LIVE FROM CES 2013: Chipset vendor Nvidia kicked off this year’s CES 2013 event by unveiling what it claims is “the world’s fastest mobile processor”, also announcing plans to sell its own Android gaming device.

Nvidia’s Tegra4 claims to have six times the “GPU horsepower” of its predecessor (the Tegra3, which powers Google’s Nexus tablet and Microsoft’s new Surface tablet) and runs ARM’s latest CPU core, the Cortex-A15. It will support LTE data and voice through an optional chipset.

Of greater surprise was Nvidia’s plan to sell its own Android-based gaming device direct to consumers. Codenamed Project Shield, the hand-held gaming device will include the faster new Tegra4 chip and marries a 5-inch (12.7cm) touchscreen with joysticks, buttons and other controls in a clam-shell design.

CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told a press conference in Las Vegas that the device has been in development for five years and can play both Android games (via the Google Play store) and stream video games from PCs.

In a prepared statement, Huang noted: “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love Shield as much as we do.”

Pricing and availability for the hand-held gaming device weren’t disclosed.