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NVShieldFeature

Nvidia pushed a new update for its Shield streaming device yesterday, with a number of new features and enhancements. At CES, the company had announced a refreshed Shield TV, with Google Assistant integration, 4K streaming support, an updated Games application, a small, plug-in microphone that tethers to the Shield (allowing the user to trigger Google Assistant from anywhere in the home), and an improved controller design. This latest software update volition bring the full feature prepare of the recently unveiled Shield over to the older variant and updates the system to Android 7.0 (Nougat).

Offset, there'south a new Nvidia Games app replacing the onetime Shield Hub software. A brusk video demonstrating the new interface and layout for titles is below:

The goal of the Nvidia Games app is to unify and simplify various methods of interfacing with your available games. Previously, games were handled according to type and accessed in one of three applications — Shield Games, GeForce At present (game rental and purchase) and GameStream (Nvidia's game-streaming service). In that location are at present more than than 1,000 titles available on Shield Television receiver, and they'll exist handled in this unified app going forward.

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This new update also delivers 4K HDR streaming from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, provided you too have a Tv set that supports those features. There's support for live video streaming from Nest cameras and dedicated apps for the NFL, Twitter for Shield Idiot box, Comedy Central, Vimeo, and Viki. Contempo apps are at present accessible via a double-press of the home button, picture-in-picture capabilities are now bachelor in supported Alive Channels, and there'south a Pause / Play office now built-into the Shield remote (double tap the volume slider).

Finally, the Shield can at present write to attached USB or SD card storage, bandage HBO Go streams, and supports 4.one, 6.1, and 8.1 speaker configurations in Plex.

All in all, it's a capable update for both older Shield models and the newer designs. The Android tablet and streaming markets have both lagged of late, but Nvidia's hardware remains some of the best y'all can get for the money. The Tegra X1 SoC inside the Shield is really a more than powerful (albeit less portable) version of the aforementioned chip that volition ability the Nintendo Switch, and it packs enough performance for casual gaming in its own right, with additional horsepower and video streaming capabilities bachelor from Nvidia's other gaming and streaming services.

When Nvidia launched its beginning Shield portable and even its Shield tablet, it wasn't clear how much effort Nvidia would sink into the Android concern, given that the segment has to be small potatoes compared with its gaming or workstation markets. Several years and significant feature updates later, Nvidia has proven information technology'due south in the market for the long haul.