Nvidia Makes the ION 2 Official, Calls It the Next-Gen ION Instead

It's just been made official. Although it's not officially being called the Nvidia Ion 2 it's definitely the newer model - not necessarily much faster though. This new ION will feature their new Optimus automatic graphic switching technology which was made to save your battery life. Everything you need to know is below to be honest so I don't have to go through much for you. What it doesn't mention is that it'll handle 1080p Blu-ray / Flash output easily. Nvidia mentioned that there'll be 30 more ION netbooks, nettops, and all-in-one PCs before the Summer (probably ends not begins). Some of these products include the 1201PN, Eee Top 2010PNT, Lenovo C200, and the newer Acer Aspire Revo models.

Keep in mind that this could be what the MacBook Pros will use in their refresh - whenever that happens.

• The platform comes on a PCI Express card
• ION systems will typically have 512MB of dedicated memory and HDMI output
• Supports netbooks with 10 and 12 inch screens
• The 10 inch model has 8 CPU cores, while the 12 inch version has 16
• The reason the 10 inch chip is less powerful is because there’s a tighter space with less thermal cooling in smaller netbooks
• Next-gen ION chips will support Optimus technology for automatic graphics switching, which means better battery life
• Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Zotac are among the launch partners with netbooks, all-in-one desktops, and nettops built around next-generation ION
• Next-generation ION systems should be priced about the same as first generation ION computers
• It’s not called ION 2

[Engadget, Liliputing]