It was just one year ago that Google I/O 2012 revealed the Google Nexus 7 originally, giving it there to every developer attendee so that they might develop games and apps for the device with ease. That original Google Nexus 7 remains on sale today with the specifications it came with in the first place.

The original Google Nexus 7 worked with a 7-inch IPS LCD display at 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, that ending up bringing on a 216 PPI screen density. This device was 198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm large and was released in both wifi-only and 3G-capable iterations, having Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS inside. The original Nexus 7 worked with 8GB of internal storage – this was quickly upgraded to 16GB of internal storage in the smallest, standard model, while another 32GB internal storage iteration was released as well.

Perhaps most important of all, this original Nexus 7 was – before it was scooped up by Google – an ASUS/NVIDIA collaboration. As a low-cost quad-core processor-toting tablet, NVIDIA had it announced at CES 2012 with ASUS without a formal release date. This device was quickly spotted by Google and brought on as an exclusive release under the company’s Nexus brand. Fun fact: we also predicted this collaboration – albeit with the wrong price attached.

This ASUS Eee Pad MeMO was announced with NVIDIA’s own Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside and continued to carry that processor through to its re-naming as the Google Nexus 7. In an analyst report with 9to5Google by Mingchi Kuo from KGI securities today, the new Google 7 tablet will be bringing with it a quad-core Qualcomm processor.

The processor this new Nexus 7 is tipped to bring with it is the same APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor carried by the Google Nexus 4, the current hero smartphone for Google (manufactured by LG). This would be a relatively major blow to NVIDIA as the Nexus 7 allowed their chipset to reach a relatively large cross-section of users over the past year.

This new Nexus 7 would be manufactured by ASUS as the first iteration was and will have 7-inch LTPS display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. That puts the density of this display at 323 PPI, far greater than the original device. This new Nexus 7 is also suggested to be coming with a thinner bezel than before, Qi standard wireless charging, and a back-facing camera sitting at 5-megapixels strong.

We’ll know one way or the other next week – if Google is aiming to re-introduce the Nexus 7 with new specifications for this year, Google I/O 2013 is the ideal place to do it. Stick with SlashGear in our Google I/O portal for more information on the event and head to our Facebook event page to sign up to remind yourself to join us!

Inside the iFixit teardown the innards promised by the manufacturers of the OUYA, including – but not limited to – the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 4-PLUS-1 technology (meaning there’s 5 CPU cores, not just 4). Under the hood two Samsung 4Gb DD3 SDRAM modules sit next to one another, these two 4Gb modules together creating 1GB total.

Also inside the OUYA box is a single fan, easily removable and attached with just four standard screws and a wire. As noted by iFixit, this is good – especially since its the only moving part in the whole amalgamation of metal and plastic. The fan is, for those of you looking to stock up, a SUNON MagLev HA40101V4 DC brushless and you’ll be rolling with 12 volts at 0.8 W of power.

Perhaps oddest of all is the addition of weights to this machine. Inside the bottom of the console are five miniature metal plates added to keep the device weighed down and solid on a flat surface. Each of the five plates weighs in at 0.39 ounces, creating nearly 2 ounces of staying weight for the bottom of the box. The gaming pad coming with the OUYA is a similar bit of ease in tear down – only a few screws and you’re in!

Have a peek at SlashGear’s OUYA tag portal to see more information on this machine’s innards as well as its connections to the gaming universe at large. You’ll be able to see this device on the deck of your own TV stand later this year, if all goes as planned, and for right around a hundred bucks, too!

[via iFixit]

Hardware

This machine’s screen is an 11.6-inch TFT LCD with 1136 x 768 pixel resolution working with LED Backlit technology and 350 nits of brightness. This display has a 170 degree viewing angle both vertical and horizontal, and its certainly good enough to work long hours worth during the day. If you’re thinking about working with this device in the dark, you might want to take a test-drive in the store first.

With blacks this dark and a keyboard that’s not backlit, you’ll want a bright lamp over your shoulder at least. If you want to bring this device to the coffee shop, you’re looking at a winner. This machine is 11.7 x 8 x 0.61 inches small, and save the MacBook Air itself, we’ve never experienced a more portable system. With just 2.73 lbs to its name, this machine is ready to be tossed in your backpack or large purse without effort.

Because this machine is made by Lenovo, it’s extremely rugged. While when we’re working with essentially any other notebook this size, there’s always a thought of “ah, gotta make sure I’m not dropping it.” With the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, we’ve got a machine that we’re as close to “lemme toss this to you across the room” as we’ve ever gotten with a computer. With soft-touch plastic around magnesium aluminum alloy both on the top and on the bottom – in a lovely set of colors, might I add – you’ve got what feels like a top-notch complete package.

Inside you’ve got a few more specifications you might want to hear about if you’re planning on using this device for anything other than word processing, internet browsing, and some basic gameplay. Have a peek:

• 2 GB std / 2GB max / PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3L*, soldered to system board, no sockets *System automatically clocks down to 1500MHz for NVIDIA Tegra3 T30 processor
• Audio: High Definition (HD) Audio, Realtek® ALC5642 codec / stereo speakers (0.5 watt x 2), microphone, microphone input and headphone combo jack (3.5 mm)
• 64 GB / eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card) flash memory onboard
• 2 x USB 2.0, HDMI, SD card reader, 3.5mm Mic/Headphone Combo
• Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, Digital Compass
• OGS Panel – Single piece of glass as both cover lens and sensor substrate

The hardware is solid and really, really high quality. You’ll be considering the software it’s paired with next – and more than likely last, too. Make sure you know what you’re working with here and follow the Windows RT news before you jump in, feet first.

Software

It’s not easy reconciling the fact that this beautiful machine is working with Windows RT. Having a touchscreen up front that’s able to be used in several different modes is awesome, but when you’re crippled by an operating system that looks and feels like Windows 8 but isn’t – that’s confusing.

Using Windows RT is almost like eating an off-brand cereal without seeing the box: it certainly looks like the real deal, but once you taste it, you get wise. You’ll be unable to run Google Chrome, Valve’s Steam for games, or Geekbench for benchmarking your system. With Windows RT, you’re getting what’s closer to what seems to be intended as a tablet system rather than a full-fledged notebook setup.

That said, you do get the option of ordering this system with the full Microsoft Office suite running right out of the box. Microsoft has been pretty good about making sure their own basic set of apps works on Windows RT, and you do have access to the NVIDIA TegraZone Windows RT Edition as well – however limited that may still be. If Judge Dredd VS Zombies and Hydro Thunder are enough to wet your whistle, then by all means go for it – NVIDIA is also growing this collection too as the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor (found inside this device) stays strong through 2013.

Up against the Competition

Your big question might be at this point what the benefit is in having this device over any other – especially one so inexpensive as, say, a Chromebook. When it comes down to it, this device has that same acceptance curve as a Chromebook has – you just can’t run everything you run on your full-powered PC. We’d even thought about trying to work with this device as a sort of top-tier Chromebook too to test how it’d be, but again, Chrome doesn’t work on Windows RT.

If you’re comparing this device to a full Windows 8 Lenovo notebook, you’ll be in for a trick – working with Windows 8 on the IdeaPad Yoga 13 is a good enough to feel a bit left out with the Yoga 11′s relative lack of oomph – and it’s certainly not a device you’re going to want to compare to a MacBook Air unless you only need it for word processing and browsing the web (on Internet Explorer). The price for this machine does remain enticing: anywhere from $599 to $849 USD and you’ve got a real draw. Compare it to the relative greatness of the Yoga 13, on the other hand, and you might as well drop the extra few bucks to work with full Windows 8 and the larger display.

Wrap-up

You’ll have to think this one through – unlike the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, you’ve not got a full-powered PC on your hands here. This device is made to be a traveler, and certainly not your one single machine if you’ve got a computer-based job. Should you want to use your PC for nothing but social networking and play, this is a good choice – it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s good for travel.

Lenovo has created a bit of a bitter winner here. While many devices in this category are pretty awesome from top to bottom save their end product, the IdeaPad Yoga 11 is rough and tough and is something I’d put in my backpack for a trip. If I were going on a business trip with my SlashGear compatriots, I’d have to leave it at home.

What you’re having a peek at here is not a future game that’ll only be coming to Project SHIELD, nor is it a game that’s relegated to processors that haven’t been released yet – The Conduit HD is already on the Google Play app store right now! But here’s what you need to look out for in this demo – keep an eye on how fantastic this game looks on Project SHIELD, then try it out on whatever smartphone or tablet you’ve got right this minute. Let us know how it goes!

With Project SHIELD, this game comes alive with what NVIDIA says are “nearly endless customization options”. As you decide where each of your controls is mapped to the hardware on Project SHIELD, so too will you become more skilled at ending the lives of your opponents. This game was originally launched (in a lesser iteration) on the first Nintendo Wii, and it’s been optimized by its developers in collaboration with the NVIDIA developer team for placement on the NVIDIA TegraZone.

For those of you that follow the NVIDIA TegraZone releases like a hawk, you’ll know that this game has been out for a little over a week. We’ve got our own hands-on review of The Conduit HD if you care to take a peek right this minute as well! Once you’ve seen this game played on the ASUS-made Google Nexus 7 tablet, you’ll have a little bit of an idea how the NVIDIA Tegra 3 (inside this tablet) will be trumped by the NVIDIA Tegra 4 (inside Project SHIELD).

Have a peek at the Project SHIELD timeline below as well for more information on this groundbreaking system. Coming soon to a market near you!

