Nvidia has announced the Tegra 4i processor, which includes an integrated LTE chip as well as most of the graphical punch of the flagship Tegra 4 chip announced at CES.

This means Nvidia is to enter into the LTE game with the Tegra 4i. The processor is also said to have the most powerful GPU in its price band and matches all the camera and video functionality to be included in Nvidia's standard Tegra 4 chip.

The SoC will use an ARM R4 A9 quad-core processor which runs at 2.3 GHz as well as feature a slightly less-powerful Tegra 4 GPU. The A9 R4 chip in the new Tegra 4i should give a 15 to 30 per cent performance increase over conventional A9 processors.

The new Tegra 4i chip is also apparently around half the size of competing quad-core LTE solutions, which means manufacturers should be able to squeeze more smartphone around the Nvidia chip in a smaller package.

All that power will likely put a serious strain on the battery. Nvidia has included an extra battery saver core in the SoC, which it should revert to when all the grunt of the quad-core processor isn't required. The smaller size also helps contribute to the battery efficiency, which Nvidia promises will be better than conventional Tegra 4 and Tegra 3 chips.

Tegra 4i promises everything you would expect from a new top-of-the-line system on a chip. You get access to Nvidia's Tegra Zone gaming, for top-quality app downloads. It will also be compatible with both phones and tablets with 1080p screens.

Also included is the computational photography tech, which Nvidia talked about at CES. This allows for things like always-on HDR, HDR video and instant HDR snaps. The camera tech can also track moving objects, as you would see on a DSLR. There is even a HDR panorama mode. 

Handsets using the Tegra 4i chip should be appearing by the end of this year in certain regions, although we haven't yet had confirmed exactly which.