Tegra 2 Tablets Spotted at GPU Conference

Two Tegra 2-based tablets made a somewhat surreptitious appearance at Nvidia’s GPU Technology Conference. Both are 10-inch tablets running Android; the first is a pre-production unit from Malata, and the other is the development platform that Nvidia has been sending to developers.

The tablets at the conference were shown not for their own benefit, but to show some of the technology being developed for Tegra 2.

At the top of this post is the Malata tablet. An Nvidia rep said that it’s a very early design, and wouldn’t let us fool around with it much, but, it’s running Android 2.2, has a 10.1-inch screen, and feels pretty light in hand.

As you can see, this version of the Malata tablet only has three buttons to the right of the display–Home, Back, and Menu–though, as we were told, this is an early design. Still, we were encouraged by the HDMI port on the side, indicating Tegra 2′s ability to port video to larger displays, like the ViewSonic G-Tablet.

The Malata tablet was used to show Allegorithmic’s texture-rendering technology called Substance, which it says will allow developers to produce textures smaller and faster than before, enabling graphically rich gaming experiences on mobile devices.

The other “tablet” on display was the testbed that Nvidia’s been shipping to developers to make sure their apps run on the Tegra 2 platform. Here, it’s being used to test out Mingleverse, a live 3D online space, akin to Sony’s Playstation Home or Second Life. In Mingleverse, users interact with each other via avatars, and can share content, such as YouTube videos, FaceBook photos, Webcams, and even PowerPoint presentations in real-time. Mingleverse reps said the technology is useful not just for social purposes, but can be used for advanced teleconferences, too.