SHIELD Tablet Lollipop
Today on Facebook Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) teased it is working on preparing Android 5.0 Lollipop for its SHIELD tablets. The release should be well polished since Nvidia has had the most experience with 5.0 than any other device maker.
Nvidia has been working on its own Android 5.0 Lollipop OS to upgrade its SHIELD tablets. Expectations should be high for its version since they have been the device maker that has had the most experience with the OS version. This is from the SHIELD tablet and the Nexus 9, both of which have Nvidia Tegra K1 CPUs in them. Though the Nexus 9 will have a 64-bit Denver custom dual core version that should run faster than the 32-bit K1 found in the SHIELD tablet. HTC is the only other device maker that can rival Nvidia in terms of experience with Lollipop.
Some neat things coming up in the new 5.0 release are better security, a new interface design, support for 7.1 surround sound, a new Android runtime, increased performance, and much more. As both the Nexus 9 and the SHIELD tablets are going to be powerful devices that will be similarly priced, it may be hard to choose between the two. The SHIELD tablet has many features someone who enjoys gaming will get use out of, like streaming computer games from a PC with a Nvidia GTX GPU and the Wi-Fi direct controller. The Nexus 9 will be bleeding edge as it will have a 64-bit version of Android (the first ARM tablet to do so) and will rival notebook functionality with the optional keyboard cover. Picking either of the two will still be a very good pick for yourself or someone else this holiday season.
Pricing for the Nvidia SHIELD is currently $299 for the WiFi 16GB version, and $399 for the GSM LTE 32GB version. The separately sold SHIELD wireless controllers will run an additional $59.99 each. This does make the 8″ SHIELD Tablet a solid $100 cheaper than the 16GB Nexus 9, however, the Nexus 9 does have a larger 8.9″ display and a higher resolution 2048 x 1536 4:3 display.
