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Infinium Phantom Lapboard Coming to PC?
JamesO writes to tell us that Infinium Labs has announced the release of their "Phantom Lapboard" for later this year. From the article: "Infinium Labs' Phantom game service is still to launch, despite claims years ago that it would appear at Christmas 2004, but this hasn't stopped the company from continuing with the system's development. One of the most talked about aspects of the system is its wireless keyboard and mouse combo called the Lapboard. Infinium Labs has decided that the Lapboard is so good that it will be released as a peripheral for PC users in quarter-two 2006. What makes the Lapboard unique is that the keyboard can be angled upwards to create a surface for the mouse to operate on underneath. The device is also wireless and can operate at a distance of up to 30 feet."
You mean like the MouseBoard?
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
If I am sitting away from my computer I can't see my interface as well and that matters a lot in most games.
It's a fucking keyboard and mouse with integrated mouse tray.
It isn't exactly a next generation console is it?
I mean, that'd be like the Sony PS3 being a budget DVD player. Or something.
"What makes the Lapboard unique is that the keyboard can be angled upwards to create a surface for the mouse to operate on underneath."
So let me get this straight...this keyboard will cover my lap and my right hand will be moving around on a surface underneath the keyboard? I can already imagine mothers everywhere fainting when they accidentally walk in on their kids playing games. "Honestly, mom, I was just playing with my mouse!" "Oh my God!, is that what you're calling it these days?!?!"
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
2006 is the year!
Can't wait to play Duke Nukem Forever on my Phantom Game Console!
Now I will have something to play Duke Nukem on.
I don't know about you, but I don't like hitting my hand every time I bring it up to type. My roommate has a desk with the mouse lower like this and boy does it suck. If anyone here has ever played a game where you have to switch between the mouse and the keyboard (say for chatting between you and teammates) this not only kills the time it takes to get up to the keyboard, but you DO hit your hand a lot.
Not to mention the fact that you arms are going to cross in this case with the mouse directly below the keyboard.
If this is any indication of their console, they shoulda just launched years ago with two paper-cups and some string... their launch title? Telephone. Multiplayer, you just have to pass the controller between each pair of players. But look, no limit on amount of players!
Want to find other gamers to play board and role playing game
Instead of a console that doesn't technically exist, they're shipping a keyboard that has no possible value whatsoever. I know that their VC's must be chomping at the bit to get something out of 'em, but c'mon.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
I'd be more inclined to pick up a cheaper wireless keyboard/mouse set and grab one of those ancient Sun mousepads (remember Sun's optical mouse, the one which required a metal mousepad with a grid painted on?).
Don't have an antique Sun mouse pad? I suspect any old clipboard or other flat surface will do nicely.
Uh, big screen TV or projector. Had a LCD projector back in college, I had a computer wired to it and friends would bring over consoles all the time for gaming sessions. You could easily sit 15-20 feet away and still have a good view...
-everphilski-
it looks like a Commodore 64 with bowlegs. how is having your mouse UNDER your keyboard a good idea?
I am floored that the company is actually going to produce something . . . period. It is pretty funny though. I imagine their investors were thrilled at that meeting.
"Well, guys, sorry, no system yet, but we have a really neato mouse and keyboard. Just so you know, your invested millions of dollars has not gone to waste. A few more million and we might be able to make a white remote control we can sell also."
Fool me once shame on you
Fool me twice shame on me
Fool me thrice erm well I forget this thing, but you get the idea...
So I looked at the picture and the first thing I think to myself is "How the f*ck am I supposed to type efficiently with my keyboard at a huge angle"
........
So I sat for a moment, puzzled as to how they thought this thing would be useful...
Then I decided to try it myself, So i've propped my keyboard up at a comparable angle, and I'm typing on it right now... I've got to admit it hasn't slowed my typing down at all, or decreased my accuracy (Although it does obviously take longer to make the keyboard->mouse->keyboard transition with the right hand)
While I'm still able to type quite well, I can't help but get the feeling that this could be a near-instant cuase of a significant repetitive stress injury, with all the odd angles and such.
