The 2011 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) just ended in Las Vegas this past weekend. Chrome OS did not have any (or at least very little) presence, but Google’s Android played a pretty big role in various tablets, especially Motorola’s Xoom tablet and Atrix 4G phone which docks into a dumb terminal notebook and provides all the processing power.

There were some promising CPU or as AMD prefers, APU, announcements that would benefit Chrome OS or actually any operating system for that matter, because they promise improved performance, better graphics, and improved power efficiency. AMD’s new Fusion processors look to be the most promising for future Chrome OS notebooks, because they will be low-cost chips that combine a discrete graphics GPU on the same die as the CPU. AMD is able to marry the technology they obtained in their purchase of ATI with a dual core low power CPU. AMD is promising 1080p HD video playback and 10 hour battery life.

Nvidia’s new dual core Tegra 2 processor was present in some 4G phones and the Xoom tablet and might have the capacity to power a Chrome OS netbook, but Nvidia’s big announcement was its partnership with the ARM processor which powers numerous mobile devices. It sounds like Nvidia is going to elevate ARM beyond cell phones and tablets to super computers. To add credence to that announcement, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will support ARM processors. This may not sit well with Intel and AMD, but it is good for consumers because it will promote more competition, lower prices, and improved performance.

The future of computing looks exciting especially for greater performance with lower power and improved graphics. In the past, discrete graphics were really only needed by gamers or 3D graphic designers. My advice was often to get a Xbox or Playstation if you wanted to play games. However, with the advent of compressed streaming 720 and 1080p HD video, WebGL graphics (for an example check out the cool Google Body web site) and hardware accelerated Flash video better graphic processors are needed, even on netbook and tablet devices because people want to use these devices to watch video on from NetFlix, Hulu, Xfinity Fancast and Amazon.

Related articles

• Motorolla Xoom nabs best in show at CES (coolest-gadgets.com)
• CES: Nvidia chips to power ARM-based PCs (v3.co.uk)
• Video: Intel Shows Off a Cr-48 at CES (thechromesource.com)
• AMD Fusion: GPU and CPU Hook Up for Better Battery Life [Amd] (gizmodo.com)
• Samsung Sliding PC 7 is Perfect for Chrome OS (thechromesource.com)