Parker is the newest in a line of code-named Tegra processors, coming after Wayne (Tegra 4) and Logan (Tegra 5, more than likely), and bringing on the innovations of past generations and/or outdoing them with the following firsts:

• First with Denver CPU.
• First 64 bit ARM processor coupled with NVIDIA’s next-gen Maxwell GPU.
• First to use FinFET transistors.

According to NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, this is only the beginning. Huang noted that “In five years time, we’ll increase Tegra by 100 times, though Moore’s Law would suggest an eight-fold increase.” With Logan we’ll see the first mobile processor on the planet to work with CUDA. This processor will also bring Kepler GPU power and OpenGL 4.3 – and it’ll be in production by early 2014.

Parker, on the other hand, is still in the pipeline. While we may see it out by 2015, we can’t be sure until NVIDIA gives the real word.

Then there’s Kayla. With NVIDIA’s Kayla, we’ve got what’s been described by Huang as “Logan’s girlfriend.” This device is around the size of a tablet PC at the moment, and is beastly enough already to run real-time ray tracing. As Huang said, “this is showing the kind of demos we used to do on massive GPUs.”

Inside Kayla you’ll find CUDA 5, Linux, and PhysX processing. All of this runs on a rather tiny ARM-toting computer – and it’s coming sooner than later. Have a peek at the timeline below for more Tegra and GeForce GTX action from NVIDIA as GTC 2013 continues – hit up our tag portal for more action as well, we’ll be here the whole conference long!

And don’t forget to check our massive Tegra hub for more mobile processing action than you can handle – more big blasts coming up quick!

Speaking on how they created the idea of a single energy-saving core – seen first in the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor – with 4-PLUS-1 technology, sleeping with this one sleeper core for low-powered tasks. Huang spoke also of the first software-defined radio – Deep Execution Processor – and the Computational Camera using both the CPU and the GPU with the sensors of the mobile camera – introduced on the Tegra 4.

Inside Logan we’ll be seeing CUDA 5 and Kepler. This is the first time we’ve seen a mobile processor incorporating CUDA, and also the first time a Kepler GPU will be coming to the mobile universe. This processor will also be bringing on full CUDA 5 as well as OpenGL 4.3.

Interestingly enough, Huang mentioned that Logan – this next generation – will be coming out at the beginning of next year. As we’ve heard from NVIDIA not too many weeks ago, Tegra 4 and Tegra 4i will not be coming to market any sooner than the second half of 2013. In other words, we’re looking at some rather rapid movement between the two generations, without a doubt.

Have a peek at the timeline below as well as the GTC 2013 tag portal for more information on Tegra and the ever-expanding GPU universe of NVIDIA in many great and rather exciting ways! We’ll be here the whole conference long!

Be sure to tune in all week in our massive Tegra hub as well!

What you’re seeing here is a rather radical environment in which your mission is to destroy a mysterious and other-worldly enemy with a dynamic user interface available right from your touchscreen device or wirelessly with your own Bluetooth-connected gaming controller. You’ll be using pistols, machine guns, and a fabulously strange “All Seeing Eye” device (ASE in the game) to explore this strange new world and puzzle solve as you blast through the opposition. Below you’ll see the game running on the Google Nexus 7, the ASUS-made tablet working with NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood.

You’ll be able to control your gameplay from start to finish with control options everywhere from flipped tapping to auto-fire mode. You’ll be able to change the layout of the buttons and controls, change the way you target and move, and you’ll have – specifically – GameStop Controller support as well. This is the more “traditional” way to play the game, they say, with Bluetooth-connected blasting on your side.

The weapons you’ll be using number to 18, unique firing modes and actions for each, with the ASE to back you up from start to finish. You’ll be destroying your enemies which number to 14, for starters, both human and alien creatures coming at you not just from straight up in front, but below and up above as well. Head down the stairwell, watch out for snipers up on a second level, and toss grenades all around.

And the best part is the graphics have been given a bump between the original Wii version and here with NVIDIA’s Tegra SoC. With the Tegra 3 quad-core processor you’ll be blasting up and out with what the Chief Creative Officer of High Voltage Software, Eric Nofsinger, calls “console-quality visuals on mobile devices.” This includes enhanced lighting in all your darkest corners, higher resolution graphics than ever before, and “much-improved” visual fidelity compared to this game’s original release.

This game will be available to you immediately if not soon from the Google Play app store through the NVIDIA TegraZone with a rather unique pricing structure. You’ll be able to download the game for free, and the first two levels are completely free. After that you’ve got the option of buying the whole rest of the game at once for $4.99, or you can buy each of the two halves of the game for $2.99 each. At the moment we can’t imagine why you’d only want half the game, but to each their own.

Have a peek at the timeline below for more Tegra-enhanced games available in the NVIDIA TegraZone right this minute, and don’t forget to hit up our own massive Tegra Hub too for more NVIDIA mobile action than you can handle!

With NVIDIA’s contribution to the development of this game – optimization for the Tegra platform, that is – “The power of the NVIDIA Tegra processor on so many Android devices means that the game’s graphical polish and impact are being taken to a whole new level.” That comment comes direct from Remi Koscielny, CEO of Vivid Games. What we’ve seen thus far is a powerhouse of a game that’s ready to show the multi-core processing excellence of today’s most advanced devices like a pro.

What you’re seeing here is a game that comes with a variety of features surrounding one good time of a face-bashing time. You’ll find Unreal-powered graphics as well as motion capture that’ll be breaking your eyeballs with how painful it is – including blood and sweat right up off your athlete. You’ll be breaking down your opponent in this game’s career mode which includes over 30 fights – and three belt titles – you’ll find out exactly what kind of challenge that is when your right in the thick of it.

You’ll find mini games in this build made to train your boxer between matches – heavy and mini bag and skipping rope, too! In-game mini-games appear also, KO and Clinch hone your skills for energy boosts on-the-go. You’ll be unlocking new equipment, opponents, and customizations all along your journey to the top belt – hair, skin, tattoos, and clothing are all up to you to change up as you box out.

This game is available right this minute on the Google Play app store through the NVIDIA TegraZone. You’ll be tossing down $4.99 USD and knocking out all your favorite opponents in a variety of venues all night long – knock em out! And don’t forget to hit up our massive Tegra Hub right here on SlashGear while you’re at it!

BONUS: This game has been previewed by NVIDIA in a variety of ways in the time between CES 2013 and now – it’s such a killer game that they just can’t put it down! Have a peek at our hands-on with Real Boxing on NVIDIA’s Phoenix Developer Platform as well – that’s the Tegra 4i inside!

What you’ve got here is an All-in-One desktop machine, first and foremost, running Intel Core architecture inside with a full Windows 8 experience up front. The full touch-friendly interface you’ve got up front is working through a 18.4-inch display that’s also detachable and usable as a tablet. When you detach the display, you’re no longer using the Intel Core i5 or Windows 8 – instead you’re working with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside the detached unit itself, and you’re working with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

NOTE: this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this concept. We had a hands-on experience with an early iteration of the ASUS Transformer AiO last year, too.

The kicker is that with this setup you’ll also be able to work with Windows 8 on the detached tablet in Remote Desktop mode. Of course that’s not quite the quick, perfect, and awesome experience you’ll be getting when you have the display/tablet attached to the desktop, but it’s still quite the exercise in flexibility! When you’re working with Remote Desktop mode, mind you, you’re working over a wi-fi connection in your own home – or office – or wherever you’ve got this lovely beast.

The desktop works with NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M graphics as well, so you’re also working with a double-dose of NVIDIA magic, both the mobile side of things with the Tegra, and the desktop graphics side of things with GeForce. You’ll also be working with four USB 3.0 ports and HDMI-out for additional monitor action. In fact, as the fun never stops, you can have the desktop working with HDMI-out to a monitor with Windows 8 while the tablet works with Android completely separately – fabulous weirdness!

Above: This magician (really, he did magic on stage) is holding the tablet portion of this wild amalgamation.

The removable bit is an 18.4-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display with 1080p HD resolution that’s got 10-point multitouch and some super 178-degree wide viewing angles all around. This display also has a “convenient carrying handle” as well as a folding stand that you’ll be able to set it up with when you realize how massive it is – not quite a laptop situation, this one.

You’ll be seeing this machine blasting forth early inside the second quarter of 2013 in North America with pricing starting at $1299 USD. Sound like a deal to you? Let us know if you’ve got any questions about this beast and get pumped up for our full review – coming on quick! Also have a peek in the timeline below to see other recent announcements and hands-on experiences from ASUS, too!

The most recent news bit to hit the OUYA-sphere has been word from the creators of the console that they’ve already seen such a great response, they’re planning on releasing a new model every year. That’s a schedule only a smartphone or tablet generally keeps. It’s also been claimed by the company that the first retail sales window will be June of 2013 – coming up quick!

Partners have been stacking up with intentions of getting games onto the OUYA platform since before the hardware was finalized. In fact we’ll not really know exactly what the console looks like in its end-form until the public has their hands on the retail version of the device, but still, the innards are enticing! Have a peek at this brief list of contributors and games promised to be attached to the system thus far:

• Words with Friends creator Paul Bettner
• Double Fine Productions’ Tim Schafer
• Firefox creators Mozilla
• CodeZombieGames who brought on a first-impressions look at the hardware
• Namco Bandai
• Plex
• HAWKEN!
• Twitch TV
• Minecraft
• XBMC
• Vevo
• Square Enix who’ll bring Final Fantasy III
• Onlive for game streaming of all kinds
• Human Element in a prequel format
• And the OUYA team has also revealed lists of games promised for the console

There are already Developer Consoles out there in the wild and they’ve been shipping since December to a full list known only to the company itself.

have a peek at the timeline below to see more recent OUYA action and stay tuned to SlashGear for the upcoming launch – and any oddities that occur between here and there!

