Nvidia's Project Shield - 'Android & Tegra 4 inside'


I read somewhere (can't find the video/blog) but there has been some recent changes to the tegra 4 SoC after the scrutiny it was getting for it's power consumption. They were showing it using ~1 watt under load of 1080p video vs 1.2 watts on a cortex a9.
You're probably thinking of this:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/tPcgQtVWn-o?feature=oembed
With these controlled presentations nVidia holds all the cards to game it however they want. If you tweak things right it's possible to decode video using almost no CPU time, where of course the video decoders on a 28nm SoC will beat the last gen 40nm one. In the real world CPU load during video playback varies a lot depending on the software, making these comparisons unreliably representations.

Point is, no one is skeptical of the power consumption of its video decode unit, people are concerned about the CPUs (and maybe the GPU).
 
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The tech sites arent being favorable of the shield (at least in my opinion)

The comments on those sites are almost universally bashing it for its price/purpose.

But guess what? Looks like its sold out from everywhere but nvidia at the moment.... So... Someone's buying them....


Edit: newegg android app shows sold out, but website shows them as still in stock
 
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I don't understand the hate myself, but I guess it all depends on point of view. I can never understand all the love for Apple products, when others offer better performance at better prices. To each his own I suppose.

This seems to have the power of the best tablets out there(price seems great for the tech), and having physical controls is a done deal for me personally. The form factor could be better, so I'm waiting to see how well it does and if a cheaper and improved design/shape may come along at a later date. I would also like to see emu performance and whats made available and how well the controls work, but this is definitely on my "to buy" radar.

Chris
 
I like the sound of this but i dont think i need another console atm.


Pandora 2 and ps4 or xbox one will suit me.


Still if i become flush all of a sudden. Not gonna happen id buy one.
 
I like the sound of this but i dont think i need another console atm.

Pandora 2 and ps4 or xbox one will suit me.


Still if i become flush all of a sudden. Not gonna happen id buy one.
So you're choosing a device with no known pricetag, specs, physical design, or may or may not be in development or ever will be, over something you could potentially have next month.

You must really love the pandora brand name.

Hey, to each their own.
 
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Yeah, I'm years away from buying either the PS4 or One at this point, but the WiiU has potential for a Xmas buy if circumstances are right come the holidays.

I'm a handheld user through and through, so the shield has potential, I just can't swing the 350 at this point, but I'm closer to this, than either the PS4/One.

Chris
 
I like the sound of this but i dont think i need another console atm.Pandora 2 and ps4 or xbox one will suit me.


Still if i become flush all of a sudden. Not gonna happen id buy one.
 
So you're choosing a device with no known pricetag, specs, physical design, or may or may not be in development or ever will be, over something you could potentially have next month.


You must really love the pandora brand name.


Hey, to each their own.
Well i like the p1 and i like community and the idea behind it.
I reckon ed will aim to produce something sensibly priced. Time will tell.
 
Oh I understand, I was more or less just joshing ya.

I find it funny the cult like following the pandora produces sometimes. (I drink the cool aid as well don't worry)
 
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Well, this is nice... NVIDIA sent me out a personalized postcard thanking me for believing in them in their ambitious project of love and also a pretty snazzy shield t-shirt. In some of the videos you can see some of them wearing it. It's a green shield logo.

 

Anyway... that's really nice.

 

Here's the enclosed message

-------------------

 

Grant Johnson (that's my real name)

 

Thank you for pre-ordering SHIELD, SHIELD is NVIDIA's first gaming portable, and has been a labor of love for us over the last year and a half since we started the project. Our vision was to build a dedicated, open-platform gaming device that would allow you to enjoy a wide catalog of native Android and streamed PC games with full freedom and mobility.

 

To celebrate the arrival of SHIELD, we've designed a limited-edition SHIELD t-shirt and have included one in this package to thank you for your pre-order.

 

On behalf of the SHIELD team, we hope you enjoy the experience!

 

-The NVIDIA SHIELD TEAM

 

------

 

it looks like this (don't worry I didn't put my cool shirt on ebay)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-t-shirt-from-Pax-East-2013-XL-Promo-item-brand-new-/300886767595

 

Now these guys get it... and why I'm proud to stand behind them in their passions. They just got a lifelong customer :)
 
Well, this is nice... NVIDIA sent me out a personalized postcard thanking me for believing in them in their ambitious project of love and also a pretty snazzy shield t-shirt. In some of the videos you can see some of them wearing it. It's a green shield logo.

Anyway... that's really nice.

Here's the enclosed message

-------------------

Grant Johnson (that's my real name)

Thank you for pre-ordering SHIELD, SHIELD is NVIDIA's first gaming portable, and has been a labor of love for us over the last year and a half since we started the project. Our vision was to build a dedicated, open-platform gaming device that would allow you to enjoy a wide catalog of native Android and streamed PC games with full freedom and mobility.

To celebrate the arrival of SHIELD, we've designed a limited-edition SHIELD t-shirt and have included one in this package to thank you for your pre-order.

On behalf of the SHIELD team, we hope you enjoy the experience!

-The NVIDIA SHIELD TEAM

------

it looks like this (don't worry I didn't put my cool shirt on ebay)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-t-shirt-from-Pax-East-2013-XL-Promo-item-brand-new-/300886767595

Now these guys get it... and why I'm proud to stand behind them in their passions. They just got a lifelong customer :)
That's so awesome and I feel so jelly right now!
 
Been doing a whole lot of research on the background and concept on this and the development potential of the tegra 4 and shield. I find some of their goals really interesting.

Here are some highlights from my readings and research.

-Shield is meant to bring a gaming standard to android. The control scheme and input codes are suggested and are being accepted by controller hardware OEM's and some big name android game developers. They want to "tegra certify" controllers. for OEMs. Seeing how they are chip manufacturers selling to OEMS, this falls directly in line with their almost "ARM-like" business model.

-Shield is a flagship hardware demo of the tegra 4. More of a reference platform than a end user device. While a goal, it isn't the primary one. They obviously want to make sales, but its commercial success against Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft doesn't appear to be a consideration. I can't find them even mentioning those manufacturers in anything official. If any of you remember the odroid, they attempted a similar idea but failed because of their controller sucked.

-Shield is being targeted at developers as its primary audience, OS and game developers. Focusing on getting developers to target tegra devices which will get people buying more tegra chips. They want people to think tegra when they think android gaming. Wikipad, ouya, nexus 7... Look at their game marketing campaigns. Any device running tegra is pushing heavily on gaming. Check it out.

-nvidia hinted at the fact they are going to fully publically open source their source code for tegra4 to include their 3d GPU driver which is one of the first, if not the first for arm based platform.

-there is going to be multiple iterations of the shield with each generation of tegra. It is suggested they will follow the flagship model along with their reference platforms so you will more than likely see the next shield revision coincide with the launch of tegra 5 (Logan) they have a roadmap that looks to be 18 months between each generation.

EDIT: tapatalk eats my formatting on this board. 

EDIT2: I'll post some links to the applicable sources, some of which need to be combined to get the "full picture" of this.
 
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