NVIDIA nTeresting Newsletter 18 January 2013

In The Issue:

· NVIDIA stole the show at CES 2013 with Project Shield, Tegra 4, and NVIDIA GRID Cloud Gaming Platform.

· The GeForce 640M LE-powered Razor's Edge takes home a few CES awards of its own.

· 50 Tegra Superphones are synced for Gangnam Style.

· Cal, USC, NC State, Oregon State and East Carolina State battle it out for the Call of Duty: Black Ops II crown on Saturday.

CES 2013: Project Shield, Tegra 4 and GeForce Grid

True to our history of innovation NVIDIA launched products at CES 2013 that will modernize gaming and expand the boundaries of mobile.

"NVIDIA has done something amazing here. They took an idea we likely wouldn't have seen for at least another 5-10 years and showcased it at CES this year."

Our three biggest announcements included Project SHIELD, Tegra 4, and NVIDIA GRID Cloud Gaming Platform.

"NVIDIA's expansion into new nuts-and-bolts hardware as well as the cloud are aggressive and actionable. NVIDIA is clearly here to play ball."

Project Shield is gaming portable for open platforms designed for those who yearn to play when, where and how they want. Created with the philosophy that gaming should be open and flexible, it plays both Android and PC titles. As a pure Android device, it gives access to any game on Google Play. And as a wireless receiver and controller, it can stream games from a PC powered by GeForce GTX GPUs, accessing titles on its STEAM game library from anywhere in the house.

"...NVIDIA has built what could be the most compelling portable game system in some time"

See Project Shield in action in this video.

Powering Project Shield is the new Tegra 4, the world's fastest mobile processor for smartphones, tablets, gaming devices, auto systems, PCs.

"The new chip will be the heart of a next generation of smartphones and tablets that will be as powerful as laptops and personal computers from just a short time ago."

The NVIDIA GRID Platform is our cloud gaming platform consisting of server hardware and software that enables cloud rendering and streaming of games on any screen - including smart TVs, PCs, tablets, smartphones.

"What we've seen here is being presented by NVIDIA as the next generation in gaming and, from what we've seen, truly appears to be prepared to change the way we play games from top to bottom."

It's like Netflix's video-streaming service for games, so you can enjoy them wherever you are. You just need a device connected to the Web and a subscription to a gaming service. It renders games in a cloud server and streams them so they can be played on any device like a TV, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Since it's in the cloud, your saved games are stored, letting you start game on one device and then pick up again on another.

"I was also pretty blown away by NVIDIA Grid, which was streaming the PC version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II to an Android tablet (and can do likewise to pretty much any platform), where it looked absolutely stunning."

More than 50 awards for new NVIDIA technologies made CES 2013 a big success for NVIDIA.

Razor's Edge Cuts Through the CES Noise

Razor was also on hand at CES showing off the Razor Edge, the world's first tablet designed for PC gamers.

"As recapped in our announcement post, it's a 10.1" tablet that packs an ultra-low voltage Ivy Bridge CPU and an NVIDIA GT 640M dGPU and comes with a gamepad accessory that turns it into the world's largest GameBoy Advance. This, for a tablet, is a ridiculous amount of power."

The Edge won a slew of CES awards including the coveted CNET "Best of CES Award," in the gaming category, and CNET's "People's Voice," award, which is determined by visitors to CNET's website.

Ganged For Gangnam Style

If you had a mini video wall made up of Tegra 3 superphones what you do? Watch the Gangnam Style video of course!

Win or Go Home

To celebrate the release of the blockbuster game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, NVIDIA launched the first-ever "GeForce GTX Call of Duty Rivalries" competition which pits top colleges against each other in Call of Duty: Black Ops II four-person, last team standing multiplayer matches. After three months it is drawing to a conclusion.

The first round of competition included Cal sweeping rival Stanford, USC beating UCLA and NC State ousting UNC in a nail bitter. Oregon State and East Carolina State got voted in as wildcards and will battle it out to see who advances to the final spot in the tourney.

All the action takes place Saturday. We'll be broadcasting it here live on twitch.tv. And you can track all the action at our Call of Duty: Black Ops II Rivalries page, here.