Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 Gearing Up for MWC Launch

Without a doubt, NVIDIA's Tegra 2 mobile platform has virtually skyrocketed at CES 2011, the GPU manufacturer's mobile platform finding its way to a very large number of devices (smartphones and especially tablets), but it seems that the company's already seriously pondering on the release of the next-generation Tegra 3.

So, as Hexus reports, following an interview with NVIDIA's Tegra GM, Mike Rayfield, it really seems that the Tegra 3 platform is set to be unveiled pretty soon, the best possible occasion being the Mobile World Congress, set to start in Barcelona in less than a month's time.

Naturally, NVIDIA's rep does not specifically provide any clear details on the Tegra 3 launch dates, but there are a few well-placed hints we can comment on.

For example, Mr. Rayfield does say that they intend to keep up the release cadence for the Tegra platform (namely, 1 per year), and since Tegra 2 was introduced at CES 2010, the term is already slightly overdue.

Also, the NVIDIA official has refrained from offering any tech details, but analyzing the way he's talked about the company's competitors and their roadmaps, we'd dare to extrapolate and say that the Tegra 3 will in fact be a quad-core platform, faster than anything the world has seen to this date in this particular niche.

Of course, given the fact that Tegra 2 is still quite far from having reached end-of-life status (in fact, these chips are selling like hot cakes these days), we're pretty sure that, if NVIDIA does in fact decide to go for an MWC Tegra 3 – related announcement, they'll only do a “paper launch,” with products (even prototypes) actually built on it arriving later on this year or at CES 2011.

We've already contacted NVIDIA for some official comments on this matter, and hopefully, we'll be able to relay them to you as soon as possible.