Nvidia aims at top Netbooks, Windows 7

Nvidia is working with top-10 PC makers to bring its graphics chips for the first time to Netbooks, according to an executive at the company. And an important part of this push is getting its silicon working with Windows 7, a more Netbook-friendly operating system than Vista.

Nvidia is targeting Ion at Netbooks (bottom) and at larger notebooks (top)(Credit: Nvidia) This week, Nvidia released Windows 7 beta drivers for the «Ion» Netbook silicon that it’s handing over to customers. In conjunction, Nvidia demonstrated in Taiwan this week applications running on Windows 7. Nvidia also announced that its Ion platform has been certified on Windows Vista. The Ion chipset is based on Nvidia’s GeForce 9400M graphics chipset, which currently handles graphics tasks in Apple’s MacBook line. The goal is to replace the Intel silicon that supports the Atom processor and make a Netbook perform more like a typical laptop. Currently, Netbooks from companies such as Acer, Asus, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell use the Atom with an accompanying Intel chipset. «Why would you buy a small notebook and not expect it to do what a PC can do?» Dan Vivoli, Nvidia senior vice president, said in a phone interview Thursday. Intel, in fact, took a small step in that direction this month. The chipmaker upped the ante by shipping a new Atom N280 processor and chipset that for first time on an Intel-based Atom system can run 720p high-definition video. Graphics silicon that can handle 720p video is considered a minimum requirement for larger mainstream laptops. Nvidia, as the world’s largest graphics chip supplier, believes, not surprisingly, that minimal graphics is not good enough. «I remember back in 1998 when Intel came out with their 740 (graphics chip), there was this worry that no one would want to buy anything more than that,» Vivoli said. «Of course, that didn’t happen.»

Dan Vivoli, senior vice president of marketing at Nvidia(Credit: Nvidia) The 740 eventually faded as graphics chips from 3dfx, ATI Technologies, and Nvidia bested it in the marketplace. All companies tend to exaggerate the prospects of a new product–and Nvidia is no exception. But there seems to be more at stake than usual because getting Nvidia graphics into small devices–where its graphics have historically been almost completely absent–is imperative for its growth. «In all the years I’ve been here I’ve never seen a product generate more excitement than Ion. At Microsoft, at Apple. Everybody we expose it to says we had no idea you could get this kind of experience on a platform this small and this inexpensive,» Vivoli said. «Big names that you would know are working on Ion designs,» Vivoli said. «These are top-5 and top-10 companies,» Vivoli said. He expects products by midyear. In Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call on Tuesday, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was more circumspect. Though he claimed that Nvidia had Ion notebook projects happening all over the world, «a lot of this depends on the success of our customers and these platforms. There’s still a lot execution between now and then. And lots of unknowns,» he said. Also, on the same call, a financial analyst brought up the point that Netbook makers are not marketing the devices for 3D gaming and added that 3D graphics is not a feature that consumers care a lot about on a Netbook. Huang countered that anything people want to do on a typical laptop, they want to do on a Netbook.

Intel, DreamWorks take 3D graphics to Super Bowl

Intel and DreamWorks will show off the fruits of their 3D collaboration in a Super Bowl 3D extravaganza this Sunday as DreamWorks prepares to tap into future Intel Larrabee graphics silicon. The Super Bowl ad sponsored by DreamWorks Animation, Intel, and NBC will feature a 3D trailer of the animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens, coming out in March. A second spot will be a 3D commercial for PepsiCo’s SoBe LifeWater energy drinks. Viewers–as they will in the movie–will need special 3D glasses to see the effects. (Intel has made 125 million of the InTru3D glasses, which are being sold nationwide at stores such as Target and Best Buy.) Stereoscopy–which in a primitive form has been around since the 1840s–creates the illusion of depth by presenting a slightly different image to each eye. Starting this year, DreamWorks will produce all of its feature films in stereoscopic 3D for use with the special glasses. DreamWorks CEO Jeffry Katzenberg dons Intru 3D glasses that are used for viewing the Super Bowl 3D trailer of Monsters vs. Aliens(Credit: Intel) The InTru3D technology will provide more vibrant colors than traditional technologies that use 3D glasses, according to Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer of DreamWorks, in an interview posted on an Intel Web page. «Instead of (traditional) red and blue lensing, there’s a different set of filters that are used» which are better at reproducing color, said Katzenberg. «The second thing is a greater level of precision in terms of the broadcast signal–right eye, left eye. The blurry kind of stuff is cleaned up a lot,» he said. But there’s a lot more going on with Intel and Dreamworks than meets the eye. Think Intel’s future Larrabee graphics chip is just a smoke screen or paper tiger? Listening to Katzenberg it sounds very real. «We are well on our way to upgrading our software to really take advantage of Larrabee,» said Katzenberg, in the Intel video interview. «Larrabee raises the bar of what we can do not just by 2X or 3X but by 20X,» he said. DreamWorks is also using Intel software tools. «This is allowing us to create a completely new paradigm in movies,» Katzenberg said, referring to Intel’s InTru3D technology, which Intel describes as «uniting the best in computer-generated moviemaking with the latest high-performance processing technologies.» Last year, DreamWorks said it was dropping technology from Advanced Micro Devices in favor of Intel–and at that time the two companies announced a strategic partnership aimed at redefining 3D filmmaking technology. DreamWorks had been in a three-year partnership with AMD. DreamWorks uses rendering farms with thousands of Intel processing cores to create animation. Before it adopts Larrabee (later this year), Dreamworks will move part of its rendering farm to Intel’s Nehalem processor for servers, due later this quarter.

