We have heard rumours about the successor to the Nvidia Shield handheld over recent months and many of the whispers appear to be correct. VideoCardz has uncovered the best evidence yet for such a device and also has lots of details about the spec and accessories. Just before the weekend it published a large collection of what look like official presentation slides - which include specification lists, availability and (dollar) pricing.
HEXUS published the news that an Nvidia countdown timer had appeared on the web, just before the weekend and according to VideoCardz that countdown will end on the day of the Shield Tablet launch – that's 22nd July – tomorrow, at 2pm UK time. The timer page suggests that "the ultimate is coming" and the VideoCardz leaked slides boast that the Shield Tablet is "the ultimate tablet for gamers". So this tablet is very likely to be the 'surprise'.
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Nvidia Shield Tablet key specs for $299 ($399 in brackets) version
- Processor: Tegra K1 SoC with 192 CUDA cores, QuadCore 2.2 GHz A15 CPU
- RAM: 2GB
- Storage: 16GB (32GB) + microSD card slot
- Screen: IPS LCD 8-inch diagonal with 1920×1200 pixel resolution
- Connectivity/ports: Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi plus LTE modem microSIM), Bluetooth 4, GPS, GLONASS, Micro HDMI 1.4a, Micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm combi audio port
- Multimedia: stereo speakers, 5MP HDR camera on both front and back
- Stylus: DirectStylus 2 included
- Battery: 10 hours video playback capability
- Dimensions: 221 x 126 x 9.2mm, 390g
We also got to see an interesting slide showing comparative benchmarks. Nvidia's new baby soundly beats the likes of the Samsung Tab Pro 8.4 and Apple iPad Air in various tests as you can see.
An undoubtedly important part of the Nvidia Shield Tablet experience will be the new Shield Wireless Controller. It also has a Micro-USB 2.0 port for charging, or wired play, and a 3.5mm combi jack for your headset/mic. This Wi-Fi Direct controller offers both much lower latency and a faster data rate than a Bluetooth alternative would. Nvidia quotes a 10ms latency (which would be 20ms for a Bluetooth alternative) and a 24Mbps data rate.
European availability from 14th August
Finally let's recap the availability and prices. While the tablet, controller and cover accessory will all be available in the US & Canada from 29th July we have also been given a European launch date of 14th August with further regions during the autumn. It will be interesting to see how the US dollar prices translate to Euros/pounds. Fingers are crossed for a reasonable exchange rate/figure.
