By unveiling the Nvidia Tegra 4i which integrates a 4G LTE chip, the company may have raised the bar for other CPU manufacturers in the vicinity. If CES had been the hub of the OEM’s previous introduction, MWC will be the medium through which the processor in question will pop up.
There are a couple of features that set the Nvidia Tegra 4i apart from its predecessor. To begin with, the manufacturer has made the 4G LTE compatibility optional in the latter, whereas the relevant CPU bags in the i500 soft modem from the very beginning.
The upcoming edition will be seen based on the Cortex A9 processor as opposed to the Cortex A15 CPU of its older sibling. Both utilize the 4-Plus-1 application of the ARM architecture which denotes that apart from four cores furnishing the gadget with its speed, there will also be a fifth battery saver unit.
Also termed the companion core, the fifth core holds responsibility for low-priority tasks such as standby, music and video. This could be the reason why the OEM claims that users will be able to enjoy a longer battery life. The chipset nabs a GPU with 60 cores, which is visibly less than the version 4 of the corresponding portfolio.
But where it falls short in terms of graphics, it compensates with respect to the speed. We say this bearing in mind that it will be clocked at 2.3GHz. Both variants share an attribute dubbed Chimera Computational Photography Architecture featuring HDR ability.
In order to illustrate what the processor is capable of, a reference handset codenamed Phoenix has been introduced. According to the manufacturer, this should help accelerate the pace of building and making available smartphones that will be compatible with the 4i.
While its older variant-fueled device still has us waiting, the Nvidia Tegra 4i has just added to the anticipation. But those who wish to have a look, can pay a visit to the company’s booth at the MWC between February 25 and 28.
To summarize, here are the core specifications of the chipset which have been narrowed down:
2.3GHz quad core Cortex A9 CPU
60 Tegra 4 GPU cores
Integrated i500 core
Chimera Computational Photography Architecture
2GB LPDDR3 memory