Nvidia Shield owners will have something rejoice about today as the newest software update is pushing out to devices as we speak. This means not only are users going to be ushered into the new era of android kit kat, but they also get some updated handy new features to go along with it, which are some great ones to be excited about. The update kicks things off once you tap the update notification that hangs out in your status bar,(just like normal android devices) and once you do so give yourself a good few minutes to let things hash out. The update is also just over 464MB in size, so make sure you have some room, as well have enough power to let the update finish doing it’s thing.
Now as for the features that come along with the update besides the kit kat software, we’re looking at two major ones to pay attention to. Shield owners will finally be getting access to remote gamestreaming, which means you’ll be able to play your collection of games through Steam remotely, and you don’t have to be hooked up to the same local wifi connection as your PC. The update also adds in support for the laptops out there, which is a long time coming. Now the notebook support for the game stream feature still has some caveats. The big one being that you still might not be able to use gamestream if your notebooks processor still isn’t on the supported list. Sadly, the requirement for the beta version of this notebook gamestream compatibility is small, and only supports a handful of GPUs at the moment, which includes the GeForce GTX 800M, GTX 700M and select Kepler-based GTX 600M GPUs. If you have a notebook with one of those graphics cards inside, you’re in luck, and can play Steam games(or PC games, of which there are over 100 already supported)at home on the couch or on the go.
Other major changes here(this may appeal more to hardcore PC gamers) is keyboard and mouse support for console mode. Console mode for those who are unaware allows you to hook up the Shield unit to the big screen with support for up to 1080p and 60FPS. The keyboard and mouse support allows for playing games like League of Legends, Diablo 3, WoW, Civilization V, and more via bluetooth keyboard and mouse connectivity to the Shield. You’ll also find updates to gamepad mapper, a new tegrazone app with a face lift, and gamestream quality controls which allows the users to control the quality of the stream bitrates and frame rates for games. You can check out the full changelog and description of features at the Nvidia link below.