Electonista has revealed some details about NVIDIA's upcoming Ion platform, after a press release held in Taiwan today. The Ion, which integrates the GeForce 9400M with Atom processors, will be released in spring this year. Contrary to belief, it will be available in a "very small, affordable" desktop computer, instead of a netbook or other portable device.
Interestingly, the aforementioned desktop (the manufacturer of this hasn't been revealed) will be around the $299 mark, however that's for the extremely barebones models, and there will be higher priced ones with components such as optical drives included. The Ion will be a strong competitor for Intel's just released GN40 chipset, as NVIDIA's offering will be up to 5 times faster, whilst retaining the GN40's battery life. Additionally, it can smoothly play most modern games and decode 1080p video without problems.
There are a couple companies interested in the Ion, including Apple which is rumored to be building an Ion based Mac mini. Lastly, NVIDIA has obtained Windows Hardware Quality Labs certification from Microsoft, giving the Ion complete compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows 7, when it's released
Check out this video of the Ion being demonstrated by NVIDIA's Drew Henry:
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