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."

Comments

The jokes write themselves

[Rude Turnip]

"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?!?!"

Can't wait ...

[dc29A]

2006 is the year!

Can't wait to play Duke Nukem Forever on my Phantom Game Console!

How did this land on /.?

[mmell]

Are these guys paying for advertising? This isn't some new technology, nor even an emerging piece of standard hardware. This is just a wireless keyboard/mouse combo with what (to my eye) looks to be a cheap plastic lapboard.

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.

Re:How did this land on /.?

[Roblimo]

It's sort of an in-joke. Look at the 2004 article on ITMJ ScuttleMonkey's post links to, which was my final debunking of the whole Phantom/Infinium business, written immediately after a banquet Infinium held for "investors and friends" at Michael's On East, an upscale restaurant in Sarasota, Florida.

During the banquet, which Infinium founder Tim Roberts *insisted* I had to come to (possibly because I'm the only tech journalist in or near Sarasota), he and former Microsoftie Kevin Bachus, who was Infinium President at the time, kept asking me what I thought of their latest business and marketing plan, as in, "Would it succeed?" (Also, Tim kept asking, "How's the food?" which was decent but not great.) And did my much younger friend, Matt Moen, who came with me, think he'd be interested in the Phantom, being he was the "target" age for their marketing program?

As it says in the article, the only interesting or potentially marketable product Matt and I saw from Infinium at that point was their keyboard/mouse thing, which looked like it would be kind of cool for couch computing. Kevin told us they weren't interested in the lapdesk as a product, that they were concentrating on the console and game service, which would debut shortly. Remember: this was in *2004*, and they'd already been saying "Next month, really, we promise, we'll have a product to show you" for nearly two years before that.

Now the lapdesk seems to be the only product the company is actually able to bring to market. So Matt and I get to have a big laugh (which you are free to share), and say, "We told you so!" :)

- Robin

It should be noted

[Anonymous Coward]

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.