It was relatively smooth sailing for Project Shield so far with everything with it seemingly going according to plan. The device was also slated for a release on June 27th with pre-order process already underway. It was really good to see a tech project going as per schedule though trouble seems to have been lurking somewhere and it has already hit where perhaps it hurts most for us consumers. For the device has now been hit by the dreaded delay bug.
This latest development comes on the back of another in which Nvidia had dropped the ‘project’ part from the gadget’s naming so that the hardware is now referred to as just the ‘Shield’. That is nothing too significant and rather, it is the news of the device now coming on late that is much more depressing.
It so happened that the gadget failed to meet some stipulated quality assurance tests. Nividia is not letting us know just where the fault lies. But it seems to be serious enough to prevent Nvidia to get along with the production process. Nvidia though mentioned the concerned component is manufactured by a third part developer and that efforts are already underway to work a way around. In fact, Nvidia assured they are working round the clock to ensure the delay is within manageable limits.
As per a new time frame put up by Nvidia, the device will is expected to hit streets this July itself though no specific dates were mentioned. Needless to say we are already into the specified month and hope things do work our soon enough. Meanwhile, it will be worth mentioning here, Nvidia had earlier dropped the price of the device from $349 to a more affordable $299.