11/05, 1:40pm
Myka ION a home theater PC for the living room
Myka has moved on from producing media hubs by releasing its Myka ION nettop as a full-fledged home theater PC. As the name implies, the PC packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 2GB of RAM, along with an NVIDIA Ion graphics platform to supply HD (non-Flash) video. It runs on Ubuntu Linux and includes Boxee and XBMC media center software as well as support for standard-definition Adobe Flash and Hulu's online streaming service.
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10/28, 9:05am
Lenovo S12 Ion upgrade on sale
After a significant delay past its original summer goal, Lenovo on Wednesday began selling a version of its IdeaPad S12 netbook with NVIDIA's Ion graphics onboard. The upgrade comes in tandem with Windows 7 Home Premium and gives it enough visual power to support the full Aero Glass interface as well as to decode 1080p video and handle some more recent 3D. Lenovo also adds Bluetooth 2.1 for wireless peripherals.
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10/22, 4:55pm
Verizon outs subsidized HP netbooks
To coincide with the release of Windows 7 on Thursday, Verizon has officially released the earlier rumored HP netbooks with a connection to its wireless data network. Only the 11.6-inch HP Mini 311-1037NR sports Windows 7 Home Premium, however, as the 10.1-inch HP Mini 110-1046NR includes Windows XP Home. Full specs of the devices are available, with the HP Mini 311 getting the NVIDIA Ion graphics platform along with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and 2GB of RAM.
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10/19, 11:40am
Verizon to get Ion-based netbook
Verizon is poised to kick off the launch of Windows 7 this week with two netbooks as a leaked document has shown its plans. Both the HP Mini 311 and the Mini 110 are due to reach the provider along with Windows 7 on Thursday and will be partly subsidized, with Engadget showing the higher-end Mini 311 dropping to $250 after agreeing to a contract and a $100 mail-in rebate while the Mini 110 will cost $200 on similar terms.
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10/16, 4:30pm
Intel Atom 400, 500 series pushed to 2010
In spite of claims of an on time release, Intel's Atom processors using its Pine Trail architecture now won't show until the very start of 2010, a string of leaks have shown Thursday. The 1.66GHz N450 and 1.86GHz N470 are said by Fudzilla to ship on January 3rd and won't necessarily save battery life. Instead, the primary gain will come from moving graphics to the main processor core, reducing the number of chips from three to two and creating more space.
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10/16, 9:20am
AspireRevo with Ion, Windows 7 now in the US
Acer on Friday announced it will soon offer the small form factor AspireRevo R3610-U9012 nettop PC in the US. First introduced in the summer, the PC is one of the first nettops to feature NVIDIA's Ion platform, which supports NVIDIA's CUDA general purpose computing and can also play back 1080p movies even on an Atom-based system.
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10/12, 11:50am
HP Mini 311 docs show Ion, storage boosts
HP's Mini 311 is already slated to get a performance upgrade if the company's own service manual reflects the real product. The current version is limited to the lower-power Ion LE graphics core as well as 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive, but myHPMini has discovered that the manual references the full-power Ion chip as well as configurations with 2GB or 3GB of RAM. Storage would likewise get a boost with an option of a much faster 80GB SSD as well as 250GB or 320GB hard drives.
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10/12, 10:45am
ASUS Eee PC 1201 models get details
Detailed specs of not one but two 12-inch Eee PC notebooks have been revealed recently. One of the new Eee PCs, the 1201N, was first spotted in Asia last month. Now, the unofficial specs for the 1201N and 1201HA are known and they include a 12.1-inch, 1366x768 resolution display. The specs reportedly come from leaked ASUS documents.
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10/09, 9:10am
Ion 2 to run twice as fast, support CULV
NVIDIA's Ion 2 chipset is still due to ship before the end of year and could provide a significant boost not just to netbooks but to notebooks using Intel's CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processors as well, an update from the company has shown. In addition to supporting the timeframe, an executive heading chipset development has reportedly confirmed rumors that the next-generation Ion will support processors other than the Atom, including the Celeron, Core 2 and Pentium processors that make up CULV as well as VIA's competing Nano design.
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10/05, 7:55am
Adobe unveils Flash 10.1 without iPhone
Adobe at its MAX show launched Flash 10.1, a major update to its plugin that promises video on devices that normally haven't been capable. The release adds hardware graphics acceleration on computers and should make HD Flash video possible on netbooks and ultraportables and standard definition possible on smartphones. NVIDIA already promises that its GeForce, Ion and Tegra chipsets will speed up the Flash update when available.
