material that may give some insights. An upcoming Asus EeeTop ET2010PNT will be using “Nvidia GeForce G310 ION2 graphics with hardware decoding” according to the marketing blurb. Read more

Nvidia Tegra 2 Tablet/Smartbook CES Roundup [Video]

Following the official Nvidia Tegra 2 announcement, a whole number of different next-gen Tegra powered products were shown on the trade floor at CES. Rather than creating a post for every single one, we’ve summarised each below and attached any relevant videos. Most of these consisted of tablets, rather than smartbooks, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect over the coming year. Check out the Tegra 2 action after the jump. Read more

Asus Eee PC 1201NL: Single-core ION netbook spotted

The 12.1-inch Asus Eee PC 1201N is widely recognized as one of the fastest netbooks on the market right now. Hardly surprising considering it includes a 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 processor and Nvidia ION chipset.

However, it looks like Asus is planning on releasing another model in the 1201 Seashell netbook range (we already have the 1201HA and 1201T too). The new Eee PC 1201NL was spotted at CES with a single-core 1.6GHz N270 Atom and Nvidia ION chipset. It will be sold with Windows 7 Starter rather than Windows 7 Home Premium, found on the 1201N. Read more

Nvidia Tegra 2 officially announced; 4x the power of its predecessor

Nvidia has formally announced the 40nm Tegra 2 chipset. The new chip combines a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor (running up to 1GHz speeds) with Nvidia graphics to create a platform expected to be used in a number of HD tablets, smartbooks and smartphones launching this year.

As you would expect, Tegra 2 can stream 1080p video, has HDMI-out and benefits from Flash Player 10.1 hardware acceleration. It does all this with an all day battery life. According to Nvidia, Tegra can deliver over 16 hours of HD video (140 hours of music) on a single charge – astonishing if true. Read more

Jolicloud gets Nvidia ION support; 1080p HD video demoed

Jolicloud will be getting Nvidia ION netbook support in the very near future. This means the ability to play back 1080p high definition video content out of the box, certainly a very nice addition. There’s no word on exactly when it will be released but it can’t be too long now. Check out a video demonstration of this in action after the break. Read more

Nvidia ION 2 is a G218 GPU?

There are many question marks over exactly how Nvidia plans to offer its ION graphics solution to Intel Pine Trail netbooks. SemiAccurate is now reporting that ION 2 will not be a chipset, unlike the original ION, but will instead be a G218 GPU “with a few ports added on”.

Two parts are due (GT218-ION-A3 and GT218-ILV-A3) that will be DX10.1 compatible. The G218 will not offer the advancements as rumoured before, and will only see 16 cores running at 535MHz and 1230MHz memory. The TDP of the new chip will be 12W and under 5W at idle.

The inclusion of the chip is likely to reverse the battery gains made by Intel on its new Pine Trail chips. However, I’m sure those looking for extra muscle would be willing to trade-off the worse battery life for better 3D performance. It will be connected over a 1x PCI-E 2.0 link according to the report.

Via Netbooked.

NbC: Samsung N510 Review

The Samsung N510’s arrival is important for a number of reasons. It is one of the first netbooks to be released armed with the Nvidia ION LE chipset. It is also the company’s first 11.6-inch device. On paper it sounds like a winning combination, you get a 1.66GHz processor, high-resolution matte display, HDMI, Wi-Fi (including Draft-N), Bluetooth 2.1 and a 6-cell 5900mAh battery.

However, times move quickly and with the advent of Windows 7, some may not want to purchase a new netbook that only comes with XP. It’s also not cheap at around the £380 mark, pitting it a significant premium to the main other ION netbook on the market right now, the Compaq Mini 311c at £330. Read on to find out whether ION really makes a difference and whether the Samsung N510 is worth the premium. As usual, you’ll also find some comprehensive performance and battery tests. Read more

Google’s Chrome OS netbook specifications leaked?

We’d park this news firmly in rumour territory for now, but IBTimes is reporting that the Google-branded Chrome OS netbook specifications “are out.” It’s unclear whether they have a definitive list of what is under the hood or whether they are speculating, but they point to a high-end device that’s certainly not going to be cheap.

The Google netbook (or perhaps smartbook is more apt here) will be armed with an Nvidia Tegra chipset (ARM processor and Nvidia graphics), 2GB RAM and a 64GB SSD. It will also sport a 10.1-inch multi-touch display, webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and card reader. Let’s see if this comes to pass, but judging by the language of the article, I’d guess it’s pure speculation on their part.

Via NetbookNews.de.

Face-off: Four ION netbooks do battle

Laptop Mag has pitted the four current ION netbooks on the market against each other. This includes the dual-core Asus Eee PC 1201N, HP Mini 311, Lenovo S12 ION and Samsung N510. They compared each of the four across a number of categories including battery life, value for money, design as well as video and gaming performance.

It’s probably not surprising to hear that the Asus Eee PC 1201N won most of the performance tests, whilst the HP Mini 311 won best design and value for money. The Samsung N510 came out on top in terms of battery life. Choosing a winner seems a bit subjective as people will value different features more strongly than others. Click through to find out who the overall winner was.

Update: Engadget also has a good write-up of the above four ION netbooks head-to-head.

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