NVIDIA nTeresting Newsletter - 7 December 2012

In This Issue:

· GeForce Experience goes BETA.

· Your guide to NVIDIA-based holiday gifts.

· An NVIDIA employee in Austin, Texas does Christmas Gangnam Style!

· Call of Duty: Duty Black Ops 2 and Assassin's Creed III sport TXAA for smooth lines.

· The newest addition to TegraZone is the puzzler Hamilton's Great Adventure.

· HTC One X+ might be the best superphone money can buy.

Are You Experienced?

This week NVIDIA introduced GeForce Experience, a new application from NVIDIA that optimizes your PC in two key ways. First, GeForce Experience automatically notifies you of new NVIDIA drivers and downloads them for you.

"The GeForce Experience software also checks for new video drivers and automatically downloads them. So as long as you keep it running, your NVIDIA video card will always provide the latest performance tweaks. You can even set the software to check for and download beta drivers."

Second, GeForce Experience optimizes graphics settings in your games based on your hardware configuration. NVIDIA performs extensive game testing for various combinations of GPUs, CPUs, and monitor resolutions and stores this information in the NVIDIA cloud. GeForce Experience connects to the NVIDIA Cloud and downloads optimized game settings tailored specifically to your PC.

"Ten thousand gamers get a Christmas present when NVIDIA releases GeForce Experience for testing, a service that can automatically adjust the graphics settings in the game for the best possible relationship between image quality and frame rate."

The result is that your PC is always kept up to date and optimized for the latest games. Noobs will love it because it makes gaming better. Nerds will love it because it gets them gaming faster.

"Even as a devoted tweaker / modder, I'm glad to see this sort of project. Everyone has moments when they want to jump into a new game and play it without fussing with settings and adjustments. If the GeForce Experience application can make that easier, we're all in favor of it."

Watch the demo in this video, learn more in this video and then grab GeForce Experience on GeForce.com and take it for a spin yourself.

Get Guided

The holidays are here and that means holiday shopping. With the yearly ‘Best of' lists right around the corner, tech press are feeding your need for lists with Holiday Buying Guides to make you tech and gadget purchases easier.

Looking for one of the newest breeds of PC, a hybrid of the tablet and the laptop? NVIDIA has the market cornered with the Microsoft Surface RT, Asus Vivo RT and Lenovo Yoga 11.

"The Surface is anything but a typical tablet. Perfect for the mobile professional on your list, this Windows RT slate has a Live Tile interface that will always keep him in the know, a kickstand for propping up the 10.6-inch ClearType HD display and Microsoft Office 2013."

How about or an Android tablet? The $199 Google Nexus 7 is getting wave reviews.

"Google and Asus smack it out of the park with the Nexus 7, a terrific small-screen tablet that's an incredible value at $200. Our latest Editors' Choice, it's the best small-screen tablet you can buy."

Santa needs to deliver a fast, buttery-smooth super phone with excellent battery life to someone who's been nice this year? The HTC One X+ with LTE from AT&T is sure to please.

"It's still screaming fast, though it now utilizes NVIDIA's 1.7GHz Tegra 3 quad-core processor instead of a dual-core CPU..."

"As speedy and smooth as can be.. every action is instant."

Great Tegra-powered tablets and phones deserve great TegraZone games. Avengers Initiative and the promotionally priced The Bard's Tale will provide hours of interactive entertainment.

"Marvel and NVIDIA have teamed up to make [Avengers Initiative] an awesome experience for Tegra devices, and it clearly shows."

"[The Bard's Tale] is visually awesome, of course, and it's just generally fun to play."

Got a gamer? PC Mag has a list of the 10 best gaming laptops and every last one is loaded with GeForce graphics.

"As with desktops, the best gaming laptops tend to be configured specifically for gaming performance. That means the best gaming graphics card out there..."

Need something a little more kid friendly? The Tegra 3-powered, ultra kid-friendly nabi 2 just received a glowing recommendation! Consumer Reports found nabi 2 is the best tablet for children. It could have been the awesome gaming, parental controls or the stylish protective bumper that sealed the deal but according to the report:

"Both the adult testers and children concluded that the Nabi 2 for $200 was the best tablet for children. It has a friendly interface, and the longest battery life."

Earlier this week, Fuhu announced the nabi Jr. - a 5" Tegra dual core toting tablet running a kid-friendly skin of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich available in both 4GB and 16GB models. The nabi 2's little brother is loaded with educational content for $99.

"The Nabi Jr., which features a more kid-friendly, 5-inch form factor, but doesn't sacrifice on power and capability like some other kid tablets."

Got a Mac daddy on your list? Get him a new iMac with GeForce graphics.

"We'll spare you any performance impressions because frankly, we've had these guys less than 24 hours, and would prefer to spend some time actually using them before we tell you how awesomely fast they!"

Gamers love ‘bang for the buck'. Which video card fits the bill?

"Need a crazy-powerful video card for your PC but not a second mortgage on your house? NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 670 has you covered with its 1,344 CUDA cores, 2 GB memory and 256-bit memory bus. It'll handle any PC game you throw at it, on an average-size monitor; detail maxed, for at least $100 less than NVIDIA's flagship single-GPU, the GTX 680."

Want to make a big impression? How about a new car with a big red bow?