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10/02, 8:35am
ASUS EB1501 gets DVD, Ion and Win 7
ASUS has quietly launched a major redesign of the Eee Box. The EB1501 has a much sleeker, rounded look but also gives it numerous features that improve its usefulness as a full-time PC: it uses NVIDIA's Ion chipset and can smoothly decode 1080p video in hardware as well as drive most visually intensive tasks. To help, ASUS gives it Windows 7 Home Premium and improves the performance of the system on its dual-core 1.6GHz Atom processor.
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09/28, 5:55pm
Intel plans more frequent Atom updates
Intel will more aggressively update the Atom processor than it has in the past, executive VP Sean Maloney said in an interview published today. The company waited roughly a year between the original Atom launch and its Z500 upgrade but now plans to put it more closely on the faster "tick tock" pattern it uses for regular processors, where it first shrinks the manufacturing process for an existing design and later ships a new architecture built on that process. Such upgrades will start in earnest with Pine Trail this fall, which technically achieves both by moving to a smaller 45 nanometer design and moving the graphics core to within the processor.
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09/28, 2:05pm
NVIDIA Ion accelerates Flash
NVIDIA at a recent presentation showed its Ion chipset accelerating HD video on a netbook. While the hardware can already process HD already on the system, the new demo shows YouTube's HD video smoothly with Ion's full decoding enabled where the same footage stutters when it has to rely mostly on the Atom processor. The technique works by adapting Ion to recognize and process the H.264 encoded video inside the Flash environment.
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09/24, 1:45pm
HP selling Mini 311 Ion netbook
HP today began taking orders for the Mini 311 a week after its unveiling. The netbook is HP's first to use NVIDIA's Ion chipset and uses it to smoothly drive the system's 11.6-inch, 1366x768 screen and to decode up to 1080p without straining the Atom processor inside.
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09/21, 4:25pm
NVIDIA Ion-powered Eee PC in Asian webstore
ASUS' upcoming NVIDIA Ion-based Eee PC notebook, the 1201N, has appeared on Asian retailer PCpop's webstore recently. The PC is due for an October release, according to a recent roadmap leak and the listing confirms some of the device's specs, including its 1.6GHz Atom CPU.
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09/15, 12:00am
HP Mini 311 and 110 Studio Tord Boontje
Filling out some of HP's multiple portable launches today are two important updates to its Mini netbooks. At the head of the updates, the Mini 311 is HP's first crossover and centers on NVIDIA's Ion chipset. The graphics and system core gives the netbook 1080p video decoding (outside of Flash) and much faster 3D than Intel's solution but also helps smoothly drive the significantly larger 11.6-inch, 1366x768 display.
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09/11, 5:05pm
Vigor gaming PC gets NVIDIA Ion, dedicated GPU
PC maker Vigor has recently released its Stealth NE gaming PC, which is unique in that it combines NVIDIA's Ion platform together with a choice of dedicated NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. It also has an Asetek liquid cooling system built-in that quietly dissipates heat through a 120mm radiator. CPU choices themselves range from a 2.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo to a 3GHz Core 2 Quad.
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09/07, 12:20pm
HP CULV and Core i7 notebooks leak
HP's impending plans to revamp its notebook line have likely been uncovered in advance today courtesy of a pair of leaks (one, two). Leading the group should be the Pavilion dv8, one of the first systems to use Intel's mobile Core i7; it should be an 18.4-inch desktop replacement with an early 1.6GHz quad-core processor that scales up to 2.8GHz when it can ramp down one or more cores. It's also expected that the system would come with a Blu-ray drive as well as 4GB of RAM and 640GB of storage, likely spread across two disks.
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08/21, 1:20pm
Ion-based netbook delays
At least two netbooks based on NVIDIA's Ion graphics technology are being consciously delayed, according to reports. Lenovo is said to be postponing the Ion version of the IdeaPad S12, waiting until the release of Windows 7 in October. The new OS should make an Ion S12 more attractive than one loaded with Vista, the company says.
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08/21, 11:50am
ASUS nettop, keyboard date
Computer maker ASUS will apparently launch its rumored NVIDIA Ion-based Eee Box and all-in-one Eee Top PC sometime in September, according to a Friday report. Besides making the assertion, the anonymous sources for DigiTimes maintain the often delayed Eee Keyboard will be out in October, while two ultra-thin notebooks in the company's U/UX series will also be out in September.
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08/18, 3:40pm
Lenovo Q110 Q700 D400
Lenovo this afternoon put an end to speculation and launched its IdeaCentre Q series of mini desktops as well as its first Windows Home Server. The Q110 is Lenovo's first home nettop and gets NVIDIA's Ion chipset, giving it enough power to decode 1080p in hardware as well as render reasonably modern 3D as well as accelerate some heavily optimized tasks like video encoding. Its other specs aren't known but involve HD video output and should be based on an Intel Atom chip at its $349 price.
