Nvidia will release its Shield TV down under in July

Nvidia's take on a streaming box with added gaming goodness finally heads to our shores in July for $249.
It's not a new device by any stretch of the imagination, but up until now, if you wanted to use Nvidia's fancy Shield TV set-top box in Australia, you would have needed to import one, because there was no official release. No official release meant that there was no official support, or for that matter official access to local catch-up services, although canny types did work out how to use the Android base of the Shield TV to sideload specific apps.
That's all set to change, with Nvidia announcing that the Nvidia Shield TV will launch here in July for an outright price of $249. That's notably higher than Android TV competitors such as the Foxtel Now Box or Vodafone TV, but then the Shield TV has a slightly different market in mind. While it handles streaming TV – and it will be interesting to see which providers Nvidia's got on board at launch – its particular hook is the inclusion of gaming services.
At launch, it will be the only local streaming set-top box to come with its own gaming controller. Other Android TV boxes will work with Android controllers, but you've got to buy them separately. The Shield TV supports streaming local PC games to a display in a similar manner to the Steam Link set-top box, and in other markets it also supports game streaming via Nvidia's own GeForce Now service. Given the bandwidth requirements of GeForce Now and Australia's less-than-ideal broadband infrastructure, it's not clear if we'll see that service locally.The Nvidia Shield will go on sale through a dedicated website, as well as a range of computer resellers in Australia in July for $249 outright.
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