Announced last year, the Nvidia Shield Tablet has done solid, if not eye-popping sales. While the company probably hopes its sales numbers will heat up, it’s a safe bet the firm wasn’t hoping the device itself would actually catch fire. Unfortunately it appears that is enough of a worry that the company has issued a recall order. The tablet uses two different kinds of batteries and it appears one of the two is a bit of a safety hazard.

Specifically, tablets that are equipped with Y01 type batteries are being taken off the market as fast as possible. The company has posted the recall instructions on its official website and this is a full recall, so if your battery is that type, you can send your tablet back and get a replacement free of charge. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to find out if your tablet is one of the ones that has a batter that can dangerously overheat and possibly pose a fire hazard.

Just go into the settings menu, go into the About tablet, and then select Status. Under the battery category you’ll see either Y01 or B01 listed. If the battery in your device is Bo1 then you don’t need to do anything as there are not reports it has caused any problem. If Y01 is displayed, then you should absolutely send it back to the company in order to avoid having any kind of problems in the future, even if you haven’t run into any kind of overheating issues yet.

More and more fans had begun to note recently that having the option to stream to Shield devices enabled, which is the default setting on the GeForce Experience software, was having a noticeable impact on the visual performance and quality of their video games. The reason for this was  a bug that was causing the NVIDIA Shield Streamer Service to use excess CPU cycles on some PCs.

Nvidia has responded to this issue by releasing a new update for the software, which basically means CPU cycles aren’t actually used unless you are streaming the game to your Shield device.

The full changelog of the new update is below:

• Bug fixes for intermittent user accounts and application crash issues.
• Fixed a bug that was causing the NVIDIA Streamer Service to use excess CPU cycles on some PCs.

You can download the new version from here. And remember to stay tuned to GamingBolt for more PC gaming news.

Straight of the bat I’m going to say this is doomed to failure in my eyes. Read on and make up your own mind on this decidedly niche product. Nvidia, creators of some of  the finest, if not the finest, gaming hardware and software that you can actually get your hands on have announced their on demand gaming service.

Going by the name of GRID, Nvidia are calling the streaming system the “Netfilx of Games,”. You see, that sounds really nice doesn’t it? But GRID only streams to SHIELD Devices, so I think they may have gotten their marketing ideas wrong. Netflix, after all runs on practically anything, possibly even LEGO bricks, not just on a £239.99 device.

This, like the SHIELD is probably doomed to failure but Digital Foundry have said that despite running on a “lackluster internet connection”, the GRID demo still “came across as the best cloud gaming experience we’ve tested to date.”

All I really want to say is, stop while the race hasn’t started, bail out Nvidia and pretend you never had this idea. It will save you a great deal of embarrassment.

Last year, Nvidia released the Shield, a gaming handheld focused squarely at hardcore PC gamers that offered players the functionality of Android married with inter-connectivity with Steam. The handheld wasn’t necessarily a runaway hit, but it rapidly garnered a cult following, enough for Nvidia to release a follow up, at least.

That follow up is a seriously impressive new tablet, the Nvidia Shield tablet. It’s a powerhouse of a tablet (it has a Tegra K1), with top of the line specs, and some incredible gaming specific features, such as front facing speakers, an 8 inch HD display, a Console Mode that outputs the image to a TV screen, support for a brand new Shield Low Latency controller (because screw touch screen gaming), and PC streaming. Oh, and it comes with a free copy of Trine 2, as well.

The amazing thing is, all of this is available for just $299. The controller retails separately for $59.

So you can have a top of the line Android tablet with some incredible gaming functionality for just $299, that is a seriously sweet deal. I hope the tablet meets a much better reception in the market than its predecessor did.

On Sunday, January 5, Nvidia will hold a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where it will showcase multiple gaming related surprises and innovations, it has promised.

The exact wording of the invitation is “gaming innovations,” as well as advancements to its Tegra mobile technologies and “advanced automotive display technologies.”

Nvidia’s last round of gaming products (outside of its graphics cards, which still lead their market) was the Nvidia Shield, and Android based handheld with remote play capabilities for supported games on Steam; however, in spite of being universally acclaimed by technology outlets, the handheld has failed to make an impact in the market, even more so than Sony’s floundering PlayStation Vita.

CES is going to be a major event that will probably get us a lot more gaming news- including more details on Valve’s eagerly anticipated Steam OS and Steam Machines, their bid to take over the living room- so stay tuned to GamingBolt for further coverage.

[Gamespot]

Brazil is one of the most important and rapidly growing markets in the gaming world- along with South Korea, India, and China, it represents the most potential for video games. Therefore it follows that its annual video games trade show would gradually be increasing in importance with it. And indeed, this year’s Brasil Game Show appears to be attracting a number of high profile exhibitors showcasing their products- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Activision, Ubisoft, and Disney Entertainment are all confirmed to be there, for example. Also confirmed to be there are EA Mobile, and fan favorite studio CD Projekt RED, who will undoubtedly take the stage to show us more of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

On the hardware front, Sony is confirmed to be there showing off the PlayStation 4, while Nvidia will demonstrate their Shield handheld device a bit more.

This year’s Brasil Game Show will also have a full day dedicated just to industry insiders, before it opens up its doors to the gaming public on October 25.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage from the event.

[Thanks GamesIndustry.biz]

Shield director Jason Paul stated on the company blog that, “[S]ome final quality-assurance testing has just turned up a mechanical issue that we’re not happy with.

“So, while we announced last week that Shield will go on sale this Thursday, we’ve taken the hard decision to delay shipping until next month. The issue relates to a third-party mechanical component, and we’re working around the clock with the supplier to get it up to our expectations.”

In the midst of the launch and success of the OUYA, Nvidia’s Shield uses the company’s new and extremely powerful Tegra 4 processor to allow for playing games and streaming the same from one’s PC in the presence of a compatible Nvidia card.

Not too long ago Nvidia revealed a June release date for their upcoming handheld system called Nvidia Shield. The product was also priced at $349 which is over-priced in my opinion.

Thankfully, consumers asked for a better price, and Nvidia decided to cut down on the cost by $50. The new price-tag for Nvidia Shield is now $299 instead of $349.99. The company also confirmed a release date of June 27th 2013.

Here is the official statement from their blog:

“We’ve heard from thousands of gamers that if the price was $299, we’d have a home run. So we’re changing the price of Shield to $299.

“If you’ve already pre-ordered Shield, you’ll be charged the new, lower price. You will only be charged $299 when the product ships.

“We want to get Shield into the hands of as many gamers as possible,” Nvidia stated.

It’s nice to see that Nvidia is listening to their consumers.

Let us know if you’ll be picking up Nvidia Shield on June 27th in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates.

So what is Nvidia Shield? It’s an Android gaming device which is said to be portable and also has a HDMI port.

TAKE MY MONEY?

Yes and no. There are a lot of factors here that could work against them because it essentially looks like a controller with a screen attached on top, and has enough power to output stuff to 4k TVs.

It is a purely Android console so they could be looking at a lot of piracy here but it looks to me like Nvidia is only in for the profit and doesn’t care much about the software ecosystem.

According to The Verge, it is supposed to be launching next year:

Nvidia did not announce a price for Project Shield, but it says that it will be coming to the US and Canada in the second quarter of this year. …

The game console was shown hooked up to a 4k TV and Assassin’s Creed 3 was being played on it, and it looked pretty good for a streaming quality considering you are basically controlling it with the Shield. There may have been a slight input lag, but I wasn’t paying much attention to it.

Stay tuned for more information at GB.