Nvidia readies smartphone Tegra 4 processor

Nvidia has announced the Tegra 4i, the company's first integrated 4G LTE mobile processor. While the Tegra 3 processor found success in Android tablets, the lack of LTE prevented hardware manufacturers from using it in smartphones. With the Tegra 4i, Nvidia can compete with Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor series.

The Tegra 4i is based on ARM's R4 Cortex-A9 CPU combined with Nvidia's i500 LTE modem. The company also revealed its Phoenix reference platform for Tegra 4i-based mobile devices.

"Nvidia is delivering for the first time a single, integrated processor that powers all the major functions of a smartphone," said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of the Mobile business at Nvidia. "Tegra 4i phones will provide amazing computing power, world-class phone capabilities, and exceptionally long battery life."

"Tegra 4i is the very latest SoC solution based on the ARM Cortex-A9 processor and demonstrates the ability of ARM and our partners to continue to push the performance of technology and create exciting user experiences," says Tom Cronk, executive vice president and general manager, processor division, ARM.

"ARM and NVIDIA worked closely to further optimize the Cortex-A9 processor to drive performance and efficiency in areas such as streaming and responsiveness. This is an example of the collaboration and innovation that enables ARM technology-based solutions to be market drivers through multiple generations of SoC solutions."

The Tegra 4i mobile processor will be shown at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on February 25 to 28.