Nvidia might be working on a new Shield TV

[mongeese]

Why it matters: Nvidia’s beloved Shield TV is a powerful box that fills the same niche and price point as the Apple TV, but with great support to stream games from a desktop PC and play Android games on the same Tegra X1 chip that powers the Nintendo Switch. It’s been two years since its last update, and now it appears a new version will be arriving soon.

Deep within the Google Play Developer Console’s Device Catalogue has appeared a new Shield TV device codenamed “mdarcy,” as spotted by XDA Developers. The previous Shield is codenamed “darcy,” and the main difference in the listings is that mdarcy supports Android 9 Pie, while darcy is still on Android 8 Oreo. However, it could come with new internals and peripherals.

Developers working on the Tegra kernel have told XDA Developers that they believe the new processor and GPU combo will reportedly have “better power usage” and a “higher maximum GPU clock” providing a noticeable boost in performance. That’s certainly useful given the increase in popularity of intense mobile games, notably Fortnite and PUBG mobile, and it’s also coherent with other leaks we’ve seen suggesting a refreshed Tegra could arrive in a new Nintendo Switch this year. If Nvidia is producing it for Nintendo, why not take advantage of it themselves?

Nvidia's current Shield controller looks cool and has a few nice features, but it isn't the same quality as a PlayStation or Xbox controller and could do with an update.

Four months ago, a custom ROM developer peaking inside Nvidia’s public source release discovered references to “stormbreaker,” a Bluetooth and USB controller, and “friday,” a Bluetooth remote. Both referenced the Shield TV in their code and are in line with previous Nvidia peripheral codenames like “thunderstrike” and “pepper.” At the time, an Nvidia spokesperson said, “We can’t comment on which codenames refer to product concepts that are active vs which ones are inactive, as it can be fluid. However, I can confirm that none of the codenames refer to products that have launched publicly.”

The time is certainly ripe for a new TV device. While the Shield can already use Nvidia’s Geforce Now game streaming platform, a new version could easily be equipped to utilize Google’s Stadia (arriving in November) or Microsoft’s mysterious xCloud. Given the listing, the new Shield will most likely arrive this year, and could possibly be revealed in conjunction with Nvidia’s “Super” announcement due in the next month or so.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/80533-nvidia-might-working-new-shield-tv.html

 

[Skjorn]

I've been looking forward to the next Shield. Does GFE need to be installed for this stream from the PC?

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd appreciate it if techspot did a breakdown of the numbers made by these upstart devices: Onlive, Shield and the others ...

 

[Fearghast]

Super beefed up Chromecast with media server capabilities - I love it!
Playing games on in is just a small, nice bonus to me.

New Shield and new Switch ... finally something I am seriously looking forward to.

 

[Skjorn]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd like to try it for when guests are over. Something to play on comfortably in the living room and stream from the PC to surround sound with.

I have a steam link using wired connection and the latency is pathetic. Couldn't imagine wifi with this pos but I've heard better latency experiences with the Shield so they got me interested. I also wire everything myself which most people don't.

 

[Shawn Minor]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd appreciate it if techspot did a breakdown of the numbers made by these upstart devices: Onlive, Shield and the others ...

Speak for yourself bro, keyboard and mouse gaming eats a bowlful of uncooked buttholes. Controllers are so much preferable to some of us and I've been gaming on a pc for at least 20 years. If a ruling came down that forever bans use of controllers on a pc then I'd go to consoles.

 

[Lionvibez]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd appreciate it if techspot did a breakdown of the numbers made by these upstart devices: Onlive, Shield and the others ...

Speak for yourself bro, keyboard and mouse gaming eats a bowlful of uncooked buttholes. Controllers are so much preferable to some of us and I've been gaming on a pc for at least 20 years. If a ruling came down that forever bans use of controllers on a pc then I'd go to consoles.

For fighting games (SFV,MK11) or GTA V style games and driving games a controller on a PC is preferred.

However for any first person shooters Mouse + Keyboard is the only choice.

