While it’s not quite 8-cores, the Tegra chipset from NVIDIA that powers the Zune HD, among some unannounced phones, has eight independent processors for high definition videos, fast task switching, smooth transitions, and other graphics prowess.

Specs of the chipset reveal 8 distinct processors for different audio and video tasks, along with two ARM cores, which would make Tegra a dual-core ARM chip:

Specifically, the Tegra provides the Zune HD with eight independent processors, each designed for a specific class of tasks – among them are an HD video processor, an audio processor, a graphics processor, and two ARM cores. Furthermore, the processors can work together or independently to minimize power consumption.

We’re going to have to wait and see if HTC brings Tegra to mainstream Windows Phone adoption. HTC has had a solid relationship with chipmaker Qualcomm and has committed to bringing some Snapdragon chips clocking in at 1 GHz to the market. On another note, it seems that Snapdragon chips have yet to be optimized for the mobile screen, with the Toshiba TG01′s 1 GHz processor showing some hiccups.

(via: WMExperts)