Is This Nvidia's Shield Gaming Tablet?

By Kevin Parrish
published

Thanks to @evleaks, we now have an idea of what Nvidia's Shield Tablet may look like when it's released, presumably sometime this month. As shown in the image, the Shield launcher is fully intact, listing the Shield-only versions of Half-Life 2 and Portal, among a few other titles.

As previously reported, the Shield Tablet is expected to have a 7.9-inch screen with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, a Tegra K1 processor with a 192-core GPU, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The tablet may also include a 7MP camera on the back and a 4.8MP camera on the front, along with wireless (N or AC) and Bluetooth connectivity.

Whether or not the specs are the real deal is unknown at this point. A different set of specs emerged back in April, listing the Tegra K1 chip powering a 1440 x 810 screen, 4 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, and a 0.3MP camera. However, both will be compatible with Nvidia's game streaming technology that allows Kepler-based machines to stream PC games directly to the Android tablet.

The BBC reported last week that Nvidia plans to offer a separate "budget priced" controller, seemingly backing up the possibility that the follow-up to the original Shield will be in tablet form. As it stands right now, Nvidia customers can already pair a third-party Bluetooth controller to their Shield device, emulating a console experience.

Last July, Nvidia launched the Shield handheld console for $250. Since then, the company has knocked $50 off the price. The cost for the Shield Tablet may be in the same ballpark considering the size of the screen and the zippy Tegra K1 packed inside.

As always, Nvidia is keeping quiet save for acknowledging that a follow-up device to the Shield is definitely in the works.

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Kevin Parrish
Topics
Nvidia
Tablets
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • TechyInAZ
    Interesting. I wonder if the performance increase will be compared to the tegra note 7.
    Reply
  • jasonelmore
    i really hope they make another clam shell model.
    Reply
  • kumouri
    The device in the picture (through terrible, terrible measurement with a piece of paper) is not 4:3 and therefore not 2048 x 1536. It's somewhat close to 16:10 (1.6:1) at 1.53:1.
    Reply
  • venym
    Is it just me or does that look like a large HTC One?
    Reply
  • penn919
    As much as I'd much prefer to game with a clam shell model, having it in the tablet form adds much more value to it. You can use all of that power for other things rather than just gaming.
    Reply
  • nascarf1
    i want orginal shield !! not a tablet !!!
    Reply
  • Baleoce
    The press release material has actually leaked for the tablet / controller as of yesterday. http://www.overclock3d.net/articles/gpu_displays/nvidia_shield_tablet_and_wireless_controller/1
    Reply
  • somebodyspecial
    Why do people only assume 1 device? I think there are two sets of specs because one is a tablet (for people who want a bigger screen, hence a gamepad addon) and the other is probably shield rev2 in clamshell form. It only cost 10mil to dev shield 1 and they don't need to do much more than drop in the new chip (same tdp etc) to have shield 2 (my guess is 2mil tops to dev this one). The tablet is a new design, though probably not costly either as they already have tegra note7 etc. It's not like they're coming up with two entirely new devices here. They're just taking the old housings and plopping in K1's with a few minor changes yet serving a wider range of markets and both being capable gaming systems for people who don't want to spend $400 on a ps4/xbox1 and like cheap games vs. $60 a whack for consoles.

    They already have both units made, so swapping a K1 into them both makes sense and is easy. Probably less than 5mil each to develop so why not put them both out? I'm fairly certain they sold at least 100K shields in the last year and that is all that was needed to recoup 10mil dev costs if they made $100 on each (probably fairly reasonable with the BOM on Vita/3ds being $170/101ea and that was before some shrinks of everthing in them now). I'd put both units out since it's so cheap and gets tablet users and handheld gamers to bite. The tablet has 2GB and the shield 2 probably has the 4GB since it's directly aimed at gaming which also makes sense. As long as neither is over $250 they'll sell well vs. 3ds/vita which are about the same after checking amazon/newegg for the latest models of each and both suck in comparison power wise to K1's perf and usability with K1 having everything android can run etc.
    Reply
  • roymustang
    Why is this article so speculative? At the time of publishing all the info about the new Shield Tablet was available online. The screen is 8" IPS with a resolution of 1900x1200. Front and back 5MP cameras, stylus support with included stylus, MicroSD, miniHDMI, microUSB. The 16GB Wifi model will be $299 and the 32GB Wifi+LTE model will be $399.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    The Xiaomi A0101 has been out for a few weeks now, it's running the Tegra K1. It looks like a powerful little tablet, hitting over 40,000 in Antutu; and some sources are showing upwards of 300 gigaflops of GPU power.
    Reply