As the Palm OS-based TapWave struggles to find its place, Gizmondo is about to hit the American market with a more powerful multimedia device better designed for gaming, and numerous other advanced PDA functions. At its core, the Gizmondo is a Pocket PC wrapped in a game controller. This unique device is crammed with more gadgets than there would seem to be space for, given that it is sized like an Xbox S controller. Running Windows CE, this 400mhz device boasts 64mg memory, SD flash card reader, Windows Media Player, GPS, digital camera, POP3 e-mail ability, text and picture messaging, MIDI, Bluetooth, and USB ports. The potential is quite exciting: standard GPS means if you lose the device, you can track it with your home PC, and there is a navigation package available for it a well. The display touted two car games drawing our attention: Chicane and Richard Burns Rally. We played both and came away disappointed. Surrounded by bleeding edge technology, these titles felt decidedly like Nintendo Game Boy Advanced games on the small 320x240 screen. To succeed on the gaming merits, we think Giz will need larger screen and even more processing muscle. The Gizmondo will be offered at $399, with a low-cost plan available for about $239 for those consumers willing to receive targeted ads on the device, bringing Philip K. Dick's world of Minority Report closer to reality. This is definitely technology on the move, with continued evolution promised, and it does cause one to ponder how powerful the PSP would have been if Sony had fitted it with Clie PDA functionality.