Also, if the keyboard is in your lap, how do you get to your
Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
Which is to say, the LapBoard is as far as they've gotten on development, right? It helps when you have employees actually working on stuff. :-/
Seriously, doing a good job creating a game console is HARD. Compounding that difficulty is the fact that you need game producers all lined up with new games at launch time. This idea that they were going to take PC hardware and run PC games was never a very good one. Microsoft tried it (and failed), and they DID have game producers lined up! Now the latest generation of consoles are using hardware that's in excess of PC capabilities, and the Phantom is suddenly looking worse and worse by the day.
Sorry Infinium. You missed the boat. Better luck next time. Good luck on your peripheral business.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
If you look at the picture in the article, it sure looks like there's a wire coming out of the mouse.
For a product from Infinium Labs, I'd expect both the keyboard and the mouse to be wireless. Hell, I'd expect the dang thing to READ your friggin' MIND and move itself around FOR you.
Besides, I heard that their CEO strangles puppies to get off.
I mean, that's just something I heard somewhere.
coding is life
I'll Beleieve it when I see it on the shelves.
As a side note, and this is nothing personal about Infinium but why is it that pre-produce launches have become so necessary. I mean I know that announcing new airplanes in advance of ground tests and so on is necessary to drum up funding, or just spit in the eyes of those who said you would never "make it" but why is it that every company has to tell the world about its products before they exist just to keep shareholders happy. First the shareholders demanded regular updates and yearly profits. Now they expect quarterly profit gains. Before you had to have a new product on the market each year. Now it seems you have to have a new pre-product announcement each quarter (just look at Apple).
I can't help but think that the focus on short-term gains and announcements bodes ill in the long run for any company.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
I heard Duke Nukem Forever is going to be the Phantom's first title. People will be lining up for miles to buy this thing!
beware the jabberwock, my son! the jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
So after all the development they've been doing for the Phantom console, after a few years all they have to show for it is a keyboard that tilts up and a wireless mouse? Shouldn't the game system come first, then the peripherals? I can almost imagine their initial design meeting:
Boss: This system should have a tilted keyboard and a wireless mouse.
Lackey 1: Boss, that's genius! Let's get started on it right now.
Lackey 2: What about the rest of the console? Shouldn't we start designing those specs?
Boss: Nah, we'll worry about that part in 2009, after we've taken over the world with our Lapboard (TM). Bwaaaahahahahahaha
Lackeys, get to work!
Dang, that thing looks like such a nightmare I can't even decide on what sort of snide ergonomics-related comment to make. Therefore:
[Insert snide comment on the horrific ergonomics of that device here]
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Inifium Labs is a stock scam. None of their products will ever ship. Don't spend time trying to understand the business model or rationale behind this move, it's just another attempt to drag along mindless investors so that the handfull of incompetent people running this "company" can continue to milk their stock (which is now worth almost nothing.)
Anyone wanna bet that this is the only piece of hardware that Infinium ever ships?
Be a real patriot: Question authority. Think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions.
That Infinium Labs is looking for ANOTHER $2,000,000 in funding in order to manufacture these. This isn't so much a press release as it is a plea to investors to give them more money. You will never see these in stores, at least not from IL.
Wouldn't a keyboard with a built-in touchpad be easier and less painful to use than this monstrosity? I may not know much about ergonomics, but having a keyboard on my lap hurts my wrists... I don't think using a keyboard that isn't even close to being level will help that out.
On second thought, maybe if you only used "WASD" it wouldn't be so bad...
There are two types of people in the world: those who divide people into two types and those who don't.
The Phantom game service is still very much something Infinium Labs wants to pursue in the future and Infinium Labs CEO Greg Koler believes the release of the Lapboard is "the perfect stepping stone and bridges the subsequent launch of the full service further down the line."
:)
Perfect stepping stone! Subsequent launch, further down the line. Man, this guy just cracks me up. Did he actually make this quote with a straight face? Because I couldn't stop myself from laughing just reading it.
