Monday night the Sony press conference was pretty spectacular.  Once the new products and services was talked up, Sony played the MIB3 trailer in 3D and then Will Smith came on stage briefly (cool stuff) and I was on the front row.  A few moments later Kelly Clarkson made a appearance and sang.

Back to the tech after the jump…

Sony highlighted a few new products and services on the eve of CES 2012 like the Sony Entertainment Network, which includes Web Unlimited, Music Unlimited, PlayMemories Online, PlayMemories Home, PlayMemories Mobile and PlayMemories Studio giving consumers a “one-stop-shop” for all their their entertainment, making it accessible through the cloud to all the new Sony devices at home or on he go.

Along with cloud services Sony had new products to show off, like a new split-screen, Tablet P, folding tablet, also revealing the Tablet S and new Tablet P is now PlayStation Certified.

The new PS Vita, handheld game console will be available February 22, 2012.

Once Sony’s acquisition of Sony-Ericsson is complete the new company will be called Sony Mobile Communications.  The new Experia phone were unveiled and are also PlayStation certified. The Xperia S wil be available globally and the new Xperia Ion is the first LTE offering and is exclusive to AT&T.

Sony Internet TV will hit stores as the first HDTVs powered by Google TV.  A new picture engine Sony calls X-Reality recreates and restores the lost clarity from internet streamed video.  A new titanium active shutter 3D glasses revealed.

A new VAIO hybrid notebook/tablet prototypes were shown off as a concept.

The new Handycams look really slick and should perform even better.  Sony has added new stabilization technology to increase stability 13 times and the integrated projector has gotten an overhaul with increased lumens.

The new Bloggie Live hit the stage and now with WiFi you can stream your video live as it’s recording and the Bloggie Sport looks rugged and is waterproof to 5 meters.

The new Walkman Z is Android powered with WiFi and Bluetooth sporting a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and will be available soon in the US.  A new line of balanced armature ear buds was announced as well.

Sony is really pumping 4K technology and revealed a new 4K home theater projector and cinema camera.

Sony didn’t discus DSLR and point and shoot cameras in any detail, possibly due to the supply shortages and the inability to bring anything new, however, there a plenty of new toys and I’ll do my best to get my hands on as many as possible.

The OnStar / Cadillac press conference last night saw some pretty exciting news.  The Cue infotainment center, OnStar open source API and expanding on the Verizon 4G LTE partnership with streaming content, in-vehicle content sharing and Skype video calling.

First of all the new Cadillac Cue infotainment center is state of the with multi-touch gesturing and voice recognition technology.  Cue runs a Linux OS prime for developers to create apps on the newly announced OnStar open source API, sports a 12.3 inch multi-gesture, (tap,flick,swipe and spread) customizable, console display and 8 inch customizable driver display.  The 12.3 inch console display also boast proximity sensing, with magically appearing icons and a users hand approaches the screen and heptic feedback, pulsing the users finger tip enabling the user to know, without looking, the gesture was recognized.  Lastly, working with a company used in the development of SIRI, Cadillac engineers have created a voice recognition function that recognizes natural speech.

Although, Cue is still in beta form, still in need of fine tuning and I couldn’t try out the voice command, I was able to get a “feel” for the finish product on the demo unit.  Cue will initially he offered on the flagship XTS and newly annouced ATS models in the near future.

The announcement of open source API to OnStar’s proprietary, ATOMS cloud, brought excitement.  OnStar is allowing worthy developers to create applications to function on the OnStar network.  The first application, almost ready to release to the public, RelayRides is a car sharing program that works like nontraditional car rental services.  Through the RelayRides program owners will be able to share (rent) their own OnStar equiped vehicles and earn money.  Folks interested in renting a vehicle, through the RelayRides app can locate and buy the rental that is right in their own community.

The expansion of OnStar 4G LTE services include streaming video from YouTube and NetFlix, Web surfing, Skype video calling, vehicle diagnostics, connected home, and more.

Finally, Cadillac showed us the newly announced Cadillac ATS from from Detroit just before the North American International Auto Show, said to be slated to compete head to head with the BMW 3 Series.

