NVIDIA Kal-El Tablet Shown Running Windows 8

At Microsoft' Build developer conference, a reference tablet was spied sporting NVIDIA's Kal-El quad-core processor while running Windows 8. The tablet has been rumored to show at the event and at one time even thought to be the giveaway. But alas, the tablet given away turned out to be from Samsung sporting an Intel chip, while the Kal-El did appear but remained out of reach and under plexiglass.

The much anticipated NVIDIA Kal-El quad-core processor was first announced back in February, when it was slated to arrive sometime later this year. Both rumored dates for August and September have just about passed and it's still not certain when exactly Kal-El-toting tablets and smartphones might hit the market.

NVIDIA unveiled its Windows 8 developer program yesterday, but with the new operating system not set to launch until later in 2012, we certainly won't be seeing a complete Windows 8 tablet like the reference slate until many months down the road. Hopefully, an Android tablet with Kal-El will surface before year-end.

The folks at Engadget did manage to get several snapshots of the reference tablet and although they were not able to get a lot of details they were informed that the Kal-El is expected to offer significant gains in battery life, measured in days, not hours.