CES: Razer’s ‘Project Fiona’ a tablet for gamers
There was a lot of pre-CES hype surrounding Sony’s PlayStation Vita – the company’s next-gen handheld gaming system, due out next month – but another portable gaming product garnered a lot of buzz at the show.
Razer – a gaming hardware company best known for PC performance mice, keyboards and headsets – wowed the crowds at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with a very different kind of product.
Project Fiona is a concept tablet designed for gamers. The device does offer a large 10.1-inch WXGA (1280 x 800) multi-touch display, but also sits in between two fixed game controllers – each with an analog stick, four face buttons and shoulder triggers.
Because it’s a Windows 8-based device, Razer says it will let you play virtually all PC games. Though some of the specs are a little vague, Project Fiona will be powered by an Intel Core i7 processor, plus it will also offer Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound (and THX certification), Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi 802.11b/g/n.
The tablet also boasts a three-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer and force feedback in the controllers.
Games running off the Steam network were shown at CES – mainly Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine — plus there was a tab for the OnLive service.
But because Razer went with a powerful CPU capable of running PC games, I’m curious (nay, skeptical) about what kind of battery life you can expect.
While this PC gaming tablet is still in the prototype stage, Razer says it’ll likely debut towards the end of the year. And the goal is to keep the product under the $1,000 mark.
Razer will release more information on Project Fiona by the E3 gaming expo in June.
Sync shot some video of Project Fiona in action. Check it out: