Nvidia Shield confirms US launch date of July 31

Handheld gaming device is the first produced by Nvidia

Nvidia, a tech company best known for its graphics cards, has announced it will be shipping its first ever hand-held gaming device on July 31st.

The Nvidia Shield is an Android-powered games console shaped like a standard controller but with a flip-top, 5-inch, 720p screen.

The Shield will allow gamers to either stream games via a connected PC or run titles straight from the Android OS using a 1.9GHz quad-core A15 processor and a Tegra 4 – a combined CPU/GPU chip designed by Nvidia for movile devices.

As well as gaming, Nvidia are hoping the Shield will be used to access multimedia content – from movies to ebooks. Users can also connect it up to a TV via HDMI to stream films and games.

The device was originally planned to ship on June 27, but Nvidia pushed back the release date after mechanical issues were highlighted during final tests.

It’s yet to be confirmed where UK consumers can purchase the device, with Nvidia saying they have yet to plan a European launch date.