Nvidia's new Shield TV box brings 4K HDR and Google Assistant to your smart home

The Nvidia Shield TV box is available for pre-order and ships later on in January. The price is $199, and you can get it delivered by Amazon as early as January 16 in the US. If the pre-order is sold out on Amazon, check back later as it may be in-stock again soon.

Software and hardware improvements

Of course, it runs Android TV, but it's so much more than a regular TV box. In addition to the updated controller, the box will also come with a dedicated standard remote control that will have support for "always listening" hands-free control.

The Nvidia Shield TV box is meant for people who stream movies, people who want to use it as the center of their smart home, and last but not least, for gamers. For its Steam game store, 1000 titles have already been optimized for the Shield TV and the updated controller.

Google Assistant and Samsung compatibility

Apart from Pixel phones, the Nvidia Shield TV, Android TV and smartwatches to receive Android Wear 2.0 are the only devices that will have Google Assistant for the time being, though more may be announced at a later date. The box has the opportunity to become the center of your smart home with a future software update that will allow the Shield TV box to work with Samsung's connected home SmarThings platform. With this powerful combination, you will be able to control lights and other things around your home from the Shield TV.

4K HDR streaming

The Nvidia Shield TV is the only piece of hardware that can stream 4K HDR from Netflix and Amazon video. That's impressive, but there's something extra special for the gamers among us: 4K HDR streaming for PC gaming. Using the GeForce Now streaming feature, users can stream games from their Nvidia GeForce graphics card-packing PC to their nearby TV. Titles like Assassin's Creed Syndicate and many more will be optimized for Nvidia hardware, so they will work without a hitch on this system.

What do you think of this seemingly future-proof streaming device? Would you buy one for gaming?