Nvidia Shield 2 May Ship in July

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

The latest rumor claims that Shield 2 will ship towards the end of next month.

We already know that Nvidia’s Shield 2 handheld Android console is on the way. According to specs listed on an AnTuTu benchmark, the device will sport the company’s new Tegra K1 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz, a screen with a 1440 x 810 resolution, and Android 4.4.2. The device will also include 4 GB of memory, 16 GB of internal storage and a front-facing camera.

Now there’s a date that may or may not be accurate: July 22. That makes sense actually: the original Nvidia Shield launched on July 31, 2013, so it appears that Nvidia may be trying to keep launch windows 12 months apart. Actually the original Shield was slated for June 2013, but was pushed back a month. Hopefully the same won’t be true for the second-generation model.

As for the price, that’s unknown for now, but keep in mind that Nvidia tried to sell the original Shield for $349.99, but was pushed to knock $50 off due to pressure from the gaming community. Nvidia knocked off another $50 earlier this year, and is now offering $25 USD in Google Play credit with each $199 Shield purchase. Not too shabby.

Currently Nvidia’s Shield is the only mobile gaming platform where you can play Valve Software’s Half-Life 2 and Portal. For the uninitiated, Nvidia’s Shield has a built-in 5-inch touch screen with a 1280 x 720 resolution (294 PPI), the Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, mini-HDMI output, a microSD card slot, dual-band Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and more.

The big selling point with Shield is that customers with a gaming machine that uses a Kepler-based Nvidia GeForce GPU can stream their compatible games to the Shield. There are also plenty of great Android games as well that are compatible with the Shield’s controller and Tegra chip. Thus the original Shield caters to two sets of gamers: the Android crowd and Nvidia GeForce customers.

Sources state that unlike the original Shield, the new Tegra K1-based model will ship worldwide. The first Shield unit only shipped within the United States and Canada.

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Kevin Parrish
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ChiefScooter
    "the original Nvidia Shield launched on July 31, 2014"

    Hot darn, the original Shield launched in the future and was sold in the past??

    Just kidding, but it is a little typo. :)
    Reply
  • nascarf1
    cool k1 chips !
    Reply
  • kawininjazx
    A cool device but overpriced. You can get a Vita or 3DS way cheaper with a much better gaming library, the hardcore gaming side of Android is pretty limited to say the least.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    You can get a Vita or 3DS way cheaper with a much better gaming library.

    I'd say all the games I have on my PC make for a much better library than the Vita's or 3DS'.
    Reply
  • sicom
    A cool device but overpriced. You can get a Vita or 3DS way cheaper with a much better gaming library, the hardcore gaming side of Android is pretty limited to say the least.
    My intuition tells me that most people who purchase this device get it for the PC streaming capability.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    I bet the 5 people who bought the first one are pretty miffed.
    Reply
  • airborne11b
    5 people? For those in the know, SHIELD is by far the best handheld device that's ever been created and the library of games is magnitudes more than any other handheld.

    TEGRA games, Google Playstore mobile games(all with gamepad mapper for full controller support), emulators and roms for tons of systems, to include NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS and PS2..... AND the ability to stream PC games from steam and origin... all on one full android device that can do more than all this....

    If you're into games and you don't have a SHIELD, you're an idiot. lol. Especially since $199 - $300 pricetag is extremely cheap considering how much this handheld offers.

    And no, no one who bought the original shield is mad that Gen2 is coming out. SHIELD 1 was so good, I can't wait to buy a gen2 version.
    Reply
  • envain
    Any word on a SD slot? 16gb doesn't seem that much if you wanna pack it full of games.
    Reply
  • Djentleman
    4gb of memory? That's a lot. I wonder if they have plans to port other PC games to android. If they do, they would have something very unique and popular device.
    Reply
  • KrazyKirby
    5 people? For those in the know, SHIELD is by far the best handheld device that's ever been created and the library of games is magnitudes more than any other handheld.

    TEGRA games, Google Playstore mobile games(all with gamepad mapper for full controller support), emulators and roms for tons of systems, to include NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS and PS2..... AND the ability to stream PC games from steam and origin... all on one full android device that can do more than all this....

    If you're into games and you don't have a SHIELD, you're an idiot. lol. Especially since $199 - $300 pricetag is extremely cheap considering how much this handheld offers.

    And no, no one who bought the original shield is mad that Gen2 is coming out. SHIELD 1 was so good, I can't wait to buy a gen2 version.
    5 people? For those in the know, SHIELD is by far the best handheld device that's ever been created and the library of games is magnitudes more than any other handheld.

    TEGRA games, Google Playstore mobile games(all with gamepad mapper for full controller support), emulators and roms for tons of systems, to include NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS and PS2..... AND the ability to stream PC games from steam and origin... all on one full android device that can do more than all this....

    If you're into games and you don't have a SHIELD, you're an idiot. lol. Especially since $199 - $300 pricetag is extremely cheap considering how much this handheld offers.

    And no, no one who bought the original shield is mad that Gen2 is coming out. SHIELD 1 was so good, I can't wait to buy a gen2 version.


    Yea, it's actually more like 12 of us now. But if you're emulating PS2s I thing you likely have a midget alienware and not a SHIELD, SHIELD cant emulate PS2.
    Reply