NVIDIA nTeresting News June 3, 2011

In this Issue:

Big doin's at Computex this week:
- The Glowball demo for Project Kal-El is blowing minds with its dynamic lighting and physics for mobile devices.
- Windows on Project Kal-El, live.
- GeForce GTX 560M notebook GPU is here....and it has Optimus!
- Wired 3D Vision glasses offer same great technology as before, for just $99.
- YouTube 3D videos now support 3D Vision technology.
  It was a really big show.
3D Vision will be a hit among Sim Racers.
Test your StarCraft II mettle in the GeForce StarCraft II Pro/Am.

News From Computex
Computex 2011 was held this week in Taipei Taiwan. Computex Taipei has become the largest computer exhibition in Asia and the second largest in the world, next to CeBIT in Germany. At the event, it came out that we will have shipped 10 million Tegra 2's by the end of June. 14 of the top 20 carriers worldwide are shipping Tegra devices, in over 60 countries, giving over 3 billion subscribers' access to Tegra devices. Tegra 2 is powering the world's thinnest, lightest tablet - the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Android 3.1 for Honeycomb is shipping - this is a major leap forward for Android tablets. So what is next?

-Lighting and Physics in Your Hand!

NVIDIA gave a glimpse in the future of super tablets and super phones with the Glowball demo on Project Kal-El.

"To most users, the tech demo shows, well, a glowing ball that rolls around, interacting with physically-driven cloth in real-time. As its name indicates, the ball illuminates every single objects in the scene and (flat) dynamic shadows can be seen on the floor.

To the slightly more expert eyes, this is one of the rare instances where every pixel of every object in a scene gets dynamic lighting in a mobile 3D demo. While mobile devices have been capable of DX9-level graphics for some time, the reality is that their pixel horse-power has not reached the point where this type of things could be done at high framerates.. And that's precisely what NVIDIA demonstrates here: with its next-generation hardware (due to be commercialized this summer), games will be able to use much more dynamic lighting and/or pixel effects. Today, even uber-games like Infinity Blade mostly rely on static (pre-computed) lighting whenever possible, especially off-characters."

Dynamic lighting is...well .... hard to do.

"Needless to say, the realism shown within the demo just cannot be matched."

But it makes a big difference in games.

"What we saw on the dev tablet before us was no less impressive; lighting was being rendered in real time and scattered over a multiplicity of surfaces, while the cloth simulation was, to use a terrible pun, silky smooth. NVIDIA also ran us through a sightseeing tour of the Unreal Development Kit and Lost Planet 2, noting that the PC game took only a couple of months to port over to work on the Kal-El architecture."

See the Glowball demo here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBvaDtshLY8

-Windows 8 Demoed on Project Kal-El

Microsoft even used Project Kal-El to demonstrate Windows 8 running on ARM at their partner event, making it the first time Windows 8 was seen running on a quad core ARM processor (the first dual core ARM processor shown running Windows 8 was NVIDIA Tegra 2).

See Microsoft Word running on Project Kal-El here. https://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2011/6/2/microsoft-shows-nvidia-tegra-3-based-laptop-running-win82c-word.aspx

-GTX + Optimus, WOOT!

NVIDIA took the opportunity to expand its GeForce 500M notebook GPU offering to different segments of the product stack. We introduced the GeForce GTX 560M, the first GTX-class (gaming) GPU in the 500 Series and the GeForce GT 520MX, a new entry-level GPU.

GeForce GTX 560M marks the first time OEMs will be offering GTX-based laptops with NVIDIA Optimus technology.

"Our collective wishes have been granted by the fine folks at NVIDIA: you can now buy a notebook with high-end graphics that supports Optimus and thus is capable of offering excellent battery life."

GeForce 500M GPUs support DirectX 11 and the NVIDIA features that set our GPUs apart from the competition, including: NVIDIA Optimus technology, NVIDIA PhysX, NVIDIA 3D Vision, 3DTV Play and NVIDIA Verde drivers to keep your notebook optimized for tomorrow.

"I am sure it is very impressive to be able to play Duke Nukem Forever at 50 frames per second on a laptop, but lost in the gaming hype from NVIDIA is the fact that gaming often drives advances in technology for non-gamers as well. There are plenty of uses for advanced graphics capabilities like smooth 1080p streaming, realistic physics effects, and 3D rendering outside of high-end games."

In the first ever review of a GeForce 560M-based laptop, MSI was awarded an Editor's Choice from Computer Shopper. Toshiba also announced theirs, with Optimus or 3D. We are even giving away one from Asus.

-More Affordable 3D

NVIDIA also made two 3D related announcements. We now have 3D Vision wired glasses that offer the same great active shutter technology and features as 3D Vision wireless glasses, but more affordable at US $99.

"NVIDIA is making 3D more affordable for 3D Vision-ready monitors, projectors and laptops by launching a wired version of its active shutter 3D eyewear."

-3D on YouTube

YouTube also is down with 3D Vision. There are over 6,000 3D videos already on YouTube today that can now be viewed in full-color, high-quality stereoscopic 3D using a PC with 3D Vision glasses, or on a 3D TV via NVIDIA 3DTV Play software.

"NVIDIA, the biggest maker of stand-alone graphics chips, is giving YouTube fans the ability to view thousands of 3D videos in rich, stereoscopic 3D using PCs and laptops equipped with NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses technology."

Another big show. Lots of good news for NVIDIA.

Sim Racing is More Real
Racing online is a big deal. Tons of people are doing. But these are not arcade racers; these guys want it to be as real as possible. Enter NVIDIA and enter 3D Vision Surround.

"Now after using it for nearly a month it has become my favorite thing in sim racing. I don't quite put it on the level of a product that you need, but more in lines with something I have to have. It has changed racing and gaming for me."

See the full episode here. https://www.insidesimracing.tv/videos/view/515/0/Inside-Sim-Racing-Episodes

Tourney Time!
Did Mom ever tell you that video games are a big waste of time? Well, now your gaming skills can net you $22,000 in cash and prizes. In your face, Mom!

Registration is now open for the first ever GeForce StarCraft II Pro/Am online tourney with two levels of participation: Pro and Amateur:

Pro Open: The top StarCraft II players in the world will be competing in the pro line-up with no limit to the number of players.
Amateur Open: Amateur registration is open and free to all ages of 16 and over with no limit to the number of total entries per Protoss, Terran, or Zerg.

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NVIDIA nTeresting News June 3, 2011

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