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Now Available: Buy the NVIDIA Shiled Android TV for $199!
A couple of months ago NVIDIA announced the Shield Android TV, a device to transform Android into a full fledge gaming console. They’re even calling it the world’s first Android TV console. It was announced that the device would be made available in May, and with just three days to spare they’ve held up their word.
The Shield TV is powered by a Tegra X1 processor, 256-core GPU, and 3GB of RAM. It is capable of 4K playback up to 60fps. There are two HDMI 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and an ethernet port. The device is very slim and tall, almost like a tablet. The killer feature of the Shield TV is NVIDIA’s “Grid” service.
Grid is being called the “Netflix of gaming.” Thousands of super computers host the games that are streamed to your device, which makes it possible to play hardcore games on Android TV. If the service works as well as they say the NVIDIA Shield could be a big success. NVIDIA anticipates the following games to launch on Google Play later this summer for the Shield.
- Borderlands 2
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
- Contrast
- Game of Thrones HD
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two
- Machinarium
- Metal Gear Rising: RevengeanceTales from the Borderlands HD
- Tales from the Borderlands HD
You can buy the NVIDIA Sheild Android TV today for $199 from shield.nvidia.com, Amazon and Bestbuy.com.
Whelp. Time to get HL2E2 and Borderlands Presequel. And then to replay HL2 for trhe 50th time.
I hope Nvidia hass a solid social network/game chat feature of their own, or integrates others. What would be great is for discuss or something similar to be used, so posters at sites like this (android news, etc) can easily “friend” each other for gaming meet ups online, etc.
If this can also stream video from a NAS and be the front-end for cable TV, I’m sold. I don’t want to have this AND still need my Google TV box.
I don’t disagree with you about HDMI pass-through being important but honestly I haven’t missed my Google TV since I got a Nexus Player when it came out. For my TV watching I just use the cable DVR and record all my shows. I don’t really need the TV integration and Primetime guide…etc. Sure it sucks to have to switch HDMI inputs but now that I have a Harmony Ultimate Home with Bluetooth support it isn’t that big of a deal. Having to reboot Google TV daily was more annoying than having the HDMI pass-through convenience. Android TV is a much better experience than Google TV mostly because of its simplicity and fast reliable UI.
I have three Google TVs. I have probably rebooted once or twice in the last year. I don’t even know where my original TV remotes are.
The Pro version is $299 and comes with 500GB storage.
Can someone tell me if this streams games from a compatible pc like previous shield devices?
Yes. It does.
Yes requires a good Nvidia video card in the PC.
does the usb support external storage? probably not with a 500gb option huh?
It does support external media storage, plus the exsd slot supports up to 128 gigs of “save to sd” memory (for apps, etc).
Howzat?
Once I’ve heard that this is easy to sideload to, I’ll be able to get rid of my ouya.
For folks with a 4K TV that doesn’t have built-in 4K Netflix support, this could be a good option. Otherwise, I don’t see the point.
So you are saying that if you have a 4K TV with 4K Netflix support you don’t see the point in a device that gives more media options, apps and games in a platform that is probably faster and nicer than the integrated smarts of even the best 4K TVs out there. My opinion is that you are missing a lot of functionality and experience with your narrow viewpoint.
It’s too expensive for what it does, unless you have a 4K TV that lacks 4K Netflix. The Nexus Player and Amazon Fire TV are far cheaper and can do virtually everything this thing can do, except 4K.