Razer's Project Fiona Gaming Tablet Confirmed for Production
by Vivek Gowri on October 4, 2012 3:25 PM EST
Razer garnered a lot of press at CES this year with their Fiona gaming tablet, a 10.1" Windows-based tablet packing a Core i7 processor and two joystick handles featuring dual analog sticks and a typical controller-style button layout. The device carried a pretty impressive speclist and walked out of Las Vegas with awards like "Best of CES" People's Voice and Cnet's Best-in-Show. At the time, Razer claimed that Project Fiona was slated for launch in the second half of 2012, but has remained mostly quiet in the months following.
A day after CEO Min-Liang Tan posted a picture of Project Fiona to his Facebook page asking for 10,000 likes in 7 days, the post crossed the mark. While it looks like the 2012 launch is unlikely, Min has confirmed via Twitter that production plans for the tablet are a go, with community feedback apparently set to play a significant role in the design process going forward. According to Min's Facebook page, there are are multiple design concepts that have been developed, so there is no final design specification as of yet. Hardware details have not yet been set in stone, with ARM and various Intel processors being mentioned as possibilities. Windows 8 is a given, though if ARM ends up being the hardware platform of choice, that would likely shift to Windows RT. The initial concept shown off at CES featured Windows 7, a ULV Core i7 processor, an unspecified dedicated graphics unit, and a 10.1" 1280x800 capacitive multitouch display.
Source: Twitter @minliangtan
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Homeles - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
It's definitely not Haswell, considering it is/was slated for a 2H 2012 launch. I don't see a 1080p display being possible given the power usage that's likely to come with using Ivy Bridge.Mathieu Bourgie - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
Might just be those rumored IB 10W CPUs that are supposed to launch in H1 2013.stm1185 - Saturday, October 6, 2012 - link
Yeah, but would they really sell a gaming PC with an HD4000. I hope they decided to wait for Haswell and a good minimum level of gaming capability.Sufo - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
As a Vita owner... I don't understand your point of view. They are not competing products. One is a handheld, on which every game is guaranteed to play smoothly and without issue. The other is a windows tablet with silly handles that will offer no consistency of experience.Razer already proved they don't know how to build a gaming machine with the blade (packing a ridiculous 555 to drive a 1080p display), I don't expect this to be any better.
R3MF - Monday, October 8, 2012 - link
"What are these "impressive specs"?"A 28nm AMD APU using the new Jaguar cores and GCN shaders would seem to be a good match.
KitsuneKnight - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
Is the image accurate for the layout of the controls (at least at CES)? It seems like it'd be horrible to try to use the analog sticks and the buttons on both sides simultaneously, while holding the device. Having the buttons on the backside seems like it would make far more sense.VivekGowri - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
Yeah. There are triggers on both sides, DS3-style, so it's not bad at all.chris2kari - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
"...production plans for the tablet are a go...'""...there are are multiple design concepts..."
"...there is no final design specification as of yet.."
Um.. what?
Seems like vapourware to me.
VivekGowri - Thursday, October 4, 2012 - link
I can vouch for the existence of at least one design concept, but I have no reason to doubt the existence of others. And it's not like Razer hasn't executed in the past - even a far-out concept like Switchblade got worked into the Blade as well as their high end keyboards. If anything concerns me, it's the release schedule (or lack of one) and the as-yet-undecided hardware platform. This could be something that doesn't launch until PAX Prime next September, which is a long time to wait.Visual - Friday, October 5, 2012 - link
It is really simple and obvious how they should design most aspects of it.It must be full x86, compatible with any version of Windows. If anyone on the team ever mentions ARM, fire them or at least force them to only ever play angry birds for the next year.
It must have at least Intel HD4000 level of GPU performance. No crippled HD2500 i3 is acceptable, and don't even mention the Atoms. And this minimum requirement goes up the longer they delay their product - when Haswell launches, that would be the minimum, etc.
It must be usable as a normal tablet - the controls must be detachable.
It must have an active digitizer for use in that mode. Wacom preferred.
It must have a track-pad for precise cursor control in windows and in games that just can't work well with pen or touch for some reason. Several design options are possible here, and I admit I am not sure which would be best.
- They could place it on the tablet bezel so it is available in pure tablet mode, ala MSI 110w, and add a few programmable buttons on the bezel while they're at it. But have the additional handles with controls close enough to the bezel so it is still comfortable to reach the track-pad with them as well.
- They could even have the whole bezel being touch sensitive, and have some area of it work as a track-pad, some as programmable buttons, and even support bezel gestures and such, that I think were planned as supported with Windows 8 anyway.
- They could have it on the back of the tablet or the back of the handles, or both. Will be a bit weird to get used to, but might work ok. Consult PS Vita owners ;)
- They could replace one of the analog sticks with a trackpad as well, with some kind of toggle if it should emulate a mouse or an analog stick.