Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang gave a private press conference in which he announced three new and exciting technologies Nvidia and partners will bring to market over the coming year.

Tegra 2
Building on the success of the Tegra architecture, Nvidia unveiled the Tegra 2 series of “system-on-chip” products. Citing the new mobile revolution, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talked about the need and desire of consumers to have access to personal computing technologies on the go. Currently the mobile market is full of either weak products that have screens too small with too low resolutions or products that are too big, bulky, and fragile for consumers to effectively carry around. Like armored tank manufacturers, companies have to compromise to balance weight, power, and durability. Nvidia’s answer is the Tegra 2.

The Tegra 2 combines a CPU, GPU, memory controller, north bridge, and south bridge into a single chip. With eight independent processors, one would think the Tegra 2 will have a sizeable power draw, but this tiny chip draws a miserly 500mW of power. The frugal power draw will allow for, much-needed, longer battery life in mobile devices. Along with the low power consumption, Tegra 2 requires no extra cooling, passive or active, enabling manufacturers to utilize Tegra 2 in extremely thin designs. This powerful little chip comes in a compact approximately 2″ x 2″ package.

The impressive graphics power of the Tegra 2 chips will allow users to watch full 1080p HD video on their mobile devices and dramatically improve their web browsing experience since web pages will no longer require down-scaling and can run at optimal resolutions. Nvidia showed us a demo of a Tegra 2 powered netbook running the Unreal 3 engine incredibly smoothly. This demonstrates that mobile users will soon be able to play games with graphics quality no longer being a full generation behind the most powerful desktop solutions.

Simply put, the Tegra 2 will dramatically increase the opportunities mobile device manufacturers will have to create more powerful, smaller, and longer lasting devices. It will enable mobile device users to do what they did before, but much more efficiently. While the Tegra 2 won’t dethrone desktop graphics solutions by any means, it finally brings a major update to mobile graphics performance.

Audi & Nvidia
Nvidia and Audi announced a partnership agreement at the press conference which will integrate Nvidia’s technologies into the luxury automobile manufacturer’s line of vehicles. Audi Chief architect, Mathias Halliger, talked about how the processing power of the new Tegra 2 chip will be used to drive information and navigation functions in new Audi vehicles. Audi brought in a demo drivers console and showed off the navigation system and graphical user interface they plan to implementing. Audi hopes to have all of its vehicles equipped with the Tegra 2 by 2012. Halliger also stated that Audi Group will also be implementing Tegra 2 into Lamborghini supercars which it also owns.

3D Surround Vision
Nvidia also showed off their 3D surround vision technology which can display games and media in 3D using their special glasses. With a major theme of conquering the z-axis at CES, Nvidia’s entry into the 3D market comes as major TV makers are also starting to offer products which display 3D picture. Nvidia has also enabled this technology across three computer monitors and has dubbed the technology “3D Surround Vision.” 3D vision will add significant depth to games and media completely changing the way we think in games and further adding realism to the experience.

Nvidia mentioned that MSI, Asus, Viewsonic, Alienware, Samsung, and a few others already have plans on releasing 3D vision desktop and notebooks. They say that users will be able to watch 3D Blu-Ray movies and even certain YouTube videos in 3D.

The Nvidia Booth: Fermi and 3D Surround Vision are here!
After the Nvidia press conference Skatter Tech quickly hurried over to the Nvidia exhibition booth to see the unveiling of the much-anticipated GF100 ”Fermi” line of cards from Nvidia. The GF100 line of cards has been a topic of speculation for months with estimates from, “Nvidia is way behind ATI’s new 5800 and 5900 series,” to “Fermi will blow ATI’s offerings out of the water and on top of that add CUDA and PhysX capabilities!”

When we arrived at the booth the Nvidia representatives we had just seen in the press conference earlier enthusiastically led us to their unveiling of the GF100. They had multiple machines running GF100 SLI configurations showing off games and demos with their 3D vision technology. The GF100 card itself is around the same size as current high-end video cards and we would estimate it at around 10″-11″. The GF100 was equipped with two dual-link DVI connections on the back along with a HDMI connection. We asked if Nvidia had plans to include DisplayPort connections like ATI, but were told there weren’t any. Internally, it has a dual slot cooler (the card requires two slots space) and requires a 6 and 8 pin power connector.

Asking about the other features of the GF100, we were told how the CUDA architecture will allow programmers to run C++ on the GPU. We were also shown an Nvidia made “rocket sled” demo which demonstrated the graphics and PhysX capabilities of the GF100. In this demo you see an old space-race era rocket sled firing away down a track in the desert. Certain options allow for your to blow up the sled, make it crash, or stop it properly. Displaying the DX11 capabilities of the GF100 the rocks in the dirt as well as the mountains in the distance were beautifully done. PhysX power was displayed when the Nvidia rep caused the rocket sled to explode, sending our poor test dummy flying through the air and crashing in the barren desert. The ragdoll effects of the operator flying through the air and the dust with debris thrown up on contact with the ground were stunning and real with a haze left over that blew away with the wind.