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08/11, 3:30pm
Samsung N510 in September
Conflicting with an earlier rumor, Samsung's N510 netbook will arrive in the US in September. A high-end crossover netbook, it should center on its use of NVIDIA's Ion platform to provide relatively high-speed 3D and HD decoding without affecting power use compared to Intel's graphics. The N510 is on the large side of netbooks, at 11.6 inches, but can therefore sport a relatively high resolution of 1366x768.
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08/04, 2:25pm
NVIDIA Ion LE for netbooks
NVIDIA will apparently soon roll out a less potent version of its Ion platform, according to a Tuesday Fudzilla report. The LE moniker has been used to designate an entry-level product at NVIDIA in the past, and the product PR manager for EMEA ION/notebook products, Igor Stanek, said the Ion LE chipset was designed specifically for use in Windows XP notebooks and nettops.
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07/23, 5:20pm
Gateway QX2800 Ion nettop
A listing on Taiwanese site PCADV has revealed that Gateway will soon release its QX2800 nettop PC, which is a near clone of Acer's Ion-powered nettop, the Acer AspireRevo. The main differences involve the Gateway's dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU rather than Acer's single-core Atom. Also, Gateway opted to use a larger capacity 500GB hard drive, doubling the Acer's 250GB drive.
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07/23, 9:20am
Sony Touch VAIOs in Fall
Sony plans to launch VAIO portables with touchscreens as early as the fall, company senior VP Mike Abary said in an interview today. The electronics giant fully anticipates shipping "some" computers with touch features in the fall to coincide with the launch of Windows 7, which is due October 22nd and has much better hooks for touch interfaces than Vista. Specifics weren't mentioned to Laptop, but Abary explained these were more likely to draw on Windows 7's existing touch features rather than to have a customized interface.
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07/06, 10:50am
Samsung Ion netbook dated
The N510 11.6-inch netbook from Samsung that was recently leaked and powered by the NVIDIA Ion platform and an Intel Atom N-series CPU will be released sometime in July, DigiTimes reported on Monday. The netbook should be be powered by a 1.66GHz Atom processor, include 1GB of memory and house a 160GB hard drive. It will still ship with Windows XP, instead of Vista, despite Intel's netbook rules that call for XP.
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07/03, 12:35pm
Emtec intros G-Box nettop
EMTEC has recently showed off an upcoming nettop PC flying under the G-Box codename. The small form factor PC will be powered by the NVIDIA Ion platform that mates an Intel Atom CPU with the HD-capable graphics and system combo chipset. Despite this capability, there is a VGA output instead of HDMI, indicating the PC is aimed at a business environment, though a version with the video and sound signal port is expected to launch later on.
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07/01, 4:55pm
Apple May Drop NVIDIA
Apple and NVIDIA may be engaged in a fierce dispute that could exclude NVIDIA graphics chips from future Macs, according to sources reportedly aware of the talks. They claim to SemiAccurate that Apple views NVIDIA's proposals for renewed deals as "arrogance" and that much of the argument centers on the overheating material that triggered widespread failures in all GeForce 8400M and 8600M mobile graphics chips. The Mac firm has had to extend MacBook Pro warranties for up to three years and may be skeptical of NVIDIA's insistence that newer models aren't at risk of the same problem.
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07/01, 2:30pm
NVIDIA Ion Sequel Speedup
The sequel to NVIDIA's Ion platform could be much faster than its predecessor when it ships, leaks today would show. While the current graphics and chipset combo is based on the GeForce 9400M and has just 16 visual effects cores, Fudzilla now hears that it will have 32 cores, potentially doubling the amount of simultaneous effects it can handle at once. The difference will have the most dramatic effect on 3D but could also impact general-purpose computing tasks that need CUDA or OpenCL.
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06/30, 4:45pm
Intel Atom with HD coming
Intel is said to be working on a reference design guideline that would allow its hardware partners to develop an HD video decoder and integrate it into Intel's Pineview desktop platform alongside a new Atom D410 or D519 CPU, Fudzilla reported on Tuesday. The current desktop Pineview platforms are not capable of HD video playback, and thus far, only NVIDIA is offering such a capability via its Ion chipset.
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06/29, 11:50am
Samsung N510 Leak
Samsung will be one of the next PC makers to launch a netbook based on NVIDIA's Ion platform based on a combination of a leak. Shown briefly during an NVIDIA presentation, the N510 is now known by insiders for Blogeee to use Ion to significantly improve 3D graphics and HD video decoding. It will also be Samsung's largest netbook-class system with a 11.6-inch display, although a very narrow bezel should reduce the overall footprint of the computer.
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06/24, 5:20pm
Lenovo ships IdeaPad S12
Lenovo is now shipping its IdeaPad S12 notebook PC in the US. The 12.1-inch netbook PC sports the prerequisite 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and a 1280x800 resolution. The netbook will also be the first to offer NVIDIA's Ion chipset later this summer, giving it 1080p HD video and 3D video processing capabilities along with an HDMI output. The versions now shipping include an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics processor.
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06/23, 3:05pm
Splashtop at Sony, Acer
The Splashtop instant-on platform from DeviceVM is coming to Sony's VAIO NW-series notebook PCs and Acer's AspireRevo nettop PCs, as per a pair of Tuesday launches. Sony's implementation of the platform is called Quick Web Access, while Acer calls its RevoBoot. In either case, Splashtop, which could be described as a lightweight Linux operating system, allows users to access the Internet within a few seconds but without having to boot the full operating system.
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06/17, 4:50pm
ASRock Ion-powered netbook
Computer maker ASRock's Multibook G22 portable PC has been spotted ahead of any official announcement, and it sports a 12.1-inch with 1366x768 resolution and, more significantly, NVIDIA's Ion chipset. The feature gives it full HD video acceleration as well as much faster 3D for mild gaming. Aside from the Ion chipset, the G22 is also unique among netbooks in sporting a 320GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM, with support up to 4GB. There is also an HDMI output, again courtesy of Ion.
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06/05, 10:35am
Maingear Pulse desktop
Maingear has introduced the Pulse, a small form-factor PC featuring the NVIDIA Ion chipset. The basic configuration ships with a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an integrated GeForce 9300 GPU, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The Ion components and an 80-percent efficient power supply are claimed to reduce power consumption, while customers can also add a GeForce 9800 GT ECO GPU or 65-watt Intel Core 2 Quad processors. The company claims a fully-loaded Pulse draws less than 145 watts under load while gaming.
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06/03, 3:55pm
MSI outs Ion-based WindBOX
At the Computex show currently taking place in Taiwan, MSI has shown off its WindBOX nettop PC powered by NVIDIA's Ion chipset. The computer's presence at the show indicates MSI is the latest to jump on the NVIDIA Ion bandwagon, with Acer and Lenovo confirmed to be releasing Ion-based PCs, with ASUS, Foxconn, Pegatron and, most recently, Dell and HP, rumored to be releasing their own as well.
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06/02, 1:50pm
NVIDIA Ion HPs, Dells due
Computer makers HP and Dell will both launch netbooks and all-in-one desktop PCs running on NVIDIA's Ion platform sometime between the start of July and the end of September, says a Tuesday Digitimes report. The unnamed industry sources claim the two manufacturers will join ASUS, Foxconn, Lenovo and Pegatron in providing Ion-based computers, all of which have been linked earlier to the hybrid graphics and system chipset. Models and their features aren't mentioned in the slip.
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05/25, 7:55am
Lenovo IdeaPad S12
Lenovo chose Memorial Day to launch a range of PC updates that include a world-first. The IdeaPad S12 is the first netbook to have an option for NVIDIA's Ion platform and overcomes one of the performance setbacks for netbooks: the advanced graphics can fully decode 1080p HD in hardware and is capable of 3D that would be off limits for Intel-based video. It also helps drive visuals on the newly enlarged 12-inch, 1280x800 display or the (optional) HDMI output.
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05/21, 12:00pm
NVIDIA Ion Price and Plans
Accusations that Intel has forced prices upwards on netbooks based on NVIDIA's Ion platform gained momentum through a purported leak of component pricing. As Intel charges nearly half the price for an Atom processor when linked to an Intel mainboard chipset versus buying it by itself, dropping from $45 to $25, it becomes less expensive to simply buy Intel's whole platform than to adopt Ion. The NVIDIA part is now believed by the Inquirer to cost $30 and would result in a barebones cost of $55 even with Intel's bundle and would spike to $75 if the chips were bought separately.
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04/29, 4:20pm
ASRock, Pegatron show Ion
NVIDIA's Ion platform for netbooks was spotted in two systems from ASRock and Pegatron at a recent press conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Also at the conference, NVIDIA said it expects its Ion platform to be available in 40 products that include netbooks, nettops and all-in-one PCs before year's end.