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012 is about to kick off this week and while there is a particular them is not really pushing to the forefront this year like tablets did last year and 3DTV the year before, there are some trends and emerging technologies to look for.

Ultrabooks, a new class of laptops, closely resembling Apple’s MacBook Air is expected to make waves at CES 2012.  An Intel initiative that is expected to make up a large percentage of notebooks in the market in the near future has already seen a few of these machines released to market.  Look for many if not all the major PC manufactures to debut their new thin and light notebooks.

When I arrived at the McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas I was greeted with banners of Corning’s new GorillaGlass 2 and while the original GorillaGlass is a great product the successor is promised to be thinner to meet the demands of phone and tablet makers.

Connected cars are making leaps and bounds movements toward the connected world like GM’s Onstar and Ford’s Sync and that trend will only strengthen this year.

Look for Android tablet makers to reinvigorate themselves after a dismal start in 2011.  NVIDIA has already announced the Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor in the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime.  My gut tells me that CES will see a handful of Android tablets sporting the new chip and the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Windows Phone manufacturer Nokia will likely be showcasing an new flagship.  Some reports indicate the new handset will be called Lumina 900.  Other manufacturers could be jumping into the Windows Phone pool as well.  A Windows 8 tablet demo would be cool too.

NVIDIA has already announced the first quad-core mobile processor, the Tegra 3 ARM Cortex A9 CPU.  Four performance processors reportedly preform at record pace and an ingenious “fifth core” companion works at incredibly low power for low performance tasks like listening to music, video play-back and background data updates.  The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the first announced quad-core tablet to market and having the Tegra 3 on board promises PC like performance and insane battery life.

This new technology by NVIDIA, dubbed Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP) seamlessly switches between the advances quad-cores and the companion core as needed.  A boasted 61% lower power consumption and 3x graphics performance of the Tegra 2 highlights the new chip.  A new 12-core NVIDIA GeForce GPU is said to supercharge graphics performance and provide the next level of support for 3D gaming.

The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime

Display

• 10.1″ LED backlit screen with Super IPS+ (1280 x 800) 10 finger multi-touch, Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Operating system

• Android™ 3.2 Honeycomb
• Android™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgradable

Platform

• NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor—Quad-core CPU, NVIDIA GeForce® GPU, with 5th companion core for low power

Memory

• LPDDR2 1 GB

Storage

• 32GB /64GB¹ EMMC + ASUS WebStorage

Wireless

• 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Camera

• 1.2MP (front), 8MP auto-focus (rear) with flash & F2.4 aperture

Interface

• PAD: 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone/Mic-in); 1x micro HDMI port; 1 x Micro SD Card Reader; 1 x Internal Microphone; 1 x Stereo Speaker
• Mobile Dock: 1 x USB2.0 port; 1 x SD Card Reader

Sensor

• G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, GPS

Flash support

• Yes

Multitasking

• Yes

Special Apps

• ASUS launcher, @Vibe Music, ASUS WebStorage, MyLibrary, MyNet, MyCloud, File manager, ASUS sync, SuperNote, App Locker, App Backup, Tegra Zone, Polaris Office

Battery

• 12 hours; 25Wh Li-polymer Battery²
• 18 hours pad with dock; 25Wh(pad) and 22Wh(mobile dock) Li-polymer Battery²

Size/ Weight

• Pad: 263*180.8*8.3mm/586g
• Dock: 263*180.8*8~10.4mm / 537g

Press Release

NVIDIA Quad-Core Tegra 3 Chip Sets New Standards of Mobile Computing Performance, Energy Efficiency

Friday, January 6, 2012

Tegra 3’s fifth ‘companion’ core enables ultra-low power consumption, while advanced quad-core processors drive record-breaking performance

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Nov. 8, 2011— NVIDIA today ushered in the era of quad-core mobile computing with the introduction of the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 processor, bringing PC-class performance levels, better battery life and improved mobile experiences to tablets and phones. The world’s first quad-core tablet with the Tegra 3 processor is the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime.

Known previously by the codename “Project Kal-El,” the Tegra 3 processor provides up to 3x the graphics performance of Tegra 2, and up to 61 percent lower power consumption. This translates into an industry-leading 12 hours of battery life for HD video playback.

