The last few months have already seen two new challengers to Nintendo's dominance of the handheld market, as tech giants Sony and Nokia both revealed plans for their new mini-machines. Unperturbed, the recently formed Tapwave company have announced their intentions to enter the fray with their new Zodiac machine (formerly named Helix).
Consisting of a credible team of ex-Palm executives, it looks as though Tapwave could just stand its ground amongst the GBA, PSP and N-Gage. Apparently aimed at the 'high-end handheld market', it should be technically comparable to the Nokia machine. Indeed, the Zodiac's third party support is coming from the same companies: Acclaim, Activision, Infogrammes, Midway and Sega will all be submitting their usual cross-platform offerings.
As yet, no pictures of the Zodiac are available, but if you read the tech-specs below and then close your eyes really tightly, you might just be able to see it…
Weight: 6 oz/180 grammes
Display: High-Res 480 x 320 pixels
Processor: i.MXI ARM 9
Controls: Analogue joystick, integrated triggers and action buttons/ Rumble effect
Graphics: ATi Imageon graphics accelerator/ Fathammer X-Forge 3D Engine
Audio: Yamaha components, stereo sound/ Full digital music player
Networking: Bluetooth for wireless multiplayer gaming/High-score channels.
Consisting of a credible team of ex-Palm executives, it looks as though Tapwave could just stand its ground amongst the GBA, PSP and N-Gage. Apparently aimed at the 'high-end handheld market', it should be technically comparable to the Nokia machine. Indeed, the Zodiac's third party support is coming from the same companies: Acclaim, Activision, Infogrammes, Midway and Sega will all be submitting their usual cross-platform offerings.
As yet, no pictures of the Zodiac are available, but if you read the tech-specs below and then close your eyes really tightly, you might just be able to see it…
Weight: 6 oz/180 grammes
Display: High-Res 480 x 320 pixels
Processor: i.MXI ARM 9
Controls: Analogue joystick, integrated triggers and action buttons/ Rumble effect
Graphics: ATi Imageon graphics accelerator/ Fathammer X-Forge 3D Engine
Audio: Yamaha components, stereo sound/ Full digital music player
Networking: Bluetooth for wireless multiplayer gaming/High-score channels.
Companies:
Tapwave