Tapwave

The Tapwave company

American company created in 2002, Tapwave is at the origin of a hybrid mobile device under Palm OS conjugant the utility of the PDA with the ergonomics of play of a portable console. Answering in the name of zodiac , this machine was declined in two models: Zodiac1 and Zodiac2 (32Mo of RAM, gray color/128mo of RAM, color black).

The machine is a true material success but the choices marketing undertaken by the company, well too trustful, appeared unsuited to the market. Misant to the maximum on videoludic franchise agreements, Tapwave set up a policy too much constraining for the developers. Indeed, for obvious trade names, the small firms of development could not be allowed to develop a play for only one platform exclusively. Deserted little by little by the editors, the machine could not be exploited on its right level.

July 25th, 2005 the Tapwave company crumbles, leaving behind it a single machine to the concept innovative, able to compete with the best current PDA. But did Zodiac die for as much? Not, because the communities Frenchwoman and American ensure today the future of the machine by creating plays and software or by organizing contests for the machine. Moreover the opening on the PalmOs world, still very active, its batch of daily innovations brings. Finally certain developers even continue to develop plays in spite of the absence of Tapwave; it is the case of the Swedish company PixelKnights which has just proposed the play Origo: Prolog on Zodiac.

The Zodiac console

Zodiac is a scientist mixes of a game console and a PDA under Palm Os. This concept without preceding fact of it a not easily classable machine. If game consoles of new generation (PSP, Nintendo DS, GP2X…) try to integrate functions multimedia (films, images, music…), they will never compete with the PDA on their own ground, would be this only by the tactile absence of interface which prohibit to them to comfortably seize characters for the word processing. In parallel the PDA try to obtain plays to the gameplay of the portable console type, but their lack of interface of control, as the directional cross makes them completely unsuited to the play.

With Zodiac the synthesis of the two worlds is accomplished successfully thanks to its ergonomics and its PalmOs compatibility. With PalmOs, they are thousands of software of all kinds which are offered then to each user (Diary, word processing, reading, music, video, navigation Internet, cat, navigation GPS, plays, emulation…). However all do not offer the complete support of Zodiac and the functions like the full screen 480x320, the vibration or the assumption of responsibility of the joystick will be supported with the gladly of the developers. Much of them however thinks of optimizing their programs and offers for the majority wide comfort Zodiac.

Lastly, the completion of Zodiac has nothing to do with the other portable consoles which resembles to him (PSP, GP2x…). Having an aluminum hull, the machine approaches more of professional world PDA than that of the cheap plastic game console. Its made elegant design of curves and roundnesses is very sober, and can remain discrete. However one can note that the catch in hand is delicate for the play, because of his form close to that to a roller which is not adapted to the shapes of the hand. Accessories allow stage this small defect like the Play Command.

Features of the machine

Manufacturer: Tapwave
Kind: Portable console and PDA under Palm Os (Palm 5.2.7)
Media: Chart SD/MMC
integrated Connectivity: USB, will infra red, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (separately sold chart)
Mémoire (12Mo is reserved for the system):

Zodiac1 = 32Mo
Zodiac2 = 128Mo

Processor: Motorola ® i.MX1™ ARM9 processor (200 MHz)
Accelerating graph: ATI] ® Imageon™ W4200, 8MB VRAM, including functions of decoding MPEG-4 and JPEG
Screen: 3.8" , 480 X 320 (half VGA), 16-bit (65 536 colors)

retro lighting
posting in portrait mode and tactile landscape
capacity

Sound: component Yamaha ® with stereo loudspeakers

Taken mini standard jack 3.5mm
stereo ear-phones included
Support for an external connection amplified

Vibration: support of the vibrations for the plays and the notification of event (Diary…)
Controls: Analogical Pad (joystick)

2 triggers
4 programmable buttons of action
1 button special function
1 button “home”
1 button “power”
1 button Bluetooth

Possibilities of extension: double slot of extension for charts MultiMediaCards, Secure DIGITAL (SD) cards and charts SDIO (slot2) including the charts cameras, wifi and very others… It is today possible to put 8Go on its Zodiac.
Battery: Battery High refillable capacity with Lithium - 1540 mAh
Size/Weight: 5.6" (143mm) X 3.1" (79mm) X .55" (14mm)/6.3"
Colors:

Zodiac1 - Gray slate
Zodiac2 - Black

External bonds

Safeguard of the original site of French-speaking Tapwave
Site dedicated to the zodiac

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