The Tegra 3 processor implements a new, patent-pending technology known as Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing (vSMP). vSMP includes a fifth CPU “companion”, specifically designed for work requiring little power. The four main cores are specifically designed for work requiring high performance, and generally consume less power than dual-core processors.

During tasks that require less power consumption – like listening to music, playing back video or updating background data – the Tegra 3 processor completely shuts down its four performance-tuned cores and, instead, uses its companion core. For high-performance tasks – like web browsing, multitasking and gaming – the Tegra 3 processor disables the companion.

“NVIDIA’s fifth core is ingenious,” said Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow at Insight 64. “Tegra 3’s vSMP technology extends the battery life of next-generation mobile devices by using less power when they’re handling undemanding tasks and then ratcheting up performance when it’s really needed.”

The Tegra 3 quad-core CPUs are complemented with a new 12-core NVIDIA GeForce® GPU, which delivers more realism with dynamic lighting, physical effects and high resolution environments, plus support for 3D stereo, giving developers the means to bring the next generation of mobile games to life.

For the millions who play games on mobile devices, the Tegra 3 processor provides an experience comparable to that of a game console. It offers full game-controller support, enabling consumers to play games on their tablet or super phone, or connect to big screen HDTVs for a truly immersive experience. It also leverages NVIDIA’s award-winning 3D Vision technology and automatically converts OpenGL applications to stereo 3D, so consumers can experience 3D on a big screen 3D TV (via HDMI™ 1.4 technology).

The Tegra 3 processor provides the industry’s…

Fastest web experience – with accelerated Adobe Flash Player 11, HTML5 and WebGL browsing, and an optimized Javascript engine

Fastest applications – with blazing performance for multimedia apps, such as photo and video editing

Fastest multitasking – for switching between common uses, such as playing music and games, and background tasks

Fastest, highest-quality gaming – including new Tegra 3 processor-optimized NVIDIA Tegra Zone™ app games such as Shadowgun,Riptide GP, Sprinkle, Big Top THD, Bladeslinger, DaVinci THD and Chidori.

Highlights / Key Facts:

· The Tegra 3 processor redefines power consumption and mobile-computing performance with:

•  The world’s first quad-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU
• New patent-pending vSMP technology, including a fifth CPU core that runs at a lower frequency and operates at exceptionally low power
• 12-core GeForce GPU, with 3x the graphics performance of the Tegra 2 processor, including support for stereoscopic 3D
• New video engines with support for 1080p high profile video at 40 Mbps
• Up to 3x higher memory bandwidth
• Up to 2x faster Image Signal Processor

· 40 games are expected to be available by the end of 2011, and over 15 Tegra 3 games are under development for Tegra Zone, NVIDIA’s free Android Market app that showcases the best games optimized for the Tegra processor.

· The Tegra 3 processor is in production. Developers can order the Tegra 3 Developer Kit to create applications for devices with Tegra such as tablets and super phones, at developer.nvidia.com/tegra.

Quotes:

NVIDIA, ASUS

· “The Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a category-defining product. 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. With Transformer Prime, ASUS has once again led the industry into the next generation.”

- Jen-Hsun Huang, President and Chief Executive Officer, NVIDIA

· “Tegra 3 is a marvel. Its quad-core CPU, 12-core GeForce GPU and vSMP technology are revolutionary. We worked closely with NVIDIA to build the ultimate tablet – the Eee Pad Transformer Prime – that delivers a magical, uncompromised experience to consumers.”

- Jerry Shen, CEO at ASUS

Key Game Developers

“Thanks to Tegra 3’s quad-core CPUs, Shadowgun looks and plays the best on Tegra. Consumers are going to love the quad-core Shadowgun version – which features rag doll physics, console quality water simulation, particle effects, enhanced shaders, dynamic textures, and more.”

– Marek Rabas, CEO of Madfinger Games

“Riptide GP showed how Tegra brought mobile gaming on Android to new heights. Tegra 3′s quad-core performance has allowed us to add a whole set of exclusive new features — improved water visuals, splash effects, motion blur — that pushes the experience to an entirely new level.”

