nVidia shield announce two new products

[goober]

The Tablet is actually pretty good for the price they want. I just wish they would have just done it at 9 inches since that's the sweet spot for a true MULTI-media device and if you're pairing a damn controller to it, that small increase isn't going to change much.

I also REALLY wish they'd have done a proper Shield 2. Kind of amazingly stupid that they haven't.

 

[Jayro]

I already have an nvidia Shield, and it's great... but one feature I think that SHOULD have been a no-brainer would be the ability to use it as a bluetooth controller for other devices, like a PC. Or even as a USB controller, but there's no software out there yet tto make it a reality. :/

But other than that, I have no qualms with it. It's comfortable to hold and play for long periods at a time, and it doesn't feel cheap in the slightest.

 

[Jayro]

The Shield 2 is a separate project nvidia is working on. My stepdad works at nvidia, and tells me one difference between the shield and the Shield 2 is that the new one won't have the comfortable rubber grips on it, to cut production costs. That's all the info he's leaked to me thus far.

 

[Taleweaver]

I've got to say that a bit of looking around proved that there are already previews, impressions and tech sheets on the device going round (the tablet, that is...I guess the controller is too samey of a 360 to even get noticed).

What I do find strange is that they don't take this opportunity to create the controller so it can 'click' onto the tablet with ease. Homebrew projects under the flag of "ghetto shield" are pretty creative with a tablet/smartphone, a 360 controller, splashdesk (to take over control of the PC)...and some ductape to "create" the actual shield*. If you're making a controller that will only work with that tablet, you may want to give it some easy edge over the competition.


*that's actually probably something 3D printed plastic, but still...not the most professional approach ever

 

[Cortador]

The Tegra 7 was a battery hog, I doubt this will be any different who knows.
Also the thing costs a bit to much for my taste $300 for 16GB, plus you need a controller which costs $60 (if you don't have a compatible one)
That's pretty close to a current-gen console.

Hopefully this isn't the Shield 2 Nvidia was talking about.

Tegra tablet is nothing like the Shield though. Look up Shield's battery life and you will be surprised.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Tegra tablet is nothing like the Shield though. Look up Shield's battery life and you will be surprised.

Yeah, the Shield's battery life is quite good. Slated at 10 hours on their official specs, but I've gotten tons more during heavy use.

 

[the_randomizer]

Yeah, the Shield's battery life is quite good. Slated at 10 hours on their official specs, but I've gotten tons more during heavy use.

So would you recommend I get one as soon as I've the means to do so?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

So would you recommend I get one as soon as I've the means to do so?

I personally love my Shield, it's a great emulation machine and the game streaming is great for when you can't be assed to get out of bed to game.

 

[coolbho3000]

I don't get why anyone would want to buy a wireless controller that can only connect to the shield when the exact same money buys you a xbone or a PS4 controller that (will) also work on virtually any PC, tablet and smartphone. Am I missing something?

Can't say much of the tablet, aside from the obvious note that they've got a lot of competition in that aspect. What will that tablet do that a gazillion others don't? It's even worse when they put things side by side. Not only does the original shield (the portable) looks cooler, it's also cheaper than the tablet. And they really need to at least put out WHY that is the case, as I doubt anyone is going to fork 100 extra bucks for crippled controls, a stylus and trine 2.

Interning at NVIDIA and I have one sitting on my desk right now.

The use of WiFi Direct in the controller is supposed to improve latency + throughput vs Bluetooth (about halves it by NVIDIA's claims... and at the same time it has a mic and headphone jack). But just like the original SHIELD you can pair any Bluetooth controller or a keyboard and mouse to it and it should just work (or you can use a USB OTG cable and a USB controller). The third party controller support in SHIELD is very good compared to most (if not all) Android devices.

If you compare this to a Retina iPad Mini, it's really not a bad deal - you can get the device, the controller, and a cover for the same price as the base iPad Mini. It has a lower resolution screen but a much more powerful CPU/GPU combo than the Apple A7 and comes with Gamestream which is useful if you have a recent NVIDIA GPU.

