Nvidia’s Tegra Note 7 tablet should hit retail later this week and a few interesting product videos are already online. They were unearthed by Italian tech site Eeevolution.it. There are just a handful of Android tablets with stylus support and Nvidia hopes its DirectStylus tech will help differentiate its tablet from heaps of other $199 tablets on the market.
The Stylus demo video shows off quite a few possibilities, aside from simple note taking. The stylus can also be used with Sketchbook or Photoshop Touch. It can be used to do lasso selections and lasso capture in just about every app. The stylus can easily do thin or thick lines. In addition to creative apps there’s a range of educational apps and productivity apps that work well with a stylus.
The stylus will obviously be the focal point for Nvidia marketers, but Nvidia is also talking up performance. It claims the tablet offers a 50 percent faster browsing experience than tablets at twice the price, which is understandable as it packs a powerful processor with a relatively low-res screen. Then there’s the camera, with tap-to-track automatic tracking, focus and exposure. This seems like a gimmick as very few people actually use their tablets to take photos, but it’s good to know that Nvidia is taking photography seriously, as the same technology can be applied to future Tegra phones.
Of course, Nvidia is also showing off its gaming prowess, claiming the world’s most powerful graphics on a tablet. It’s also possible to use a Bluetooth controller if you are really serious about tablet gaming, but then again if you are Nvidia already has the Shield console. Nvidia also says PureAudio will deliver the “deepest, richest sound and widest frequency range” in a tablet. If you’ve been following Nvidia closely, you’ve already had a chance to see much of the tech shown off in the videos, but this gives as an idea of what the actual product will be like.
The Tegra Note 7 won’t be a massive success with shipments in the millions - the market is already saturated and there are just too many Android tablets out there. But as a playground for Nvidia engineers, as a demonstration of what can be done, the Tegra Note 7 is very impressive indeed.
It remains to be seen whether Nvidia can turn it into a commercial success, this is just the first step. It also makes us wonder how serious Nvidia really is about its tablet push? Tegra 5 is just around the corner and it’s clear that it will power the next Shield and we’re expecting to see new tablets as well. Nvidia clearly put a lot of effort into the Tegra Note 7 and it’s very unlikely that it will be a one-of product.