- Matt Small, Creative Director at Vector Unit

“Working with NVIDIA makes the impossible possible. Our Tegra 3 optimized game DaVinci THD will look brilliant when it comes out, with mind-blowing 3D graphics and intuitive touchscreen interface. DaVinci THD will leverage Tegra 3 for its multi-threading capabilities, so we can scale across all four CPU cores and deliver the ultimate console-quality performance. As a result, DaVinci THD will be more realistic, interactive and challenging than anything we’ve done before.”

- Kijong Kang, VP and Executive Producer at Bridea Corporation

“Combining BitSquid’s tech engine with Tegra 3′s quad core architecture means a gaming experience like no other. Gamers are going to really see the next-generation gaming experience in Hamilton’s Great Adventure THD.”

- Martin Wahlund, CEO at Fatshark

· “With Tegra 3, NVIDIA has shattered the usual constraints on the quality of mobile device experiences. By enabling tablets and smartphones to operate at an exceptional level, it allows developers like Zen Studios to create console-quality experiences that can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime. The quad-core fueled graphics and physics in Zen Pinball THD are simply incredible and represent the premier mobile pinball experience. You can only get that on devices built on Tegra 3.”

- Mel Kirk, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at Zen Studios

“Quad-core chips are raising the stakes for mobile gaming. With Tegra 3, we can render even more content with better animations on Bladeslinger THD – all while consuming less power. This is a recipe for all-day game play.”

- Sam Williams, General Manager at Luma Arcade

“Tegra 3 is making much more complex gaming environments possible on mobile platforms. Gamers are going to be amazed by the level of graphical detail and realistic physics that come through in quad-core enhanced games like Soulcraft THD.”

- Karsten Wysk, CEO of Mobile Bits

“As we’ve seen on Big Top THD, gaming performance on Tegra 3’s quad-core architecture is unmatched. From the high quality shadows to improved tent animation and high-dive splash effects, Tegra 3’s 12-core GPU delivers the best gaming experience and uses the lowest power you’ll see on a mobile device.”

- Robert Troughton, CEO at Pitbull Studio Ltd.

“Tegra 3’s quad-cores bring out the best in our Substance smart texturing engine. The CPU and GPU parallel processing allows mobile game developers to add never-seen animated visual effects and textures to their games, translating into an absolutely stunning visual experience on mobile.”

- Sébastien Deguy, CEO and Founder at Allegorithmic

“Tegra 3’s quad-core processor and 12-core GPU allows developers to port PC and console game titles using BitSquid Tech for the same great experience on any device. From a hard-core gamer’s customized PC to a phone or tablet with Tegra, you’ll get identical game play and buttery smooth graphics, anywhere any time.”

- Tobias Persson, Co-Founder and Rendering Architect at BitSquid Tech

“We’re excited to bring the definitive version of Siegecraft to Tegra 3. Its amazing graphics performance and quad-core scaling let us amp up the game to the max – more physics, more units, more Siegecraft!”

- Benjamin Lee, Managing Director at Blowfish Studios

“Thanks to Tegra 3′s fantastic GPU performance we were able to use the same quality textures in Zombie Driver THD as on the PC. The outstanding quad-core CPU performance makes it possible to support Tegra game development in parallel to other high-end platforms.”

- Pawel Lekki, Chief Operating Officer at Exor Studios

“Quad-core technology has changed how we approach mobile game development. Tegra 3 helped us create Jett Tailfin Racers THD – an eight-player game with the highest resolution textures, underwater caustics and anisotropic shading we’ve ever seen on a mobile device.”

- Manny Granillo, President at Hoplite Research

“Mobile gaming is about to take a huge leap forward with Tegra 3. Its GPU gives us access to higher-resolution textures and far better effects. And its four CPUs make Euphoria’s gameplay smoother, more interactive and quality that’s close to a console.”

- Keiichi Yano, Co-Founder and VP of Development at iNiS

“It’s incredible what Tegra 3’s quad-core architecture bring to mobile gaming. As good as Combat Arms looks on a tablet, it looks 1000 times better when you connect it to your HDTV, strap on game controllers and sit back to enjoy a real 3D console-gaming experience with Combat Arms: Zombies THD.

