Nvidia pushed a new update for its Shield streaming device yesterday, with a number of new features and enhancements. At CES, the company had announced a refreshed Shield TV, with Google Assistant integration, 4K streaming support, an updated Games Nvidia pushed a new update for its Shield streaming device yesterday, with a number of new features and enhancements.
At CES, the company had announced a refreshed Shield TV, with Google Assistant integration, 4K streaming support, an updated Games application, a small, plug-in microphone that tethers to the Shield (allowing the user to trigger Google Assistant from anywhere in the home), and an improved controller design. This latest software update will bring the full feature set of the recently unveiled Shield over to the older variant and updates the system to Android 7.0 (Nougat).
At CES, the company had announced a refreshed Shield TV, with Google Assistant integration, 4K streaming support, an updated Games application, a small, plug-in microphone that tethers to the Shield (allowing the user to trigger Google Assistant from anywhere in the home), and an improved controller design. This latest software update will bring the full feature set of the recently unveiled Shield over to the older variant and updates the system to Android 7.0 (Nougat).
First, there’s a new Nvidia Games app replacing the old Shield Hub software. A short video demonstrating the new interface and layout for titles is below:The goal of the Nvidia Games app is to unify and simplify various methods of interfacing with your available games. Previously, games were handled according to type and accessed in one of three applications — Shield Games, GeForce Now (game rental and purchase) and GameStream (Nvidia’s game-streaming service). There are now more than 1,000 titles available on Shield TV, and they’ll be handled in this unified app going forward.
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This new update also delivers 4K HDR streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, provided you also have a TV that supports those features. There’s support for live video streaming from Nest cameras and dedicated apps for the NFL, Twitter for Shield TV, Comedy Central, Vimeo, and Viki. Recent apps are now accessible via a double-press of the home button, picture-in-picture capabilities are now available in supported Live Channels, and there’s a Pause / Play function now built-into the Shield remote (double tap the volume slider).
Finally, the Shield can now write to attached USB or SD card storage, cast HBO Go streams, and supports 4.1, 6.1, and 8.1 speaker configurations in Plex.
All in all, it’s a capable update for both older Shield models and the newer designs. The Android tablet and streaming markets have both lagged of late, but Nvidia’s hardware remains some of the best you can get for the money. The Tegra X1 SoC inside the Shield is actually a more powerful (albeit less portable) version of the same chip that will power the Nintendo Switch, and it packs enough performance for casual gaming in its own right, with additional horsepower and video streaming capabilities available from Nvidia’s other gaming and streaming services.
When Nvidia launched its first Shield portable and even its Shield tablet, it wasn’t clear how much effort Nvidia would sink into the Android business, given that the segment has to be small potatoes compared with its gaming or workstation markets. Several years and significant feature updates later, Nvidia has proven it’s in the market for the long haul., a small, plug-in microphone that tethers to the Shield (allowing the user to trigger Google Assistant from anywhere in the home), and an improved controller design. This latest software update will bring the full feature set of the recently unveiled Shield over to the older variant and updates the system to Android 7.0 (Nougat).
First, there’s a new Nvidia Games app replacing the old Shield Hub software. A short video demonstrating the new interface and layout for titles is below:The goal of the Nvidia Games app is to unify and simplify various methods of interfacing with your available games. Previously, games were handled according to type and accessed in one of three applications — Shield Games, GeForce Now (game rental and purchase) and GameStream (Nvidia’s game-streaming service). There are now more than 1,000 titles available on Shield TV, and they’ll be handled in this unified app going forward.
feature-img-amazon-video
This new update also delivers 4K HDR streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, provided you also have a TV that supports those features. There’s support for live video streaming from Nest cameras and dedicated apps for the NFL, Twitter for Shield TV, Comedy Central, Vimeo, and Viki. Recent apps are now accessible via a double-press of the home button, picture-in-picture capabilities are now available in supported Live Channels, and there’s a Pause / Play function now built-into the Shield remote (double tap the volume slider).
Finally, the Shield can now write to attached USB or SD card storage, cast HBO Go streams, and supports 4.1, 6.1, and 8.1 speaker configurations in Plex.
All in all, it’s a capable update for both older Shield models and the newer designs. The Android tablet and streaming markets have both lagged of late, but Nvidia’s hardware remains some of the best you can get for the money. The Tegra X1 SoC inside the Shield is actually a more powerful (albeit less portable) version of the same chip that will power the Nintendo Switch, and it packs enough performance for casual gaming in its own right, with additional horsepower and video streaming capabilities available from Nvidia’s other gaming and streaming services.
When Nvidia launched its first Shield portable and even its Shield tablet, it wasn’t clear how much effort Nvidia would sink into the Android business, given that the segment has to be small potatoes compared with its gaming or workstation markets. Several years and significant feature updates later, Nvidia has proven it’s in the market for the long haul.