Nvidia Shield tablet and controller slides are leaked

by Mark Tyson on 21 July 2014, 10:58

Tags: NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), PC

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qacguf

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We have heard rumours about the successor to the Nvidia Shield handheld over recent months and many of the whispers appear to be correct. VideoCardz has uncovered the best evidence yet for such a device and also has lots of details about the spec and accessories. Just before the weekend it published a large collection of what look like official presentation slides - which include specification lists, availability and (dollar) pricing.

HEXUS published the news that an Nvidia countdown timer had appeared on the web, just before the weekend and according to VideoCardz that countdown will end on the day of the Shield Tablet launch – that's 22nd July – tomorrow, at 2pm UK time. The timer page suggests that "the ultimate is coming" and the VideoCardz leaked slides boast that the Shield Tablet is "the ultimate tablet for gamers". So this tablet is very likely to be the 'surprise'.

click to zoom

Nvidia Shield Tablet key specs for $299 ($399 in brackets) version

  • Processor: Tegra K1 SoC with 192 CUDA cores, QuadCore 2.2 GHz A15 CPU
  • RAM: 2GB
  • Storage: 16GB (32GB) + microSD card slot
  • Screen: IPS LCD 8-inch diagonal with 1920×1200 pixel resolution
  • Connectivity/ports: Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi plus LTE modem microSIM), Bluetooth 4, GPS, GLONASS, Micro HDMI 1.4a, Micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm combi audio port
  • Multimedia: stereo speakers, 5MP HDR camera on both front and back
  • Stylus: DirectStylus 2 included
  • Battery: 10 hours video playback capability
  • Dimensions: 221 x 126 x 9.2mm, 390g

We also got to see an interesting slide showing comparative benchmarks. Nvidia's new baby soundly beats the likes of the Samsung Tab Pro 8.4 and Apple iPad Air in various tests as you can see.

An undoubtedly important part of the Nvidia Shield Tablet experience will be the new Shield Wireless Controller. It also has a Micro-USB 2.0 port for charging, or wired play, and a 3.5mm combi jack for your headset/mic. This Wi-Fi Direct controller offers both much lower latency and a faster data rate than a Bluetooth alternative would. Nvidia quotes a 10ms latency (which would be 20ms for a Bluetooth alternative) and a 24Mbps data rate.

European availability from 14th August

Finally let's recap the availability and prices. While the tablet, controller and cover accessory will all be available in the US & Canada from 29th July we have also been given a European launch date of 14th August with further regions during the autumn. It will be interesting to see how the US dollar prices translate to Euros/pounds. Fingers are crossed for a reasonable exchange rate/figure.

HEXUS Forums :: 10 Comments

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Posted by Jowsey - Mon 21 Jul 2014 11:30
Front facing speakers are good to see. Micro-SD slot is good to see. Option for LTE model is good to see.

That controller looks brutally uncomfortable though and the lack of AC wifi is an annoyance. Completely wasted money on the camera's IMHO.

Though the power of the chip looks compelling I'll wait till I see third party benchmarks and reviews and battery life summaries. I don't think this thing will last long away from a wall.

I want it to though, as I'd love to grab one. But if this isn't an obvious improvement over the nVidia Shield I know which I'll be getting.
Posted by wyte_w0lf - Mon 21 Jul 2014 11:58
Personally i prefer the all in one controller with a protected screen format than two items detached.
Posted by DemonHighwayman - Mon 21 Jul 2014 12:54
wyte_w0lf
Personally i prefer the all in one controller with a protected screen format than two items detached.
My thoughts exactly, given that its aimed at gamers! to use this as a games machine properly you need to spend an extra $98 for a controller and stand.
Posted by Spud1 - Mon 21 Jul 2014 13:11
Interesting - will have to see how it plays out.

Steaming PC games to your tablet is old news of course, and personally I will stick with SplashTop as the latency is low enough as I am happy to lose out on image quality - but can see this as being excellent for keeping that HD quality and outputting to a large TV.

The controller does look rather naff though, I'd be carrying about a bluetooth keyboard/mouse tbh :)

If the price genuinely is as low as £210-£220 ($299+tax = $360, converted to GBP) it could be a really great buy, if you have a supported card..
Posted by CampGareth - Mon 21 Jul 2014 13:46
wyte_w0lf
Personally i prefer the all in one controller with a protected screen format than two items detached.

Except the shield 1 didn't actually sell very well, hence the form factor change. I nearly bought one myself but with that design you couldn't really use it for watching videos comfortably, and you couldn't touch the screen that easily to do things like browse the web or chat with people, it was purely a machine for gaming, and I'm not sure a handheld games machine has been a viable purchase since smartphones became popular.

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