Nvidia rumoured to be working on own-brand tablets for 2014
Nvidia may be moving on from purely supplying chips to tablet manufacturers and into the market of making their own branded slates.
Likely inspired by the positive response its innovative Nvidia Shield handheld (pictured above) garnered, Fudzilla are reporting that the GPU manufacturer will be looking to introduce two tablets next year – one a low powered model, and one a top-tier premium tablet.
Fudzilla’s European source said the company is looking to squeeze the forthcoming Tegra 5 mobile chipsets, AKA Project Logan, into the high end model, a chip that is said to use just a third of the power consumption most mobile GPU’s currently chew through. The source said that its possible this tablet would launch early next year, suggestive of a CES 2014 reveal.
The second “cheaper” tablet would use Nvidia’s current gold standard for mobile, the Tegra 4 chip, the same found in the Shield. It would be clocked at a speedy 1.8GHz and power a 1280 x 800 display, running Android 4.2.2.
Seemingly verifying the rumours, German-language tech side Techtab has found a GFXBench benchmark listing for a device called the “Nvidia Tegra Note Premium”. While the page now throws up a blank, the URL with the revealing name is still present.
As far as rumours go, we’d say this sounds pretty reasonable. With Nvidia showing interest in becoming a consumer hardware manufacturer in their own right through the Shield, and having lost the next-gen console chip contract to AMD, this could be a valuable new avenue for them to explore.
