NVIDIA today officially unveiled the second generation ION platform for Intel Atom-based netbooks and small form factor desktops.
The NVIDIA ION 2 chipset provides netbooks with “10 times the graphics performance of standard netbooks” and “up to 10 hours of battery life”.
It features a discrete NVIDIA GPU with dedicated memory that attaches to Intel Atom Pine Trail processors (N450 and N470 in netbooks).
The GPU supports 1080p video playback, as well as 3D gaming, according to the chip maker.
For longer battery life, the ION platform incorporates NVIDIA Optimus switchable graphics technology. The technology combines the ION GPU with Intel Atom’s integrated GMA 3150 chip and chooses on-the-fly the best graphics processor for running a given application.
The ION 2-powered netbooks are expected to hit the market by this summer. The first models will be the 10-inch Acer Aspire One 532G and 12-inch ASUS 1201PN.