Quad-core tablet chip from NVIDIA arrives on schedule

Making good on its word to a deliver quad-core processor for tablet computers by the 2011 holiday season, chipmaker NVIDIA® has unveiled its new Tegra™ 3, a chip that is expected to improve graphics performance three-fold and consume 61 percent less power than its predecessor.

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang first announced the impending arrival of the quad-core processor for mobile technology in September, when he said the company was trying to get the new chips to market "as fast as possible," according to the Wall Street Journal.

Now, Reuters reports that the Tegra 3 is ready to make its debut. Like its predecessor, the Tegra 3 is based on the "power-sipping" ARM architecture. The ARM model -- as opposed to x86 -- has been favored for use in mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones, because of its low energy consumption.

The first tablet powered by the Tegra 3 will be released later this year.

The arrival of the Tegra 3 adds to an already crowded tablet processor market that is growing all the time. Both Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have proven to be competitive in the tablet market, though NVIDIA's Huang has said he expects his company's technology to eventually be present in half of all Android™ tablets.