NVIDIA SLI Technology and Intel Sandy Bridge Form the Ultimate Gaming PC

NVIDIA today announced that NVIDIA SLI technology has been licensed by the world‘s leading motherboard manufacturers – including Intel, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and EVGA – for use on their Intel P67 Express Chipset-based motherboards designed for the upcoming Intel Sandy Bridge processors.As a result, customers who purchase a SLI-certified P67-based motherboard and a Sandy Bridge processor can equip their PCs with any single or dual combination of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, including the recently released GeForce GTX 580 GPU, the world‘s fastest DX11 GPU."The combined processing prowess of Sandy Bridge and NVIDIA SLI technology will provide consumers with the building blocks for the ultimate gaming PC platform,” said Joel Christensen, General Manager of Intel Client Board Division at Intel Corporation. “Both NVIDIA and Intel continue to share a combined passion for furthering the PC as the definitive platform for gaming, and this combination will surely be attractive to anyone building or purchasing a brand new PC in 2011.With today‘s announcement, NVIDIA SLI technology is now available for all consumer-based desktop and mobile PC platforms, including the Intel Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo processors, as well as those based on the AMD Phenom II CPU.
NVIDIA DX11 GPUs are designed to deliver the world‘s fastest performance for DX11 games, and are the only consumer GPUs to feature multiple tessellation engines for advanced graphics rendering capabilities. With a certified NVIDIA SLI motherboard, gamers have the option to add a second GeForce GPU to their PC, which can result in up to 2x the overall graphics performance.NVIDIA GeForce GPUs also provide gamers with additional features not found on any other discrete graphics solutions, including NVIDIA PhysX technology for deeper gaming immersion, as well as support for NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, delivering eye-popping stereoscopic 3D on a single display or spanning across three screens for an immersive gaming environment."ASUS is excited to bring NVIDIA SLI technology to our latest P67 based motherboards for Sandy Bridge CPUs," said Joe Hsieh, Vice President of ASUSTeK Computer Inc. "SLI is the leading multi-GPU technology and is demanded by our enthusiast customers.

2010 Annual Annie Award Nods Announced

BURBANK, CA (December 6, 2010) – The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announces nominations today for the 38th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation including best animated feature, television production, commercials, short subjects, video games and outstanding individual achievements. The 2010 nominations for Best Animated Features are: Despicable Me (Illumination Entertainment); How to Train Your Dragon (DreamWorks Animation); Tangled (Disney); The Illusionist (Django Films); Toy Story 3 (Disney/Pixar).Nominations for this year’s Best Short Subject include “Coyote Falls” (Warner Bros. Animation), “Day & Night” (Pixar), “Enrique Wrecks the World” (House of Chai), “The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger” (Plymptoons Studio) and “The Renter” (Jason Carpenter). Best Animated Television Productions include “Futurama” (The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox), “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” (DreamWorks Animation), “Scared Shrekless” (DreamWorks Animation), “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” (Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.) and “The Simpsons” (Gracie Films).

Nominations for Best Animated Television Production for Children are “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “Fanboy & Chum Chum.” (Nickelodeon), “Adventure Time” and “Regular Show” (Cartoon Network) and “Cloudbread” (GIMC).“This has been an unprecedented year for animation, as the high quality of work represented by our nominees will attest,” says ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian. “On behalf of ASIFA-Hollywood, we congratulate all of the nominees and their respective studios.”For a complete listing of Annie Award nominations, tickets and event information, visit www.annieawards.org. Winners will be announced at the 38th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 5, 2011, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA.Special juried awards honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation will also be awarded: Winsor McCay Award – Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg and Matt Groening for career contributions to the art of animation; June Foray Award – Ross Iwamoto for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation; Ub Iwerks Award – Autodesk for the development of digital entertainment creation tools that play an essential role in animated productions, films, video games and commercials worldwide; Special Achievement Annie Award – “Waking Sleeping Beauty” for the documentary about the turbulent and fruitful years of Disney Animation (1984-1994) when the studio went from outworn anachronism to Hollywood juggernaut, creating a string of influential films and ushering in a ‘second golden age’ of animation.The Annie Awards’ black-tie ceremony will feature a lively mix of animation luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent to celebrate this year’s best of the best. A pre-reception begins at 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony following 7:00 pm. A post-show celebration immediately follows at UCLA’s Royce Hall. More than 1,500 entertainment industry insiders are expected to attend the annual Annie Awards.