If you look at it purely from a tablet perspective, compared to the Nexus 7 (2013), it has a pen, a much faster chipset, a bigger screen, and close to stock Android for about $70 more. There's a tradeoff of price vs features here, but it's a tradeoff that I can see a lot of people making, even if they aren't interested in gaming on it.

I can probably start answering more questions about the device (specific things about the hardware/software itself that isn't public yet) when it ships on the 29th. I did order one for myself, though I'm probably a bit biased since I worked on it

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Interning at NVIDIA and I have one sitting on my desk right now.

The use of WiFi Direct in the controller is supposed to improve latency + throughput vs Bluetooth (about halves it by NVIDIA's claims... and at the same time it has a mic and headphone jack). But just like the original SHIELD you can pair any Bluetooth controller or a keyboard and mouse to it and it should just work (or you can use a USB OTG cable and a USB controller). The third party controller support in SHIELD is very good compared to most (if not all) Android devices.

If you compare this to a Retina iPad Mini, it's really not a bad deal - you can get the device, the controller, and a cover for the same price as the base iPad Mini. It has a lower resolution screen but a much more powerful CPU/GPU combo than the Apple A7 and comes with Gamestream which is useful if you have a recent NVIDIA GPU.

If you look at it purely from a tablet perspective, compared to the Nexus 7 (2013), it has a pen, a much faster chipset, a bigger screen, and close to stock Android for about $70 more. There's a tradeoff of price vs features here, but it's a tradeoff that I can see a lot of people making, even if they aren't interested in gaming on it.

I can probably start answering more questions about the device (specific things about the hardware/software itself that isn't public yet) when it ships on the 29th. I did order one for myself, though I'm probably a bit biased since I worked on it

Can I get a review sample

But yeah, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it when you get it. That K1 is amazeballs, if I had the money I would definitely buy myself one of these.

 

[coolbho3000]

Can I get a review sample

But yeah, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it when you get it. That K1 is amazeballs, if I had the money I would definitely buy myself one of these.

Maybe I can try to hook GBAtemp up with one

 

[CompassNorth]

The Shield 2 is a separate project nvidia is working on. My stepdad works at nvidia, and tells me one difference between the shield and the Shield 2 is that the new one won't have the comfortable rubber grips on it, to cut production costs. That's all the info he's leaked to me thus far.

Oh, that's pretty cool, does that mean you somtimes get stuff for free?
Also thanks for the info.

Tegra tablet is nothing like the Shield though. Look up Shield's battery life and you will be surprised.

Which shield are we talking about?
I'm only bringing up the Tegra because I believe it has it's own processor and it's own dedicated GPU much like the Shield tablet?

 

[coolbho3000]

Oh, that's pretty cool, does that mean you somtimes get stuff for free?
Also thanks for the info.



Which shield are we talking about?
I'm only bringing up the Tegra because I believe it has it's own processor and it's own dedicated GPU much like the Shield tablet?

We get a discount on one Tegra device.

 

[Jayro]

Oh, that's pretty cool, does that mean you somtimes get stuff for free?
Also thanks for the info.

He stress-tests mid-range graphics cards that he helps engineer, and if they are fully working dev cards, he'll give me one. I'm still on a 450 GTS he gave me in 2012.

 

[chartube12]

Tablets that are a year or two old always run well. No need to upgrade your devices until at least two years are up, even then they can last longer. I don't really see anyone needing another new tablet for another 5 years if they bought one in 2013.

My galaxy tab 2 7" lags a lot now and while get can run most newer games, it won't be getting Kit Kat. Android L is most likely out of the question for it has well. I bought it in Feb 2013. I used to believe phone and tablets would last a min of two years but not anymore. Your lucky now if your android device last a year before you experience problems.

