Just when you thought that your smartphone had the latest and greatest tech, NVIDIA has set the bar for mobile processors even higher. Just one year after unveiling the Tegra 4 processor, NVIDIA has unveiled something more akin to a next-generation mobile processor rather than a little increase in horsepower with the Tegra K1.

While it’s called a 192-core processor, the mobile CPU shouldn’t be compared heads-up to the number of processor you see in Intel and AMD processors for PCs. That being said, the 192-core K1 boasts a heck of a lot more horsepower than last year’s 72-core Tegra 4.

The Tegra K1 will come in two varieties. The first is a 32-bit quad-core ARM Cortex A15 processor that will clock in at around 2.3 GHz. The other is a completely custom 64-bit ARM CPU that was originally teased by NVIDIA back in 2011 under the codename “Project Denver.” That processor will max out at about 2.5 GHz.

The real interesting party trick that NVIDIA wanted to show off was the Tegra K1 being used to render gameplay in Epic’s next-gen game engine, Unreal Engine 4.

So my question is when does that custom 64-bit K1 make its way into the NVIDIA Shield or an equivalent handheld gaming device. While it’s all well and good that the Shield can stream from certain compatible NVIDIA GPUs, if the K1 can run Unreal 4 games, I have to think it’s only a matter of time before someone uses the K1 as the backbone of a handheld gaming console. I think someone else has to be plotting a Shield-esque device with a Tegra K1 and Steam OS. Or maybe I’m about to launch a Kickstarter campaign.

NVIDIA says that the 32-bit version of the Tegra K1 will make its way to market in devices during the first half of 2014. The 64-bit Project Denver CPU is expected in devices during the second half of the year.

Source: The Verge

Editor’s Note: This year, I’m trying something a little different with the CES coverage. Rather than doing a roundup of a day’s news, I’m doing short articles for each significant news item. It’s one of a few changes to coverage that we’re going to be piloting here over the next few months.