Press release de Tapwave au GDC - Page 1

2100+ Developers Now Part of Tapwave Zodiac Community
Tapwave Prepares 1.1 Software Release to Enable New Game Capabilities
Since officially launching the company less than a year ago, Tapwave has garnered numerous accolades and industry awards for its product, the Zodiac, including: 1st place in PC Magazine’s “Last Gadget Standing” competition at CES 2004; Handheld Computing’s "Most Innovative PDA for 2003;” Mobiletrax’s Mobility Award; CNET’s Editors Choice Award, and PC World’s 2004 Next Gear Innovations Award. But the media are not the only ones who’ve taken notice. Developers have been quick to recognize the advantages of producing content for the Zodiac, as it has a low cost of entry and opens up new business opportunities on a powerful mobile entertainment platform. In fact, in just 10 months more than 2100 developers have signed up for the Tapwave developer program and requested the software development kit (SDK). The majority of these developers are coming from established computing and entertainment platforms (e.g., Xbox®, PlayStation®, and Nintendo® Game Boy®) and over 40% are from international markets. This week Tapwave is also exhibiting at the Game Developers Conference (San Jose Convention Center, booth #1424) to showcase the Zodiac and the platform opportunities.

Along with marketing and distribution support via their online store (www.tapwave.com), Tapwave is also supporting their developer community by continuously improving the software development tools and enabling new capabilities. The company has recently completed a Zodiac software update (v. 1.1), which includes several new APIs to help developers implement advanced features and showcase their titles on the platform. These will be made publicly available within the next couple weeks, and include:

New sound APIs that enable games to detect when a player is using Zodiac’s new background music feature.

Enhanced sound APIs that allow developers to write applications that play MIDI sounds or files using the Yamaha sound chip.

Improved Bluetooth APIs to allow smoother discovery, invitation and game launch with real-time game status for all players.

Updated self-checking security.

“We understand how important developers are to the success of our platform,” said Joyce Morrell, Director of Developer Programs at Tapwave. “To that end, we built an entertainment system with the right hardware, such as a high-resolution 3.8” display (480 X 320), two powerful processors (ATI® Imageon™ graphics accelerator and Motorola® i.MX ARM 9 processors), and stereo speakers, to really show-off developers’ talents. As part of the Developer Program, we also established a 3rd party testing service to help ensure quality applications for both our developers and our customers.”

Games that are labeled Tapwave “Tuned” or “Certified” have passed third-party quality testing and are specifically optimized for the Zodiac console. These games are also required to take advantage of many of Zodiac’s unique features such as analog control, full-screen high resolution graphics, multi-player wireless gaming through Bluetooth, vibration and more.

With its ATI® Imageon™ graphics accelerator and Motorola® i.MX ARM 9 processors, the Zodiac delivers both ‘fun’ and ‘function’ in a sleek and ergonomic 6.3 ounce, anodized-aluminum design. On the ‘fun’ side, the Zodiac console not only provides an unparalleled mobile gaming device with analog control, 3D graphics, stereo sound, vibration effects, and wireless multiplayer gaming, but also everything required for a rich multimedia experience including music, pictures and video. From the ‘function’ perspective Zodiac offers the added benefit of running a Tapwave-enhanced version of the Palm Operating System (5.2T) and provides immediate access to thousands of existing applications, including the world’s leading personal information management tools.

The Zodiac mobile entertainment console was designed from the ground up to address the mobile entertainment and on-the-go lifestyle needs of technology enthusiasts. The console is offered in two models – the Zodiac1 for $299 (32MB RAM) and the Zodiac2 for $399 (128MB RAM). Both models are available at www.tapwave.com.

About Tapwave, Inc.
Pioneers of a new category called mobile entertainment gear, Tapwave is changing the way people live, play and interact on the go. Founded in May 2001, Tapwave is a privately funded startup company in Mountain View, CA. Through a wealth of experience and strong partnerships, Tapwave is developing a portfolio of innovative next-generation products tailored to deliver the most fun and function in mobile entertainment gear. More information about the company can be found on the Internet at www.tapwave.com.

© Copyright. All rights reserved. Tapwave, the Tapwave logo, Zodiac and the Zodiac logo are registered trademarks of Tapwave, Inc. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Nintendo Gameboy Advance is a registered trademark of Nintendo. XBOX is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the US and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Sympa!

la machine de guerre est lancée!

Bon zont intérêt, parce qu'il ne leur reste pas beaucoup de temps

Et voici un compte rendu du GDC made in Tapland.com :

http://www.tapland.com/news_arc/?id=197&PHPSESSID=edb72e80c3340f61a38b4358d49cf550

Excellent tout ca !

Oui le rapport est sympa, mais au final, il y a très peu de nouvelles infos vraiment intéressantes... Pas un seul nouveau jeu annoncé en fait !
Et pourtant un salon, c'est à ce moment qu'il faut faire des étincelles...

Oui !
bah y'a eu une démo de Speedgun Stadium
mais a part ca, c vrai qu'il n'y a pas grand chose !

>>bah y'a eu une démo de Speedgun Stadium

Qui ne tourne pas du tout sur Zodiac... même s'il est prévu dessus.

oui !