Nvidia wasn't able to get its graphics chips into either the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4, so it's doing the next best thing by trying to obviate home consoles altogether. Today the company introduces its new $299 Shield Tablet: an 8-inch Android device designed to sate all your gaming needs at once. It's powered by the souped-up Tegra K1 processor that Nvidia debuted to much fanfare in January, and already has a number of major game titles optimized to make use of its extra power. It's also compatible with a new Shield wireless controller and the same game-streaming capability as its predecessor Shield - allowing you to remotely play a game running on your PC at home. With a mini-HDMI connection outputting 1080p content to the nearest HDTV, the Shield Tablet can be a jack of all trades by either playing Android games or streaming PC titles into the living room.



The SHIELD Tablet has some impressive specifications for a tablet. Starting with the Tegra K1 SoC, it includes a full 192 CUDA core Kepler SMX unit. This is basically, with only minor modifications, the same GPU architecture found in the GTX 780 and similar desktop GeForce cards. The frequency hits as high as 2.2 GHz, which is faster than the 1.9 GHz of the Tegra 4. Both a 16GB Wi-Fi (802.11n 2x2 MIMO in both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz) and a 32GB LTE version will be available (pricing and availability on the next page). If you are looking for a 32GB Wi-Fi only model, you aren't going to find it. If you need more storage, there is a MicroSD card slot that supports up to 128 GB capacities. The display is a very sharp 8-in 1920x1200 IPS screen with multi-touch capability (of course) and the stylus technology is upgraded to DirectStylus 2 that claims improved sensitivity. The front facing speakers found on the Tegra Note 7 continue to exist here, which is a great move in my opinion; rear facing speakers just don't make sense anymore. The cameras (both front and rear) are 5MP.

The US and Canada will get the Shield Tablet first, with a 16GB Wi-Fi-only variant costing $299 in the States and a 32GB LTE model priced at $399. To get the maxed-out Shield Tablet suite, you'd need an extra $59 for the Wi-Fi controller, $39 for the cover, and a few extra bucks to buy the mini-HDMI cable that's sadly absent from the retail box. Europe follows from the middle of August and availability in other regions will be announced in the fall.