We just got back from the NVIDIA conference and the company had quite a bit to show off. From the Tegra 3 -toting 7 inch tablet from Asus to Windows 8 running on a Tegra 3 tablet, it was quite the show. Jen-Hsun Huang took the stage to start it off.
First up, NVIDIA gave a few charts shows the adoption of tablets. The tablet is the fastest growing consumer device in history. The stat sounds very impressive, and it is but the only other devices on the chart were smartphones and netbooks.
Jen-Hsun also praised Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the platform that is needed going forward, as Honeycomb didn’t get the love it needed since it essentially had its very on ecosystem. (or lack thereof).
We got a glimpse of Snapseed for Android, the very popular iPad application. We also got a chance to see the game ShadowGun like never before. NVIDIA demoed the new multiplayer mode for the game, allowing friends to join in on missions and kick some serious ass along the way.
More apps followed, SplashTop being the highlight. As usual, you can hook connect to your computer remotely to see the desktop on the tablet’s screen, which is nothing we haven’t seen before. But it was truly impressive to see iTunes running in the background and playing music, with a web browser open, playing Flash video. The demo didn’t work the first time but the second time worked without a hitch. HD video also played perfectly in its native resolution.
Also demoed using SplashTop was Skyrim. This was one of the most impressive demos the entire conference, as the game played beautifully, with so many textures to process on the computer’s end, only to be sent straight to the tablet, it was a pretty stunning sight to not see one hiccup at all.
After the app demos were all said and done, the focus turned to the Transformer Prime, which is what was used for all of the demos during the event. It was announced that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich would become available today for owners of the tablet. Set to go live on the 12th, Transformer Prime owners definitely had something to get excited about a couple of days early.
After gushing over the Prime, which is well deserved, the subject of affordable tablets came up, such as the Kindle Fire. If you can’t see where this went next, you’re probably in the wrong place. While details were sparse, a 7 inch, Tegra 3-toting, Asus-made tablet was announced. The amount of internal hardware easily made this a $400 tablet but the pricing would only be $249. Easily the cheapest, most powerful tablet ever announced, there’s still no date as to when it will be in your hands.
Also introduced for the Tegra 3 was DirectTouch. Utilizing the power of the Tegra 3, DirectTouch makes the screen’s responsiveness ridiculously fast. After seeing a demo of the Tegra 2 vs the Tegra 3 with DirectTouch, we gotta have it.
Want more? Well, there’s more. NVIDIA also demoed a Windows 8 tablet using the Tegra 3 as well. While we knew that Windows 8 would be coming to ARM processors at some point, it’s nice to see it materialize, even in demo form.
Last but not least, NVIDIA announced that the world would soon be seeing the Tegra 3 in cars for its navigation systems and much more.
Be sure to check out the gallery below!
