Graphics chip firm Nvidia has bought a raytracing firm based in Utah, which must surely be a reaction to Intel's plans to introduce discrete graphics products based on ray tracing. We'd got the impression that Nvidia didn't think that much of ray tracing - hey ho.

According to Hot Hardware, Ray Scale is a 10 year old startup based on folk at Utah University. The firm has a product called Lightnow, available for Autodesk Maya.

But Nvidia has always been more than a little lukewarm about ray tracing, more particularly in recent times, when Intel looks like it wants to move in on its patch with its project Larrabee. Intel is certainly galvanizing the graphics sector with its graphics plans.

We get the feeling that Nvidia is, in fact, running a little scared of Intel. The chip giant has a reputation for putting its paws into other sectors and gradually taking over the whole show. X

Check Out
Hot Hardware
Nvidia claims Intel Larrabee is slideware