Nvidia lets you play cloud games in the car with GeForce Now expansion

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Nvidia announced that its GeForce Now cloud gaming service will be coming to cars from Hyundai, BYD, and Polestar.

The cloud gaming service cooked for a long time but now it’s hitting its stride with more than 25 million users and over 1,000 games. And in other news, contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn has partnered with Nvidia, which will provide components for automated electric vehicles manufactured by Foxconn.

Hyundai Motor Group, one of the world’s largest automakers with the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands;
BYD, the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs); and Swedish premium electric vehicle and lifestyle brand Polestar are the first to adopt GeForce Now in their vehicles.

Of course, it remains to be seen what kind of service is possible in cars, as playing a high-end cloud game over a 4G connection doesn’t sound too appealing. Danny Shapiro, vice president of automotive at Nvidia, said in a press briefing that WiFi connections (which are available in modern cars) would be the best solution and the company would work with carmakers to see what’s possible over 4G or 5G.

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“Nvidia will translate and transform how you can play games,” Shapiro said. “Our revolutionary streaming service GeForce Now is coming to the screens in your car. Powered by gaming supercomputers in the cloud, GeForce Now connects to the world’s biggest digital game stores. So users can stream across any device, including internet-enabled cars. No special equipment is required. You’ll be able to stream and play the biggest games where you charge or wait to pick up family members, and even entertain kids in the backseat.”

The reach of GeForce Now.

Today’s announcement expands Nvidia’s vehicle infotainment offerings, which include a suite of products and services that improve the cockpit experience. And it’s a sign that Nvidia has software to offer in addition to its traditional chips for automotive purposes.

Shapiro said that the new infotainment in cars with apps like GeForce Now will let the company stream a real-time, full PC-gaming experience beyond desktops, laptops and mobile devices, now to software-defined cars. Nvidia has made a major push to provide AI and graphics processing chips for cars, and how it’s moving into more automotive offerings.

The new GeForce Now offering can enhance time spent charging or riding in vehicles, as it enables front-seat occupants to stream games while parked, and passengers to game in the back seat if screens are available. RTX 4080 availability will replace 3080 as the highest tier for GeForce Now users who pay $20 a month, and it will be available in datacenters in January, said Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of gaming at Nvidia, in a press briefing.

GeForce Now uses low-latency streaming technology powered by GeForce servers in the cloud, enabling real-time gameplay with more than 1,000 titles, including top-rated ones such as A Plague Tale: Requiem, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, from PC game stores including Steam, the Electronic Arts app, Ubisoft, Epic Games Store and GOG.com. The service also includes many of the most popular free-to-play games like Fortnite, Lost Ark and Destiny 2.

Automakers are logging in

GeForce Now is available via Nvidia Drive.
GeForce Now is available via Nvidia Drive.

Hyundai Motor Group uses Nvidia Drive in-vehicle infotainment systems across its Hyundai, Kia and Genesis lineup, will include GeForce Now in select vehicle models.

BYD, which is developing its NEVs on the Nvidia Drive platform, is also working with Nvidia to bring the in-vehicle cloud gaming experience of GeForce Now to the international automotive market.

And Polestar, which is also powered by Nvidia Drive centralized compute, will bring the cloud gaming service to its electric vehicles.

GeForce Now is available from Nvidia in North America and Europe, and through GeForce Now Alliance partners in other parts of the world.

Foxconn partners with Nvidia on automated electric vehicles

Meanwhile, Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), the world’s largest technology manufacturer, today announced a strategic partnership to develop automated and autonomous vehicle platforms with Nvidia.

As part of the agreement, Foxconn will be a tier-one manufacturer, producing electronic control units (ECUs) based on the Nvidia Drive Orin chip platform for the global automotive market. It’s one more step toward autonomous electric cars.

Foxconn manufactured electric vehicles (EVs) will feature Drive Orin ECUs and Drive Hyperion sensors for highly automated driving capabilities.

“This strategic cooperation with NVIDIA strengthens the intelligent driving solutions Foxconn will be able to provide. Together, we are enabling the industry to build energy-efficient, automated vehicles,” said Eric Yeh, senior director of the software development center at Foxconn, in a statement. “This is a well-considered partnership that leverages unique strengths on each side in the pursuit of innovative EV development and opportunities.”

The partnership with Foxconn will allow Nvidia to further scale its efforts and meet growing industry demand as more transportation leaders select Drive Orin for intelligent vehicles, Nvidia said. In addition, by building EVs on the Drive Hyperion qualified sensor set, Foxconn will speed up its time-to-market and time-to- cost strategies.

“Our partnership with Foxconn will provide OEMs developing intelligent driving solutions with a world-class supplier that can scale for volume manufacturing of the Nvidia Drive Orin platform,” said Rishi Dhall, vice president of automotive at Nvidia, in a statement. “Foxconn’s decision to also use the Drive Hyperion sensor suite for its EVs will help accelerate their path to production without compromising safety, reliability or quality.”

The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company's headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company’s headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

The automotive-grade Nvidia Drive Orin system-on-a-chip achieves up to 254 trillions of operations per second and is designed to handle the large number of applications and deep neural networks that run simultaneously in autonomous vehicles.

Nvidia Drive Hyperion is a modular development platform and reference architecture for designing autonomous vehicles. Combined, they serve as the brain and central nervous system of the vehicle, processing massive amounts of sensor data in real time so autonomous vehicles can safely perceive, plan and act.

“Foxconn has selected Nvidia Drive Hyperion as the sensor architecture for its electric vehicles with highly automated driving capabilities,” Shapiro said. “By building their EVs on Drive Hyperion’s qualified sensor set, Foxconn will speed its time to market and lower costs without compromising safety, reliability or quality. Foxconn will also be a tier one manufacturer producing electronic control units based on Nvidia Drive Orin, available for the global automotive market.”

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz

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