Nvidia introduced switchable graphics several years ago, and back then it was called hybrid graphics. The only problem was, noone was switching. Today they unveiled Nvidia Optimus, a switchable graphics technology that automatically switches to either the low-power integrated chip for extended battery life or the discrete Nvidia GPU for HD videos and games.
As we saw with the new M11X from Alienware with switchable graphics the discrete Nvidia GPU can allow for some pretty graphics intensive operations. The only problem with this is that you have to actually  push a button to make the switch. With this new option the graphics chip switches itself automatically based on the graphics load.
Checkout the scores before and after the switch:
The biggest ingredient in this new system is Nvidia’s custom drivers, which can detect whether a given workload can be run efficiently through the integrated chipset or need a boost from the discrete GPU. This transfer occurs instantaneously and the user doesn’t even notice the switch. Here is a video from Engadget playing around with an Asus UL50VF with the new switchable graphics system.
Nvidia said Optimus will be supported in Intel’s Core i3, i5, i7, and Core 2 Duo as well as all Pine Trail netbooks. The first notebooks are due outshortly including Asus UL50VF, N61Jv, N71Jv, N82Jv and U30Jc, and netbooks shortly thereafter.
