Nvidia SHIELD Android TV will be available in Europe tomorrow

by Mark Tyson on 30 September 2015, 15:01

Tags: NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

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Nvidia SHIELD Android TV

Nvidia has announced that its SHIELD Android TV console will become available in Europe from tomorrow. From Thursday, 1st October, European customers in U.K., France, Germany, and Scandinavia will be able to purchase the device. Select retailers, like GAME in the UK, will stock the 'console' and you will also be able to pick it up online at the Nvidia SHIELD store, for example.

The Nvidia SHIELD TV is powered by the company's Tegra X1 processor. Nvidia claims this makes its set top box contender "3x faster the new (2015) Apple TV, 25x faster than Roku 3, and 8x faster than Fire TV". The device comes with a MicroSD slot, and USB 3.0 ports for expandable storage and the base model has 16GB of built-in storage. Nvidia also sells a PRO model with a 500GB HDD installed.

With its fast processing, modern Android TV OS and Google Cast compatibility Nvidia thinks that its box is the smartest smart TV add on you can get. Looking at what services it can handle, most popular viewing/streaming apps such as Netflix 4K and YouTube 4K, YouTube, KODI (XBMC), and PLEX are supported. The box also boasts support for 10-bit colour and Dolby 7.1 surround sound.

On top of the above cinematic entertainment you get a healthy dollop of gaming capabilities thanks to the easy installation of Android games, the specially enhanced Nvidia SHIELD games (about 300 of them to choose from) and the GeForce NOW games streaming service - also launching in Europe tomorrow.

Nvidia GeForce NOW

GeForce NOW is an important USP to Nvidia. A subscription to this service allows the user to enjoy 'instant' games streaming of a choice of popular PC titles "at up to 1080p and 60fps". The subscription allows users to enjoy more than 50 games that they may or may not own on other platforms.

Titles such as The Witcher 3 and Resident Evil: Revelations 2 are included in the service and other titles can be purchases and played instantly via the online game store. The GeForce NOW cloud gaming service is powered by six strategically located Nvidia data centres around the world.

Pricing and accessories

Nvidia is making a range of accessories available to help improve the entertainment and fun value of your SHIELD TV. HEXUS was emailed an updated price list just a few minutes ago, see below, earlier reports that aren't updated will be incorrect.

Product/MSRP

Sterling £

Shield ATV Base (16G + Controller)

£               149,99

Shield ATV PRO (500G + Controller)

£               219,99

Shield Wireless Controller

£                 49,99

Shield Remote

£                 39,99

Stand

£                 24,99

   

GeForce NOW

£                   7,49

 



HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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So realistically, I cant really see the need for a 500GB model when there is an expansion slot.

£49.99 for a controller is serious money though. Although there is one included with the device, I would imagine that most people interested in this would want an additional controller at a minimum. That puts the basic minimum total at £200.

If you went all in:
£150 Console
£150 Extra 3 controllers
£40 Remote
£25 Stand

Total £365… Ouch…

I kind of want an Android TV device to replace my OpenElec Pi2 (it doesn't look like they are going to officially support Kodi 15.2 for a long time which causes problems when using a mixed Kodi/OpenElec environment with an external SQL database) but so far none of them are particularly compelling. Would be nice to see coming in lower in the market and ignoring the ‘gaming’ element.
The previous shield devices have been of really poor quality. This is going to be a miss for me.
At £200 I'd rather build an AM1 or FM2 system and then use Steam streaming….and save the subscription cost!
For £25 quid, I would expect the Shield stand to beam the game into my brain!
Isn't it funny that shield is becoming less and less portable and more and more expensive?