NVIDIA's been banging on its Tegra drum since way back in 2008, but murmurings of a Tegra revolution in 2009 are picking up steam.
The GPU giant already has itself one major design win in the form of Microsoft's Zune HD, and reports that have surfaced today suggest that a Tegra-powered smartphone is imminent, too.
According to various reports, a Tegra-powered smartphone is being developed by one of the "top five" mobile phone manufacturers. It's all a little vague, but NVIDIA's Michael Rayfield has been quoted as saying that such devices would become available from operators such as T-Mobile and AT&T by the end of the year for around $200.
The speculation comes as little surprise, as NVIDIA will no doubt be hoping for smartphone success in order to help recoup an investment of around $500 million in the development of the Tegra chip.
On paper, a Tegra-powered smartphone ticks many of the right boxes. Using an ultra-low-power Tegra APX-series part, it should provide days of battery life, enough graphical grunt to provide a fluid 3D interface and support for 720p playback.
It's merely speculation right now, but we'd be willing to bet on a Tegra-based product announcement from a major smartphone manufacturer in the coming months. Given NVIDIA's choice of Tegra partners, we reckon it'll be a smartphone running Microsoft's Windows Mobile or Google's Android operating systems.
