Bangalore: Significant chunks of the technology being described as the "new Holy Grail of games" that drives the world's fastest gaming personal computers, were contributed by Indian engineers — hardware experts based in Bangalore and software whizz-kids in Pune. nVidia, U.S.-based leader in programmable graphic processors — the chips that PC makers use to craft machines optimised for high-end 2-D and 3-D computer games and graphics design — released the latest or "quad" version of the GeForce 7900 series chips, which are reckoned to be the fastest hardware currently available for the galloping games applications of desktop and portable PCs. Machines fuelled with four of these chips working together, were unveiled by half a dozen PC makers at the CeBit computer show in Germany earlier this month. But few of the screaming youngsters, who tried their hand at the dizzying games, were aware that significant portions of the number-crunching, stamp-sized, slabs of silicon that made them happen, were crafted by engineers, just as young, working at nVidia's Bangalore hardware development centre — and with the `desi' software player, PACE Soft Silicon in Pune. Last week nVidia's co-founder and chief executive, Jen-Hsun Huang was in Pune to announce that PACE had just been acquired and her 100 odd engineers would form the core of the combined entity's newest global software development centre. In fact, Dwight Diercks, nVidia's vice-president in charge of Software Engineering, told The Hindu , PACE had been quietly working on nVidia projects since October last year and the strengths of the Pune group in the portable platform arena, would enable nVidia to sharply increase its offerings in the booming business of graphical applications for mobile phones. PACE's technology head, Jaya Panvalkar, would continue to lead the India-based software effort as nVidia's Director, Software Engineering. In an unusual — but for nVidia, characteristically informal — exercise, the company invited the 80-plus final year students whom it had hired after campus interviews across India, to join in the technical presentations and media events that marked the formal opening of its newest design centre. Also present were leading Indian animation and computer graphics players who have been nVidia users for years. nVidia also used the event to unveil the first ever extension of its graphics chip technology for the notebook PC — recognition that hardcore corporate users of the portable platform who lugged their laptops across the world, to do business, also liked to play games, when no one was looking. source: http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/20/stories/2006032003172000.htm
No surprise there, a lot of Indian people are employed for their talents in this field. Intel's Israeli team developed Conroe and Merom I believe.