NVIDIA Ion platform gets demonstrated at CES

We’ve been hearing an awful lot about NVIDIA’s Ion platform, but up until now, we haven’t seen an awful lot. HotHardware and PC Perspective were both able to swing by NVIDIA’s booth at ces and get an up close look at the diminutive system. On hand was a half-liter PC that utilized a 1.6GHz Atom 330 CPU and NVIDIA’s geforce 9400M GPU, and it was reportedly being used to push some pretty stellar video on the monitors behind it. Have a look past the break for a couple demonstration vids — if this is the kind of graphical prowess we can expect from nettops of tomorrow, you can color us interested.

Nvidia GeForce 3D Vision eyes-on

Not content with perusing the online reviews, we stopped by nvidia to get some first-hand (or first-eye, rather) experience with geforce 3D Vision eye wear. The glasses are lightweight and could still be worn comfortably over our thick-rimmed specs. We first tried Tomb Raider: Underworld to largely mediocre results, but Mirror’s Edge and Left 4 Dead really shined. When we took a step back to watch two screens, however, they couldn’t decide which display to sync up with and the flickering lenses managed to numb our brain. A surprisingly good experience, sure, but we can’t imagine paying upwards of four benjamins for these and a compatible monitor. If you’re wondering what the screen looks like without the eye wear, check out the video after the break.

Samsung unveils new DisplayLink, PCoIP and 3D monitors

Among the embarrassment of riches that ces has been for Sammy fans thus far, we have several new items available for your consideration. The SyncMaster 930ND is a 19-inch PC-over-IP-enabled display developed with Teradici Corporation that sports four USB connectors, 2-way audio, and DVI-out for a secondary display. For gamers, the 22-inch 2233RZ is an NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision-compatible monitor, due to hit the streets in April for an MSRP of $349. And rounding out the collection, the company has added two more DisplayLink monitors to the mix: the SyncMaster D190SU (19-inch) and D220SU (22-inch). No word on a release date or price for this one, but you’ll know as soon as we do.

NVIDIA offers up GeForce 3D Vision, takes WoW players further down the rabbit hole

Look for something to drive your new samsung monitor or 120Hz 3D HDTV? Enter NVIDIA’s geforce 3D Vision package, loaded up with powered 3D glasses (no red / blue silliness here, charged via USB) and an IR emitter to keep everything synced between the display and your glasses. Left 4 Dead, WoW: WotLK and several other games are already compatible with more expected to come soon. CES had a quick demo and didn’t notice any of the headaches sometimes associated with stereocopic 3D, but at $399 for the display and $199 for this set when it’s available in the next few days, we’re not sure how close we want to get to those zombies, but WoW fans may see things differently.

Samsung / Yahoo Internet@TV widgets revealed

Samsung and Yahoo! promise the Best of the Web on select 2009 HDTV models, thanks to the Internet@TV widgets we snuck a look at a few weeks ago. Developers build Javascript and XML apps that then run directly on your Samsung HDTV, starting with USA Today, YouTube, eBay, Showtime and Yahoo properties like Flickr and Yahoo! News. Next up their sleeves? Video streaming and «other popular internet services» running through the built-in Ethernet or optional Wi-Fi USB dongle. Also, unlike some others, the Internet@TV Content service isn’t just a U.S. thing, headed to 12 other countries this year: Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Having the Internet no further away than the nearest remote was your biggest request for ‘09, right?

Digital TV subsidy program nearly dry: get your vouchers now

When the FCC’s Kevin Martin asserted that the 2009 digital TV transition subsidy program was nearing the end of its financial rope back in October, no one really paid him any mind. After all, this ain’t the FCC’s gig. Now, however, an AP report on the topic is confirming the fears, noting that the NTIA itself is «warning that unless lawmakers step in quickly with more funding or new accounting rules, it will have to create a waiting list for coupon requests.» Should this occur, new vouchers would only be sent out once previously mailed vouchers expired without being used. As of now, only $68.2 million of the $1.34 billion set aside for this program remains free, and after February 17th comes and goes, you can bet the interest will skyrocket. Moral of the story? Get your request in now if you’re in need (check here to see if you are).

NVIDIA reportedly urging customers to buy new problem-free GPUs

NVIDIA has yet to step in and confirm this publicly, but a purported leaked memo from the outfit has been posted over at VR-Zone. What’s it say, you ask? Only that the company «strongly recommends that customers transition to the latest revision of the NB8E-SET GPUs as soon as possible.» Said revision taps a new Hitachi underfill packaging material that «improves product quality and enhances operating life by improved thermal cycling reliability.» If you’ll recall, certain PC vendors such as Dell issued their own firmware updates to combat the weak packaging set in the chip maker’s faulty GPUs earlier this year, but it appears that NVIDIA’s solution is to just let bygones be bygones and get on with the new and improved.

Intel put the kibosh on anti-Ion hubbub, welcomes standalone Atom sales

A nasty rumor had been making the rounds about Intel, something along the lines of it wouldn’t sell its Atom CPUs to netbook vendors without its 945 chipset in tow. If true, the move would essentially act to block graphical entrants such as NVIDIA from making a move into the netbook GPU space. An unnamed Intel spokesman chimed in on the whispers today by outrightly denying the claims, telling InternetNews that «there is nothing preventing vendors from using [NVIDIA's] Ion platform; [Intel] sells Atom as a standalone processor, or as a package with chipset.» ‘Course, it’s not like Intel hasn’t pulled similar tricks before, and to say that the chip maker’s relationship with NVIDIA has been dysphoric is understating things dramatically. Still, it sounds as if the company’s in the clear here, but we’re still waiting to see a wicked Atom + Ion combo in a shipping product before we believe the hatchet is entirely buried.