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Razer's fantastical concept projects inform its future
Razer's Project Linda laptop dock might be grounded in reality, but that doesn't mean the company is out of wild ideas for the future. It's just that for this CES, Razer wanted to merge its lightweight Blade Stealth laptop with its recently released smartphone and see how people would react. "We still have the flexibility to do some of the more far-out stuff that everyone loves to see," Marketing Director Kevin Sather reassured. He was talking about Project Christine, the subscription-based modular PC system from 2014. Or last year's laptop with three displays, Project Valerie. While neither of those have come out -- same goes for the showstopping Project Ariana projector -- Razer doesn't see them as a waste. In fact, they're informing the company's future.
Razer Edge Pro review: can a tablet double as a gaming PC?
Portable gaming isn't what it once was. Sure, you can still snag a handheld device from Sony or Nintendo, but today's video game industry is far more diverse. Gamers on the go have no shortage of hardware to pick from: tablets, smartphones, gaming laptops and purpose-built handhelds are redefining what a mobile gaming platform is. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan must have felt the winds of change blowing his way when he cooked up Project Fiona, now known as the Razer Edge. The company's marketing material frames the curious device as an all-in-one gaming arsenal; it's a tablet, says the product page, as well as a PC and console. Above all, it's modular, a souped-up tablet with a small collection of docks and cradles designed to scratch your gaming itch from all angles. All told, Razer calls it the most powerful tablet in the world. Kitted out with the specs of a mid-range gaming laptop, it may very well be that -- but we couldn't let the proclamation pass without giving it the once-over ourselves.
Razer Edge vs. the competition: fight!
Audacious claims are starting to become a standard component of Razer hardware announcements -- following the Blade's claim to the title of "world's first true gaming laptop" is the Razer Edge: "a full feature PC and the most powerful tablet in the world." It certainly has the full feature PC aspect down -- with an Intel Core i5 (or i7 for Pro) processor at its heart, the Edge is more of a modular Ultrabook than your run-of-the-mill tablet. Then again, that seems to be the Windows 8 slate trend, doesn't it? We pitted the Edge against some of the category's recent stars, including two other tablets, a slider and a full featured convertible laptop. Read on to see how it stacks up.
Hands-on with Razer's Edge, a $999 gaming tablet / home console
The PC ecosystem is no longer as simple as it once was -- first there were desktops, then laptops, then tablets, then all-in-ones. Buying a PC now is more nebulous than it ever was. You could build your very own rig, piece-by-piece, or you could buy one of the many, many pre-fab options out there (or some mixture of the two, of course). And then there's even more outside-of-the-box options, like Razer's recently re-introduced Edge (aka "Project Fiona"), which occupies a space all its own. Part laptop, part tablet, part home console, and part portable console, the Razer Edge is the fruition of Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan's dream to create a "true" portable PC gaming machine. And weighing in at just two pounds, the Edge is dramatically lighter than Razer's other portable gaming machine, the Blade (which clocks in at a whopping 6.6 lbs.), making it the company's first actually portable game console. Keeping those Blade comparisons rolling, the base level Edge at $999 features a slight step down from the Blade's Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor to a 1.7GHz Intel's Core i5 (the Edge Pro at $1299 boosts that CPU to a 1.9GHz Ivy Bridge i7, more closely matching the far costlier Blade). Thankfully, the Edge's GPU is not only discreet, but also powerful and (thankfully) not fragmented between the two models: an NVIDIA GT640M LE powers the graphics on both, while 4GB or 8GB (respectively) of DDR3 RAM keeps it all running smoothly. The base model Edge holds 64GB of content in a speedy solid state drive (128GB in the Pro model, upgradeable to 256GB). But let's be honest -- you already know most of these specs, right? What matters is how all this stuff pans out, and we've just gotten our first chance to find out. Head past the break to see how Razer's Edge fared.
Project Fiona becomes Razer Edge, starts at $999, sans controller
Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan has been dreaming about building a true PC gaming portable for years. He's cooked up prototype clamshells, controller-toting tablets, and built two top of the line gaming laptops along the way -- but now his dream is almost ready: the Razer Edge. Look familiar? It should. It's been handled, teased and even redesigned at the behest of Razer's social legions. It's Project Fiona evolved. Hoping to keep pace with community feedback, Razer is kitting out the Edge with a 3rd gen Intel Core processor, a 10.1-inch 1,366 x 768 display, an NVIDIA GT640M LE GPU, 4 to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, USB 3.0 and a 64, 128 or 256GB SSD, depending on the SKU. Min translated the slate's build into some digestible framerates: 59 fps in Dishonored, he told us, and 41 fps in DiRT Showdown. Sound intriguing? It gets better -- the baseline 1.7Ghz Core i5 variant of the Edge will sell for $999 and the beefed up 1.9GHz Core i7 Pro model will run for $1299, keeping the device well below the community's $1,300 to $1,500 price expectations. Even better, the whole shebang is going to be available in the first quarter of this year. Razer had to change more than Project Fiona's name to stay under budget, of course -- the prototype's handlebar controllers have migrated to an optional gamepad dock. It's a win and a loss -- fans in Razer's social media campaign demanded detachable controllers, but their absence makes obtaining the complete "Edge experience" a bit more of a chore -- one that will cost $249 on top of the price of the slate itself. Even so, the move to modular is a good thing, and allowed Razer to develop other accessories: a keyboard dock, life-giving 40Wh battery packs ($69) and a $99 docking station, replete with three USB 2.0 ports, plus stereo and HDMI output for a "home console" experience. Razer says the Edge has specific "modes" based around these accessories -- the tablet alone features the obvious multi-touch tricks of Windows 8, and the keyboard dock gives PC gamers access to the familiar WASD controls they're used to. The launcher we saw at CES 2012 is still there too, giving the docking station a pseudo-console interface befitting of your television (and Steam Big Picture Mode, of course). As we said, collecting the whole set is a tall order, but Razer is hoping to make the task a little easier for gamers after the Pro model -- offering the i7 tablet and controller dock for a bundled price of $1499 ($50 less than if purchased separately). Completionists will need to wait until Q3 to pick up the keyboard dock though, as its form and price still aren't finalized.
