Nvidia's Quad-Core Tegra 3 Chip Focuses On Energy Efficiency For Tablets

3D graphics company Nvidia today revealed its new Tegra 3 processor, with the aim to bring PC-class performance to tablets and smartphones. The new processor provides graphical performance that is three times better than the Tegra 2, and uses up to 61 percent less power, leading to a potential 12 hours of battery life for HD video playback, the company said. New technology called Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing introduces a fifth CPU "companion," which can be switched to during low-power tasks -- such as listening to music -- allowing the main quad-core to shut down and preserve power. Nvidia said in a statement that it believes the Tegra 3 processor will allow mobile devices to provide an experience "comparable to that of a game console." The first quad-core tablet to use the Tegra 3 processor is the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Jerry Shen, CEO at ASUS, said that the technology is "revolutionary." "The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a category-defining product," added Jen-Hsun Huang, president of NVIDIA. "Powered by Tegra 3, it launches us into a new era of mobile computing, in which quad-core performance and super energy-efficiency provide capabilities never available before."