NVIDIA seems to be preparing to launch a 2nd-gen NVIDIA Shield TV game console.
An NVIDIA device described as the “Shield Android TV Game Console” showed up at the FCC website today. It has a model number of P2897, supports 802.11ac WiFi and has MIMO antennas.
At this point, that’s about all we know for certain about the new Shield console, other than the fact that is also seems to have passed through South Korea’s wireless regulatory agency recently as well.
But we also have a few other clues to go by: there have also been recent FCC listings for a new NVIDIA Shield game controller and media remote control.
The new controller seems to connect to the console via Bluetooth. The original Shield controller used WiFi Direct, which can be faster and offer less latency. So it’s possible that the 2nd-gen Shield will be a cheaper alternative to last year’s model rather than one with next-gen hardware.
It’s also possible that the new NVIDIA Shield could be an upgrade. The 2015 model features an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor, 3GB of RAM and either 16GB of solid state storage of a 500GB hard drive as well as Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0 (with 4K support), two USB 3.0 ports, one micro USB 2.0 port, and a microSD card slot
NVIDIA does have more powerful Tegra processors under development, but so far the company has only really showcased their potential for powering automotive products. The Tegra X1 is still the highest performance mobile chip in the Tegra lineup… although technically an Android TV game console and media streamer isn’t really a mobile device.
If I had to guess, I’d say the Shield 2 will probably use the same Tegra X1 chip as last year’s model. But it’s certainly possible that it could use a system-on-a-chip that’s related to the Parker SOC for autonomous vehicles.
via AFTV News