- Albert Rim, CEO at Nexon Mobile Corporation

· “With the Tegra 3 processor, NVIDIA is once again painting new horizons for technology on wireless platforms. We’re excited to see how the thousands of developers using Unity to create interactive 3D content will take advantage of the extra power that NVIDIA’s quad-core technology provides.”

- Tony Garcia, Vice President of Business Development at Unity Technologies

“Tegra 3 is equivalent to a console game machine, and we believe devices with it will play an important part in next-generation games. We’ve been working on optimizing our cross-platform engine Chidori to fully support Tegra 3. To support Tegra 3’s multi-core engine, we’ve optimized our 3D effect tool. And we’ve adapted our high-quality shader library, Aoi, to Tegra 3, allowing truly beautiful imagery.”

- Katsunori Yamaji, CEO and Executive Producer at Premium Agency Inc.

“By harnessing the strength of Tegra 3’s 12-core GPU in our multiplatform middleware, game developers can easily port titles to Tegra 3 and achieve true console-quality graphics. Tegra 3′s quad-core architecture and Orochi’s multicore-enhanced, game-engine technology is going to spur the evolution of games on quad-core mobile devices.”

- Takehiko Terada, President and CEO at Silicon Studio Corporation

“We’re totally pumped by the potential of Tegra 3’s quad-core CPU and 12-core GPU. They’ll bring console-quality experiences to mobile devices, and we’re working to bring an amazing title to the Tegra platform. Stay tuned for our announcement of a great Tegra 3-optimized title in the coming months.”

- Richie Casper, Creative Director at Acquire Corp.

“NVIDIA’s GPU architecture delivers the best gaming experience, bringing true console-quality games to mobile devices. Our Lost Planet 2 test demo makes it clear – the quad-core muscle of Tegra 3 brings hyper-realistic visuals, smooth frame rates and sharp images. The result is a whole new level of realism to content for smartphones and tablets.”

- Jun Takeuchi, Deputy Head of Consumer Games at Capcom

· “Tegra 3 is a huge leap forward in mobile computing. Using its quad-core capabilities, we were able to improve all of Sprinkle’s visual effects, plus add a whole new layer of smoke simulation.”

- Dennis Gustafsson, Co-Founder of Mediocre

“We’re floored by everything we’ve seen in Tegra 3. Its four cores, coupled with amazing graphics performance, will let us bring awesome gaming experiences to the Tegra platform next year.”

- Carlo Perconti, CEO at HyperDevBox

Key Content Partners

“Flash-based apps packaged with AIR allow content creators to deliver premium gaming and video experiences, while HTML5 apps built with PhoneGap enable fantastic, general-purpose mobile apps. We continue our close partnership with NVIDIA to ensure that these visually rich, highly-interactive apps can significantly benefit from Tegra 3′s enhanced CPU and GPU horsepower.”

- Jennifer Carr, Senior Director, Business Development at Adobe

“We’ve been developing multimedia applications on Tegra 3 for some time now. The quad-core processing muscle will allow some new apps and use-cases that consumers are going to love.”

- George Tang, General Manager and VP of the Video and Entertainment Group at ArcSoft

“Tegra 3’s quad-core performance makes a huge difference for photo and augmented reality apps. Our Photaf Panorama Pro THD app runs more than 40% faster, and Face Costume gets over 60 percent speedup over comparable dual-core processors. Quad core opens up new possibilities for future application development, especially in the field of computer vision.”

- Oren Bengigi, CEO at Bengigi Studio

“Tegra 3 gives us the quad-core horsepower to really push the envelope on cool video editing effects, smooth video playback, augmented reality camera and other challenging applications. With Tegra 3, we’re delivering real-time compositing and preview of simultaneous 1080p HD streams and graphics on a mobile device – that’s amazing.”

- Alice H. Chang, CEO at Cyberlink

“Seamless, compelling Augmented Reality (AR) experiences demand that all of the pieces of a mobile device work together. Metaio’s AR software requires optimized mobile hardware to make the way we access digital information a more natural experience. Tegra 3 delivers the multi-core CPU performance required for advanced vision processing while bringing a tremendous boost in GPU performance. Working with Tegra’s software stack will make it possible for us to utilize all of those capabilities towards building an Augmented World.”