In this case a single core really isn’t going to be much compared to the four (plus 1) cores you’ll get with the Tegra 3 on the Nexus 7. The Intel Atom Z2420 single-core processor has been tipped as running in this tablet somewhere between 1 and 2GHz clock speed. This processor exists thus far only in rather inexpensive devices made with low-cost parts in mind – and benchmarks have shown the processor to be nothing compared to multi-core processors across the board.

This tablet will be working with a 7-inch display with IPS LCD technology and a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Inside you’ll find 1GB of RAM with options for for 8, 16, or 32GB of internal storage. This tablet will also come with a microSD card slot for memory expansion as well as Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box.

With a 3 megapixel camera on the back and a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front, this device will be ready for a market release across the world soon, but such “bonuses” above the Nexus 7 won’t be enough to keep the first of two ASUS tablets at bay. If this is an attempt by ASUS to out-do the Google Nexus counterpart to this tablet, they’ve not done their job very well.

If on the other hand they’re able to release this device for half the price of the Nexus 7, minds may change rather quickly. Stay tuned for more information on this “aluminum housed” tablet coming in rather rapidly!

[via Tablets BG]

With the BLU Quattro 4.5 HD you’ll be working with a 4.5-inch HD 326PPI display with what the company calls Advanced Super View technology. This technology is said to bring “spectacular clarity” as well as “rich, natural color” – can’t wait to see it! The Quattro 4.5 HD also has a pane of Corning Gorilla Glass up front to stay tough against scratches and you’ll have an 8 megapixel camera on the back with f/2.4 large aperture lens with 1080p video recording abilities.

Inside the Quattro HD you’ll have 16GB of internal memory as well as 1GB of RAM while your NVIDIA Tegra 3 SoC will be running at 1.5GHz out of the box. This device will be availabe the first week of February, 2013, complete with a $349.99 retail price unlocked. That, again, means no contractual obligations – you’ll be working with quad-band GSM and penta-band 21Mbps HSPA+ connectivity – 1700MHz AWS inside the USA – so you’ll be choosing from brands like AT&T and T-Mobile for your mobile SIM card down the line.

There’s also a Quattro 4.5 (without the HD) coming in at $249.99 USD, also unlocked, here with a 4.5-inch qHD display and a 5 megapixel camera on the back as well as 4GB of internal memory. You’ll be able to expand this device’s memory by 32GB with your own microSD card, on the other hand, while you’ll be jumping off with 1GB of RAM and a launch date essentially the same time as the HD iteration.

Finally there’s the Quattro 5.7 HD, a device with a massive 5.7-inch 1280 x 720 pixel resolution HD display and many of the same specifications as the Quattro 4.5 HD. This Quattro 5.7 HD also works with an 8 megapixel camera and video recording abilities up to 1080p, but you’ll have the same 4GB internal memory as the non-HD Quattro 4.5 – but again here you’ll also have a microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 32GB. The Quattro 5.7 HD will be costing you $299.99 retail unlocked and will be available at the end of March.

Each model sounds pretty enticing! You may find the fact that they’ll all be coming with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to be less than appealing, but they also include a “planned upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as well. We shall see the truth of all of this soon enough! Don’t forget to check out our NVIDIA Tegra hub for more information on the grand expanse of the Tegra mobile processor universe – it’s ever-expanding!

[via HPC Wire]

What we’re seeing here is an extension of NVIDIA’s plan to push down-clocked versions of their processors to machines that are then priced so low that the competition cannot possibly compete. And it’s not the first time this has happened. We saw this strategy working in the Google Nexus 7 tablet also manufactured by ASUS, and that tablet has been selling like hotcakes since birth.

This ASUS MeMO Pad 10 will be busting out with 16GB of internal storage, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box, and both front and back-facing cameras. The front facing camera will be 1.2 megapixels while the back will be 5 megapixels strong, and you’ll have a microSD card to store all the media you collect – at the moment we’re not sure what the max card size is that you’ll be able to plug in there, but we’re expecting 32GB.

BONUS: This tablet has been tipped more than once before with basically the same specifications – looks to be a lock!

This tablet will be working with a microUSB port instead of the larger port used on previous ASUS tablets and will have a microHDMI port as well for working with your HDTV. This tablet has been tipped to be appearing for between 329 to 389 Euro, this meaning a direct conversion to USD would still be above $500 – not exactly wallet friendly. We must expect that this price will be modified for the US market or that the device wont be appearing inside our borders – we shall see!

Also of interest is the fact that this machine has appeared in press photos in blue and white while the listings found thus far have also shown red and pink casings available at launch – wild stuff! Expect this tablet to appear at Mobile World Congress 2013 more than likely!

[via Android Community; via Tablets Magazine]

We’ll start right off with Vizio‘s 7-inch tablet, which is obviously the company’s answer to the wildly popular Nexus 7. Its specs aren’t all that different from those of the Nexus 7 either, sporting 1200 x 800 resolution, 16GB of internal memory, and a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. Users will also have WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity at their disposal, and for a 7-inch tablet, this one looks pretty good. The tablet itself looks sleek and the visuals are sharp thanks to the 1200×800 resolution. It also feels pretty good in the hand, as most 7-inch tablets seem to.

Moving right along to the 10-inch tablet, we’ll have 2560 x 1600 resolution, so starting right off, we can already see similarities between it and Samsung’s Nexus 10. With that kind of resolution, I’d typically be worried that the processor would struggle a bit, but this tablet is running a brand new Tegra 4 under the hood. Add to that 32GB of internal storage with the option to expand thanks to the microSD slot, Bluetooth 4.0 functionality, and a microHDMI port, and you’ve got a tablet worth getting excited about.

The screen on the 10-inch tablet looks absolutely great, and if you’ve seen the display on the Nexus 10 in person, then you should have a relatively good idea of what to expect. The only downside is that 7-inch tablets seem to have spoiled me and 10-inch tablets now feel weird to hold. That’s more likely a personal hang up than a negative mark against Vizio, but in any case, this tablet certainly isn’t without heft. What’s more, swiping through screens on the tablet seemed very smooth, and there were only a few dropped frames that I noticed during HD video playback. There’s no word on when this bad boy will launch, but expect to be waiting awhile considering that Vizio wants to put a Tegra 4 in it.

All in all, I was pretty impressed by what I saw from Vizio. These tablets may not being anything incredibly new, but they’re still both solid pieces of equipment. Now we wait for release dates to be announced, which could be some time away in the case of the 10-inch tablet. Vizio’s 7-incher is scheduled for launch sometime in the first half of 2013, so we’ll have to see if Vizio can stick with that launch window. Be sure to check out our CES hub for all you need to know from the show!

This system is similar, though not the same, as the NVIDIA TegraZone for Windows RT. One of the big differences here is that the TegraZone works with games that have been optimized for the Tegra 3 (and Tegra 4) processor, the Microsoft PLAY environment is specified for Windows 8 and Windows RT. So crossover games are possible, but we’re talking about different things entirely as far as how the games are being marketed.

The games you’re going to be able to access today in the Microsoft PLAY environment number to 15, this providing a modest offering for the initial launch, including titles that’ll keep your eyes peeled for more in the future. These titles are all being tagged with Microsoft Studios in this case, this meaning they’re good enough for that seal of approval, likely to be appearing in stores as the demonstration-level quality they want all Windows 8 and Windows RT machines to be up at in the wild.

• Skulls of the Shogun
• Gunstringer: Dead Man Running
• ilomilo+
• Wordament
• Toy Soldiers – Cold War: Touch Edition
• Taptiles
• Rocket Riot 3D
• Reckless Racing
• Pinball FX
• Microsoft Minesweeper
• Microsoft Solitaire Collection
• Microsoft Mahjong
• Hydro Thunder : Hurricane
• Adera
• 4 Elements II

You’ll be able to find these games on the Windows Store right this minute, and many more games are on the way. What we’re hoping for in the future is more than these arcade-style games – full-fledged Xbox 360 (or 720 by the time we see them) games ported over or made optimized at the moment they’re ready for the gaming console, available everywhere. Of course that might not be Microsoft’s game, but NVIDIA’s. We shall see!

[via OXM]

NVIDIA Tegra 4

The NVIDIA Tegra 4 System-on-Chip with five ARM Cortex A15 cores – four of them with 1.9GHz max clock speed, a fifth synthesized to work at lower power. The technology working around this fifth Companion core is similar to the Tegra 3, and for the lay person, it may as well be presented as the same due to how similar it really is. The fifth core is not visible to the operating system you’re using (be it Android, Windows, or something else), acting as more of a “Shadow Core” or a “Ninja” as we’ve been apt to call it, just as it was with Tegra 3.

Above you’re going to see a rundown of what Tegra 4 is, how it compares to Tegra 3, and what the future holds for mobile processing. The talk you’re seeing above is with NVIDIA Technical Marketing Director Nick Stam who presented us more of a detailed look at the Tegra 4 and what it means for mobile devices in 2013 (and beyond.)

For those of you that want to get rather technical with it all, you’ll be interested in knowing that the die size here in this new model is 80mm^2, ever so slightly larger than Tegra 3, but a whole lot denser as well. The cores you’re seeing here work on 28nm HPL, that being 28nm low power with high-k plus metal gates. What that basically means here is that you’re going to get one extremely optimized experience, made for high performance and low power consumption – as every great processor should.