Razer announces crowdsourced specs for upcoming 'Project Fiona' gaming tablet
After Razer easily scored the requisite 10,000 Facebook likes needed to proceed with its "Project Fiona" 10.1-inch Windows 8 gaming tablet, it asked potential players to decide for themselves how to spec it. And here's a shocker: the consensus was to go hardcore or go home. Voters said it should be similar to the prototype with at least Intel Core i5 or i7 processing zip, mid-tier discrete graphics for max pixel-pushing and weight be damned -- twice the heft and thickness of an iPad was a-ok with the group, for power's sake. Detachable controllers were also considered a must (as we thought earlier), and for all that, wannabe gamers on-the-go were willing to pay somewhere between $1,300 and $1,500. A firm ship date has yet to be announced for the device, though a variant has already made it past the FCC -- which usually bodes well for a timely arrival.
Razer's gaming tablet drops by the FCC, leaves handles at home
Looking for a gaming tablet you can really grab? Don't look at the latest FCC filings then -- Federal regulators appear to have snagged some exclusive hands-on time with Razer's upcoming Project Fiona, and its trademark handlebars are nowhere in sight. The nunchuck-esque controllers we saw at CES didn't make it in the FCC's label location outline (seen above), but an attached accessory list makes note of a Razer-branded controller, powered by a 2800mAh battery, hinting that this prototype's gamepads might well be independent or detachable. The same document lists a 5600mAh battery for the tablet itself, as well as a model number: RZ09-0093. The Federal documents show a heavily redesigned device, falling in line with Razer's recent community campaign: CEO Min-Liang Tan has been asking fans to help design Project Fiona on his Facebook page. Over the past several weeks, the community has weighed in on accessories, price, CPU / GPU configurations and more. This FCC prototype may not be the final design, but if nothing else, it's proof that the device is evolving. Check out the Government's inside scoop for yourself at the source link below.
Razer's Project Fiona gaming tablet may see the light of day if enough of you want it
Gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer isn't backing down on its "Project Fiona" gaming tablet, despite keeping it locked away for the past nine months. The company is, however, assessing interest in the concept -- first revealed at CES 2012 -- by asking fans to "Like" its Facebook page. If the page exceeds 10,000 likes/shares within a week, CEO Min-Liang Tan says, "we'll work on making the concept a reality and launch the product." He also says Razer's whittled down concepts for the device, though he's open to "suggestions for specs, form factor, pricing, features," and even "etc." It doesn't sound like it'll make its previously planned "second half of 2012" launch window, but Razer says nothing's changed on that front just yet. As it stands, the device sports a 10.1-inch multitouch high def screen, an Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor, an unknown (but allegedly beefy) GPU, and two nunchuck-esque controllers mounted to either side of the screen. It's also said to run Windows 8 -- make no mistake, this is a PC in the form of a tablet. But you still have the power to change it! Do us a favor and don't request rear touch capabilities. Update: That didn't take long -- Razer's week long campaign ended in just over a day, reaching its 10,000 like goal. What's next? Concepts, says Min-Liang Tan. The company's CEO will be sharing possible designs on his Facebook page starting next week, and will let popular opinion mold the firm's first gaming tablet. It looks like building products from community feedback is Razer's new modus operandi.
Razer's Project Fiona hands-on (video)
Breaking new ground in the nearly nonexistent market of "hardcore gaming tablets" with renders is interesting, but there's nothing quite grasping something tangible. Razer's project Fiona, for example, is something to grasp -- sporting twin joystick handles on either side, it begs to be held. We couldn't help but oblige, and dropped by Razer's CES booth for a few minutes with the bold Windows 8 slab. Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan gave us the skinny -- read on get it yourself.
Project Fiona raises the stakes for gaming tablets, packs Ivy Bridge, Windows 8 and integrated controllers
We weren't exactly looking for the "Switchblade of CES 2012," but Razer's latest concept, nicknamed "Project Fiona," may take the title anyway. This concept gaming tablet flanks a 10.1-inch multitouch screen with a pair of nunchuk-like four-button controllers, lending the slab a bit of flightstick flair. Its dual-stick wings won't help you fly through ShadowGun however -- this slate is a Windows machine. An Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor hopes to keep Fiona fragging with the desktop kiddies, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan told us, giving it the chops to run modern PC games right out of the box. The Prototype was built specifically with mobile PC gamers in mind, said Min-Liang, and will feature a hybrid user interface (a hub activated via a upcoming Windows 8 app) designed to help gamers immediately jump into local multiplayer matches. He described a group of friends seamlessly jumping into a round of Hawx 2, and "dogfighting face to face." It sounds like he wants Fiona to revitalize the Lan party. Although most PC games should be fully playable without any special tweaks or modificaitons, Min-Liang said developers would have the option of adding Fiona specific controls to a game, such as a touch control scheme, or accelerometer joystick emulation. Optimization isn't necessary but exclusive control schemes will be possible. In addition to its Ivy Bridge chops, the concept gaming slate features enhanced audio with Dolby Home Theater v4 and built-in force feedback. Razer wasn't ready to talk battery life, but said that they hope to launch the slab in Q3 or Q4, after Windows 8 launches, for under $1000. How's it play? We'll let you know as soon as we get our hands on it. Until then, feel free to read on for Fiona's official press release. Update: Check out our hands-on!
