Earlier this week, Nvidia announced a major milestone in its mobile development history: its first chip to combine both the applications processor and LTE modem on the same silicon. The Tegra 4i, as it is called, is the green team's counter to Qualcomm's dominance in the mobile space — by having the power efficiency of integrated LTE, Nvidia now stands a chance to figure in the flagship 4G devices gracing advanced markets like the US. But the company's ambitions, as is usually the case, go much further than that. Nvidia wants to build "mainstream superphones," devices with today's highest specs, priced at tomorrow's mid-range prices.
In order to convince device makers of the viability of its strategy, Nvidia is introducing the Phoenix development platform. This 5-inch handset with a 1080p display and a lofty 13-megapixel camera will be doing the rounds at manufacturers' headquarters, showing off the power of Tegra 4i (which Nvidia assures us is only marginally lesser than the senior Tegra 4). Physically, it's exactly the sort of frugal, plastic affair you'd expect from a phone intended primarily to demonstrate the strength of its innards, but it is slim and didn't get hot to the touch while I was testing it using graphically intensive games. Nvidia also says that the eventual retail units from partners will be even thinner still.
As to the actual performance, the Phoenix was at an unfortunately early stage of its development, with an obvious lack of optimization that manifested itself in some stuttery frame rates in the pair of games I got to play. Even the Android interface was nowhere near the smoothness you could get from a generic Tegra 3 device, leading to the conclusion that no hard conclusions can yet be drawn. Still, the 4i will get to partake in the same Tegra 4 graphical enhancements as its elder sibling, so to get a glimpse of how that'll look when it hits retail later this year, check out the video below.
Comments
Button… INCEPTION!?!?!
By Good_ole_Pinocchio on 02.24.13 4:04pm
Must be in case the OEMs want to put their own Android versions in the phone, which may not contain software buttons
By Lucasmarcomini on 02.24.13 4:06pm
They are the HTC buttons too, so I wonder if the screen/glass assembly is from a Droid DNA.
By Ryan Strat on 02.24.13 4:11pm
I’m assuming the hit up HTC to make the shell.
By Good_ole_Pinocchio on 02.24.13 4:16pm
By Chaz_UK on 02.24.13 4:20pm
Probably the first time I’ve seen this meme used correctly on The Verge. I commend you!
By TheOnlyKirk on 02.25.13 2:13am
Redundant!!
By redsnowfox on 02.24.13 4:07pm
Is redundant.
By Good_ole_Pinocchio on 02.24.13 4:16pm
Redundant
By jalexoid on 02.24.13 4:19pm
Department of Redundancy.
By tech.awesome on 02.24.13 4:27pm
Redundant Department of Redundancy
By cmikeh2 on 02.24.13 5:39pm
It’s also repetitive.
By MikehMike01 on 02.24.13 6:02pm
how?
By grahaman27 on 02.24.13 7:41pm
The Double Redundant Department of Redundant Department Affairs.
By TigerMSTR on 02.24.13 7:45pm
Oh look. The department even has a seal!
By TigerMSTR on 02.24.13 8:32pm
Eh, I think under 5 inches is where I draw the line for a phone. About 4.5 inch is near my maximum.
By quillaja on 02.24.13 4:08pm
Good to know, keep us posted.
By Kellzea on 02.24.13 5:25pm
It’s not the size of the screen, it’s what you display on it?
By Dissy on 02.24.13 5:36pm
That’s what you wish she said.
By nawksnai on 02.24.13 5:59pm
Soft keys at the side of games are clumsy in the extreme, especially on swipy games.
By VoxMediaUser634951 on 02.24.13 4:13pm
This isn’t optimized much at all. Softkeys would disappear once you’re doing anything outside the homescreen, especially any sort of media.
By Good_ole_Pinocchio on 02.24.13 4:18pm
Not really. The only one that kills me is the one on my Nexus 4. I mean, if you accidentally hit it, you can just slide the finger off, the screen and it’ll ignore it. However On the Nexus’ it triggers Google Now, and whenever I slide off, it activates Google Now. I also happen to play fruit ninja. IT’S SO ANNOYING!
By weinerschnitzelboy on 02.25.13 2:19am
Same here!
Gnexus and TempleRun.
I died so many times visiting google now instead of jumping… only to find out it’s raining outside.
No shit, rain in London?
By NetworkDude on 02.25.13 9:22am
This just in, Sinclair building a next-gen Tegra 4i powered ZX Spectrum smartphone.
The Speccy 4i.
By VoxMediaUser634951 on 02.24.13 4:14pm
OK this made me laugh, well done sir.
By gallazzi on 02.24.13 4:33pm