Nvidia and the Quad-Core Kal-El CPU – Android leaves A5 Dual-Core Processor in the Dust

It’s bad enough that the Apple iPad, less than two (2) years on, is slowly getting the wind kicked out of their sails by the still disorganized Android based Tablets as my article Android Tablets gain on the Apple iPad – Here Comes the Hot Steppa points out.

Now, if Apple is not packing the goods with an upcoming A6 Processor for the next Apple iPad 3, they may soon be beaten on performance and speed as well. This as albeit the Apple iPad 2’s A5 Dual-Core Processor set the bar for performance as stated in my adoration piece entitled Apple iPad 2 – Dual-Core Easy Skankin’, Nvidia has decided to turn it  up a Notch, DragonBall Z Style.

Nvidia, famous for their Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual-Core Processors which are used in most of the major Tablets, including the Motorola Xoom as well as the HTC Flyer, had now decided to debut an out-of-this-world Quad-Core Processor, codenamed Kal-El, the First of its Generation, for Mobile Devices and Tablets, with Tablets coming this Fourth Quarter of 2011.

To show you how ahead of the curve Nvidia is, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm, rivals in the same space, have Quad-Cores – set for a 2012AD debut on dates yet to be announced!

In an official statement to CNET News on Friday August 12^th 2011AD, Nvidia confirmed their intention, quote: “Kal-El-powered Tablets are coming this fall, and phones around the CES 2012 timeframe”.  That’s right folks, you Motorola Bionic is now outdated! Whew, that was fast!

Also, you read that direct quote straight from the horse’s mouth. Superman, otherwise known as Kal-El (get is?) is coming to save the day for Tablets and in the process dispelling the myth that a multiple Core Processor means more power usage in a Tablet form factor that is dependent on battery power only.

You may have read my article entitled Apple iPad 2 – Dual-Core Easy Skankin’ in which I dispelled the myth of multiple Cores consuming more power simply because not all Cores are active for most tasks, only Processor intensive multi –threaded ones, such as game playing. Thus, statistically speaking, the battery life is not so heavily taxed by a multi-Core Processor as one would imagine.

The Motorola Xoom comes with a Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual-Core Processor as mentioned in my article Motorola and the Xoom – The Empire Strikes Back. Ditto too for the HTC Flyer, the Tablet that appeared to be built for Gaming as my article HTC Flyer – A Tablet for Gaming posits. In both these cases, their Battery life is much lower that the Apple iPad 2 stellar twelve (12) hours, based on tests conducted in March 2011AD by CNET Eric Franklin.

But with the above argument in mind, it is mainly due to the battery technology used and not the tasks being performed by the Tablet. Good to note too, that these upcoming Quad-Core Kal-El Processors are low voltage Processors, considerably lower than the Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual-Core Processors.

How they do it? Onboard power management that feeds power to individual cores ONLY when the core is required and a data bus that constantly carries data to the Processor Core. Thus the other Core are inactive, only coming active when a Processor intensive task comes along , at which point data is already being sent to these other Core Processor to be processed.

Improved designed in terms of noise-tolerance , fabrication techniques and shielding of the Processor from Internal and External EM (Electro-Magnetic) Noise inherent in the power supply of most electronics at lower voltages allow the Processors to use less voltage and function at lower current requirements.

And please note these Kal-El Quad-Core Processors are for Android Tablets, to quote Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang: “Our next-generation Kal-El Processor had a very strong quarter of design wins. And we have a great working relationship with [Google]. And so as soon as our next generation Processor Kal-El is ready for production, we can run like the wind.”

Apple had better be packing the heat with a faster A6 Processor in their next Apple iPad 3 as well as in their Apple iPhone 5. Otherwise, if the words of Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang bear fruit by the Fourth Quarter of 2011AD, Android Tablets – and smartphone, already coming in droves as stated in the article Towards a cheaper Apple iPhone – Batteries Not Included – will leave Apple in the dust in terms of improved Gaming performance on Battery Power ONLY.

With a dash of Google Android Ice Cream on BOTH smartphones and Tablets as per my article Apple’s Revolution: Android @ Home and IceCream Sandwich in 2015AD!