The Tegra 4 processor will be working with “Always-On” HDR camera technology as well. You’ll find a rather interesting set of details in our initial reveal post, and we’ll be seeing this technology in-person sooner than later. It’s then that we’ll be seeing what it really means to be able to instantly take a shot with multiple exposures at once!

NVIDIA Icera i500 Soft Modem with 4G LTE

The NVIDIA Icera i500 Soft Modem is what the company describes as 40% smaller than a conventional die – this referring to other modems they’ve worked with from companies other than themselves, of course. The Icera i500 will work with Soft Modem technology, starting with UE Category 3 LTE (100 Mbps downlink on 20 MHz FDD-LTE) and moving forward to UE Category 4 LTE in the very near future. VoLTE is supported with other voice mode technologies, and the modem will be paired with a new never before seen transceiver built on 65nm LP CMOS.

The NVIDIA Icera i500 Soft Modem is built on TSMC’s 28nm high performance High-K Metal Gate process, and the company is able to power gate each of its cores individually. Depending on the needs of each device’s software package, each of the NVIDIA Icera i500′s 8 cores can be used or not used, gating based on changing load conditions.

Following Tegra 4

Those of you getting pumped up about Tegra 4 and NVIDIA’s full 2013 experience, you’ll have a fabulous time hitting up our massive Tegra Hub. There you’ll find not just your everyday NVIDIA Tegra mobile processor news, but featured hands-on articles, must-read up-to-the-minute updates, and reviews of Tegra-toting devices of all kinds.

Right this minute you’ll find several stories on the first device to have been revealed working with the Tegra 4 processor: NIVIDA’s own Project SHIELD. You’ll find plenty of awesome Project SHIELD action in the immediate future and up with its final name some time in Q2 of this year. Also have a peek in the timeline below to see the first important detail articles to have come down the line here in the first week since Tegra 4 was first revealed – Project SHIELD included!

This beast is made for someone wishing for the future right this minute, bringing you Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on a display that’ll allow you to watch your videos at a tap. While we’re not sure the uses of this machine are numerous enough for us to want to get such a massive machine with a stand built-in for the desktop running Android, the prospect of an all-touch monitor future does seem encouragingly cool.

The best thing about this monitor from our perspective may be the fact that you’re able to work with the NVIDIA Tegra Zone collection of games. NVIDIA works closely with a variety of developers to make games that work especially well with their processors, and having seen the power of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 over these past 12 months working with high-powered games galore, we’re rather pumped up indeed.

Have a peek at our hands-on video above and photos above and below to see a bit more close-up look at this machine and get pumped up as it hits the market very, very soon. You’ll be able to pick this machine up for MSRP $675 USD and it’ll be in its final form then – what we’re seeing here may be changed just a bit, but it’s essentially complete. Have a peek at our CES portal for all the CES 2013 action you can handle as well!

“The business model that stems from [selling direct] means we’ll make our money by selling the device to gamers. (And we hope, by the way, that they’ll love it.)” Tamasi said. “This differs from the razors-and-razor blades approach, which isn’t just used by Gillette and Schick. Printer-companies use it, as well, making money from highly profitable ink. So do game-console companies, who primarily make their profit from premium games. This time-honored approach isn’t the one we’re taking with Project SHIELD.”

NVIDIA Project SHIELD hands-on:

Android games are often free-to-play, supported either with in-app advertising or purchases. As Tamasi also points out, gamers will be able to stream their desktop titles to Project SHIELD. “We want to help game developers keep you happily entertained with the magic that they dream up” the NVIDIA exec concludes. “We’re not looking to create a walled garden of software, even if it sprouts some gorgeous games.”

From our early play with Project SHIELD that streaming process works well – assuming you have sufficient bandwidth. NVIDIA showed us Call of Duty: Black Ops II from a GeForce-equipped PC, which streamed smoothly, albeit  in the same room and over 802.11n 2×2 MIMO WiFi.

Avoiding the hassle of creating an ecosystem of its own is a solid approach; even Sony, with its legacy PlayStation titles, has struggled to gain traction with the PlayStation Store on Android. NVIDIA also has its existing TegraZone brand, which corrals together third-party titles particularly fettled to suit the company’s Tegra chipsets, which it can leverage on Project SHIELD.

Check out our full hands-on with Project SHIELD for more details.

This means, if it wasn’t plain before, that you’ll be able to play games you own on STEAM with your NVIDIA Project SHIELD device no matter where you are – not just at home, not just in a place where you can bust out your laptop. The fabulous graphics and gameplay shown in the NVIDIA presentation were not just shown on the Project SHIELD device itself, it was pushed to an LG 4K television as well.

The Google Play app store curated by the NVIDIA Tegra Zone and the STEAM store from Valve will play host to the NVIDIA Project SHIELD device. Because this machine goes by the name “project” SHEILD, we’re not expecting to see it tonight – but later this week? We shall see!

Have a peek at the rest of the action as presented by NVIDIA through our very own Tegra hub through the week and through the future, and don’t forget to stick to the SlashGear CES portal as well – hands-on and up to the minute updates galore!

The Asus ME301T Memo Pad10, as it’ll be called, is a 10.1-inch tablet running Jelly Bean, and it will feature NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. It’s also said that it will come in two variants: WiFi only and WiFi+3G. We’re also looking at a 1280×800 HD display for the leaked device.

For what it’s worth, the company’s Nexus 7 was listed as the ME370T, and their new budget-minded rumored tablet is currently being listed as the ME172V, so the ME301T could be reminiscent of the Nexus 7 in some way, but we guarantee that ASUS will put their own spin on the device, including some sort of smooth aluminum shell.

Rumors point to a February release date with a price tag of just over €300, although, the price may be different once it hits the states. Other than that, ASUS might unveil the new tablet at CES 2013 next week, along with a slew of other new devices, so be prepared to get your ASUS fix starting in a few days.

[via Android Community]

The NVIDIA TegraZone being available for Windows RT means that NVIDIA will be pushing developers to their limits with a cross-promotional bit of excellence on all Tegra 3-toting devices. If you’ve got a Windows RT tablet with Tegra 3 (regardless of manufacturer), you’ll have a precise collection of games ready and waiting for you to peruse that you’ll know were made with your device in mind. In many cases, this means that the game has features above and beyond what it’d have working with any other processor-toting device.

Here at the launch of the NVIDIA TegraZone for Windows RT, you’ve got a selection of the following awesome collection of games: Judge Dredd vs Zombies, Pinball FX 2, Reckless Racing Ultimate, Riptide GP, Soulcraft, Space Ark, Sprinkle and Vendetta Online. Each of these games is offered for sale in the Windows Store but through the TegraZone is detailed with Tegra-only enhanced features. These features include enhanced physics in water, smoke, and cloth, dynamic lighting and particle effects – and more!

As it was with the original NVIDIA TegraZone, this version of the interface is made for the current most fabulous Tegra processor, but will keep up-to-date with the best of the best in the future. That means here that while the Tegra 3 quad-core processor is king (and has been throughout 2012), we’ll likely see a new beast from the NVIDIA crew for mobile devices in 2013 – currently code-named Wayne, as it were. Keep an eye out! Once that processor is out, developers working with NVIDIA will still be busting out the best of the best, so the TegraZone is up on the greatest no matter when you see it!

The most important part of this whole equation is the relationship that the folks at NVIDIA have with the developers behind these hard-hitting games, and the amazing apps they create as a result of said relationships for you, the user. You can download the TegraZone app from the Windows Store right this minute – have at it!

Also have a peek at the TegraZone path that’s been forged on SlashGear in a small sampling from Slashgear in the timeline below for Android – and hit our own NVIDIA [Tegra Portal] to take in the full NVIDIA Tegra environment, top to bottom!

[via NVIDIA]

The specific type of cores themselves that NVIDIA plans to use in Wayne aren’t specified, though previous Tegra 4 leaks indicated that it would be a quartet of ARM A15 cores doing the heavy lifting. They’ll be joined by a fifth “battery saver core” that can be used for low-power duties rather than waking up the main CPU.

It’s the graphics jump that might be most impressive, however, with the Tegra 4 having 20x the number of GPU cores as the Tegra 2 and 6x as many as the Tegra 3, according to the slide. That’s good for 1440p encoding and decoding (2560 x 1440), while Wayne can also drive a 2560 x 1600 24b or 4K display on whatever device it slots inside.

Hardware-accelerated security features apparently include Secure Boot, h/w DRM, and HDCP, and there’s support for USB 3.0 and a high-performance imaging chip. Dual-channel DDR3L memory support rounds things out.

NVIDIA confirmed the “Wayne” codename back in February 2011, when it first publicly discussed Kal-El, the chipset that later went on to be known as Tegra 3. The nomenclature borrows the names of famous superhero characters, Wayne being a nod to Batman’s Bruce Wayne. It will be followed by “Logan” and “Stark.”

It’s not clear whether the slide is authentic, but the specifications do fit in with whispers of what NVIDIA has planned for the new Tegra in 2013. Going by previous leaks, the first new chips could arrive as early as Q1, though other variants won’t follow until Q3. We’re likely to see more at CES 2013 next month.

[via MobileGeeks]

This device’s processor also appears in the ASUS Nexus 7, the Google 7-inch tablet you’ll find on the Google Play store now – here with the nabi XD you’ll be getting Android too, but not as you’ve ever seen it before. This device has a user interface that “dynamically updates the gadgets, widgets, and apps that appear based on time and location.” Rather futuristic-sounding stuff!

