Nvidia's latest graphics processor for high-end mobile phones, unveiled on Monday, can take 10-megapixel pictures and decode high-resolution video, marking another step toward turning mobile phones into powerful handheld entertainment devices. The company touted the GoForce 5500 chip at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. Nvidia is best known for its powerful PC graphics processors. But over the last few years, it has taken steps to recreate sharp graphics on mobile phones and handhelds. Nvidia has some high profile customers supporting the new chip, namely Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Samsung, LG, and Kyocera.
Handheld-device designers looking to cut costs tend to pick all-in-one chips that can handle basic applications such as processing, graphics and voice calls. Chips like the GoForce 5500 are designed for expensive handsets that let consumers watch movies, play PC-style video games and even pick up digital television. Nvidia's new chip has received support from major game developers including Id Software, which will demonstrate its "Quake III" on a phone with the GoForce 5500 at 3GSM.
The GoForce 5500 adds support for the h.264 codec and externally stacked SRAM (static random access memory) chips to the GoForce line of handheld graphics chips, first unveiled in 2003. The new chip will allow phone makers to boost screen resolution to 1,024 by 768 pixels.
Battery life is always a key concern for users of powerful mobile applications, but Nvidia said the new chip outperforms its predecessors in reducing the power consumed by entertainment applications as well as voice calls.
Nvidia expects phone manufacturers to release new systems containing the chip by the fourth-quarter holiday shopping season of this year.
Tech specs
GoForce 5500
Let's just hope it doesn't become another N-gage.
