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EVO 2 console puts Android in a box
In 2006, Envizions announced the EVO: Phase One console, which was designed as a media center device. It apparently didn't change the world. Five years later, the world has changed anyway, and Envizions has access to an operating system for its new console that developers are already comfortable with: Android. The EVO 2 console, launching this fall for $250, is built on a modified Android 2.2 OS, and ships with a controller and a media remote. A $149 "software support fee" allows access to the SDK for the console and " Developers can also submit pre-existing Android games." The platform is designed to be open and modifiable, and Envizions itself plans to augment it later with a motion control device. And in the meantime, it's a way to play (some) Android games on a TV.
EVO 2 console promises to bring Android gaming to your TV this fall
Remember the Linux-based EVO game console? We can certainly forgive you if you don't, but it did actually end up shipping, and "sold out" according to the company the behind it. Now that company, Envizions, is back for a second try with another big promise: an Android-based game console dubbed, naturally enough, the EVO 2. First announced earlier this year, the console is now supposedly set to hit the US sometime this fall and, to prove that it's not completely vaporware, Envizions is making EVO 2 developer units available today -- the unit is "free," although developers will have to pay an annual $149 software support fee. As for the console itself, it will apparently pack an unspecified 1.2GHz Samsung processor, a "modified" Android 2.2 OS, and both a TV remote and game controller. Leaving no stone unturned, Envisions says it's also planning to add a motion sensor by the end of the year, and it even has its own points system in mind that will let you buy Android games with "EVO tokens." As for a price, you can expect to pay $249 when/if the console actually ships, and those willing to take a chance can reserve one right now for $15 at the link below.
EVO Linux game console now up for pre-order
The last time we heard from Envizions, the company was just starting to get its game plan together -- but it looks like the gears are officially in motion on its Linux-based game console. The final specs for the box now seem to be in place, with off-the-shelf components like the Athlon 64x2 5600 CPU (clocked to 2.4GHz), an ATI HD 3200 graphics chipset, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, and a 120GB hard drive filling out what is essentially a standard PC housing. Envizions say that the console will run a modified, quick-boot distro of Fedora called Mirrors (which can be upgraded to a beefier build named Mirrors Evolution X), and will feature a "cloud" service stacked with Amiga (!) games and an Akimbo-based video service. Beyond that, proper titles will be sold online and on SD cards for around $20. Envizions is currently taking pre-orders for the box, and say beta units will be shipped on April 10th. Pricing for those consoles will run between $280-350, while the final retail version can be had for $380, and should be available sometime in June. We have just two words of advice for the fledgling company: get some killer games on there fast, and please, please update your site.[Via Digg, Linux Devices]
Linux-based Evo "Smart Console" now up for pre-order
While any announcement of a new game console is rightly going to be greeting with a hefty amount of skepticism, it looks like this new Evo "Smart Console" from upstart Envizions Computer Entertainment could be a bit of a unique case and, as Pandora has shown, sometimes these things do actually pan out. Working in the Evo's favor is the fact that it's really nothing more than a Linux-based computer that relies entirely on off the shelf parts like an overclocked Athlon 64x2 5600 processor and ATI Radeon 3200 graphics. The more ambitious, and potentially vaporware bit, is Envizions' hopes for the system as a game development platform and a cloud computing device of sorts. Apparently, it's betting on developers tailoring games specifically for the system and selling 'em through its proposed Evo Network, which Envizions CEO Derrick Samuels says would "give Linux game developers a chance to make some money." The company also says that a subsidized rebate plan will eventually bring the price of the console down to $250, but it'll run a full $600 out of the gate, and Envizions will gladly take a $100 deposit right now from anyone willing to reserve one of the first few consoles that'll supposedly start shipping on November 20th.[Via thegadgetsite]
