Tech & Biz

Nvidia Joins "One Netbook per Geek" Race

by Mikasi | June 2, 2008 at 04:03 am

1105 views | 5 Recommendations | 1 comment

Some computer-centric companies concerned with pulling 3rd World areas into the 21st century computer culture have been active in producing miniature computers that are cheap yet functional in order to help connect the have nots to the haves, at least technically. We've all heard of "One Laptop Per Child," right?

Well, take a look at Nvidia. The company normally known for its graphics cards has decided to ramp things up a bit -

Nvidia has joined a growing band of hardware makers producing low-power, portable laptops.

Better known for graphics cards, Nvidia has shown off two Tegra processors [note - the Tegra 600 and 650] designed for tiny laptops or netbooks.

It said devices fitted with the chips would be able to browse the web, show high-definition video and be able to handle graphically-heavy games.

The move pits Nvidia against chip giant Intel which is releasing a similar line of chips for such small devices.

Though relatively small (about a 12"/30cm screen), this unit looks like it will be a lot more powerful than the OLPC models. That the chips are being designed to work with highspeed interenet connections and will come equiped with a game device part already shows they are being aimed at a more high-tech and economically developed audience than the OLPC models.

The chip maker said the processors were aimed at light, portablegadgets that are fitted with a screen up to 12in (30cm) across, akeyboard, high-speed wireless connection and a port for a gamecontroller.

Nvidia has dubbed such devices Mobile Internet Devices or"Mids". Others, such as Dell and Intel have started calling them"netbooks".

Expect to see the Nvidia computers shown off at the Taiwanese Computex show that runs from 3-7 June.Expect your children to suddenly be tired of their "stupid old" Ninetendo DS's and clamoring for the netbook shortly after the company's ads run on Nickelodeon.

No ad campaign has yet been announced to my knowledge, but being a parent and a consumer I have a feel for these things.