Nvidia

Though we've see a decent selection of quad-core smartphones so far in 2012, Nvidia says there are a lot more to come.

Speaking at the company's annual investor meeting, Nvidia General Manager Mike Rayfield indicated that his company hopes to deliver 30 Tegra 3 handsets this year. Beyond just being faster and performing better, the new crop of smartphones also will be less expensive than earlier models.

Indeed, any new superphones can't come soon enough for Android early adopters in the United States. Even with high benchmarks and accolades, there's still a small contingent of users who complain that today's top Android handsets are "only dual-core".

The HTC One X, for instance, offers support for AT&T's 4G LTE network, but with a dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor. Contrast that with the global version and its quad-core CPU, and you can see where the chatter begins.

In the ever-evolving arms race that is Android hardware, it's easy to overlook the reasons why we don't have quad-core processors with LTE support. Though economics can play a part, it's not simply a matter of carriers or handset makers looking to cut corners. Rather, it's a case of trying to squeeze as much as possible into a superthin design. Up until now, the industry hasn't found a way to pack a 4G LTE modem and a quad-core CPU into a skinny form factor.

This week Nvidia also announced that its first LTE modem, the Icera 410, has received certification for AT&T's network. When paired with future Tegra processors, both the Icera 410 and its successor model, the Icera 410, should deliver performance and data speeds unlike anything we've had thus far.

So when will we see them in action? Stan Boland, Nvidia's senior vice president of Mobile Communications, says that the certification paves the way for Icera-powered LTE devices on the AT&T network through late this year and early in 2013.

(Via The Verge)