Nvidia may launch a new Shield Tablet this year. An FCC filing shows that the company is aiming to get clearance for a tablet with type designation "P2290W."
While the FCC filing does not provide more elaborate details, there are at least some bits of information worth taking note of.
The new tablet is expected to have support for both 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity. It will feature Bluetooth Low Energy support and micro-USB connectivity.
According to the filing, the new tablet's weight will be 12.3 ounces and its dimensions will be 120 millimeters wide and 215 millimeters tall (4.72 x 8.42 inches).
This suggests that the new tablet may be an 8-inch model, similar to the 8-inch Android gaming tablet Nvidia launched in 2014, the Shield Tablet.
It was relaunched in late 2015 and while the device carried a new name — Shield Tablet K1 — it retained the same specs and was retailed at a lower price point. The tablet has an 8-inch display with a pixel resolution of 1,920 x 1,200. It is powered by an Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage.
In comparison, the new Shield Tablet is expected to have a Full HD display with 1,920 x 1,280 as its pixel resolution. It is also purported to have Nvidia's Tegra X1 SoC and a bump on RAM such as a 3 GB option.
Last month, we reported that Nvidia rolled out an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update to its Shield Tablet K1 along with Vulkan API support. With the update, several changes were brought to the tablet, including updated emojis, repositioning of the navigation buttons while in a landscape mode, double-tap launching of the Shield Camera app using the power button and the new "Do Not Disturb Until Next Alarm" option.
That said, it's safe to say that Nvidia's upcoming tablet will be a beefed up version, likely bringing improvements and sporting most of the features from the previous one. We'll see more information about the device in the coming weeks and we'll keep you posted.
