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ageia

Hot days and Hot3D in New Orleans

Two companies--respectively (I believe) the smallest and largest makers of graphics chips--announced on Sunday that they are developing new standard APIs (application programming interfaces) specifically for ray-traced computer graphics.

Caustic Graphics introduced CausticGL, an API designed to leverage the best aspects of OpenGL, the most widely supported 3D API on the market. CausticGL ties in with Caustic's accelerator chips and boards, which the company says can deliver some 20X the ray-tracing performance of a conventional CPU.

Nvidia offered OptiX (pronounced like "optics"), a name designed to resonate with PhysX, the physics API acquired last year when Nvidia … Read more

Nvidia launches graphics chip venture fund

Nvidia on Tuesday is launching the GPU Ventures Program, an initiative to identify and invest in early stage companies that use the graphics processor for visual and high-performance computing.

Nvidia is formalizing a process that it has engaged in for a number of years, Jeff Herbst, vice president of business development at Nvidia, said in a phone interview. Herbst has been involved in strategic partnerships at Nvidia for seven and a half years. (GPU stands for graphics processing unit.)

"We're looking at companies that are building businesses around the GPU. Whether they be 3D GUIs (graphical user interfaces), … Read more

Nvidia to acquire Ageia for the PhysX chip

Updated Tuesday 4:30pm to correct statements about how PhysX works with gaming consoles.

Nvidia snapped up Ageia on Monday, with plans to add Ageia's PhysX technology to its GeForce graphics chips.

Ageia makes a chip called PhysX that makes killing and blowing stuff up with a Playstation controller all that more lifelike, essential for satisfying a generation of video gamers who are apparently well-acquainted with what really happens when you hit a fuel truck with an RPG. In all seriousness, the processing power that's required to simulate events like explosions and smoke or fog is immense, so … Read more