Futuremark to bring 3D benchmarking tools to Android

PC benchmarking software company Futuremark announced on Tuesday that it has begun developing a version of its 3DMark software for Android tablets which it expects to have ready in 2012.

"In 2012 we will bring 3DMark to the Android platform with a professional grade benchmark that can be trusted by manufacturers, suppliers and vendors to provide the definitive measure of gaming performance on Android while showcasing the very best in real-time graphics and effects," said Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark in a statement on Tuesday.

With the upcoming release of devices powered by the Nvidia Tegra 3 such as the Asus Transformer Prime, Android tablets are about to experience a major boost in graphics capabilities. Therefore, it's a pretty good time to get into GPU benchmarking.

Futuremark says the app will measure gaming performance using rendering, CPU and physics tests, will include an online service to compare results between devices, and will give results that will be comparable to 3DMark for Windows 8, when it is released.