- Dr. Thomas Alt, CEO at metaio

“Tegra 3’s combination of HD video playback performance and extended battery life will give Netflix members a fantastic experience as they watch movies and TV episodes streaming from Netflix via their Android devices.”

- Bill Holmes, Vice President of Business Development at Netflix

“Tegra 3 gives us the horsepower we need to bring a PC-quality photo editing experience to mobile devices through applications like Snapseed, by Nik Software.”

- Michael Slater, President and CEO at Nik Software

“By collaborating with NVIDIA, we are able to bring advanced multi-touch and pen capabilities to the tablet market, providing the Android user with a smoother and richer user experience, and enhancing the tablet from a basic consumption device to one that offers more personal and creative capabilities. The processing strength provided by Tegra 3’s additional cores will enable application developers to dedicate CPU cycles to UI processing and provide an enriched pen solution for artistic, enterprise and educational applications.”

- Amichai Ben David, CEO of N-Trig

“The tablet and mobile device market are exploding and productivity applications are central to this growth. As the most widely distributed mobile office software, we are excited to partner with NVIDIA to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities inherent in the Tegra 3 quad-core chip to bring continued innovation in the marketplace.”

- David Halpin, VP of Engineering at Quickoffice

“Splashtop plus Tegra 3 offers users an unparalleled cross-device experience. Splashtop enables sharing content among smart phones, tablets, and TVs, and combined with Tegra 3’s quad-core processing muscle, it can support 30 frames-per-second video with extremely low latency – perfect for games and multimedia!”

- Mark Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of Splashtop

“WebGL is being rapidly adopted on HTML5-capable desktop, laptop and netbook systems, and now NVIDIA is helping to bring WebGL to Android. Tegra 3 delivers an incredible level of performance — the four cores provide the multi-threading horsepower needed to drive a complete browser stack including highly interactive 3D.”

- Ken Russell, Chair, WebGL Working Group

“Tegra already provides the fastest platform for silky smooth magazine reading on Android. The quad-core capabilities of Tegra 3 will help us further accelerate and enhance the complete browsing, downloading and reading experience.”

- Vandan Parikh, Director, Reading and Mobile Technologies at Zinio

Useful Links:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-superchip.html

www.tegrazone.com

developer.nvidia.com/tegra

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-asus.html

# # #

For further information, contact:

Bruce Chan

NVIDIA Corporation

(408) 562-7596

bchan@nvidia.com

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Today, its processors power a broad range of products from smart phones to supercomputers. NVIDIA’s mobile processors are used in cell phones, tablets and auto infotainment systems. PC gamers rely on GPUs to enjoy spectacularly immersive worlds. Professionals use them to create visual effects in movies and design everything from golf clubs to jumbo jets. And researchers utilize GPUs to advance the frontiers of science with high-performance computing. The company holds more than 2,100 patents worldwide, including ones covering ideas essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

# # #

Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to statements as to: the impact, benefits and performance of NVIDIA Tegra 3 processors and related applications; and the effects of the company’s patents on modern computing are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including its Form 10-Q for the fiscal period ended July 31, 2011. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company’s website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

© 2011 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, and Tegra are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

HDMI, the HDMI logo, and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC.

Good news for Kindle owners, but especially for Amazon Prime members:  Amazon announced a new ‘benefit’ where you can borrow a kindle book, one per month, with no due dates.  Looks like another way Amazon is connecting its content library to its devices, and it makes the $79/year Prime membership look like a steal.  Prime membership originally was intended for frequent shoppers, offering free 2 day delivery, then included unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows, and now its ventured into e-books.

Leave a comment if you’re a Prime member and tried the book borrowing feature.

 -via Lifehacker.com

Beginning Monday, Redbox patrons will be shelling out an extra 20 cents for daily DVD rentals.  The DVD price increase news overshadowed reports of strong third quarter performance and while the dust still settles from the Netflix decision to sharply increase prices.

