IT and Society: Quad-core processor for tablets unveiled

At the Mobile World Congress 2011 (MWC) show, February 14 - 17 2011, Barcelona, Nvidia unveiled planned quad-core processor for tablets.

Processor, codenamed Kal-El, will be equipped with 4 computing cores and a new 12-core GeForce graphic subsystem. Chip’s samples have been already sent to device producers, while quad core mobile processors are expected to come in August 2011.

At Barcelona show Nvidia demonstrated the upcoming “Kal-El” chip. Among the tasks performed by the tablet was a 1440p video content streamed on a 2560-x-1600 panel and played in real time.

Intentions to produce quad-core processors were announced by other producers as well, including Qualcomm. For Qualcomm, its Snapdragon quad-core chipset samples—also announced at MWC—is expected to start appearing in products in early 2012, though they will work at higher frequency rates as compared to Nvidia’s solutions.