NVIDIA SHIELD also has a non-gaming Nexus experience

We had known the NVIDIA SHIELD was more than just a gaming system. This detail was revealed early on and in fact, the SHIELD will arrive running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Given this and given things will not be buried and hidden, this means SHIELD users will be able to do just about everything they can on a regular Android smartphone or tablet. In fact, some of the experience actually looks quite nice.

With that in mind, the folks at NVIDIA have recently dropped another SHIELD Showcase video and this one is showing off the non-gaming experience. The video is on the shorter side coming in at just a bit more than two minutes, but it does manage to offer a look at everything from web surfing to downloading content from Google Play. It also gives a look at using Gmail, Google Maps and Google Local.

Taking a deeper look at the web browsing surfing and we find the left joystick can be used to scroll up and down. The slightly more interesting aspect here comes with the right joystick. Using this will bring up a small cursor that will allow you to click on some of those smaller links without having to zoom on the page. Of course, you can also use the touchscreen, which as many will remember is a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720.

The one limitation that many will find as compared to an Android smartphone — the lack of constant connectivity. Needless to say, that should be something many are familiar with as we often see Android tablets with only WiFi connectivity. Basically, that just means you sometimes need a bit of pre-planning in terms of downloading content. Or as shown in the video, downloading your Gmail before you take off and lose access to the WiFi.

Otherwise, the NVIDIA SHIELD is still available for pre-order. The system is priced at $349 and expected to begin shipping by the end of the month. Finally, those making the purchase can expect to get the system itself along with a silver lid, AC adapter, USB Cable and two games. The games will be Expendable: Rearmed and Sonic 4 Episode II THD.