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Nvidia promises 10+ hours battery life for Windows RT, no fans or vents in mobile PCs

Nvidia promises 10+ hours battery life for Windows RT, no fans or vents in mobile PCs

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Nvidia's Rene Haas gave a speech on the growing trend toward more mobile computers at Computex today, but the message was Windows RT: specifically, how ARM processors like the company's Tegra 3 will change the way we think of our computers in terms of battery life, noise, and heat.

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Nvidia tegra 3 windows RT battery
Nvidia tegra 3 windows RT battery

Nvidia's Rene Haas gave a speech on the growing trend toward more mobile computers at Computex today, but the message was Windows RT: specifically, how ARM processors like the company's Tegra 3 will change the way we think of our computers in terms of battery life, noise, and heat. "It's really the next step in the evolution of the PC towards a true mobility device," said Haas. "The most popular seat in the Starbucks will no longer be the one by the wall adapter — you can sit where you want."

An accompanying slide showed that Nvidia's looking at over 10 hours of battery life for Windows RT devices based on its processor. "These PCs will last all day. It's a big change."

Haas also explained that, like current smartphones and tablets, these computers won't generate much excess heat. "These devices will never have vents coming out of the side," he said:

"These will be the quietest PCs you've ever had. You will not have a fan in any Windows RT devices. That goes for clamshells, that goes for tablets."

It's a bold claim, but bolder still was his next one. After Windows RT, the Nvidia exec prognosticated, touchscreen interfaces like Microsoft's Metro UI will replace traditional ones so thoroughly that we won't remember them. "People will forget that the DOS prompt ever existed, even that the desktop existed," he said.

Nvidia's actually using a new version of its Tegra 3 chip for Windows RT devices, Haas admitted, telling us that it features prominently in Asus' transforming Tablet 600, but he wouldn't elaborate on what changes have been made to the architecture or specifications for the so-called Tegra 3+.