"Just ask the editors of Motor Trend, which just became the latest automotive publication to name the NVIDIA-powered Tesla Model S its car of the year. This week's award follows similar honors earlier this month from the editors of Automobile Magazine."

Gadgets, gaming and graphics, NVIDIA has you covered this holiday season.

Look at My Lights, Gangnam Style!

John Storm, an NVIDIA employee in Austin, goes all out for Christmas. For years he has been synchronizing his holiday decorations to music. This year his efforts, centered on PSY's hit song Gangnam Style, and have created an internet sensation.

"As further proof that the world is not yet ready to relinquish Psy's hit song to the past, nearly 800,000 people have tuned in to watch the Christmas-lights version. That still pales in comparison with the Bieber-slaying 805 million (and counting) views the original video has received. So, is this going to be a very Gangnam Christmas?"

John used technology to makes his Christmas decorations power efficient.

"All our lights we have are LED, so they just sip on electricity," said Storms. "It'll only be $15 for the entire month of December."

He has over a million hits on Youtube now. Watch the light display here and read more on the NVIDIA blog.

Top Titles Tout TXAA

The introduction of Kepler brought with it lots of NVIDIA goodness, such as faster performance and lower power. But it also introduced a new feature called TXAA. To remove the ‘jaggies' NVIDIA has designed a new, higher-quality anti-aliasing mode called TXAA, an anti-aliasing techniques that reduce not only aliased lines, but aliased shimmering, also, without comprising performance.

"For those boasting NVIDIA's Kepler-based GPUs, it's possible to set aside the game's MSAA and FXAA options in favour of TXAA - a professional-grade algorithm which combines hardware anti-aliasing with a temporal filter. This uses samples from inside and outside any given pixel, and resolves it through reference to previous frames, creating a filter that removes pixel-crawl artefacts entirely. It's often best seen in motion as a result"

It is designed to be integrated right into game engines, and now that developers have had some time with Kepler GPUs we are seeing results. The blockbuster Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 uses TXAA to get the best film style AA - lending a truly cinematic feel to one of this season's biggest games.

"The new type of anti-aliasing, first realized this summer in The Secret World, looks great in motion. TXAA makes object lines smoother and adds a cinematographic effect, like that of a Blu-Ray movie."

Assassin's Creed III also uses TXAA, and if you buy a new GeForce GTX GPU, you get a copy free!

"The PC version Assassin's Creed III takes advantage of specific PC technologies to enhance the overall gameplay experience. TXAA is leveraged throughout the entirety of the game, and DX11 Tessellation is used in the winter season of gameplay."

By introducing new technology like TXAA NVIDIA is working to make PC games better.

"We do have to tip our hats to Treyarch for working with NVIDIA to implement TXAA technology. We are excited about this, and hope to see more TXAA very soon."

TXAA is a hit!

"Right now TXAA is looking like the future of antialiasing."

Hamilton Travels Exclusively With TegraZone

Put your problem-solving skills to the test in the newest addition to TegraZone with Fatshark's Hamilton's Great Adventure! Engage in 22 challenging levels as you lead Hamilton and Sasha - his trusty winged companion - through the steamy jungle of Amazonas and the windy mountain sides of Himalaya.

Still not enough puzzler action? Continue the journey with the Hamilton's Great Adventure Expansion Pack and double the fun by adding an additional 22 mind-twisting stages that will take you through the ancient ruins of old Egypt and the mysterious lost continent Maralidia

The popular PC and console title features truly stunning graphics and the power of the Tegra 3 processor powers exclusively brings them to life, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed:

"We can't stress just how advanced the 3D visuals are for a puzzler, but also the adrenaline that makes Hamilton's Great Adventure an awesome action game."

"The gameplay is plenty fun, and the visuals are a real treat thanks to Tegra 3 optimizations."

"Designed specifically for devices with the [Tegra 3] quad-core processor, it's got the look and detail of a console or PC game."

"The visuals are pretty solid as well with plenty of effects and eye candy."

Head over to TegraZone for more information on Hamilton's Great Adventure and download the game from Google Play along with the expansion pack.

Best of the Best: The HTC One X+

As 2012 starts to wind down, year-end "best of" lists from all walks of life will continue popping up and in the world of super phones, one Android handheld is making serious noise. Powered by a supercharged NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and running the buttery smooth Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out-of-the-box, the HTC One X+ is turning heads with its mobile gaming and multi-tasking prowess.

The One X+ makes BGR's list of the best smartphones of 2012 on AT&T, raving, "the One X+ is a fantastic smartphone."

Here's what others are saying:

"Beyond the fantastic build and gorgeous design - which we've come to expect from HTC - the One X+ bests its predecessor in almost every way."

"A souped-up version of HTC's original One X, the One X+ takes something great and makes it even better... All considered, there's an awful lot to like about this device."

"The HTC One X+ gives you the most storage and processing power for the money, by far... The One X+ has real quad-core processing power instead of dual-core, and runs Jelly Bean out of the box."

"Performance was fast and steady on the One X+, with very few hiccups and no serious issues... the HTC One X+ is my favourite smartphone on the market today."

"With the Tegra 3 processor, you will find gaming on the device to be a thrill, with NVIDIA's chipset really working well with the GPU and optimizing simple games."

If someone on Santa's nice list is ready to upgrade, the One X+ - with LTE in the U.S. - is sure to bring joy.