The Tomorrow Gadget

Get them while they're relevant...

I don’t think I get to wear a sash that says “Able Futurist” for concluding that the future of entertainment and tech gadgets exists in the handheld, portable market. Tablets are on a rocketship to the mainstream stars, following the path through the clouds that smartphones carved out, and the PSVita is poised to take over the world for a moment until something else comes around.

That something else may be right around the corner. At CES 2012 Razer is showing off their “Fiona” gaming tablet, which aims to deliver on the promise of truly portable PC gaming on a tablet, one with attached controllers that actually don’t look all that awkward to boot. A teaser vid is below, and while Fiona is impressive, with a sub-$1,000 price point and a list of hearty specs according to G4, it isn’t exactly coaxing my wallet into making a bad decision.

Why? Staying power and limited utility. I don’t know about you, but I can’t keep bludgeoning my budget for these glorious toys that stalk and seduce gadgicts like me every few months, and I also can’t have a pocket or a bag filled with multi-hundred dollar electronics that are each disappointingly specialized.

What do I mean by specialized? A mobile gaming device that can’t make calls and delivers a lackluster browsing experience, a phone with limited gaming ability, or a tablet that is awkwardly sized or, like all the others, felled by an extremely limited battery. Does the tech exist to make one device that fulfills all our needs and can stand the test of time and above all the rest? Perhaps, but how would that make financial sense for an industry that is constantly teasing the next big thing?

Written by Jason Tabrys (@jtabrys)

The former editor-in-chief, Jason still reappears in the rafters of our fair site from time to time but he now spends his days leaping from one place to another, trying to put right what once went wrong. You can still find his words across the toxic constellation that is the… More »