To answer my own question this Amazon page for the controller seems to indicate that it supports Shield Tablets and thus should work on the original Shield TVs too.
Another interesting blurb:
The Gateway to Your New Smart Home Because the SHIELD controller is always on, you can command your living room with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, completely hands-free. Dim the lights, change the temperature, the possibilities are endless.
So it looks like we are getting Alexa integration as well???