With a 40nm process, we asked the Nvidia rep if production numbers would be an issue as it has been with ATI chips, but the Nvidia rep replied that GF100 was in volume production now and that we would still see it on shelves this Q1 of 2010 around the March. While we couldn’t get any hard numbers, the Nvidia rep mentioned that the GF100’s pricing would be that of standard high-end graphics cards. We expect GF100 to be at least $400.

Nvidia also had a demo of their “3D Surround Vision” technology which allows the GTX 200 series as well as GF100 series cards to display picture across three screens with Nvidia’s 3D vision technology. The setup they had running at the booth was powered by SLI GTX 285’s and was displayed across three projectors. 3D Surround Vision will require SLI GPU cards unfortunately unlike ATI’s Eyefinity, while not 3d capable, can display across three monitors off of just a single card.

There’s more on this coming soon, so stay tuned!

Links: Nvidia.com

Feature Comparison:

Price Comparison:

For the prices, the totals were the cost shown after configuring the machine straight off Apple.com and Dell.com before taxes were calculated in. Both companies are offering free shipping which is a plus. Dell is offering the next generation Operating System, Windows 7, for free. Apple will charge just $9.95 for those who purchased a qualifying computer after June 8th, 2009 to upgrade Snow Leopard. Even with those details set aside, the Studio XPS 13 totals in $273 less than the same configuration for the MacBook Pro 13. Plus if you are willing to shell out more cash, there’s a lot more features Dell seems to offer with their model than Apple does. What are your thoughts on this?

Links: Apple MacBook Pro | Dell Studio XPS

Note: This article was co-written by Sahas Katta and Sharath Shroff

Update: Since publication, we have updated a few elements of the chart and article. These changes include: Apple OS X Snow Leopard Price is $10, not $29 for purchases of MacBook Pros since June 8th, 2009. The screen resolution is WXGA for 16:10 aspect ratio, meaning a 1280×800 resolution, not 1366×768. The Studio XPS also has a multi-touch trackpad, similar to the MacBook Pro.

The latest wave of gaming consoles to hit our local retail shelves are Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. While these two push the limits of graphic capability for a console, the lovable Nintendo Wii that has pushed on human interactivity in gaming. Gaming technologies continue to have the potential to keep advancing and impressing us. But what is in store for the PC will once again dominate all gaming consoles. Three Dimensional PC gaming has been introduced, once again, as the next advancement for this generation’s gamers to take bliss in.

Although 3D gaming has been mentioned over and over, this might truly be the year where it becomes widespread. At Nvision 08 I was able to sit down and enjoy a few upcoming PC games. Out of the five game demos available at Nvision, I was able to test out a few: Grid, Spore, and Unreal Tournament 3.  I can safely say that playing a shooter in 3D was an experience I will not forget. A whole new rush comes over a gamer when he or she jumps into an online shooter match in 3 Dimensions. It is quite exciting to experience and see the depth of bullets now literally flying by or the narrowness of halls closing in. Having a chance to play these games in 3D offers a fresh new experience and allows gamers to feel that they are a part of the game more than ever before.

Over 350 titles, which are already on the market, will become available in 3D as the new Nvidia cards begin to roll out. There won’t be any need to wait for updates or patches from developers since the new video card drivers, themselves, will support rendering those games in 3D. According to Nvidia even GeForce 8 GPUs, which are already widespread, will be able to run those games in 3D. We soon can begin to brag about owning computers capable of rendering games in 3 Dimensions; however I still have to figure out how to explain having to wear those 3D glasses.

The NVIDIA GeForce Stereoscopic 3D technology not only opens a 3 Dimensional gaming world that you can dive into, but a sharp and artistic world as well. After all, for all those Unreal Tournament players out there, imagine getting excited about having the Rocket Launcher all over again. The graphics allow for a sharp view of every shot you take, with endless weapons with different capabilities, to be clearly seen in a 3 Dimensional depth now. You can watch the bullet tear through the air and hit the wall that now appears “way out there” and still visually see everything. 3D Gaming has clearly added all new meaning to “diving into an online match” for computer games, but what about other genres of computer games, say one on the other side of the spectrum in this case, say a game that has redefined “a long time coming” gamers, and call it Spore. Playing Spore in 3D, let alone finally, was an amazing and outstanding visual experience above everything else. It truly was able to give you the feeling that you were holding a clay model of your creation, and you could tweak, move, expand, and add to it in any dimensions you wished. Playing this game in 3D, a game that requires a lot of graphical creating that is, gives the illusion that the mouse is able to move in an X-Y-Z plane rather than a boring old 2D plane that reality bounds. Playing Spore also allowed me to understand why it has been taking so very long for this game to arrive. This game, for those who are familiar with Sims, breaks the habit of just being a simulator genre game, and allows you to fully and compulsively create each creature, land, vehicles, weapons, and anything else to your personal artistic desire. I can safely say this game challenges an idea of “infinite gameplay” since you will never be done experimenting.

