Next Shield device from NVIDIA looks tablety

Anyone familiar with NVIDIA’s Shield will know that this handheld gamer looks like a console controller with a screen attached. The next gen Shield could be a tablet judging by the latest leak.

Details uncovered on the Global Certification Forum (the organisation that handles certification for 3GPP, the standards body for 3G devices) lists a 4G LTE device called “SHIELD Tablet” with NVIDIA as the manufacturer.

This all sits rather neatly with earlier whispers linking the NVIDIA K1 processor with something slate-like.

There were were mention of a device called ‘Nvidia Mocha’ – a tablet with a 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 screen and Tegra K1 processor – when NVIDIA were showing off the new chip and pointing that it would find a home in the new Surface 3 tablet.

This obviously won’t be NVIDIA’s first foray in to the tablet club as it already has the Android tablet dubbed Tegra Note, but a Shield-branded slate would likely be pitched more towards dedicated gamers.

Before you start complaining about how naff touchscreens are for gaming, word is that the Shield tablet would most likely land with a clip-on/dockable gamepad.

So, even though the current NVIDIA Shield plays Android games and comes with a proper hardware controller, this next generation looks to be straddling both the gaming and tablet worlds.

Rumour has it NVIDIA may unveil the Shield Tablet later in July, so stay tuned for further updates 🙂