‘Nvidia comes with Android console for streaming PC games on TV’

With an upcoming gaming device, Nvidia is targeting the living room more than with the Shield, BBC claims based on information from sources familiar with the device. It appears to be an Android tablet with a separate cheap controller, which displays PC games streaming on the TV.

The British news agency BBC reports that Nvidia is coming with a new Android device. It is not clear from the reports exactly what kind of device it is. At the beginning of July, however, it was already revealed that Nvidia was working on a ‘Shield tablet’. It therefore seems plausible that this is about the same device, all the more so because the BBC also mentions the fact that the new device would be equipped with the Tegra K1 chip. According to the BBC, the new device is therefore able to run Android games on its own, but PC games can also be streamed from a PC to the device using GeForce Experience and Nvidia Gamestream. GeForce Experience does require a reasonably powerful video card.

Shield also supports this, but according to the BBC the functionality should be seen even more as an experimental feature with that device and the Shield would have the handicap that the controller is attached to the screen, making it less suitable as a living room console. The upcoming Android device could transmit the images of PC games via HDMI-out to a television, so that the new device could also be used as a set-top box for games. This would put the system somewhat in the way of the Steam Machine, which was recently postponed to 2015. Those consoles, which Nvidia is working on together with Valve, also have the goal of bringing games to the living room and TV. In addition, Nvidia would like to offer a controller at a low price to further facilitate playing on a TV.

However, the news site also lists industry analyst Ed Barton, who has reportedly already seen the new device. The analyst doubts whether the system will be a success. The sales figures of Project Shield are disappointing, according to Barton. According to the analyst, many gamers would rather play on their own smartphone instead of having to carry a separate device. In addition, requiring a relatively new Nvidia video card would significantly narrow the potential market for the device, according to Barton, who expects Nvidia to make the device available to the world “in the foreseeable future.”