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[Deg]

Dixons's group will be the only place stocking it. This should be fun, lol.

TAPWAVE LAUNCHES THE AWARD-WINNING ZODIAC MULTIMEDIA HANDHELD INTO EUROPEAN MARKET
Dixons Group Plc is the Exclusive UK Launch Partner. Zodiac Available On October 22nd at PC World, Dixons, and Dixons Tax Free Stores.

London, England (October 8, 2004) – Christmas will come early for technology enthusiasts this year; US-based Tapwave announces its Palm Powered Zodiac multimedia handheld will be available for the first time on UK High Streets on Friday, October 22nd 2004. The Zodiac handheld will be available exclusively through PC World and Dixons (including its Tax Free stores).

The award-winning Zodiac is the perfect combination of fun and function in a sleek ergonomic design (only 6.3 ounces) that you’ll want to take everywhere. Listen to music, experience console-quality 3D gaming, view photos & video, and organize your life. You can also customise your Zodiac with thousands of Palm OS® applications.

While the powerful Motorola i.MX1 ARM9 processor and integrated ATI graphics acceleration are the same in both models, the Zodiac 1 and Zodiac 2 come with 32MB and 128MB of memory respectively. Each can be expanded by slotting in SD cards into the handhelds two expansion ports, offering up to 2GB of additional storage – enough for a significant number of songs, photos, e-books, audible books, games, videos, and business documents.

The Zodiac offers a high resolution (480x320) 3.8-inch colour display, Yamaha audio with stereo speakers and vibration effects. With integrated Bluetooth and infrared wireless technologies, the Zodiac can also be used in conjunction with a supported mobile phone to browse the internet, send SMS messages and manage email. The Zodiac can be operated in landscape or portrait mode, allowing Word documents, e-mail or family pictures to be viewed in the orientation which best suits them. The Zodiac also features high capacity rechargeable lithium batteries for extended use, a touch-screen for direct interaction and text input and the first ever analog controller (joystick) in a handheld product.

The 32MB Zodiac 1 will be available for a suggested retail price £269.99, with the 128MB Zodiac 2 for £329.99. The new retail model for the UK market will also come with the UK/Euro/US charging kit and the latest Zodiac 1.1 software suite, which includes many new enhancements like background music playback (e.g., listen to music while you play games, view a photo slideshow or read an e-book) and the ability to sync your personal organizer data with Microsoft® Outlook® using Chapura® PocketMirror®.

The Zodiac will also launch with a host of additional accessories – including a convenient desktop cradle, carrying case and styli – as well as a full complement of games on SD cards in DVD-style packaging. Retailing at £29.99, these games include: Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater® 4, Midway’s SpyHunter®, id Software’s DOOM II® and 3D Realms/MachineWorks Northwest’s Duke Nukem Mobile™. Along with premiere titles, Tapwave is also offering two game packs – Z Pak: Adventure, which will include Galactic Realms and Legacy; and the Z Pak: Fun featuring Paintball, MegaBowling and Kickoo’s Breakout. A dedicated games release schedule for the UK holiday season will be available next month.

“We are looking forward to working with the Dixons Group Plc to launch the Zodiac into the European market,” says Andrzej Kasprzyk, Director of Sales, Europe, Tapwave. “We chose a partner that will back the product with significant marketing activities and who understands the Zodiac and loves it as much as we do. In terms of reputation, muscle and image, Dixons Group Plc – with its key High Street retailers – is the perfect outlet for the Zodiac.”

“The Zodiac handheld is an innovative mobile product,” says Jonathan Hirst, Mobile Office Marketing Manager, PC World. “With the Zodiac it all comes together - an MP3 player, game console, picture & video player and PDA all in one, it’s sure to be the must-have handheld device this Christmas and beyond. We’ve worked hard to secure UK distribution exclusively, and we’re delighted to have done so. We’re looking forward to putting the full weight of PC World and Dixons behind this break-through mobile product.”

Since launching in US retail last June, the award-winning Zodiac has won numerous awards for both its functionality and its design. The Tapwave Zodiacs will be available on October 22nd 2004, priced £269.99 (32MB) and £329.99 (128MB), exclusively in the UK from PC World and Dixons, and online through www.pcworld.co.uk.

Tapwave’s European plans will be unveiled shortly.

About Tapwave, Inc.
Tapwave is changing the way people manage their lives, play and interact on the go. Founded in May 2001, Tapwave is a privately funded company in Mountain view, CA, USA. Through a wealth of consumer electronic experience and strong partnerships, Tapwave is developing a portfolio of innovative, media-centric products that combine the power and function of advanced handheld computing with the fun of a console-quality entertainment experience.

Since officially launching the company a year ago, Tapwave has garnered numerous accolades and industry awards for its first product – the Zodiac, including: 1st place in PC Magazines “Last Gadget standing” competition at CES 2004, Handheld Computing’s “Most Innovative PDA for 2003”. Mobiletrax’s Mobility Award, CNET’s Editor’s Choice Award, PC World’s 2004 Next Gear Innovations Award and Popular Science BOWN (Best of What’s New) Award. More information about the company can be found at www.tapwave.com.
© 2004 Copyright. All rights reserved. Tapwave is a registered trademark and the Tapwave logo, Zodiac and the Zodiac logo are trademarks of Tapwave, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

 

[snapty00]

The Zodiac offers a high resolution (480x320) 3.8-inch colour display

That is what DS should've had.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

It's a cool gadget but the commercial titles suck. I mean, Doom 2 and Pinball Dreams? GP32 has those.

I haven't really checked the emulator market for it, I guess it would outclass GP32 there. But then again I can't really afford ANOTHER handheld with DS and PSP almost here...

 

[Deg]

That is what DS should've had.

Its even better than the PSP screen!

