NVIDIA adds LTE-Advanced to Tegra 4i

NVIDIA has been aggressively upgrading it’s Tegra 4 processor line in order to compete with Qualcomm and Samsung,  NVIDIA annouced on Tuesday that the Tegra 4i processor has been updates to support up to 150Mpbs. This would mean that alongside the 4+1 configuration that is currently being used with the A15 architecture, due to the fact that NVIDIA has hardware with superior software, it can support new technology by merely adding them in a software update. This could mean trouble for Samsung, who has indicated that they are looking into 5G technology but it levels the playing field on how competitive NVIDIA can be with it’s contemporaries in the same field.

NVIDIA Press Release

NVIDIA’s mobile processor for mainstream smartphones – Tegra 4i, which includes an integrated NVIDIA i500 LTE modem, chewed through 150Mbps of LTE data in a demo this week at CTIA 2013 in Las Vegas.
First shown at Mobile World Congress in February at Cat 3 100mbps, this Tegra 4i demo is fully based on a software update – no new hardware, no new processor. This showcases the adaptability and flexibility of NVIDIA’s software-defined radio technology.
Speed to Burn: Tegra 4i chewed through 150 Mbps of data in a demo at CTIA this week.
An additional advantage of the technology is its tiny size. Because the modem is designed with general purpose Deep Execution Processors (DXP), it’s 40 percent the size of a conventional LTE modem. The benefit is a fast, high performance, adaptable modem in a tiny footprint.
Tegra 4i’s modem is also multi-mode. It delivers 4G LTE Advanced and is backward compatible so it can offer LTE Cat 3, 3G, and 2G. That means it will work even where LTE networks aren’t available. Other LTE Advanced features will be coming soon in software.
The CTIA demo used a tester which emulates an LTE Cat 4 network because live local LTE Cat 4 networks don’t exist yet. In this demo Phoenix – the Tegra 4i reference smartphone – is connected to the tester and shows 150 Mbps.
We also demonstrated Phoenix running on a live AT&T LTE network – showing video streaming over LTE and voice calls. It’s a great proof point of our strong progress in Tegra 4i modem stability and performance.

 

LG’s 5.5-inch 1080p Optimus G Pro

The Optimus G Pro is the one of the latest smartphones to enter phablet territory which is firmly dominated by Samsung’s Galaxy Note series with the HTC One coming soon after, it seems that the phablet market is stronger than ever and companies are beginning to realize that. Running Android 4.1, LG has come late to the 4.2 party but we should see an update for this soon.

Android phones in particular have increased in size due to the demand of larger screen sizes, the Sony Xperia Z has combated increasing phone sizes by trying to increase the ration of screen size and relative phone size, something everyone would think would be very welcome. Back to the topic at hand, the Optimus G is only the first smartphone to receive the 1.7 Ghz Snapdragon 600 processor which brings 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 150mbps Cat 4 LTE, and faster CPU and GPU cores in tandem with the device, for those waiting for the more powerful Snapdragon 800 processor, they’ll have to wait until mid-year.

The Optimus G Pro doesn’t make any leaps in terms of industrial design and follows the same design language as previous LG devices, and the device also has a high screen-to-bezel ratio. At 1080p, the screen will be able to show images on par with the other devices  released this year such as the Droid DNA, the 3140mAh battery should help the battery life extensively.

LG OS Updates

LG has also introduced some customization’s of their own as well, opting not to solely rely on the Android ecosystem.  First off the list is the Virtual Reality Panorama mode which shares similarities with Google’s Photo Sphere in Android 4.2, for those of you passionate about exquisite mobile photography, this may be for you. There is also an updated version of Q Slide which is LG’s multitasking UI which allows you to re-size and move around apps in separate windows.