Oh, and anyone else amused by the fact that they have apparently been working on this keyboard for over three years now, but yet it's STILL going to take them another 6 months to get it into peoples hands! If they were that far behind with the keyboard, just imagine where they are with the rest of the system
I'm amazed to see that these guys are still in business after years of vaporware.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
makes the Lapboard unique is that the keyboard can be angled upwards to create a surface for the mouse to operate on underneath
The operation of the mouse underneath is supposed to provide what advantage exactly? I see it just as another way of positioning a mouse, but maybe I just don't 'get it.'
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Pros use SDFG[SPACE] - A key for every finger! S - pinky. you're best option key D - ring finger. strafe left F - middle finger. forward G - index finger. strafe right [SPACE] - thumb. reverse!!!
because they need all the help they can get
Paging Kyle Bennett, Kyle Bennett please pick up the white courtesy phone.
Please don't tell me this has a patent attached to it. It's a shelf - a bog-standard shelf that sits on your lap! With a... hinge!
In fact it reminds me of my first computer desk, which was built before mice were invented, so I had to stick the mouse on the shelf under the keyboard.
However that I'd have to say I get by with a wireless keyboard and optical mouse just fine thanks. Optical mice work incredibly well on uneven surfaces, so I don't see the point in sticking what is - in effect - a glorified mouse mat on my lap. Why not just use the sofa next to me?
Infinium is not news for nerds and I think we can all agree that they don't matter...
Slashdot must be selling the articles to people, thats the only explaination for all the Slashvertisements 'lately'...
It looks good, but I'd expect them to have drivers worse than Lexmark, that phone home, log your keystrokes, and install twenty kinds of spyware, so they can make some of their money back.
Pricing for the Lapboard is still to be finalised, but assuming it's priced inline with other wireless keyboard and mouse combos it could well become... ..vapourware.
I wonder if the Phantom console's investors ever envisaged that their money would be spent releasing a bluetooth keyboard an mouse.
The ways of gods are mysteriously indistinguishable from chance.
It's a scam. Move along.
God's gift to mouse users.
It is a shame that the mouse hit the tipping point and took over.
I used a mouse since the first Macintosh. Earlier this year my right shoulder started to have some serious problems... pain that wouldn't go away for months. I switched to the trackman.
Pain gone. I now find mice a bit clumsy. I mean, I have to move my whole arm?? Crazy.
Just wondering: why don't folks like Infinium Labs send their lame press releases straight to Slashdot to further enhance their free publicity? Geez, you might as well report on the next great video card to be produced by BitBoys. Perhaps if this had a Fark-like "Unlikely" or "Dumbass" tag it would be appropriate, but otherwise don't waste our (note: not claiming "valuable") time with this sort of nonsense.
TANSTAAFL
I just set a book under the corner of my keyboard tried some quick gaming on my desk with the mouse under my keyboard like their picture showed. For gaming it was actually fairly comfortable as long as you use the awsd left hand setup like many do.
Now we just have to wait and see if this is vapor ware. The picture of it looked like CG to me so maybe this is also just vaporware.
This: http://www.cwol.com/keyboards/sk7100.htm is a pretty decent combo keyboard mouse. Change it to use radio/blue tooth/wireless usb would be tons better. I mean, what were they thinking anyway?
Tonights forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning
You got it all wrong, the real quote goes:
"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."
-President George W. Bush
A conference room at work has a neat wireless keyboard and mouse setup. You have to sit in the corner of the table side on to everybody else with the KB half off the table to get it to work at all. Long cables would be more convenient.
Yesterday I was around at my dad's place installing ubuntu for him. He had to hunt around for batteries for his keyboard. Really, extension cables aren't that hard to buy and they work forever once they are in place.
Wireless peripherals sound OK for occasional home use where if it doesn't work today too bad. But my workstations have 100 days uptime. They run fvwm because nothing else lasts the distance. I prefer cables.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
At this point it would be good for Infinium to get _any_ product out the door no matter how good or bad. Once it finally came out, Daikatana was as bad as expected, but at least the death watch was over! This lapboard is not a bad idea, better if they make it compatible with consoles which shouldn't be too hard. Of course now one wonders if someone else already has a patent for a peripheral like this.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
That joke never gets old.
It's like "Chairman Mao", "French Victory", "Dear Leader", "Islam is a religion of peace", and "God save the Queen". On top of that, my security word is "retard".