The Fuhu-made nabi XD works with 10 hours of battery life for a full day of fun and is able to run what Fuhu notes is a “suite of productivity apps and console quality games.” This machine can be paired with a patent-pending optional pad-folio with integrated silicone keyboard cover for a “traditional typing feel” as well. You’ll be reminded of another rather popular device on the market today when you see it – but rest assured, this solution is Fuhu’s own.

The tablet also works with NFC, able to work perfectly with the nabi exclusive battle-ready figurines the team is revealing that’ll in turn work with the upcoming Battle KINABIs game – we’ll find out more about that soon!

The nabi XD will be available as a “limited release” in late-December and will be available nationwide starting in mid-January. This machine will be coming in two sizes for two different prices: a 16GB model that’ll cost you $249 and a 32GB model that’ll ring in at $349 USD.

Additional details for you specification hunters:
10.1-inch IPS LCD display at 1366 x 768 pixel resolution
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Aluminum Body with rubberized shock-resistant corners
Pad-folio and additional accessories available in mid-January ranging between $19.99 and $89.99 USD
“Smart” 3D User Interface
GPS
Wi-fi connectivity

Hardware

To answer that last question, the answer is simply, yes, it can. It doesn’t necessarily stand alone, but it should make the shortlist for anyone narrowing down what top-of-the-line smartphone to get themselves or their loved one this holiday season. The unibody design that we saw on the One X is the same as what we’re seeing on the One X+. Thanks to the polycarbonate housing, the handset is pretty light and also really thin, and the soft-touch finish allows for a firm grip on the device, but our black version was quite a finger smudge magnet. However, despite the large 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 720p display, the entire device doesn’t feel overwhelming to hold at all, unlike other 4.7-inch handsets that I’ve played around with.

Since it’s a unibody device, there’s not a lot of things that you can take apart easily. There’s no battery cover, which means you can’t replace the battery with a bigger one or use a spare, but that also means it’s a lot sleeker than non-unibody handsets. On the top, there’s a headphone jack along with the ambient noise sensor, with the power button on the right. On the left side, there’s the microUSB port, with the volume rocker sitting on the right side. On the bottom, there’s just the microphone. And finally, on the front, you have the three capacitive soft buttons — Back, Home, and Recent Apps — as well as the typical elongated earpiece that HTC is known for, with a notification light hidden within.

There’s a bit more happening on the back of the One X+, though. The 8MP camera protrudes just a tad from the surface, and there’s a single LED flash to accompany the camera. Also on the back is the microSIM card slot. It’s not necessarily situated on the back of the phone, but it’s also not really situated at the top — it’s mostly located in between on the curve, which is almost an odd place for it, but it actually works. The speaker is also located on the back towards the bottom, as well as the five small gold contacts for docking purposes.

On the inside is where all the real changes occur, though. The HTC One X+ trades in the dual-core Qualcomm S4 Snapdragon processor of the One X for a NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset that pairs a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.7GHz with GeForce ULP graphics. The device also comes with 1GB of RAM and a whopping 64GB of internal storage. While there’s no microSD card slot, we think the 64GB of storage is plenty of space for any user.

The 4.7-inch display has a resolution of 1280×720, giving it a pixel density of 312ppi, which pegs it right up against the Samsung Galaxy S III and the LG Optimus G. It’s the same display in the One X, which arguably has one of the best displays on the smartphone market (before the DROID DNA came along). It’s super crisp and clear, and it provides an excellent viewing experience with text and images showing up extremely sharp and bright.

Software

The HTC One X+ runs Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean right out of the box, with HTC’s Sense 4+ UI running on top. If you’re already familiar with HTC’s user interface, you won’t see many surprises in Sense 4+ other than the new Jelly Bean features like Google Now and Project Butter. Of course, if you’re looking for a device that offers a pure Android experience, you may not like HTC’s excessive skinning, but it adds a lot of nice features that many users will take advantage of. While HTC is sometimes accused of over-skinning, they actually left a couple of Jelly Bean features alone. For instance, they didn’t implement their own speech recognition tool over Google’s own solution. Instead, you’ll be greeted with pure Google Now and Voice Search on the One X+.

A lot of the differences between Sense 4.1 (on the One X) and 4+ are mostly behind the scenes and very subtle. The update claims smoother navigation, improved performance, and better battery life. HTC also seemed to remove shadows and embossments from text and replaced them with sharper effects in order to make text easier to read, although that may just be my mind playing tricks on me, but I did notice that text seemed a little crisper compared to other HTC devices I’ve played around with. Infinite scrolling has made a return as well, after being removed on the One X. This allows you to jump from the furthest left home screen to the furthest right, and vice versa.

As far as a possible update to Android 4.2, we wouldn’t be surprised if the One X+ eventually received it. It’s a new-enough device and a powerhouse of a smartphone for HTC and AT&T to definitely consider giving one of its best handsets an update to the latest Android version. Plus, an update to Android 4.2 would make the handset just that much more appealing to buyers who are wanting a future-proof device.

Benchmarks & Performance

With the HTC One X being an excellent smartphone, we knew going into it that the One X+ would only be an improvement, and that benchmarks would be a little better. However, the benchmarks showed that the One X+ provides quite the performance boost over the One X. In AnTuTu, the One X+ scored just over 16,200, which is right on par with Samsung’s Galaxy S III, but not quite up to snuff with the LG Optimus G or the Nexus 4. Of course, though, the difference is most likely negligible. Compared to the One X, which scores as high as 11,000, the One X+ is certainly quite a bit faster.

In Quadrant, the One X+ scored a 7,400, which is over double of what our scores were with the One X (3,400). It also does better than the Galaxy S III, which scored 6,000 during our testing, and performed just slightly better than the Optimus G. Of course, benchmarks aren’t everything, and what truly matters is if users will be happy with the performance of the phone and its user interface. Thanks to Project Butter that was introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the One X+ is both snappy and smooth. Navigating through different screens and switching between apps was really quick. Surprisingly, playing a little bit of Asphalt 7 was a less-than-stellar experience, though — it was really laggy and framerates were disgustingly low. However, Mass Effect: Infiltrator played much smoother and provided better performance all around, which makes us think that Asphalt 7 may be an isolated issue.

Camera

The One X+ has an 8MP rear camera with a 1.6MP front-facing shooter. It’s essentially the same camera found in the One X, but with a slightly improved sensor that’s capable of recording 1080p video at 30fps instead of 24fps in the One X. The front-facing camera has also been upgraded to 1.6MP from the 1.3MP on the One X.

Overall, I really like the camera app’s user interface. It’s really easy to access all of the settings, and there’s even two shutter buttons, one for taking photos and the other for taking videos. This is extremely handy, since there’s no need to have to wait a few seconds in order to switch between the two.

Photo quality varies depending on the situation. With enough lighting, images can appear really crisp and sharp, but low-light conditions offer a different experience. Taking pictures in low light adds a ton of noise, almost to the point where images appear blotchy. Of course, you can manually adjust the ISO in the settings, but lowering it when you want to take a picture of a night scene opens the door for blurry photos, which is arguably worse than just having a lot of noise. Contrast and saturation is a bit too high as well, and sometimes exposure isn’t perfect at times, but with HDR mode turned on, photos get exposed a lot better. However, a lot of users won’t even bother with HDR mode anyway, since it’s a lot slower than just the automatic setting.

As far as different features, there’s Panorama mode and the aforementioned HDR mode, as well as a built-in Slow Motion mode. These aren’t anything new, as we’re already used to seeing these in the HTC One series. There are also a handful of color effects that you can choose from and apply them to photos and videos in real time — sort of like Instagram, but not quite as comprehensive.

As far as video quality goes, it was slightly above average, but it wasn’t without its faults. The increase to 30fps is certainly something that we don’t mind, but the difference from 24fps is negligible. Most videophiles will be able to tell the difference, of course, but casual videographers won’t care too much. Exposure changes going from dimly-lit areas to well-lit areas and vice versa is quick, and continuous autofocus works fairly well too, although there were times when it took a bit of time to refocus.

Battery

The HTC One X+ now comes with a larger 2100mAh battery compared to the One X’s 1800mAh battery. This is always a good thing, of course, but with the internal hardware enhancements, the 300 extra mAhs may have been required rather than just an amenity for picky users. Plus, the unibody design means that you won’t be able crack open the device in order to change out the battery for a spare or larger alternative.

However, we couldn’t find anything to complain about as far as battery life is concerned. HTC has certainly improved on the battery life of devices of yesteryear, and it seems the company is even advocating longer battery life in the software as well, with a permanent and easy-to-get-to “power saver” toggle in the notification tray. I ended up going all day long and well into the evening before I had to plug the One X+ into the wall. This was after I started the day on a full charge and with moderate to heavy usage, such as running benchmarks, playing games, and streaming Netflix at various times throughout the day.

With typical usage, I ended up getting well over a day and a half out of the battery, doing things like checking email, surfing social media, browsing the web, and keeping up with sports scores throughout the day. However, any hardcore gaming for an extended amount of time, as well as GPS navigation will certainly drain the battery faster than a water pipe can drain water, but that’s obviously to be expected, and we would hope that anyone who ended up playing mobile games on the One X+, or even have navigation up for an hour or two at a time would most likely have an outlet or car charger nearby.

Wrap-Up

The design and looks of the One X+ haven’t changed a whole lot since the One X, so if you were hoping for a cosmetic change of some sort with this updated model, you’ll be sorely disappointed. However, the real upgrades are on the inside, and while they may not be extremely significant (think Apple upgrading from 3G to 3GS, or 4 to 4S), they’re compelling enough that we’d easily recommend the One X+ if you don’t already have a HTC One device.

