Video is quickly becoming the metric by how computing platforms are measured: can a given device play back SD video? HD video? Can it encode them, too?
As of now, these are the dividing lines between netbooks and their more powerful cousins, the ultraportable netbooks. Why I seem to recall Nvidia stoutly maintaining that its ION platform (seriously, it's just a GeForce 9400M, people!) plays back video smoothly, it apparently feels that it could use a kick in the pants from its GPU capabilities. (Nvidia also launched its next-generation GPU-as-CPU architecture, Fermi, on Wednesday.)
According to Hexus.net, NotebookJournal.de has let the cat out of the bag with the video above, which Hexus claims is scheduled for an announcement on Oct. 6. In a nutshell, Nvidia will announce Flash will now be processed using the ION, improving performance dramatically. Here's hoping that it's merely a software or driver upgrade, so those of you with existing Ion-based netbooks will get an unexpected performance boost.
EDIT: The above video has been made private, so you won't be able to play it.
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