This Slashdot thread has noticably improved my day, even with all the fucking hardware failures that my workstation has been dealing me.
Step one: Announce New Games Console! Step two: ? Step three: Profit!!!!!!!
I can't imagine who would buy this thing!
Looks to be an average keyboard with WASD colored gray. Ooohhh...that'll improve my scores in FarCry multi-player a bunch!
I think I'll wait for the RPM (Read Player's Mind) interface since it's bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.
I am my own gestalt.
There was a recent article from the Herald Tribune whiched covered the troubles Infinium Labs Inc. had in 2005, including:
- CEO Tim Roberts leaves company in summer 2005 with million in shares and no products
- SEC sends notice to Tim Roberts it might sue him for securities law violations
- The next CEO Kevin Bachus quits after a few months in Nov. 2005
- Infinium reports to only have $5,000 in cash on hand and $62.7 million in debt.
- Infinium started paying employees in all stock
- IFLB shares down from $1.60 in Jan 2005 to $0.017 today
When I am typing, I prefer to move my hand as little as possible to get to the mouse...mind you I hate the thumb pad and touch pad, i want to use my mouse (or trackball). The special feature about this would require me to not only move my hand, but move it below the keyboard, which will be at about 6 inches difference of height - a lot. I do not think this is a good design, though it looks pretty enough.
As for it being wireless...meh, this technology is nothing new. I particularly enjoyed my old Toshiba laptop that had a detachable keyboard and came with a wireless mouse. This was great because I could stick the laptop on my coffee table and have ultra light keyboard on my lap.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
The description of the service is right in the name: The *Phantom* game service. If the most interesting aspect of the service is the lapboard, then woa, it is going to suck.
I'm not giving those bastards a dime of my money. That whole lawsuit thing showed what kind of tools those people really are.
"Apparently so, but suppose you throw a coin enough times. Suppose one day, it lands on its edge."
After seeing this bit of news I went to read WhereIsPhantom.com, only it's not there anymore. Instead there was an error message and a few links to PHP stuff. It's been awhile since I've read the news there but I didn't think it'd go away yet. I searched on HardOCP and was only able to find out that the site had been taken down and there was no news on the reason why.
So does anyone know what happened to the site?
-=- Greyfire
complete with one size fits all hole in the bottom.
How does the keyboard stay at an angle while you are using it? It seems like it will just move back down on top of your hand when you press a button. Also, how comforatable will that be to have you hand at an angle? I agree that even when a keyboard is flat if can't really get any more uncomforatble, but an angle seems like a disturbance as well.
Ryan - http://www.thecosmotron.com/
how are you soposed to mouse around, type, and look at porn at the same time, i mean... you know if you have that mousing surface on your lap, and you can't rely on the desk as a mousing surface, what are you to do?
From the press release: :)
"One of the most talked about aspects of the system is its wireless keyboard and mouse combo called the Lapboard."
Yes. Thanks to Slashdot.
Of course, what they don't mention is the fact that what is being SAID about it is that it looks like crap.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
Is it time for more Infinium Pump & Dump already?
Test your net with Netalyzr
1) They would be bought out by some other interest with other media/network assets who wanted to get into the game.
2) They would at least be able to market their keyboard/mouse combo. It looks like a great setup for Halo 2.
However, the news of it being marketed has not caused any upward swing. Wait and see, wait and see.
I seriously doubt they ever did a valid consumer market survey before spending all those investor dollars.
means your playing with it. :D
The phantom was crap, this thing is actually pretty awsome, and I want one.
Don't actually put this in your lap. You may get burned by all the condensing vapor.
Seriously though, haven't similar things been done yet?
I would like to announce my new product, the Phantom Car. It gets 350 miles to the gallon...of sea water. In fact never mind that, it runs by tapping into the energy of atomic attraction between electrons in one molecule of....air pollution. Yeah, thats the ticket. It will go 1500 mph, and it can fly. And it has 8 TV's, and you drive it with a Nintendo controller. Plus it has a fridge that magically is full of whatever your favorite food is, and eating that food never makes you fat.
