Aside from Nvidia's announcement of the Grid premium streaming service, what caught the interest of the gaming industry the most is the announcement of the company's latest SHIELD.
Unveiled at Nvidia's GDC 2015 press conference and set to come out in May, the latest SHIELD is an Android TV set-top box. What makes it unique though is that it also functions as a game console, and a powerful one at that.
The Nvidia SHIELD's game performance is based on the company's new Tegra X1 processor, able to play top-quality 4K video and can stream cloud-based titles in 1080p resolution at 60 fps. Aside from the dominant processor that is able to play top-notch games like "Crysis 3," the console also offers both 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, 16 GB of internal storage expandable through microSD, and a dual-band Wi-Fi support. For connectivity, the new SHIELD has HDMI, micro USB 2.0, two USB 3.0 ports, an IR receiver, and Bluetooth 4.1.
Aside from games and running Android TV, the console also allows access to the Android ecosystem. It also comes with support for Nvidia's new Grid streaming service and the Nvidia GameStream.
As for how the new SHIELD will fare against other gaming-dedicated consoles, Steve Allison, senior vice president for publishing at Telltale Games, says, "We're very excited about the power of Tegra X1-powered SHIELD. When you play our games on a Tegra X1-powered SHIELD, you are getting a mobile version with the same visual fidelity as our next generation console and HD PC versions."
Jen-Hyun Huang, Nvidia CEO, is quoted as saying, "Just as smartphones will be how we enjoy phones, smart TVs are how we will enjoy television, These devices will replace dedicated devices over time, just as an application has replaced your GPS, your music player, your radio and your camera."
