nVIDIA reveals Project Shield handheld console

To further demonstrate the power of its recently announced Tegra 4 processor, NVIDIA has just unveiled a new handheld gaming console called Project Shield.

Project Shield is an Android handheld gaming device that looks like an Xbox 360 controller but mounted with a flip-out 5-inch 1280×720 HD multi-touch display. You may smirk at its looks but at its heart is NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 – the world’s fastest mobile processor to date.

With that kind of engine, Project Shield is capable of playing graphic-intensive games, output 4k resolution videos to a UHDTV via HDMI connection, and stream games from a Windows PC with a GeForce GTX 650 (or higher) graphics card to itself via WiFi. In addition, NVIDIA also equipped Project Shield with an advanced sound processing technology that claims to rival Beats Audio, a 33Wh battery that can provide up to 10 hours of playtime, a microUSB port, and a micro-SD card slot for more storage.

Since the handheld runs pure Android Jelly Bean, it has full access to Google’s Play Store and Tegra-optimized games from TegraZone. To sum it up, Project Shield is a powerful gaming console and full-blown Android set top box in one.

Project Shield is still in beta stage so expect some changes before its release. There’s no word on pricing yet but NVIDIA plans to ship the device in Q2 of 2013.

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