NVIDIA Also Plans to Release New Tegra SoCs Every Year

Unveiling a new GPU roadmap is not all NVIDIA did at its GTC event, the company having also expressed its intention to invest special focus into the Tegra line of products, to the point where a new SoC is expected to debut every year.

Though the Fermi architecture is definitely getting most of the attention as far as NVIDIA products go, NVIDIA itself is quite careful to invest its resources in its other venues as well.

Apparently, NVIDIA is quite eager to improve on its Tegra series of ARM-based system-on-chip devices for the mobile segment.

The first one was not especially successful, but the second one, the aptly named Tegra 2, is more advanced and feature-packed and has been adopted by a variety of tablets.

Granted, most of said tablets haven't started selling yet, but when they do, they should prove quite formidable thanks to the SoC's advanced multimedia capabilities.

Now, NVIDIA is holding its GTC (GPU Technology Conference) event and has quite eagerly outlined its plans for this market.

Granted, it was not as detailed in its plans as it was when it unraveled the roadmap is has planned for the consumer GPU front.

Nevertheless, according to what reports say, the so-called Tegra 3 is actually quite close to being brought to market, being “almost done.”

What's more, the Santa Clara, California-based GPU maker intends to launch a new Tegra SoC “every single year,” and this will both build upon and spur the growing popularity of the ARM architecture.

What remains to be seen is just how this alert Tegra refresh rate influences the evolution of the tablet market.

There is no exact date on which the Tegra 3 is supposed to be unraveled, but it may or may not be showcased at the 2011 CES (Consumer Electronics Show).