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04/20, 12:10pm
Wash gets ATSC Mobile TV
The outline the early launch plans for ATSC Mobile DTV, the first free over-the-air TV standard meant for portable devices in the US. Washington, DC will be the first city to get coverage and will be supported by 5 stations owned by CBS, Fox, Ion, NBC and PBS when service starts sometime in the late summer. About 39 percent of the US will be covered by the end of 2009 and should include major cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco and several others.
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04/07, 10:35pm
Acer AspireRevo
Acer tonight launched a slew of systems that include the first desktop based on NVIDIA's Ion graphics and system controller platform. The AspireRevo is based on a low-performance, low-cost 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor but draws on the 9400M-based graphics to run apps and content that are ordinarily impossible on Intel's reference hardware. Built-in decoding lets it play 1080p video at a full frame rate and even play some modern games at reasonable performance, such as Call of Duty 4 or SimCity 4.
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03/10, 4:00pm
Intel on GN40 and 1080p
Intel today confirmed that the GN40 chipset for Atom chips should be capable of playing 1080p video. Talking to Fudzilla, the semiconductor firm says the more advanced graphics acceleration in GN40 can decode most common bitrates of the full HD resolution without the stuttering and frame rate drops of the current 945 chipsets used with most Atom-based netbooks and nettops. However, Intel also warns that the video hardware isn't capable of fully processing the full output of Blu-ray, which has "significantly higher" bitrates as high as 24Mbps for the video as well as extra layers like picture-in-picture commentary.
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03/02, 2:55pm
Intel TSMC Deal Official
Intel today confirmed details of its reported deal with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). The memorandum between the two companies will see Intel port the Atom processor's design techniques, patents, software libraries and other processes to TSMC's manufacturing base. Both of the partners see it as a mutually beneficial deal that gives Intel a foothold in TSMC's manufacturing while expanding TSMC's options.
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02/26, 9:40am
Acer Hornet Nettop Leak
Acer is planning a nettop of its own that would occupy the high end of its market, if a set of leaked presentation slides from Turkish site Donanimhaber are accurate. The Hornet would have a highly stylized blue case but would center around its use of NVIDIA's Ion platform, which would let it play 1080p video and more modern games while still using either a single- or dual-core Atom processor. It would also come with a Wii-like remote that could be used either for games that support the motion-sensitive feature or else just as an airborne mouse for the living room or meetings.
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02/25, 2:55pm
NVIDIA Ion 2 Leak
If accurate, a new leak has NVIDIA releasing an updated version of its Ion platform with support for more than just netbook processors. As part of a presentation obtained by Fudzilla that responds to Intel criticism of Ion, NVIDIA has acknowledged that it will launch a second-generation version that supports not only the Atom and VIA Nano but also regular Celeron, Pentium and Core 2 chips. The update would allow full-speed notebooks to use the smaller footprint.
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02/24, 2:20pm
Intel bashes NVIDIA Ion
As the competition between rivals Intel and NVIDIA heats up, recently even crossing into the legal arena, Intel has released a document called "Nvidia Ion Competitive Positioning Guide," which brazenly criticizes the new platform. The document, spotted by bit-tech.net, claims that the Ion is nothing new and simply another SKU in the chipset family that contains the GeForce 9400, 9300, 9100M G or 8200M G components.
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02/20, 7:35am
NVIDIA Ion for VIA Coming
NVIDIA chief Jen-Sun Huang has said that NVIDIA is well into development of a version of its Ion platform for VIA's Nano processors. Speaking to Digitimes, Huang says the companies had already demonstrated an early example of it in 2008 but are now committed to releasing a production version sometime this year. Details of any differences between this and the Intel Atom reference version haven't been mentioned, though VIA regularly produces reference netbook platforms like OpenBook based on its most recent hardware.
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02/18, 8:20am
Lenovo NVIDIA Ion Rumor
Lenovo may be one of the first PC makers to adopt NVIDIA's Ion platform in a netbook, the Taiwan-area Commercial Times paper claims. The PC maker is reportedly asking local contractor Wistron to build 11.6- and 12.1-inch IdeaPads for the spring that would combine the much faster, GeForce 9400M-level graphics of Ion with an Intel Atom processor. The company is also said mulling a 13-inch model using the same technology.
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02/11, 9:25am
NVIDIA Ion Launch Plans
NVIDIA at a press conference in Taiwan today provided early details of launch plans for the first systems based on its Ion platform. The company's mainboard chipset manager Drew Henry says the first system based on the architecture, which integrates the GeForce 9400M with Atom processors, will ship in spring but will be a "very small, affordable" desktop instead of a netbook or other portable. NVIDIA declines to say which company is making the system but says won't have any relation to the black, generic concept desktop used to showcase the design.
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