4. The Gizmondo In Action, Continued

The small number of games available is a serious issue for the Gizmondo, with the release schedule still looking a little dull. At present, few titles leave you with anything to get excited about but more developers are getting on board and the system enjoyed one release per week in the UK during September.

One of the most impressive titles to date is Colors, which is the first location-based game for the system. The idea is that you interact and battle for gang supremacy, along the lines of Grand Theft Auto. However, you actually interact with other Gizmondo owners and their position is continually tracked via GPS. This plays very well and is a game that could only work via the Gizmondo.

Colours, the first GPS-enabled Gizmondo game

A problem that has dogged the PlayStation Portable also affects the Gizmondo to a lesser extent - battery power. However, whereas the PSP is lucky to get six hours out of its battery the Gizmondo can manage a rather more respectable 24 on average. This, of course, is still poor. What's worse with the Gizmondo, you can't charge the battery outside the device. Thankfully, back-up batteries look set to enter the market and will - hopefully - improve the situation somewhat.

The cost of the Gizmondo will be $399, but its creators have come up with an ingenious way of offering it cheaper. They are going to allow buyers the chance to sign up for an advertising subsidized model, which will receive up to three consumer Smart Ads per day. This system will retail at $229, which is still not cheap when you consider a PSP costs just $249 for its Value Pack, which offers better features, has a superb range of games and movies and no advertising. The $399 version is ad free and it comes with Gizmondo's GPS navigation software.

The timing of the release is great for catching Christmas buyers, but serious hardware enthusiasts might want to wait a little longer. In January, Tiger Telematics Inc will unveil a much improved, widescreen Gizmondo to the public at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The new system will be WiFi, GSM voice-enabled, have a four inch widescreen and much more.

The new widescreen Gizmondo will be unveiled in January

Steve Carroll, CTO, Tiger Telematics, says: "We're dramatically increasing the processor power to above 500MHz on this Widescreen model and significantly escalating the amount of memory. Although the 3D graphics accelerator used in the Gizmondo is the current best of breed, this next generation takes us visually into a new dimension."

Freer added, "The convergence technology category is similar to that of cell phones where a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Our long-term objective is to provide a range of entertainment and messaging devices that cater to different entertainment desires. Widescreen will favourably compare to Sony PSP but with even more power and features. Also, ensuring backwards compatibility and a clear upgrade path for future models is an integral part of our multi-product roadmap. A personal favourite feature is the TV/Video out connection which will enable you to play your favourite games on your TV, using the Gizmondo Widescreen like a console joypad."