Nvidia were first out on the market with a quad-core ARM processor for tablets and smartphones. Now the company aims to launch a low-end, quad-core platform with the working-title Kai that should be used in powerful tablets with a pricetag below $199.
Nvidia revealed the work on the Kai-platform during an annual shareholders meeting last week. They talked about a new strategy for the investment in Android where they want to see quad-core tablets with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich be developed and sold with a pricetag at $199.
According to Nvidia, Kay should be based on the “secret sauce” that is in Tegra 3, to create a powerful but energy-efficient budget platform. If this means that Kai is based on an identical Tegra 3-circuit like the one that we see on the market today – probably with lower clock frequencies – or if it is a further development is not completely clear though.
Bearing in mind that the current quad-core tablets on the market with Tegra 3 under the hood often costs twice as much as the prices that Nvidia now are talking about, we will without a doubt get to see how they will skimp on the other components in the tablet. But with a genuine commitment to powerful tablets in this attractive price-segment, we hope for both an extended range of products and generally improved quality.
Nvidia Kai is not only a quad-core processor, but also a reference platform for tablet manufacturers to build on. According to Nvidia, partners and manufacturers should already have started to develop Tegra 3-platforms based on the new Kai platform and, the first devices could be on the market already this year. Which among other things, could add fuel new fuel to the earlier rumors that talk of a Google Nexus tablet, with a price tag of just $199.
Source: The Verge