As proof that my product will soon be to market, I am going to release the Phantom Car's revolutionary air freshener, which smells exactly like grape Kool-Aid.
I saw this nearly two years ago at E3. It's really good. The keyboard flips up and rotates putting your hands in a perfect and compact position for first-person gaming. Depending on the price, it's certainly something that I'd be very interested in buying. You shouldn't be so cynical until you've been able to try it out.
Last month when i saw this it even admitted it was Contingent on Further Funding!
Have they drummed up the money (good lord from who?) to actually make it or are they still begging for dollars? A quarter or two away is just near infinity for these guys so i ain't holding my breath....
that this thing is pointless. In case you haven't thought to try it, the surface of the couch works perfectly well with an optical mouse. I can sit with laptop on my couch, using a cordless optical mouse at my side on the cushion (or wide arm) next to me and the mouse performs as well as if it were on a mousepad or desktop. pete
http://www.download-online-games.com/
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Sounds interesting, I might have to check that out.
It may be a good insider joke, but I'm sure people who've actually sunk money into this "company" are far from amused. (No, I don't play stocks.)
I'd seriously like to know how many years of nonsense marketing, nonexistent products, and continued market blather are required before an investor group or the government finally says "Enough!" and shuts them down or jails those responsible.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
All that Phantom nonsense? It's just advertising for the real product, the lapboard!
Why do we need a special 'mouse surface'?
Mice are optical these days, and they work wonderfully on most fabric and leather surfaces: Just place a small optical mouse on the seat cushion beside you.
Awful slashdot article about a contrived gimmick.
Looks like it wouldn't work for left handed people at all...
Yeah, I also heard its going to come bundled with duke nukem forever, that oughta be about as killer as a white snake concert.
Redundant? Hey, in case you are reading deficient, the three post about Duke showed up at almost the exact same time. GMTA
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Depends on if they were smart enough to let the keyboard rotate 360 degrees or not, also I think it might take some getting use to typing at such an angle.
I saw this at the 2004 E3 convention and thought it was a great idea. I really liked how easy it was to play FPS games on the couch. I probably spent around 3-4 hours at E3 over the course of a week just playing their UT2003 demo with this setup.
So when I got home I built one on my own for around $5 US. I went over to Michael's Craft store and bought two clip boards, some 1.5" self adhesive velcro circles (to mount/adjust the keyboard), and some clear rubber foots (So it would not scratch the coffee table).
I removed the clip mechanisms from the two clipboards, and connected the two together with a door hindge (Stanley Brand 033905811, screws included) that opened to a 160 degree angle. With it open all the way it left a nice 30 degree angle for the mini wireless keyboard to be attached to the top and the bottom clipboard was a perfect surface for my wireless mouse.
It provided the same functionality as the Phantom (R) one at probably 1/10 the cost including the mouse and keyboard. Also I later got the SmartJoy Frag for the Xbox and was able to use this when Halo 2 came out, I am not a "joystick" kind of fps player.
-flipsoft
If its wireless why does the photo show the mouse and keyboard with wires?
With all this talk of Infinium, did anyone happen to see that Tim Roberts SEC filing that was posted on the 3rd of Jan? Its all Biz Mumbo Jumbo to me, but it looks like (I might be totally wrong on it) tim boy is already pulling money out of the company... not MUCH mind you about $12,000 worth... but for a company that hasn't made anything that has gone to market and planning on a push for this keyboard why would someone be pulling OUT money. Maybe Tim needs house payments or maybe he doesn't wanna be a part of things anymore?
so, 2 years ago, it might have been a somewhat great idea that they had with their phantom console. but in the meantime MS has released the 360, which has all the features that the phantom would have had (download games, etc). they wouldn't have had it easy back then, but now it's even more impossible for them.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
I suspect you are working for the company that is going to make those. I don't see how having the mouse pad stuck to your keyboard is "really nice".
Some say he is made with ascii, others that he is eyeballed daily by millions. All we know is, he is known as the Sig
Oddly enough it does. I saw a video somewhere that shows that the keyboard can rotate all the way around so lefties can use it just as well as righties.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
Get their stock asap, its only a penny and a half!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=IFLB.OB
Profit!