Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has seen the future of mobile devices – and it is Google’s versatile Android operating system.
During a keynote address at CES 2012, Huang extolled the virtues of Android, noting that the OS powers a wide range of devices, from three-inch phones to 7 and 10-inch tablets.
But Huang seemed particularly stoked about Google’s recently launched Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4), which Mountain View hopes will put an end to Android fragmentation and streamline the app creation process so that it can better compete with Apple’s wildly popular iOS.
“Ice Cream Sandwich unites, unifies and turns all the Android devices into a single platform, with one enormous installed base,” said Huang, who referred to 2012 as the Year of the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).
To illustrate his point, the CEO invited gaming-legend Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel up on stage to demonstrate how an Tegra 3-powered Ice Cream Sandwich tablet can be used to play processor intensive games like Skyrim and Battlefield 3 by connecting remotely to a GeForce GTX-based PC.
Huang was also joined by Asus CEO Jerry Shen who confirmed the upcoming launch of a $250 Tegra 3-powered (7-inch) tablet that will run ICS.
However, Huang was careful to emphasize that Nvidia’s Tegra processors are also primed, optimized and ready for Microsoft’s Windows 8 OS.
To be sure, Tegra 3 will take full advantage of the operating system’s multi-threaded capabilities to offer a fast and fluid experience – presumably with the mobile-oriented Metro interface.
