NVIDIA Tegra K1 Jetson development kits are now available for purchase from Newegg or Microcenter. The NVIDIA Tegra K1 chip has generated much interest due to the CUDA programmability and power efficiency of the ARM/Kepler ceepee-geepee combination. Upcoming Tegra K1 devices include the Xiaomi MiPad, NVIDIA’s reference design tablet, plus the K1 powered Shield 2 gaming device. NVIDIA is also enabling opensource driver development on the K1. Caonical has a dual-boot mode that will allow Ubuntu to run on tablets, and potentially other devices bringing full Linux and CUDA capabilities to mainstream users.
Xiaimi MiPad
The Xiaomi MiPad will launch as an open beta in China this June, which means select users will receive pre-production units. There is no word yet on when the MiPad will launch in the US other than pricing of around $240 for the 16GB model, or $270 for the 64GB model. Mashable notes that the MiPad is “so like the Apple iPad mini, it’s eerie”. The MiPad display specs that are identical to the iPad mini With Retina Display: a 7.9-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and 2,048 x 1,536 resolution. The proportions of the bezel look extremely similar — with thin sides and a thicker top/bottom — and Xiaomi even went to the trouble of making the Android-based UI resemble iOS 7, according to CNET.
Not well known outside of China, Xiaomi is called the “Apple of China” thanks to its dominance in the country’s mobile industry. Its flagship handset, the Xiaomi Mi3, is deemed one of the best selling flagships in the country. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has earlier noted that the company is ready to compete internationally, adding that he also uses the Xiaomi Mi3 handset.
During the launch of the Xiaomi Mi3 last year, 100,000 units were sold in 86 seconds. The company uses a special manufacturing process that allows it to sell its devices at 100,000 batches every week, with every set having an increment update base on customer feedback.
Time and the lawyers will tell if there will be an Apple Xiaomi lawsuit due to the similarity of the devices.
Rumored NVIDIA K1 Reference Design Tablet
Specs for an unannounced 7.9 inch tablet code-named hit the web recently (May 2014) with data posted to the popular benchmark GFXBench (since removed). These spec suggest that Nvidia has a new tablet reference design coming to market.
Enthusiam about the NVIDIA reference design needs to be tempered by The Wall Street Journal May 5, 2014 report that NVIDIA, “doesn’t seem eager to participate in parts of the market where low prices trump performance. Rather, Huang is betting that Google‘s Android software is going to become a major target for game developers. And that should spur the creation of performance-oriented devices where Nvidia chips can shine.”
The new web benchmarkes could be a refresh of the Tegra K1 tablet demoed at CES 2014, or it could be just greater detail of the existing NVIDIA reference design – possibly with a later generation K1 chip.
The folks at Liliputing.com note:
It’s not clear if the Mocha is a real tablet or some sort of internal prototype that NVIDIA is using for test purposes. But it has one heck of a spec sheet, and could give us an idea of what to expect from future NVIDIA-powered tablets.
ExtremeTech commented on the high 2.2 GHz clock rate of NVIDIA’s version of the ARM processor:
The clock speed on the Cortex-A15 is going to raise some eyebrows, since a 2.2GHz core clock would be substantially faster than the 1.8GHz clock that the Tegra Note 7 featured. This gain, however, is in line (if a bit conservative) with what Nvidia initially predicted:
Given that the Cortex-A15 inside Tegra K1 is based on the later “r3″ ARM revisions of the core and an optimized layout, it makes sense that NV would be able to increase the burst clock to 2.2GHz, up from 1.8GHz. How much time the chip can actually spend at that mode is an open question. Readers claim that the Tegra K1 scored as high as 30 fps in the GFXBench 3.0 “Manhattan” test. That seems incredibly unlikely given that the Tegra K1 system that Lenovo demoed early this year scored just 9.6 fps in that test, but we do expect great things from the DX11-capable, 192-core Kepler-class GPU.
In addition to leveraging GPU and ARM competitive advantages, NVIDIA also looks like it will be levering DirectStylus could become part of the K1 tablet experience.
With DirectStylus, the stylus will allow users to capture small details, thanks to its fine tip. There is also built-in pressure sensitivity so it knows just how thick or thin an artist wants their lines to be. Combined with the rubber tip of the stylus’ nib, it makes for a pretty smooth experience when using with a tablet, or in some cases a smartphone as well.
NVIDIA is currently running a “Make your mark” campaign to get artists to help promote DirectStylus.
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