The World's First $99 HD Mobile Internet Device From Nvidia

Poor financial results or not, Nvidia is still pushing ahead into the cell phone arena. The graphics company has announced a platform based on its Tegra system-on-chip products. This platform will let device manufacturers "quickly build and bring to market" mobile devices with high-definition video decoding capabilities, "days" of battery life, and price tags as low as $99.

Here's the full list of perks you can expect from these $99 handhelds, according to Nvidia's press release:

720p and 1080p video playback
Days of use between charges
Full Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity
Optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications for a true desktop-class internet experience
A complete software solution including Microsoft Windows Embedded CE OS, application viewers, full Internet browser, UI framework, board support package (BSP), software development kit (SDK), Web mail client, and more

Nvidia has based this platform on the Tegra 600 system-on-a-chip that launched last June. The Tegra 600 has a teeny 144 mm² footprint, yet includes an ARM11 processor core, a GeForce graphics core, 720p video encoding capabilities, support for display resolutions as high as 1280x1024, and both IDE and USB On-The-Go connectivity.

In related news, Nvidia isn't just working with Microsoft: it's also teamed up with the Open Handset Alliance to make Tegra hardware work with Google's Android software platform. Nvidia says it's demonstrating a Tegra-powered Android system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain this week.

Click to expand...