The presence of LTE alone can make this phone a viable competitor against the Nexus 4, even if it is just a slightly faster handset than the One X+. Other devices, like the Galaxy S III and the Optimus G are powerhouses, but if you’re not a big fan of their user interfaces, you wouldn’t be sacrificing a lot performance-wise if you ended up going with the One X+, except maybe the removable battery if that’s a concern for you. Other than the company’s flagship DROID DNA, the One X+ is certainly one of HTC’s best devices on the market right now.

This machine works with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with a Toshiba user interface over the top as well as two cameras, one on the front for video chat, the other on the back for snapping some lovely photos and HD video. Of course they won’t be the best photos in the world at 3 megapixels strong, but you never know – auto-focus included!

This machine is just 0.4 inches thick and weighs in at 22.6 ounces, coming with a standard microUSB connection for data transfer as well as charging with Toshiba’s own wall adapter. This machine will be popping up with Wi-fi connectivity as well as Bluetooth 3.0, and will be bringing on SRS Premium Voice Pro technology for your dual speakers. These speakers sit on the bottom of the tablet, mind you: great for flat table-users, but not ideal for those of you working with your lap exclusively.

The Toshiba Excite 10 SE will be available starting at $349.99 MSRP beginning on the 6th of December. This machine will be available at select retailers and through Toshiba’s own ToshibaDirect web store right off the bat, and should be a generous competitor for those looking for that perfect slightly less-than-expensive 10-inch Android tablet this holiday season.

This game has 22 levels, 24 puzzles, and 2 worlds per pack. There are two packs – that’s two applications, the second relying on the first to work – each of them with their own set of 22 levels, 24 puzzles, and 2 worlds. Worlds include Jungle of Amazonas, Mountains of Himalaya, Ruins of Egypt, and the Lost continent of Maralidia, and you get your bird companion Sasha the whole way through. This game takes what the original PC and console iterations brought forth and makes a miraculous re-creation here for the mobile environment.

You’ll be working with our good grave-robbing buddy and his fine feathered friend through this lovely collection of levels AS him or the bird. For bird controls you’ll be using your tablet or smartphone’s entire bulk to fly upward or downward – it’s no easy task! Avoid flying too low into the dust – you’ll get lost!

A couple things you may want to look out for before tossing cash towards this two-part beast download of a game: you need 1GB of space on your device for each half of the game. This is no small requirement, especially if you’ve got an 8GB Nexus 7. You’ll also want to be sure you have the first part of the game before you buy the expansion, as the expansion does not work without the first part. You’ll also want to be aware that this game works ONLY on devices running an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor – if you don’t know if your device does, generally Google Play will tell you, but in this case it appears that it’s only after you’ve made the download that the game itself lets you know – be careful!

This game is intensely immersive, full to the max with mind-bogglingly difficult puzzles and high quality graphics you’ll be surprised your mobile device can work with. It would appear that Fatshark has a winner on their hands as far as gigantic Android games go – just so long as you’ve got the space and patience for it: you’re going to go nuts with puzzling levels of death from start to finish!

This game is out on the TegraZone and available for download on the Google Play app store for $2.99 – not one whole heck of a lot of cash when you see what this beast is capable of. Back when it was first available as a disk for your computer and Dreamcast, you’d have been shelling out several times that amount just to play in your home. Now you’ll be carrying around this masterpiece on any Tegra 3 toting device you own: Nexus 7 anyone?

The bad guys in this game are called the G’neg, ready to bust your skull open at the drop of a hat, and to defend yourself you’ve got a clone army of “Expendable” units. No relation to the muscle-sploitation films of recent years, mind you, these Expendable clones are made to be your representation on the battlefield, and you just get one at a time. Your prime directive is to leave no survivors, and your secondary mission is to destroy everything – everything!

Also of note: this game was originally designed and made by RAGE NEWCASTLE, a part of RAGE SOFTWARE PLC, but was taken over by license by Funbox Media – they’ve made it possible for you to continue the fun today. This game runs on all sorts of chipsets, but NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor has “all new effects tuned for Tegra hardware”. You’ll be seeing unique water effects, masses of extra particles, and advanced extra shadowing in the full deep dive with NVIDIA!

Check the rest of the NVIDIA TegraZone game collection in our NVIDIA TegraZone tag portal right this minute!

Inside the game you’ll be rolling out in one of three different modes – the first is a storyline: that’s what you see above. Inside storyline mode you’ll quickly understand that you’re mission is almost always to take out the enemies, those being the undead! It’s the style with which you destroy that gets you up in the ranks! Once you’re ready to let the blood shower over you, you’ll be saving survivors left and right as you take on zombie packs and bosses like a death-dealing monarch.

You’ll drive anything from a bulldozer to a fire truck to a tank. This game brings on 7 arenas for you to dish out the insides, and in the second mode – a race sort of situation – your choices for massacre machine matter more than ever. You’ve got to balance the destruction you’re able to deal out with your ability to maneuver: it’s not just about the death of the dead, it’s about cold, hard speed as well!

The third mode is all about survival – wave after wave of puss-oozing bone-chompers making your mission to survive: with great rewards awaiting you! Each level will have you addicted to upgrading your machine and your score – more destruction each time you destroy!

Each weapon has three upgrade levels, you’ve got combo moves to make everything just a bit more interesting, and of course there’s a way to upgrade your Taxi into a Chariot of Death – their words, really! In all there’s 13 different vehicles to choose from and you’ll most certainly be having flashbacks to Twisted Metal before you murder your first 100 bodies of undead filth.

“Thanks to Tegra 3′s fantastic GPU performance we were able to use the same quality textures in Zombie Driver THD as on the PC. The outstanding quad-core CPU performance makes it possible to support Tegra game development in parallel to other high-end platforms!” — Pawel Lekki, Chief Operating Officer, EXOR Studios

The graphics in this game are made lovely by PhysX by NVIDIA and you know good and well that the physics, top to bottom, are above the line. This game will cost you just about 7 bucks on the Google Play app store through the NVIDIA TegraZone and it’s available right this very minute. It’s perfect to get some candy-less aggression out too, if that’s your aim – blast away!

The ZTE U950 measures in at 9mm thick, and features a 4.3-inch display and runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Inside you’ll find a 1.3GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor and 1GB of RAM. There’s a rear 5MP camera, and VGA-resolution front camera for video calls. Sadly, the device only has 4GB of internal storage space.

ZTE has been swept up recently in accusations of possible espionage for the Chinese government, which has also been brought against Huawei. The US House Intelligence Committee recommended that ZTE and Huawei both be avoided, saying, “China has the means, opportunity, and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes.” ZTE responded with the statement, “ZTE has set an unprecedented standard for cooperation by any Chinese company with a congressional investigation.”

While the features are all pretty basic, it’s obviously the processor power-to-cost ratio that makes the phone attention-worthy. The U950 is priced at 999 yuan, which is about $160USD. The handset is slated for release in China next month. There’s no word on whether this cheapo quad-core will be making its way stateside or elsewhere.

[via Engadget]

There’s also a microUSB port supporting USB Host, MicroSD card slot for augmenting the onboard storage, and a micro HDMI port for hooking up a bigger screen. Inside there’s WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0, though no cellular wireless option, and a battery which Acer claims is good for 7.5hrs of runtime.

Like the Nexus 7, the OS is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and Acer slaps its own “circles” app launcher on there too. Sales will kick off on October 30 in the US and Canada, with the Iconia A110 priced at $229.99.

At that price, Acer will be in for some very strong competition, and we’re not sure whether the Iconia A110 can quite hold up to the scrutiny. Both the Nexus 7 and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK HD are cheaper out of the gate – each kicks off at $199.99 – and have better quality displays, running at 1280 x 800 and 1440 x 900 respectively.

This game has a bevy of options including four playable characters, two game modes, and two full maps. These options will expand once the full version of the game is released, but for now it’s time to practice your death skills in a limited fashion. The beta test includes a soldier, mutant, assassin, and a dancer – we’ll leave that last one to you to see for yourself. The two game modes available here at the start are DeathMatch and Zone Control, with the first being a shoot-die-regenerate model with a clock and lots of red.

This release is made specifically for you beta testers out there to try out for free and give lots of feedback to NVIDIA and the creators of the game, Madfinger. With your massive amount of destructive tools on-hand and a perfectly playable iteration out right this second, you’ll have to stop yourself every once in a while and write down your thoughts – you’ll get lost in the destruction if you don’t.

* Weapons – Bandit (SMG), Vega (Attack Rifle), Big Boy (Machinegun), Spate (Plasma Rifle), Mace (Shotgun), Osog (Sniper), Sh*tStorm (Rocket Launcher)
* Gadgets (Sprint, Medi Kit, Ammo Kit, Flash Bang, EMP Grenade, Frag Grenade, Sentry Gun, Mine)

Your feedback can be sent in-game with the Feedback button – make it so! This game will be out in full rather soon, so you’d better get your practice time in right this minute. You can find yours truly in the game at username “Burnsy” – let’s have a round or two! You can download the game now – again, for free – on the [Google Play app store]. Go for it!

Hardware

This device is 259.8mm x 178mm x 11.65mm (9.3″ x 6.5″ x 0.46″) in size and 570g, that is, just under 1.3lbs. The device is certainly not the lightest 9-inch tablet on the market, nor is it the thinnest – but it sounds great. It’s got 2 stereo speakers with SRS Surround Sound, both of them with ever-so-slightly raised bits of plastic near their grilles to assure sound delivery even if the device is flat.

