First Nvidia Ion Notebooks, Netbooks & PCs Due Imminently, Say Nvidia

According to Nvidia, their new Nvidia Ion graphics processors, which purportedly offer graphics performance up to ten times faster than ’similar systems’ as well as offering ‘outstanding’ HD video, gaming, and photo editing capabilities are set to commence shipping in notebooks, netbooks and PCs as of the second quarter of this year – meaning we’re just months away from seeing systems with Ion graphics processors hitting the shelves.

Here’s Nvidia’s Full release (which we feature in full rather than merely paraphrasing):

World’s Leading Software Companies Rally Around NVIDIA ION

Highly Anticipated PC Value Platform Expected to Invigorate Software Sales

NVIDIA ION will power a new generation of incredibly small and capable PCs. This prototype design supports HD video, gaming, and photo editing.

See leading game developers react to ION’s small size and big performance.

SANTA CLARA, CA-APRIL 1, 2009-NVIDIA ION is drawing industry-wide support from analysts and the world’s leading software companies, including Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts. ION’s powerful performance and competitive pricing will help enable incredibly small and affordable PCs that are expected to find strong interest in the marketplace when they begin to arrive in the second quarter of 2009.

NVIDIA ION graphics processors will power a new generation of smaller, greener, fully capable PCs. Consumers utilizing ION-based PCs will be able to make full use of some of the world’s most popular applications, such as Spore, Call of Duty 4, Google Earth, Adobe Photoshop, Cyberlink PowerDVD, LEGO: Batman, and Battlefield 2.

“Providing superior performance for one of the fastest growing market segments makes NVIDIA ION a winner,” said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat, an analyst firm specializing in the mobile internet and digital entertainment markets. “Consumers today want less expensive PCs with more capabilities, which is exactly what ION delivers. Users can suddenly do more with their systems, and developers benefit from an expanding market. It’s a win-win for the entire industry.”

“ION enables consumers with new mini-notebook and small desktop systems to access and play a larger library of Windows games, creating incredible opportunity and access for all gamers,” said Corey Rosemond, group manager, Microsoft Games for Windows program.

“New affordable and powerful PC hardware like ION is going to change the landscape of PC gaming,” said Ben Cousins, executive producer at DICE, a division of Electronic Arts. “This new mass-market target audience is a perfect match for Battlefield Heroes.”

Bryan O’Neil Hughes, product manager for Photoshop at Adobe, said: “Along with the built-in productivity features and time-saving capabilities in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended, the NVIDIA ION platform supports new hardware-accelerated functionality in the software and extends the feature set on small, low-powered systems. Efficiency is key for our customers’ design and photography workflows. Harnessing the power of the GPU allows for the utilization of new features and a more fluid experience in Photoshop.”1

“NVIDIA and Google will bring the Earth into view for millions of new users,” said Stefan Kuhne, Google Earth software engineer. “We’re really impressed with how well Google Earth will run on affordable PCs powered by ION graphics processors. It will raise the industry standard for entry-level graphics.”

1 Available for Windows and Intel based Mac OS systems, Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended help save valuable time at every step. Benchmarking results from an independent research study conducted by Pfeiffer Consulting and commissioned by Adobe shows that features in Adobe Creative Suite 4 software can dramatically increase productivity, efficiency and return on investment. The report includes several ways Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended saves times and money.

About NVIDIA ION graphics processors

NVIDIA ION graphics processors turn up the visuals on small PCs with up to 10X faster graphics performance than similar systems. ION graphics processors provide support for premium Windows Vista features, outstanding media capabilities including 1080p high definition video and Blu-ray movies, and support for popular PC games. ION-based PCs will arrive in the second quarter of 2009 from leading PC manufacturers.