 

[K3Nv2]

My galaxy tab 2 7" lags a lot now and while get can run most newer games, it won't be getting Kit Kat. Android L is most likely out of the question for it has well. I bought it in Feb 2013. I used to believe phone and tablets would last a min of two years but not anymore. Your lucky now if your android device last a year before you experience problems.

That tablet has low mid range specs, I'm talking higher end specs. That tablet just can't really match up to something like a nexus 7

http://www.gizmag.com/galaxy-tab-3-vs-nexus-7-2013/28479/

 

[chartube12]

That tablet has low mid range specs, I'm talking higher end specs. That tablet just can't really match up to something like a nexus 7

http://www.gizmag.com/galaxy-tab-3-vs-nexus-7-2013/28479/

Wrong compare. At the time I bought the tab 2 7 inch, it had better specs then the original nexus 7. The 2013 version wasn't out yet.

 

[K3Nv2]

Wrong compare. At the time I bought the tab 2 7 inch, it had better specs then the original nexus 7. The 2013 version wasn't out yet.

the Tegra 3 was a horse power even for the 2012 nexus

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/Google-Nexus-7,Samsung-GALAXY-Tab-2-7.0/phones/7143,6929

Unless I'm still not looking at the right models

But now days if you buy a 2013+ device I see it lasting a long time. Android started getting buttery smooth when they started putting 2GBs of ram in it and chips clocked higher than 1.5ghz. But hey that's how they gotta make their money, prettier design higher specs, ditch the old one. Something tells me they could come out with something that just works for years but if they do that people will see no need to upgrade devices.

 

[Taleweaver]

If you look at it purely from a tablet perspective, compared to the Nexus 7 (2013), it has a pen, a much faster chipset, a bigger screen, and close to stock Android for about $70 more. There's a tradeoff of price vs features here, but it's a tradeoff that I can see a lot of people making, even if they aren't interested in gaming on it.

The "close to stock android" isn't worth much when compared to a nexus device, but on the other hand I have to add that this shield also has microSD and HDMI connectivity, which the nexus 7 lacks (source). The pen is something I initially dissed but actually does add a value (though probably just within the software that uses it).

I can probably start answering more questions about the device (specific things about the hardware/software itself that isn't public yet) when it ships on the 29th. I did order one for myself, though I'm probably a bit biased since I worked on it

I can think of some, but right now, I'm more interested in the tablet almost despite the shield name. And the main question is still the one I noted in my previous post: why a completely separate controller that is just an impossible sell at that price point? The audience for this (gamers) are probably already buried underneath all sorts of bluetooth controllers. Half the latency would be impressive, but I haven't heard much complaints about it to begin with. Then again, that may change once tests are performed (this sort of thing is usually nice until something better comes along that proves how flawed the original actually was).
And a more rhetorical question: any chance for an accessory that would connect that controller and the shield tablet? (that would seem to me the only saving grace for the controller, but I'm in no means any expert whatsoever ).

 

[DSGamer64]

I don't get why anyone would want to buy a wireless controller that can only connect to the shield when the exact same money buys you a xbone or a PS4 controller that (will) also work on virtually any PC, tablet and smartphone. Am I missing something?

Can't say much of the tablet, aside from the obvious note that they've got a lot of competition in that aspect. What will that tablet do that a gazillion others don't? It's even worse when they put things side by side. Not only does the original shield (the portable) looks cooler, it's also cheaper than the tablet. And they really need to at least put out WHY that is the case, as I doubt anyone is going to fork 100 extra bucks for crippled controls, a stylus and trine 2.

It will be able to use Nvidia's game stream system for one. It is also one of the first Android devices to use the new Nvidia K1 processor which is capable of running DX12 and OpenGL 4.4 games, it also is capable of running Epic's new Unreal Engine 4. The K1 is a 192 core processor as well and has had some promising demonstrations but I think developers really need to harness it in order for it to thrive and succeed as the premier mobile processor.