 

[G0DofPaiN]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd appreciate it if techspot did a breakdown of the numbers made by these upstart devices: Onlive, Shield and the others ...

Speak for yourself bro, keyboard and mouse gaming eats a bowlful of uncooked buttholes. Controllers are so much preferable to some of us and I've been gaming on a pc for at least 20 years. If a ruling came down that forever bans use of controllers on a pc then I'd go to consoles.

For fighting games (SFV,MK11) or GTA V style games and driving games a controller on a PC is preferred.

However for any first person shooters Mouse + Keyboard is the only choice.

You also can't play MOBA, RTS and MMOs with a controller.

 

[Lionvibez]

You also can't play MOBA, RTS and MMOs with a controller.

Yes that is correct I didn't list everything.

 

[Uncle Al]

Yawn .......

 

[ForgottenLegion]

Does GFE need to be installed for this stream from the PC?

I definitely didn't read GFE as Girlfriend Experience

 

[Shawn Minor]

For fighting games (SFV,MK11) or GTA V style games and driving games a controller on a PC is preferred.

However for any first person shooters Mouse + Keyboard is the only choice.

I concur

 

[loki1944]

Playing these things in your house over wifi is a decent gimmick - although most people who PC game absolutely don't want to use a game controller and prefer Keyboard-mouse.

I'd appreciate it if techspot did a breakdown of the numbers made by these upstart devices: Onlive, Shield and the others ...

Speak for yourself bro, keyboard and mouse gaming eats a bowlful of uncooked buttholes. Controllers are so much preferable to some of us and I've been gaming on a pc for at least 20 years. If a ruling came down that forever bans use of controllers on a pc then I'd go to consoles.

For fighting games (SFV,MK11) or GTA V style games and driving games a controller on a PC is preferred.

However for any first person shooters Mouse + Keyboard is the only choice.

You also can't play MOBA, RTS and MMOs with a controller.

Or ArmA/Flashpoint very well. Exhibit 1: Flashpoint Elite.

 

[Troika]

What I'd like is a new shield tablet with more ram and a faster cpu. The 192 core kepler gpu is strong enough to run things smoothly enough, the problem is the piddly 2GB of ram it has. It should have had 4GB, it would have ran much smoother. The quad core A15 in is was ok but only that. If it were a little faster or had more cores, using the tablet for non-gaming use would have been nicer too. The main problem was the ram. IF they update the shield tablet, I'd definitely pick one up if it features more ram, around 6GB since that's the current standard for high end mobile devices, and a 6 core or 8 core cpu would be pretty nifty too. The gpu in it wouldn't be a bad thing to upgrade too, so it can do more to render higher quality games that are streamed to it but that'd mainly happen on the server side of things. The onboard gpu would be more for dedicated game installations, like Doom, Borderlands and any other games that have been ported directly to android. With more powerful hardware, more games might get ported over to android. I definitely would love to be able to play skyrim on my shield tablet without needing to be connected to the internet all the time.

 

[Mark Bouchard]

I love my Shield. Plex, Bluetooth, Google Play Store, voice assistant, emulators, plus Nvidia has preloaded many Steam games, meaning if you own them, you can play them right away with no install, no need for your PC. Any games you own you can also stream, but the only app I stream from my PC to my Shield is a PS2 emulator. You can connect a mouse and keyboard. Highly recommended.

 

[nnguy2]

I dont know... the controller could use more angles. /s

 

[Namtrooper]

I dont know... the controller could use more angles. /s

Ah... Sarcasm. The controller wasn't that bad. I've seen worse.

 

[Namtrooper]

I dont know... the controller could use more angles. /s

Ah... Sarcasm. The controller wasn't that bad. I've seen worse.

I did like the 3.5mm audio for a headset. Wish this worked once I paired the standard xbone controller. Ended up buying a kingston hyperx cloud one just to have wireless headset for the shield.

 

[Namtrooper]

I've been looking forward to the next Shield. Does GFE need to be installed for this stream from the PC?

I believe so yes.