Voodoo's Rahul Sood emerges from hiding, gives us all the low-down

For years now, Voodoo PC's fearless leader (that'd be Rahul Sood) barely went a month without teasing this or that, or better yet, introducing the new hotness. In terms of cutting-edge design, these guys were at the front of the class. And then came the HP tie-in, along with the worry that the Voodoo name (and "DNA") would eventually be swallowed whole. After dishing out a smattering of VoodooDNA machines under the HP label, Rahul and his company went radio silent. In fact, we haven't heard a peep from Mr. Sood for nine whole months, and we really began to wonder what was going on when HP issued the new Envy 13 and Envy 15 with nary an official hint of Voodoo's fingerprints.

Now, at long last, Rahul has emerged from hiding, and he's got a story to tell. In short, Voodoo is still alive and well, but it's certainly not the same company that shocked the world with its ENVY m:790 laptop in late 2004. In fact, Rahul's been working on some pretty unorthodox projects, ranging from healthcare (okay?) to futuristic stuff for HP's Innovation Program Office. In a lengthy letter to the world, he explains that the initial push to get Voodoo completely underneath HP's wings was done in order to give Voodoo access to global partners, and in turn, to ship its products to every corner of the world. When speaking about the Envy 13 / 15, he proclaims that HP's own laptop team simply lifted ideas from Voodoo prototypes and designed them internally; the truth is that Voodoo didn't design either machine, it only influenced them. The removal of the "VoodooDNA" tagline -- according to Rahul -- has to do with "the overall design language, the target market, and the fact that [Voodoo] wasn't directly involved in the design."

In the end, Sood admits that there's still a chance you'll see another Voodoo-branded machine in your lifetime, but he also confesses that it has transitioned from a desktop and laptop company to "something beyond." He also makes clear that he hasn't forgotten about his promise to change the future of desktop gaming, and that new products from HP will continue to boast Voodoo's fingerprints. Typical Rahul -- it just wouldn't be a formal conclusion without a tease or two, now would it?