Nvidia Could Be Working On Two New Shield TV Models

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Photo Source: Nvidia

Nvidia might actually be preparing to show the Shield TV some love. The set-top box has been the green-headed stepchild for years, with its last hardware update arriving in 2017, but XDA-Developers reported yesterday on the mounting evidence that Nvidia could refresh the Shield TV soon.

Some of that evidence was discovered last month when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates telecommunications devices in the U.S., shared new filings involving the Shield TV. Those filings referenced the "NVIDIA Corporation SHIELD Android TV Game Console P3430." The currently available version of the Shield TV is model P2897, which means that model P3430 could be a new generation of Nvidia's set-top box.

Another filing was related to the P2897, so Nvidia could be refreshing the current Shield TV hardware, too. This led XDA-Developers to speculate that Nvidia actually has two new Shield TV products in the works. The first could be a simple update to the 2017 model with the new Tegra X1, which is said to offer higher clock speeds at lower voltages than the first iteration of the system-on-a-chip, but the second would be a more substantial update.

XDA-Developers said it found references in Nvidia's kernel source code and the Shield Experience 8.0 software to a new device called "sif." These references suggested that Nvidia plans to release a new Shield TV that added SD card support but dropped the USB port and TV Tuner support. Those changes might hint at other hardware revisions such as a smaller case, but even on their own they'd be enough to warrant a new model number.

Shield Experience 8.0 also upgraded the Shield TV to Android 9 Pie, which Nvidia said made it the first Android TV device to support the latest version of the operating system, and introduced several new audiovisual features. It would make sense for Nvidia to release that update ahead of a Shield TV refresh just to make sure it doesn't have to update its marketing materials or fix a bunch of bugs soon after it starts selling new hardware.

We've reached out to Nvidia to see if the company would offer more information about what it has planned for the Shield TV lineup. With mounting evidence in public code, regulatory filings, etc. it's starting to seem increasingly likely that the company will have something to announce soon.

Nathaniel Mott
Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

3 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tomasf
    I hope the make a new device that I can actually put in my living room and doesn't make it look like a 13 y/o kids room.
    Reply
  • AlistairAB
    Another wasted opportunity by nVidia. We already know ARM is the future. 4 x 3.0 Ghz A76 CPUs married with the cheapest turing GPU (the GTX 1650) running at low power in a SoC would beat the PS4 for $200 and be a great product. They don't even try. They want to make money off of silicon that costs $10. The Raspberry Pi 4 has a faster CPU than the shield TV. The low power version of the 1650 is a 35W max chip, so about the same as the Wii U, about 1/4 as much on average vs the launch PS4 most likely. Can use the chip in a Nintendo console also.

    I've been waiting 4 years. I've already given up. We know whatever they will release will be half-baked, I might buy the next Apple TV 4K instead at this point.
    Reply
  • gggplaya
    AlistairAB said:
    Another wasted opportunity by nVidia. We already know ARM is the future. 4 x 3.0 Ghz A76 CPUs married with the cheapest turing GPU (the GTX 1650) running at low power in a SoC would beat the PS4 for $200 and be a great product. They don't even try. They want to make money off of silicon that costs $10. The Raspberry Pi 4 has a faster CPU than the shield TV. The low power version of the 1650 is a 35W max chip, so about the same as the Wii U, about 1/4 as much on average vs the launch PS4 most likely. Can use the chip in a Nintendo console also.

    I've been waiting 4 years. I've already given up. We know whatever they will release will be half-baked, I might buy the next Apple TV 4K instead at this point.

    Games written for x86 won't play natively on ARM processors unless they're designed to do so from the beginning. Even Epic games had to hire an ARM game developer (tenacent) to make Fortnite in parallel with the x86 versions. So it's not like if nVidia built an rediculously powerful shield, that there would be the top tier games to play on it.

    Also, ATV 4k is awesome, I have a nimbus controller for it. It actually has better games for kids than xbox.
    Reply