With all this potential for 3D gaming to expand on what we already love and only bring us closer as a part of the whole experience, aside from 350 titles already announced 3D capable, this is generation of videogames on the horizon of great things.  Soon we will be able to sit comfortably in our homes, play against friends across the world in a 3 Dimensional experience, and bring ourselves closer and closer to the new wave of entertainment known popularly as Video Games.

The Navigation System will sport a new display with a higher resolution and will be LED backlit for sharper colors. It will support playback of DVD movies, but only when the car is parked. Like more cars today it has full support to allow hands free access to Bluetooth enabled phones. But as a bonus it will allow dictating numbers to dial or even saying names in your phonebook without having to program your voice for ever possible combination. The upcoming cars featuring this new system will have a 40GB HDD and two SD card readers built-in. Unfortunately the car doesn’t allow ripping tracks from inserted CDs due to copyright restrictions, however it will allow copying downloaded music from those SD cards. (MP3, WMA, & AAC supported!) Additional options for a USB port to allow use of flash drives will also be an option. The MMI system also supports adding support for Apple iPod devices or AUX analog inputs, which will probably also cost extra.

The main reason Audi was at Nvision was because their new MMI systems will be sporting Nvidia graphics chips inside the dashboards. The chips will be used to generate good looking 3D graphics rapidly. Many city centers will have 3D building models and topographical terrain maps. It looks quite similar to what is currently available in Google Earth. All the 3D content will be generated in real-time while providing turn-by-turn directions. According to the Audi rep, the graphics chip has been specially designed to withstand high and low temperatures while being able to absorb large amounts of shock, which would be important since it’s part of a vehicle. The GPS data with those 3D maps and voice prompts will apparently takes up around 25GB of data. When it comes time to upgrade to the latest sets of maps, dealers will apparently be able to simply install the updated content pack onto the Audi’s HDD.

Update (08/29/08): I previously had stated that the Audi will be using a Nvidia graphics card, however it turns out it’s just a Nvidia graphics chip. Sigmund, thanks for the correction.

Realtime Technologies
The folks over at RTT are using Nvidia graphics technologies to create real-time raytracing models of prototype cars. Jen-Hsun invited Peter Stevenson, COO of RTT, on stage to show us a live demo of a new prototype Lamborghini model. The car apparently costs over a million dollars and only 20 will become available worldwide. Changes to the virtual model can be made in real-time and is intricate enough to detail every single internal component of the vehicle, not just the exterior looks. The high quality details of the interior leather, stitching, and materials was quite impressive. Nike, for example, was able to save a couple million dollars using Nvidia to create virtual prototypes of shoes.

Nurien Software (MMO)
Next, Nvidia’s CEO introduced Taehoon Kim, co-founder of Nurien, who introduced a new Massive Multi-player Online game which is going to be released soon. It was pretty much Sims, but on steroids. (Lots of Steroids.) The game could render people in real time, simulate life-like movements, and looks damn good. Another neat feature that they mentioned was the ability to choose real videos to be playing on TV screens or uploaded photos on photo frames in virtual homes, so other players who enter your area will be able to see all of your personalized content since every component of the game is networked.

SportsVision
If you watch Football or paid any attention to the 2008 Olympics, you probably have noticed a lot of virtual graphics being added to the arena. For example in the swimming events, a line is overlaid on the screen to show the time that the contestants would need to beat to reach a world record. The graphics was added without harming the view of the athletes and this was done using GPUs to calculate fluid movement around objects. NASCAR is using Sportsvision technology to display the effects of drafting.

Photosynth
A new product Microsoft just launched a couple of days ago allows stitching multiple photos together in a virtual environment. It automatically creates reference points from objects in images and can put them together, the more photos the better. Joshua Edwards from Microsoft Live Labs previewed some samples of the Stonehenge in the U.K. and the National Archive building in D.C. in impressive detail. The best part is that anyone can create these high quality 360 virtual views of an area with just a digital camera.

Perceptive Pixel
Jeff Han stepped on stage to demonstrate the next generation user interfaces. Perceptive Pixel has taken UI graphics to the next level. He used a whopping 100-inch multi-touch display to demonstrate some stuff you can’t do with a mouse. Although he expects first practical applications to be for the military and high-end design, he expects simpler versions to reach consumers soon. And it already has with touch screen devices such as the Apple iPhone.

The Ending
I started making my way back to the expo hall, but Tricia Helfer, an actress, who’s on Battlestar Galactica and Burn Notice, was speaking about how virtual characters play a role in television. Nvidia plays a huge roll to make much of the graphics we see in Hollywood films actually be rendered and put on the big screen. It was Nvidia’s and the CEO’s first time hosting such a large event. It went pretty well and looks like it was success so far. I’ll be on the show floor covering some of the new stuff that’s being shown off. So keep checking back for more Nvision 08 content over the next two days!

Links: Nvision 2008 | Nvidia.com

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Admin: First post by Skatter Tech’s new author, Sharath Shroff.