Reportedly, Coinstar (Redbox’s parent company) nearly double earnings in an announcement this week, but share price fell on Thurday after news of the price increase hit the streets.  The price for a DVD at the Redbox kiosks will rise to $1.20 per day on Monday, however, Blu-ray disc and Xbox game prices will remain at the current $1.50 and $2.00 price respectively.

Coinstar tested the increased price in select markets before the decision was made and found that there will be minimal impact on demand.  The blame for the increase is pinned on the rising cost of DVDs and processing debit card transactions.

[via USA Today]

At Nokia World 2011, the Finnish giant-turned-underdog has announced the long-awaited (by geeks anyway) smart phones featuring Windows Phone 7 by Microsoft.  These phones represent the first products from the new Nokia – Microsoft partnership, where Nokia replaced Symbian and Meego operating systems with WP7 for its top of the line smart phones.  New Symbian “Belle” phones are still being released, as well as feature phones running S40.  These newer, entry-mid level phones were also announced at Nokia World, dubbed “Asha” 200, 201, 300 and 303.  Videos of these phones are also included.

So, will the two tech giants’ new litter of puppies have a fighting chance against the smartphone leaders from Apple and Android? We’ll just have to wait and see how well these phones are marketed worldwide, and especially if any major U.S. carriers will subsidize them with a low price + 2 year contracts.

Sit back, get some popcorn, and enjoy the videos after the break.

You’ll see the top range Windows phones (still need to get used to saying that) Lumia 800, and ‘entry’ level 710.  The feature phones (with some smart phone-like capabilities) are nicknamed “Asha” and include the 200 (dual SIM qwerty), 201 (same but single SIM), the 300 (touch and type, with 3G) and 303 (touch and type with full qwerty keypad).

In the wake of Apple’s iPhone 4S debut, Research In Motion (RIM) scrambles to fix a global service outage, frustrating BlackBerry users, in some cases for days.  The email, BBM and internet service outage that originated in Europe on Monday quickly spread to North and South America, along with other parts of the world.

The Cause

RIM blames the cause of the outage on a malfunctioning switch at a data center in Slough, England and backup failure that triggered a massive traffic jam of data, quickly spreading to data centers around the world, leaving BlackBerry users without data service across 5 continents by Wednesday morning.

BlackBerry is unique in the service it provides to customers in that “in house” servers handle messaging, which has been the staple in RIM’s allure from the beginning.  Apple, Android and other phone makers leave this task to the carriers.   In house hosting of email and messaging allows for tight security, which has been the draw for corporations for years, but with other solutions readily available now, more and more corporate customers are turning to the competition.

RIM’s Reaction

Wednesday, RIM finally mustered up an apology in an early morning video by Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, who later answered press questions with co-chief Jim Balsillie once service had been restored.

Many are crying “foul” with a too little, too late response from RIM.  With phone sales on the decline and share prices slipping the extended service outage this week couldn’t have come at a worse time for RIM.  RIM has a long, tough row to hoe and only time will tell the tale.  RIM’s ability to communicate evidence of a shored up infrastructure and innovative phones in the future will be key to ensure brand loyalty.

[Wall Street Journal] [USA Today] [Reuters]

The new, official Facebook for iPad app is finally here, in the App Store.  For the iPhone, it’s a new version (4.0, and according to the app description, uninstall the older version before installing 4.0).

Here are some of the Facebook for iPad highlights:

• Share a photo, update your status or send a message without leaving News Feed
• Use Facebook apps and play games in full screen mode
• Flip through animation (like a photo album) for browsing high-res photos
• Check out the Nearby map to see what your friends are up to
• Chat with friends right from your home screen

- via Fonearena.

Now that we’ve seen the new iPhone 4S, which was not an earth shattering reveal, perhaps it’s time for Samsung to wow us finicky folks in the smart phone geekdom.  The next super Droid phone, dubbed the “Nexus Prime,” is rumored to be announced at the Samsung event on October 11th, and the potential wow factors will be it’s curved screen, and the latest Android OS, “Ice Cream Sandwich.”  Enjoy the sneak peek video, and click below for a brief story by CNET, while I go get an ice cream sandwich.  Damn that power of suggestion!

-  via CNET News.