Nvidia forges deep ties with Google for gaming; Tegra K1 powers Android TV reference device

Nvidia Tegra K1 was announced back at CES 2014 and at the Google I/O keynote, the reference devices used to showcase the new features in the Android ecosystem were using Tegra K1 as chipsets.   [caption id=“attachment_226529” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Nvidia Tegra K1 was announced at CES 2014[/caption]   The Tegra K1 is based on the Kepler GPU architecture, the same one which is seen in Nvidia’s GeForce GTX cards. The Tegra K1 will sport a single SMX unit which corresponds to 192 CUDA cores. All the cores are fully programmable and can operate parallelly.   A Tegra K1 reference device was used to demo the new Android L operating system’s gaming capabilities. The new Android TV development kit is available to developers on a Tegra-powered devkit. The Android Auto which will be featuring in cars under the Open Auto Alliance will also feature an Nvidia backed device. Also Tegra K1 is also the main component of the Project Tango devkit, which is a tablet sporting depth-sensing 3D cameras.   Android Extension Pack

  Apart from supporting 64-bit CPU architecture, the Android ‘L’ OS will also lay stress on getting better graphics on your mobile devices. To that effect, Google unveiled a new Android Extension Pack (AEP) to enable better graphics capabilities and getting console-level games on Android. AEP adds new extensions to OpenGL ES, which is a mobile graphics standard, to bring features such as tessellation and compute shaders to Android. At the keynote, Epic Games unveiled the latest Unreal Engine 4 demo which was run on a Tegra K1 reference device.  Tegra K1 includes support for DX12, OpenGL 4.4, OpenGL ES 3.1, and now Google’s AEP.   [caption id=“attachment_226528” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Rivalry, the Epic Games’ game running on UE4 on a Tegra K1 powered reference device[/caption]   “Through our close collaboration with Nvidia, Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 ‘Rivalry’ project demonstrated at Google I/O shows what’s possible when PC-class gaming technologies and performance are brought to mobile devices,” said Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic. “In less than three weeks we were able to port content built for high-end PC and the DirectX 11 graphics API to Android and Google’s AEP (Android Expansion Pack) extensions for ES 3.1. Developers can deliver incredible graphical complexity on a mobile chipset thanks to Tegra K1 and AEP.”   Android TV  [caption id=“attachment_226527” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] The Android TV user interface puts content up front[/caption]   Android TV is Google’s latest card to provide a clean smart TV experience. With the focus being on the content rather than the apps providing that content, the Android TV demo got a lot of cheer from the attendees at the keynote. Apart from viewing and searching content related to TV shows and movies, the other big selling point of Android TV is its support for gaming.   [caption id=“attachment_226526” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Apart from viewing TV shows and movies, Android TV also allows multiplayer gaming[/caption]   With the Android Play Store having a good catalogue of games, Android TV not only allows you to game alone, but also play the same game with your roommate who is playing along on his tablet, for example. Multiplayer gaming using different devices on the Android TV platform will be a reality. Naturally, the Android TV development platform is powered by Tegra K1. Google is handing out Tegra devkits for application developers. OEMs interested in building set top boxes or TVs based on Android TV can do so with Tegra K1 Android TV reference design.   Project Tango

Google announced Project Tango back in February when saw it on a smartphone  and later on in May when we heard of Project Tango being employed on a  7-inch tablet . Project Tango devices come fitted with a 3D sensing depth camera, which can measure depth data, tell how far objects are in a room, if they are moving closer or stationary and how much space they occupy. It does it all in real-time thanks to a custom developed Movidius Myriad 1 vision processor, which is a one-of-its-kind low-powered companion chip, sort of like Apple M7 chipset. Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) is the force behind Project Tango, just like the Ara modular phone project.  All Project Tango devices at first are believed to have two back cameras along with a bevy of infrared and silent depth sensors.   The Project Tango devkit being showcased at Google I/O is powered by a Tegra K1 SoC. At the ATAP even on the second day of the Google I/O Project Tango head Johnny Lee showed off a tablet with the depth-sensing camera and generated a 3D replica of the stage in real time using the tablet’s depth-sensing cameras. He also demonstrated a few games on the device. The Project Tango devkit which includes the tablet, will go on sale later this year at $1,024 (approx Rs 62,000)   Android Auto [caption id=“attachment_226530” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Voice activated Google Maps navigation being demoed on an Android Auto system[/caption]   Nvidia is a technology partner in the Open Automotive Alliance (OAA)  along with Google. At the keynote, Google introduced Android Auto. According to Google the idea behind Android Auto is to ensure that users aren’t switching between the phone and the steering wheel while driving. Like Android TV, users can just mirror their smartphone’s screen on the car’s screen. The Android Auto reference dashboard system houses an Nvidia chip as well.   Android Auto supports Google Maps which you can run via voice commands. You can also reply to messages you get on your phone with Voice. Users can play and find music on their cars without having to fiddle with the actual buttons. Google has also introduced Android Auto APIs, where app developers can ensure that an app designed for smartphones runs on Android Auto as well.