You’ve got a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video chat and a 3.0 megapixel camera on the back that takes OK photos and video – don’t expect to get too many masterpieces from either unit. See a few examples of the quality of this device’s main camera lower in this review. The sound collection quality is surprisingly decent, on the other hand, with one mic hole on the left and the other on the right of the device, this aiding in sound cancellation.

The ports you get around this device are relatively abundant for how expensive the device is, starting with a microUSB port on the right side near a micro-HDMI port for HD video output. The quality of the video you get here to an HDTV (provided you’ve got the right cable) is generally good – not spectacular, but certainly good enough for basic Google Play video and YouTube viewing. You’ve also got a basic combo jack for your headphones and microphone if you’d like, too.

You can get this device in 8GB and 16GB internal storage iterations and right under the top-back panel you’ve got a microSD card slot where you can expand your memory by another 32GB if you wish. The overall build quality of the tablet is rather high, with Lenovo letting us know that they’re not skimping on the construction just because it’s not a laptop or a desktop unit.

The display, on the other hand, is of a surprisingly lower-quality build than the rest of the device. The viewing angles are OK for the most part save – believe it or not – the top angle which does a color-flip once you’re at about 45 degrees. It’s a bummer, but if you’re the kind of person that keeps your tablet flat on the table most of the time, you’ll have a fine time. You’ll want to check this out in the store before you pick it up for this reason alone.

Software

This unit works with Lenovo’s own flavor of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – this means there are a few modifications in the way you move back and forth between homescreens and you’ve got a vast collection of apps right out of the box. You also have some lovely widgets that are essentially giant folders where you can store your apps, get weather information, access music you’ve got stored on the device, and write notes.

You’ll want to check out our hands-on with the device in the video in this post to see how the software functions – there are a few hiccups here and there due to what we must assume is a firmware build that’ll be updated by Lenovo in the future. Lag here and there and some tiny one-pixel-row skips. Nothing to get too bent out of shape over.

The list of apps that you get in this device, if I’ve not said it enough already, certainly appears large compared to its competition. GO Keyboard, AccuWeather, Amazon Kindle, Lenovo App Shop, Cut the Rope HD, Docs to Go, ES File Explorer, Evernote, GameTanium, Lenovo Registration, LoPokeTALK for low-priced calls (for real, really), News Republic, Norton Security, ooVoo, PrinterShare for Lenovo, Skype, SugarSync, Wi-fi Direct, and Zinio – and these are only the apps added by Lenovo, there’s also the full set of Google apps you get with basically every Android device on the regular – the list also changes based on which region you pick this device up in.

This device is designed for the first-time Android user – one who wants to see what a variety of apps can do without looking for them first on the Google Play app store. If that’s you, you’ll feel perfectly comfortable in this environment. There’s also a lovely app simply called “UI Intro” that shows a video for your benefit – a lovely presentation of the user interface on your device – and it looks nice!

Camera

The camera on the back – all 3 megapixels of it – is in place for basic shooting only. Don’t expect it to perform any miracles. That said, if you’re into the Instagram scene, you’ll have some great success. Have a peek at some examples of highest-definition-possible photos and video.

Battery Life and Benchmarks

With the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood here with 1.2Ghz clock speed, you’ve got what’s basically the best piece of architecture in the whole device. NVIDIA’s constructed a processor that makes this device run smoothly – for the most part – with its only limits appearing to be the user interface in certain areas which seem to lag upon opening. Having seen the processor in action on several tablets in the past, I’d say these oddities have more to do with the software build than they have to do with the hardware – but in the end it’s always a combination of the two.

Have a peek at the basic benchmarks we’ve run on this device above and check the battery time below as well. This device benefits from the “ninja” 5th core in the processor (the Tegra 3 actually has 5 cores, the 5th only running when the device doesn’t need to be running high-demand tasks) – here the A2109 Lenovo tablet uses this architecture well, with battery life that does great on a regular basis.

Wrap-up

This device is a good effort from Lenovo, but put up in a competition against the rest of the Tegra 3 tablets we’ve seen, it’s just a bit lacking. If you’re looking for a 9-inch tablet with NVIDIA processing power inside it, this is your best bet, that’s for certain – especially if you just want it to be your radio all on its own: the speakers are really worth a listen. The A2109 really does have the power to run next-generation apps too, and you’ll have full access to the NVIDIA TegraZone app collection as well.

This device will run you $299, and for that price you’ll not be finding another tablet like the A2109. You can of course pick up a Nexus 7 for $199 – but that’s smaller than this. You could get an iPad mini (if it does indeed exist in a few weeks), but that won’t have Android, of course, and it certainly wont have a 9-inch display. Basically the final verdict is this: with a unique build, you won’t find Lenovo’s offering here lacking if you want it for a media-delivery system – unless the display will trip you up: check it out in the store, you simply must.

Though we’ve seen the HTC One X working with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 in an earlier iteration of both pieces of hardware, this new HTC handset brings the functionality to AT&T’s 4G LTE network. It’s important to note here that the HTC One X already on AT&T works with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor under the hood while the international version has the Tegra 3. With the HTC One X+, you’ve got the Tegra 3 matched with LTE – again, for the first time ever.

This piece of hardware has NVIDIA noting that it’s “67% faster than the HTC One X LTE” – and we’ll certainly be checking that claim once the device is in our hands for review. NVIDIA also notes that this device will have up to 50% (6 hours) more talk time attached to it than its AT&T predecessor and the whole experience will be swifter all around. The addition of the NVIDIA processor also allows the user to access the NVIDIA TegraZone for optimized games galore!

Have a peek at our review of the original HTC One X, comparison and review of the HTC One X LTE, and our hands-on with the HTC One X+, and stay tuned for our full review of the One X+ as well. We’ve also got a feature entitled HTC One X hands-on with Tegra 3 gaming if you’d like to take a glance. Coming up soon! Take a glance at the timeline below to learn more about the One X+ as well, and get pumped about it coming to AT&T for you soon!

[via NVIDIA]

Chip and battery are the big numbers, and HTC is pretty proud of them. The company claims performance is up as much as 67-percent compared to the original One X, while battery life has gained up to 6hrs more talktime versus the old phone.

In the hand, it’s unsurprisingly instantly recognizable as a One X: it still feels broad and flat, surprisingly slim, and the textured casing is easy to grip. The rear camera pucker – still an 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 lens – gets a ring of red around it, matching the pared down Beats Audio logo, while the front camera now musters 1.6-megapixels and, for the first time, gains access to HTC’s Image Chip technology.

That does its processing on the RAW photo data, rather than after its been converted to JPEG, and HTC sets the One X+ to automatically shoot vanity stills in Portrait mode with skin tone smoothing and other virtual botoxery. You can turn it off if you’d rather be seen in your hideous, unairbrushed state. The front camera also now gives a countdown by default, three seconds to allow you to pose rather than be snapped while thumbing the button.

It’s not the only change to the camera software. The UI now shows how many photos and minutes of video you have left – HTC will offer both 32GB and 64GB versions of the One X+, though neither gets a microSD slot – and if you lock the phone with the camera app still in the foreground, HTC assumes you’re a shutterbug tourist and bypasses the lockscreen next time you turn the phone back on to save valuable milliseconds of photography time.

Beats Audio has its new logo and a new feedback amplifier, boosting the performance of the One X+’s speaker. This, HTC says, “constantly monitors” the signal to the speaker and tweaks it so as to make it as loud as can be without clipping or crackling. Unfortunately, unlike on the Windows Phone 8X by HTC, there’s no companion amp for the headphone jack – arguably of far more use than a louder speaker – though the power has been increased from 0.5V to 1.5V. It’s also possible to use NFC to pair the One X+ with compatible Beats speakers.

Elsewhere in software, there’s now Jelly Bean (complete with Google Now) behind the scenes with HTC Sense4+ – a new strategy of nomenclature HTC says is less focused on micro-changes and more on usable features – strapped on top. The Gallery app follows the path of the Music hub, and pulls in content from Facebook, Dropbox, Flickr, Picaso, and what’s stored on the handset itself, and you can now sort images by date, event, and location, complete with a map view showing where clusters of shots were taken.

The One X+ is PlayStation Certified, and with the app – not installed to the phone by default – you’ll eventually be able to download Sony games. HTC Watch 2 does get loaded out of the box, however, and has also evolved into a hub of sorts: now, as well as renting and buying movies and TV shows from HTC’s store, there are links to video apps like YouTube and ESPN. A three-finger upward swipe flicks the content to your HTC MediaLink HD, and if the third-party video app itself has support for the MediaLink SDK, you can continue using the phone for other tasks while video keeps playing. Otherwise it’s simple screen-mirroring. HTC couldn’t say which developers had baked in such support, though did tell us it was in discussions about it.

Finally, there’s a resurrection of the online Sense tools, now part of the “Get Started” feature which will welcome all new One X+ owners. They’ll be able to set up their new phone – arrange wallpapers and homescreen widgets, choose apps from Google Play – in their desktop browser and then, by logging into the One X+ with the same Sense account, have it automatically set up that way. You can set up your online account before you even have the phone, in fact, giving you something to do while you eagerly await the delivery guy.

Unfortunately there’s only one-way sync, at least to begin with, so any changes made on the phone won’t be backed up online. Instead, all you’ll be able to do is reset the One X+ to the original configuration you first started with. Still, HTC says it does have plans to continue building on its online Sense provision, and we can hope it will make a better job of things the second time around.

