NVidia Tegra4i chip upgraded before it's released

NVidia has upgraded it's all-in-one system-on-chip the Tegra4i to support Category 4 LTE before it's even been commercialised.

Category 4 LTE supports 150Mb/s download speeds and is already being implemented by other vendors.

This should give NVidia a better chance against its main competitors (in the Smartphone markets) Qualcomm, Broadcom and LTE-only specialist Altair.

NVidia gained LTE experience by acquiring UK company Icera which uses a software defined architecture and though this technology has been used alongside Tegra4 CPU devices as a separate package, the Tegra4i integrates the technology on to the system as the Tegra4. As Icera's technology is software defined, no actual hardware modifications were required to implement the enhancements.

Currently no mobile networks actually support Category-4 LTE (or LTE Advanced), though Japan's NTT Docomo has said they'll be announcing services by the end of the year.

NVidia delays Tegra4 and revenues will be "flat"

NVidia the chipmaker famed for its high performance graphics cards and now low power Tegra smartphone chips has delayed the introduction of the Tegra4 for about 3 months so it can ensure the integrated LTE is fully ready (in the Tegra4i version). The Tegra3 is used is tablets like Google's Nexus 7.

LTE is seen as a must have for next generation tablets and integrated on to the CPU rather than a separate radio chip.

The delay will give Qualcomm who are already market leaders in the integrated CPU market with their Snapdragon series of cores - and they already have a 4 core chip on the market which will be used in high-end devices like Samsung's Galaxy S4 (in Europe at least).

Though NVidia has been reasonably successful with its Tegra3 chip, it's been a difficult journey with them having to make significant re-designs along the way to fix design issues with the chip. Getting the Tegra4i right will mean long term cost savings.