14 DAY TRIAL // Even though it took a while for its DirectX 11 graphics cards to come to the market, NVIDIA did take the lead in another area, that of netbook graphics, back at the beginning of March, when it made the formal introduction of its next-generation ION graphics solutions. This graphics processor promised to enable a new level of multimedia and web performance, being capable of streaming videos from sites like YouTube and even playing games like World of Warcraft and Spore. Nevertheless, actual demonstrations of the GPU were scarce until recently, when NVIDIA released a video of its product running Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9.
The fresh version of Microsoft's web browser is only in its beginning stages, with its platform preview having been made available for download just around mid-March. Still, even in this stage, the browser can be used to show off the ION's supposedly tenfold boost to netbook graphical performance. The video features NVIDIA's own Chris Pedersen showing fluid and fast map zooming, 3D images and even “a classic arcade showdown” (SVG-oids).
Regardless of the so-called added cost that the ION brings, the demonstration clearly points out the drastic increase in performance over the Atom-powered non-ION netbook used for comparison. The graphics solution achieves excellent results because its feature set does not limit itself to merely raw graphics processing power. The ION is capable of accelerating Direct 2D technology, JavaScript and HTML5. It is this array of capabilities that allows the smooth and fast online experience demonstrated in the video.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 won't be completed until later this year, but actual ION-enabled machines will become available much sooner. The ASUS Eee PC 1201PN, for example, should launch this very month, followed by nettops and other netbooks from companies such as Zotac, ASRock and Shuttle, among others. Most of these products are slated to make their entrance by summer.