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Razer gives Project Fiona the green light

Published on 5th October 2012 by Gareth Halfacree

Razer's Project Fiona is now near-guaranteed a commercial launch, with the company receiving a staggering 11,000 Facebook likes for the design in just 24 hours.

Razer has promised to bring its Project Fiona gaming tablet concept to shop shelves after the prototype design got over 11,000 Facebook Likes in a single day.

Yesterday, Razer's Ming-Liang Tan told visitors to his Facebook page that 'if this post gets 10,000 likes/shares in the next seven days, we’ll work on making the concept a reality and launch the product.' Further, Tan promised to share high-level design concepts in order to 'crowd-source' some of the design decisions that will influence the final product. 'We’d like to hear how you would like to design the actual tablet right here on the Razer Facebook Page, as well as take suggestions for specs, form factor, pricing, features etc.'

First unveiled in January this year, Razer's Project Fiona is the company's latest attempt to branch out from the peripherals market into selling its own system after the Switchblade concept console and Blade gaming laptop. Based around a 10.1in tablet chassis with an Intel Core i7 processor - think 'Ultrabook without a keyboard' rather than 'Microsoft Surface' - and a removable dual-grip gaming control system, the device saw plenty of interest from attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show.

At the time, Razer admitted that its images were pre-release mock-ups, but claimed the device was in active development with a view to release the device at a price of around $1,000 or roughly £650 excluding taxes. Now, the company appears to be backtracking on its claims by stating that it will only develop the product if the interest - gauged by the number of Likes on Tan's Facebook post - is there.

With Tan having received over 11,000 likes in just 24 hours - well ahead of the seven-day deadline Tan imposed on the venture - that interest appears to be present and correct. As a result, it seems certain that Razer will now work to produce the tablet - although we'd bet money that it will launch with something a little more sedate than a Core i7 chip, or will blow past its original $1,000 target price.

If you want to remind yourself of the Project Fiona design, have a shufti at the following video:

13 Comments

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Lance 5th October 2012, 11:06

This looks cool.

Also the size of the damn thing if you're doing 5 hour gaming sessions you'll end up with shoulders like Arnie holding it up.

greigaitken 5th October 2012, 12:33

11,000 likes roughly = 8 purchases

Paradigm Shifter 5th October 2012, 12:59

It may launch with the low-end mobile Core i7; although honestly if it's gaming focussed (which it obviously is) they'd probably be better going with a dual-core or non-HT quad anyway. Will be interesting to see whether they try to go with Intel integrated or a discrete solution... and what res the screen will be so they don't need to try jamming a GTX680M in the thing. ;)

I'm not the greatest fan of Razer kit, but I can respect them for trying new things. ;)

Guinevere 5th October 2012, 13:06

If they're smart they'll start with the controller aspect of it first. Make it bluetooth compatible and allow any tablet to be 'docked' with it. There's loads of iPad games that already support bluetooth controllers, even dual stick analogue.

Get the controller polished, put it in the hands of gamers and see if it's a nice way to play.

Produce a streaming app to allow your PC games to be played 'to a fashion' wirelessly on your iPad / Android and again you get a few more sales by people who don't mind compression artefacts and lag.

Plenty of money to be made even if Razor don't go all-in and build a slightly underpowered i7 gaming tablet with dreadful battery life (Which is the best they could hope for)

[PUNK] crompers 5th October 2012, 13:20

Yeah the concept is flawed IMO. If they could produce a controller for android tablets would make a lot more sense but would still likely be crap.

TBH mobile gaming just hasnt worked since the gameboy really, stuff like this seems cool and i always imagine myself using it on the train etc but in reality its too expensive to take out of the house and flash around on public transport and too uncomfortable to use at home so it ends up in the draw next to the M11x

Deders 5th October 2012, 13:41

Does it need to be an i7? Surely an i5 would be more optimal.

Paradigm Shifter 5th October 2012, 13:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by [PUNK] crompers
TBH mobile gaming just hasnt worked since the gameboy really, stuff like this seems cool and i always imagine myself using it on the train etc but in reality its too expensive to take out of the house and flash around on public transport and too uncomfortable to use at home so it ends up in the draw next to the M11x

I know what you mean about not wanting to take mobile gaming outside... where I used to live it was like an open invitation to get mugged.

Guinevere 5th October 2012, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by [PUNK
crompers]Yeah the concept is flawed IMO. If they could produce a controller for android tablets would make a lot more sense but would still likely be crap.

You mean like this:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57507775-1/wikipad-gaming-tablet-available-october-31-for-$499/

or

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/archos-gamepad-a-7-android-tablet-with-d-pad-analog-sticks/

or

http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/12/26/jxd.gets.into.tablet.and.gaming.crossover/

Quote:

Originally Posted by [PUNK
crompers]TBH mobile gaming just hasnt worked since the gameboy really

It may not 'work' for you, but there's more people playing mobile games than ever and it's sure making a lot of money for a lot of people.

[PUNK] crompers 5th October 2012, 16:30

Yep on smart phones, which are devices people carry around anyway which is why it is doing so well.

And yes a know these products exist, but from what I can tell they're hardly smashing any retail records. I've yet to see one in the wild, I havent even seen anyone using a PSvita yet and I live in a big city and commute to work everyday.

I was just expressing an opinion and giving examples of products I own which I have not ended up using. I made that clear. Wind your neck in.

technogiant 6th October 2012, 07:34

So basically a tablet with a pair of sony navigation controllers tagged on to the sides....nice clean design.

Now if they make it a windows 8 tablet powered by an AMD apu so that it can use the blue stack emulation that Amd have just announced to run android apps as well as windows stuff...then this thing could have a huge catalog of games and may well really fly.

rollo 6th October 2012, 17:20

Agree with crompers tbh things are just way to expensive to be using in the open on public transport. Carrying around an Ipad to play games on is a statement that says i want to be mugged. smartphones are different as they are so small in comparison.

Id guess most peoples ipads have never left there homes.

ssj12 6th October 2012, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by [PUNK
crompers]Yep on smart phones, which are devices people carry around anyway which is why it is doing so well.

And yes a know these products exist, but from what I can tell they're hardly smashing any retail records. I've yet to see one in the wild, I havent even seen anyone using a PSvita yet and I live in a big city and commute to work everyday.

I was just expressing an opinion and giving examples of products I own which I have not ended up using. I made that clear. Wind your neck in.

Well some people buy handhelds and dont bring them outside their house. I did that with my GB, GBA, and PSP. I rarely play any of the games on my Droid X2 outside of my home.

Whindog 7th October 2012, 23:57

I like the concept and the look is pretty cool.

Im not gonna liek the price tag or the quality.

Comercial launch a mistake imo