UNVERIFIEDDate confidence: UNVERIFIEDNo wording about the date was foundHow firmly the source words the date: confirmed, scheduled, estimated, delayed or unverified.Show all UNVERIFIED pins40% CONFIDENCEOverall confidence: 40%How well the pin's source and references back up its dates.Weighted average of how firmly 5 references, the source included, support the pin's start and end times; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newestShow all pins at 49% confidence or below
Date has passed, but the pin description does not confirm it happened then; unverified.- Start
- Jul 28, 201425% CONFIDENCEsource
- End
- Jul 29, 201425% CONFIDENCEsource
NVIDIA Shield Tablet - 16GB wi-fi model and 32GB LTE model
Main competitors
- Google Nexus 9 · HTC / Google
Also Tegra K1-powered Android tablet, with a sharper screen and slimmer build, but about $100 more than the Shield Tablet.
Source - Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 · Samsung
Slimmer, lighter (294 g) 8.4-inch Android tablet with a far wider colour gamut.
Source - Apple iPad mini with Retina display · Apple
331 g 7.9-inch rival with a larger app and game library, compared against the Shield by Android Central.
Source
Twice as fast iPad Mini Retina. Unreal Engine 4 will be compatible with the processor. What this means is that we can expect to see high-end games on tablets and devices that use the chip with cranked up visuals. SHIELD tablet is 8 inch device with 1920◊1200 resolution. It has 2GB RAM, Tegra K1 SoC with 192 CUDA cores, QuadCore 2.2 GHz A15 CPU. Tablet has dual speakers and 5 MPIX ëselfieí camera.
- VideoCardz reported on 18 July 2014 that "On July 22nd NVIDIA will announce its own device, called SHIELD Tablet", accompanied by a wireless controller "designed specifically for NVIDIA SHIELD family, meaning you will be able to control either SHIELD tablet or SHIELD console"[1]
- NVIDIA did announce both on 22 July 2014, launching the SHIELD tablet and SHIELD wireless controller from its Santa Clara newsroom[3][4]
- The leaked pricing held exactly: "the cheaper 16GB model costs $299 and it only has WIFI connection. NVIDIA will ask you for $100 more if you decide to get a 32GB model with LTE modem on board", and the controller at $59[1] - confirmed as $299 for 16 GB Wi-Fi, $399 for 32 GB Wi-Fi + LTE, $59 for the controller and $39 for the cover[2][4][5]
- Release dates: pre-orders opened on announcement in the United States, Canada and select European countries, with release on 29 July 2014 in the US and Canada and 14 August 2014 in Europe[2][3][4][5]
- Reception noted the speakers and Twitch streaming as strengths, with weight (390 g against the Nexus 7's 290 g) and total cost as drawbacks[2]
- Later history: on 31 July 2015 NVIDIA recalled devices sold between July 2014 and July 2015 over overheating that posed a fire hazard; the tablet was refreshed as the Shield Tablet K1 at $199-200 in November 2015, a hardware upgrade was cancelled in August 2016, and the line was officially discontinued in mid-2018[2]
Notable features
- The tablet's pitch was gaming: Tegra K1 with Kepler-architecture cores, called by NVIDIA "the world's most advanced mobile processor", running Unreal Engine 4, with GameStream local streaming from GeForce GTX PCs, a GRID cloud gaming beta for owners in Northern California, ShadowPlay gameplay recording and Twitch streaming, and a Console Mode for native 1080p on TVs[3][4]
- The leaked specifications also held: an 8-inch 1920x1200 display, 2 GB RAM and a Tegra K1 with 192 CUDA cores and a quad-core 2.2 GHz A15 CPU, with dual speakers and a 5 MP front camera[1][2][3][5]
- The announcement added detail the leak did not have: front-facing speakers with PureAudio and dual-ported bass reflex, an 8-inch IPS panel at 283 ppi, microSD expansion, mini HDMI 1.4b at 4K/30fps, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and a 19.75 WHr battery rated for up to 10 hours of HD video, at 13.7 ounces and 0.36 inches thick[3][4][5]
- The sources differ on the camera and storage expansion: VideoCardz mentions only the 5 MP "selfie" camera[1] and New Atlas a single 5 MP camera[3], while Wikipedia and ABI Research give 5 MP front and rear cameras[2][5]; microSD is given as up to 128 GB by New Atlas, the press release and ABI[3][4][5] but as microSDXC up to 200 GB by Wikipedia[2]
- The tablet preloaded SHIELD Hub and Trine 2: Complete Story with full Google Play access, shipping on Android 4.4.2 KitKat and later upgraded as far as Android 7.0 Nougat in February 2017[2][4]
- The wireless controller ran over ultra-low-latency Wi-Fi Direct with up to four per tablet, a headset jack, touch pad, volume control and voice command; ABI notes it also works with SHIELD Portable, which cannot itself serve as a controller for the tablet, and that it lacks motion controls[3][4][5]
- A DirectStylus 2, "twice as responsive as predecessor" and GPU-accelerated, shipped with the Dabbler app - New Atlas thought it fitted poorly with a gaming-first device[3][4]
MSRP $299.00