 

[snapty00]

Its even better than the PSP screen!

Yep, and the same ratio as the GBA's screen, which would've allowed GBA games to be played on DS full-screen with no distortion.

 

[Lyte Edge]

It's a cool gadget but the commercial titles suck. I mean, Doom 2 and Pinball Dreams? GP32 has those.

I haven't really checked the emulator market for it, I guess it would outclass GP32 there. But then again I can't really afford ANOTHER handheld with DS and PSP almost here...

I have a Zodiac 2, and yeah, for gaming, it's pretty much all about the emulation. Spy Hunter was too choppy for me, Duke Nukem has terrible level design (it's an original game, but all you do is pretty much walk forward and shoot. :/), and even Doom II has a problem with its controls, which is supposed to be fixed via a patch that has still yet to be released.

Don't let it sound like I hate this device though; the emulation side of things is great, the sound quality is awesome (perfect for playing MP3s), and the high res screen makes watching movies on the Zodiac look great.

The "killer app" for the Zodiac is Little John Z, an emulator that runs GB/GBC, Genesis, SNES, NES, TG-16, Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and Wonderswan Color games. For the 16-bit systems, you will need to turn the sound off for most games to get playable speeds, but obviously this will get better with each update. You can also get NES, Game Gear/Master System, and TG-16 emulators from Kalemsoft, which are more stable and run great with sound on, but the sound quality for NES games isn't as perfect as running the games through Little John Z.

There's also some nice hombrew titles in development; one Diablo-style RPG in particular looks AWESOME.

I've barely picked up my GBA since I got this machine; I'm already considering trading my GBA SP NES Edition and the majority of my GBA games in towards a DS, while GBA is stil worth something.

 

[COCKLES]

I have a Zodiac 2, and yeah, for gaming, it's pretty much all about the emulation. Spy Hunter was too choppy for me, Duke Nukem has terrible level design (it's an original game, but all you do is pretty much walk forward and shoot. :/), and even Doom II has a problem with its controls, which is supposed to be fixed via a patch that has still yet to be released.

Don't let it sound like I hate this device though; the emulation side of things is great, the sound quality is awesome (perfect for playing MP3s), and the high res screen makes watching movies on the Zodiac look great.

The "killer app" for the Zodiac is Little John Z, an emulator that runs GB/GBC, Genesis, SNES, NES, TG-16, Neo-Geo Pocket Color, and Wonderswan Color games. For the 16-bit systems, you will need to turn the sound off for most games to get playable speeds, but obviously this will get better with each update. You can also get NES, Game Gear/Master System, and TG-16 emulators from Kalemsoft, which are more stable and run great with sound on, but the sound quality for NES games isn't as perfect as running the games through Little John Z.

There's also some nice hombrew titles in development; one Diablo-style RPG in particular looks AWESOME.

I've barely picked up my GBA since I got this machine; I'm already considering trading my GBA SP NES Edition and the majority of my GBA games in towards a DS, while GBA is stil worth something.

What encoding formats does it support? DivX / XviD?

 

[radioheadrule83]

That is what DS should've had.

Ah but there will be GBA2/another_Gameboy...

 

[Lord Error]

t's a cool gadget but the commercial titles suck. I mean, Doom 2 and Pinball Dreams? GP32 has those.

Pinball Drems is, I assume, is running in some emulation on GP32? What machine? Amiga?

Its even better than the PSP screen!

I very much doubt it. I mean it does have somewhat larger resolution, but from the specs, the PSP screen is just in another class compared to the other handheld and PDA screens I've seen so far.

 

[radioheadrule83]

This is the shop that couldn't tolerate mediocre gamecube sales btw. This thing is more d00m3d than d00m3d.

Or it will have a miniscule amount of shelf space. Near the floor. At the back.

 

[Vark]

I've got one too, and yea, emulation / movies rock. Pocket DVD and a sizeable SD cards means dvd's on the go (widescreen!).

Lyte, what diablo style game are you talking about? I got my Zodiac a month or two ago before Little John came out and haven't really updated it (but i have all the Kalemsoft stuff). I need to go about and update all my stuff again!

 

[Lhadatt]

What encoding formats does it support? DivX / XviD?

Yes and yes.

MMPlayer will play pretty much anything -- you just need to scale it down. VirtualDub or the aforementioned Pocket DVD will do it for you.

 

[SiegfriedFM]

Pinball Dreams is a commercial port for GP32, it costs $10 or so to download. And it's absolutely perfect, both graphics, sound and gameplay. The team made the sound engine for the GBA PD/PF earlier. They were doing Pinball Fantasies as well but after the no-show in Europe I'm afraid they didn't bother to release it.

 

[Deg]

This is the shop that couldn't tolerate mediocre gamecube sales btw. This thing is more d00m3d than d00m3d.

Or it will have a miniscule amount of shelf space. Near the floor. At the back.

No, no Zodiac is already a huge success against Gc

 

[Lyte Edge]

I've got one too, and yea, emulation / movies rock. Pocket DVD and a sizeable SD cards means dvd's on the go (widescreen!).

Lyte, what diablo style game are you talking about? I got my Zodiac a month or two ago before Little John came out and haven't really updated it (but i have all the Kalemsoft stuff). I need to go about and update all my stuff again!

It's called EDGE; pretty damn impressive-looking:

More pics/info at the official site: http://www.rzanerutledge.com/games/edge/

There's another RPG out now called "Legacy" that isn't bad either. You can get the demo for free; the game is in the older Dungeon-Master or Keif The Thief style first perspective.

Tapland.com and Zodiacgamer.com are the best sites for info BTW.

 

[Kobun Heat]

That is what DS should've had.

£269.99

You gonna pay two hundred and sixty-nine POUNDS for the DS? I sincerely doubt it.