Nvidia appears to have quietly developed a new hybrid laptop-tablet device, though it's unclear if and when the device will launch.

The company has delved into devices before - releasing the Shield gaming tablet in 2015 with the Shield K1. It's getting quite long in the tooth, but according to code spotted in Nividia’s Shield Experience software, Nvidia might be working on a refresh or even an all-new device. The code, which was first spotted by XDA-Developers, shows three different options for UI: Desktop, laptop, and "dynamic".

  • Nvidia Shield Tablet K1 vs Shield Tablet (2014): What's the difference?

The code also points to a new device, codenamed Mystique, which can toggle between desktop and laptop. This hybrid has a 13.5-inch (3,000x2,000) display, and may have even gone through different chipsets in its development. Nvidia’s code originally indicated it had the Tegra X2, a successor to the Tegra X1, which can be found in the original Shield Tablet and Nintendo Switch.

A more recent version of the code, however, suggested Nividia's device is under development with a Tegra Xavier, which was made for autonomous vehicles. XDA speculated this chip might run in a low-power mode in order to operate on a battery-powered device like a tablet.

But here's the tricky part to all this: It's from code that is a year old, which means everything about this hybrid could have changed by now. When reached for comment, Nvidia told the media it's common for codenames to be referenced in code, and that it was also common for product concepts to never make it to market. The company also pointed to recent remarks from CEO Jensen Huang.

He said the company would only return to the mobile device market if it could create “things the world doesn’t have".