March 24th, 2009 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Platforms: Brew | No Comments »
Months ago, we posted about a brand called Zeebo and it's support from Qualcomm's Mike Yuen. Though speculations at that time pointed at just a new mobile gaming platform, it now turns out to be a full blown console, yet aimed at the mobile gaming market.
Technology wise, the console is positioning itself at the bottom of the console market. With a price tag of just $ 199 at launch, and $149 6 months later, the console would be even cheaper then the Playstation 2.
Hardware wise, the device is also much more simplistic than the Playstation 2. It's best to compare the device with the SonyEricson Xperia handset. Software wise, the main language will be Brew. So where does it stand out?
The business model. Games are not being offered through shops, but directly via an online shop. To not fully bypass the retailers, the company will be selling coupons that can be used for game purchases. The console will go online via a 3G connection to avoid being hacked over a WiFi. This means that games will have to be small in order to limit data consumption.
For the content, Qualcomm has also been scouting through the mobile industry. Companies like Com2Us and ng:moco have already prepared some games for the device.
The low cost device will be limited in distribution for now. The device will kick off in Brazil and then roll-out to other countries where consumers are not able to spend hundreds of dollars on gaming hardware, let alone 50 to 70 dollar on a game. Will we ever see it in Europe? I hope so…
And now the technical specs:
OS: Brew
Connectivity: Edge, GPRS, UMTS, HSDPA
CPU: Qualcomm QDSK-5 528 MHz ARM 11
GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 130-core
Memory: 1GB Flash, 128MB DDR
Canvas: 640×480
External: 3X USB, 1X SD
Preinstalled: FIFA '09, Need for Speed Carbon, Brain Challenge, Prey Evil
Coupon: Quake