For Europe, there’ll be UMTS HSPA+ models, with the promise of LTE versions for other markets. HTC did say that it could well change that and add an LTE for the fledgling EE 4G network in the UK, however.

As for Jelly Bean for previous devices, once the One X+ launches – in the UK, that will happen in early- to mid-October, across multiple carriers and alongside the original One X which will remain on sale – HTC will be pushing Android 4.1 to the One X, One S, and One XL shortly after. It will also include Sense 4+, though some of the hardware-specific features (like the speaker amp) obviously won’t be supported on the older phones.

Both of these visually stunning new games are launching today, Thursday September 20th, in the Play Store and TegraZone and we have all the details. First we’ll start with Bard’s Tale because for one, it’s awesome, and for two it has some of the best voice-overs I’ve heard in a long while.

Bard’s Tale, from the developers inXile entertainment, you’ll play Bard, a selfish rogue weary of pointless sub-quests and rat-infested cellars. Through song you summon magical characters to join you on your quest for coin… and cleavage! The game is snarky, fresh, and full of comedy. Bard goes on missions all around town, will save the princess if she’s pretty enough, and will battle over 50 different enemies. Bard’s Tale features easily 20-30 hours of deep, fun, and dark humored gameplay. It even has some amazing voice-overs with Hollywood actors such as Cary Elwes.

Bard’s Tale has over a dozen bosses and big enemies to battle, over 150 different unique items such as weapons, armor, tokens, and of course loot. With over 50 achievements, auto-save features, stunning graphics and awesome voice-overs, this game will surely give you fun for the 20-30 hours of game time it’ll take to complete. NVIDIA tells us the Trilogy will be coming to Android soon so stay tuned for more you Bard’s Tale fans! Get Bard’s Tale today right here at the Google Play Store, or NVIDIA TegraZone — priced at $5.99.

Then a second awesome game has also launched for all those Tegra-toting devices. The game above isn’t really for kids perhaps, but this next one surely is. This is called Fort Courage and is from the developers Human Head Studios who brought us Prey, and Prey 2. Fort Courage is an exciting free-to-play 3D adventure of the imagination. You are an imaginative child that falls asleep during class and wakes up in amazing environments full of interaction and 3D movement only available from Tegra 3′s power. Your courage will help you fight off dinosaurs in the jungle, monsters in special laboratories and more.

Fort Courage is available for many Android devices, but Tegra 3 users will enjoy enhanced graphics, more advanced physics, and lifelike movement. Gameplay involves 3 crazy locations, 9 player skins, 10 power-up options, tons of toys for weapons, and over 15 different enemies. While this game isn’t as deep as Bard’s Tale they mention around 80 hours of exciting gameplay to help you pass the time during class.

Fort Courage is completely free-to-play and is available for Android devices today over at the Google Play Store, or as usual from NVIDIA’s TegraZone. For even more awesome NVIDIA Tegra-powered games hit the links below, or take a peek at our Tegra Hub!

The statistic being reported today suggests that the actual app – the guide – has been downloaded and installed on millions of devices across the earth. What you’re doing with this application if you have it already is exploring the NVIDIA-optimized universe. If you’re part of that 5 million download mark, you’re already deep inside the most dedicated gaming environment on the market today!

No other processor group has done exactly what NVIDIA has with their TegraZone initiative. Developers regularly team up with NVIDIA to optimize their games for their next-generation processors starting with the Tegra 2 – dual-core, and now working with the Tegra 3 as well – quad-core processing power with an extra core for low-powered tasks and standby computing for battery preservation.

Have a peek at our NVIDIA TegraZone category here on SlashGear that’ll give you everything you need to keep up with NVIDIA and their Tegra gaming universe – and keep that download number rising with a TegraZone download today!

We had a bit of a hands-on look at the game just yesterday that you can witness by heading to the post entitled Vector Unit brings Beach Buggy Blitz to TegraZone and hands-on. Once you’ve experienced the excellence, head to the TegraZone and download the game absolutely free! Or if you’re currently without a device that works with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, you’ve got another option.

We had a lot of fun with the last tablet giveaway working with our NVIDIA Tegra Hub – so much fun that we’ve decided to do it again, right here and now! You’ve got the chance to win one of three Tegra-toting tablets (listed above and below) – all you’ve got to do is follow these simple steps!

Rules:

1. Head to [this Facebook post] and if you haven’t already, “like” our Facebook page at [facebook.com/slashgear].

2. Select your favorite Tegra-toting device or NVIDIA TegraZone game from our ever-expanding [Tegra Hub] and comment on the Facebook post with a link (from the hub) along with some select words on why you love it so much – or why you want it so much, if you wish!

3. Sit back and wait for the end of the contest, and hope you get picked!

This giveaway starts on Friday, September 7th, 2012 and runs until Friday, Sept. 14th at midnight. We’ll pick a collection of our favorite entries and from that set we’ll choose three winners at random – we’ll announce the winners on Monday, September 17th on Facebook and right here in this original giveaway post!

Competition is open to residents of the US only, over the age of 18. One entry per person. Family members of NVIDIA, ASUS, Google, Vector Unit, and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified Android Community forum post; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized.

The winners will be contacted by an Android Community/SlashGear staff member ON FACEBOOK upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected.

Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners agree that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to Android Community, SlashGear, NVIDIA, and Vector Unit.

Prizes consist of two 16GB Google Nexus 7 tablets and a Transformer TF201 Prime tablet and keyboard combo. There are no other alternative for prize winners unless this prizes become unavailable, in which case Android Community reserves the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value. Giveaway provided by SlashGear/Android Community. Prizes provided by NVIDIA and Vector Unit. Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to giveaway [AT] slashgear.com.

This game has you blasting forth in a buggy that’s customized by you in a race not against physical enemies – not in a traditional sense – but time itself. Collect coins to gain more time in your clock and make sure you’re not out in the middle of nowhere when the buzzer rings. Once you’ve collected enough coins, you can spend them on upgrades from the shop – and you can trick your car out to the max, as well. The entire game consists of you moving forward into excellence while you destroy all manner of explodable objects.

Of course there’s a bit of real-time shadow rendering as well – and it’s all so simple: you’ll be running this fantasy of effects on your quad-core processor-toting Tegra 3 device straight from the TegraZone today! This game has both been announced and released by Vector Unit in collaboration with NVIDIA, and we want YOU to get into it. In addition to the hands-on experience you’re about to have in this video, you’ll be invited to a giveaway of ours later this week.

UPDATE: It appears that there’s been a delay in releasing this game to the Google Play app store and TegraZone for now, but stay tuned as it’s delivered soon!

That’s right, you’re going to want to write this one down: later today on both SlashGear and Android Community we’re having a Beach Buggy Blitz event that’ll be lasting several days – and you’re going to want to get involved! For the time being though, have a peek at the hands-on video above and check the game out on the TegraZone right now, or head straight to the Google Play app store immediately if not soon to pick Beach Buggy Blitz up for yourself. It’s not to be missed.

Several years ago, such gameplay was relegated to consoles which were made specifically for such gigantic graphic tasks. With the current age of quad-core processors here on mobile devices such as the Nexus 7 (the device we’re having a peek at this game on), we’re able to do this and a whole lot more for a whole lot cheaper. The game Horn takes the Old English tales of King Horn and loosely crafts them into a magical arena of battle and exploration.

This game has you, Horn, moving through a village “overrun by fantastic, and sometimes humorous, monsters”. That said, you’ll have to make it through without giggling yourself to your doom – but you’ll have help! There’s a little beast that you carry around with you that sometimes spits some nastiness as the story moves on.

You’ll be working on enemies weak points, hitting heavy armor in all the wrong places, and working your way through waves of bosses, sub bosses, and “Golden Enemies” – cut them down for rare item drops! You’ll be collecting items, too – make sure you’re aware of what your carrying so you can be all you can be in the kill zone. There’s also an in-game store, a forge where you can upgrade your gear, weapons, amulets, and all sort of other items to rummage through.

There’s even a massive guide online you’ll want to find your way through if you want to survive your first few adventures – you might need it! This game is out (or will be very soon) on the NVIDIA TegraZone as well as the Google Play app store today – and it’s out for the iPad and iPhone as well starting earlier this month – grab it!

This game has Granny Smith chasing after a thief whose taken a bunch of her precious apples – and that’s no metaphor. This game has you, the granny herself, rolling around a bunch of cityscapes and farmland, offices and panes of glass after panes of glass to get where you’re going. You’ll have replay mode to make sure you see the sweetest crashes and fabulously realistic physics run by your NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor for all the fun you can handle. Have a peek at some value-added features in this Android game of madness, per the development team:

• Spectacular physics – Granny Smith uses some of the most advanced destruction physics in mobile games. Crash through crates and windows and watch the pieces fly all over!
• Dazzling visuals – Zoom through dozens of vibrant, whimsical worlds! Each level is like a fanciful, three-dimensional storybook.
• Intuitive controls – Help Granny pull off crazy moves with simple two-button controls – perfect for both tablets and phones.
• Vintage replays – Watch your best runs in retro movie style with cool camera angles and slow-motion effects!
• Power Granny up – Collect coins and equip Granny with a helmet, banana peels and baseballs. If Granny is getting old, you have two alternative characters to play with – Scruffy and Stanley!

Granny Smith comes with 36 hand crafted levels so you’ll never grow bored of smashing – and three different settings for each level are included as well. This game has been released just today to the NVIDIA TegraZone and the Google Play app store for your consumption – go grab it instantly for your Tegra 3 tablet or smartphone!