ASIFA-Hollywood is the largest of an international network of chapters and supports a range of animation initiatives through its membership. Current projects include an animation archive, library and museum, classes and screenings, and animated film preservation efforts. The Industry’s oldest and most prestigious award, The Annie Award is considered an important industry benchmark and an annual predictor of the Academy Award for best animated feature.

2010 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature
Despicable Me – Illumination Entertainment
How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation
Tangled – Disney
The Illusionist – Django Films
Toy Story 3 – Disney/Pixar

Best Animated Short Subject
Coyote Falls - Warner Bros. Animation
Day & Night – Pixar
Enrique Wrecks the World - House of Chai
The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger - Plymptoons Studio
The Renter - Jason Carpenter

Best Animated Television Production
Futurama - The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
Kung Fu Panda Holiday - DreamWorks Animation
Scared Shrekless - DreamWorks Animation
Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Arc Troopers” - Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
The Simpsons - Gracie Films

Best Animated Television Production for Children
Adventure Time - Cartoon Network Studios
Cloudbread – GIMC
Fanboy & Chum Chum - Nickelodeon, Frederator
Regular Show - Cartoon Network Studios
SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game
Heavy Rain - Quantic Dream
Kirby's Epic Yarn - Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory
Limbo – Playdead
Shank - Klei Entertainment Inc.
 

NVIDIA Introduces NVS Business Graphics Solutions

NVIDIA announced today the immediate availability of the NVIDIA NVS 300 Business Graphics Solution, a graphics processor designed for the enterprise that delivers exceptional visual fidelity across up to eight displays while consuming minimal power.With nearly 25 percent more efficient power utilization1, the NVS 300 graphics processor is designed for mission-critical applications ranging from command and control centers, to securities trading floors, to digital signage installations.The NVS graphics processor brand has become the standard for multi-display business computing environments because it is easy to deploy, cost-effective and power efficient.The NVS 300 graphics processor simplifies IT administration, offering the most versatile display connectivity available in a low-profile, space saving graphics card design. Regardless of the display type (LCD, DLP or plasma) or system type (standard tower PC, workstation or small form factor system), the NVS 300 delivers the best image quality, supporting VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI at resolutions as high as 2560x1600.With built-in, new NVIDIA Mosaic technology2, and NVIDIA nView Desktop Management Software that support single or multi-display environments, the NVS 300 graphics processor improves user productivity by enabling efficient management of the Windows desktop across multiple displays. NVIDIA Mosaic technology provides seamless taskbar spanning, as well as transparent scaling of any application across up to eight displays. NVIDIA Mosaic technology can be used to enable one or more NVS 300 cards to drive either many independent displays simultaneously, or one ultra-high resolution display.

“The NVS 300 is built for demanding enterprises that require high reliability, improved manageability, and tremendous value,” said Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions Group, NVIDIA. “The ability to support legacy and current display types provides an upgrade path without disrupting existing, complex installations.”The NVS 300 graphics processor is designed, built and supported by NVIDIA to ensure reliable performance and maximum uptime for the most demanding operating environments. NVIDIA also offers dedicated customer support with personalized service for enterprise customers.The NVS 300 graphics processor is EnergyStar compliant, and with its built-in power management technology, offers exceptional energy efficiency, intelligently adjusting power consumption based on the applications in use—all without sacrificing performance. Its reliable, passive thermal design provides ultra quiet operation and increases the product’s lifespan.
The NVIDIA NVS 300 ($149 MSRP, USD) is available in PCI Express x16 and x1 configurations from major business PC and workstation OEMs, and from authorized distribution partners including: PNY Technolog in the Americas and Europe, ELSA in Japan, and Leadtek in Asia Pacific.