History of video games/Platforms/Tapwave Zodiac

History Development Tapwave was a company based in Mountain View, California.Shim Richard Gaming start-up puts new life in PDAs https://www.zdnet.com/article/gaming-start-up-puts-new-life-in-pdas/ 28 April 2021 ZDNet en The Tapwave Zodiac was co-developed by Byron Connel, a former Palm employee. Tapwave worked with Summit Design and another firm to develop 17 concept consoles and several prototypes.Talking with Tapwave - IGN https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/11/06/talking-with-tapwave 26 October 2020 en Prior to launch, the system was known as the Tapwave Helix, with slightly different announced specifications then the final release.Tapwave's 'Helix' Specs Revealed https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/92801/Tapwaves_Helix_Specs_Revealed.php 25 March 2021 May 8, 2003 Launch The Tapwave Zodiac was released in 2003.The Tapwave Zodiac Now Available for Pre-Order at www.Tapwave.com; Tapwave, Inc., Officially Launches the Zodiac Entertainment Console at DEMOmobile https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20030917005531/en/Tapwave-Zodiac-Pre-Order-www.Tapwave.com-Tapwave-Officially-Launches 25 October 2020 www.businesswire.com 17 September 2003 en The Zodiac 1 cost $299 and the higher spec Zodiac 2 cost $399. The Zodiac was released in the UK in 2004, and a release was planned for Germany in 2005.Tapwave Zodiac [BINARIUM] https://binarium.de/zodiac_2 binarium.de 20 November 2020 Legacy The Tapwave Zodiac was formally announced to be discontinued on July 28th, 2005 with an abrupt message on their website, with support services ending a few days earlier on July 25th, 2005.Carless Simon Gamasutra - The Art & Business of Making Games https://gamasutra.com/view/news/97015/Tapwave_Discontinues_Zodiac_Handheld_Business.php 26 October 2020 gamasutra.com en Under 200,000 Tapwave Zodiac handhelds were sold.The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time Feature on GamePro.com https://web.archive.org/web/20071013043037/http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/125749.shtml web.archive.org 17 November 2020 13 October 2007 The discontinuation of the device was seen as a bad sign for the Palm OS ecosystem as a whole.Kawamoto Dawn Tapwave exits game device business https://www.zdnet.com/article/tapwave-exits-game-device-business/ 28 April 2021 ZDNet en The Tapwave Zodiac is remembered for being a cutting edge device that showed technology which would later see more widespread adoption.Miller Matthew Crash of the mobile titans: What happened to Palm, BlackBerry, Nokia, and HTC? https://www.zdnet.com/article/crash-of-the-mobile-titans-what-happened-to-palm-blackberry-nokia-and-htc/ 28 April 2021 ZDNet en Technology Compute The Tapwave Zodiac used a Motorola iMX1 processor based on the ARM architecture and clocked at 200MHz.Pen Computing Magazine: Tapwave Zodiac review https://www.pencomputing.com/frames/zodiac.html 25 October 2020 www.pencomputing.com The Zodiac 1 comes with 32MB of RAM, while the Zodiac 2 has 128MB of RAM.Dubin Jayson The Tapwave Zodiac Now In Compusa Stores Nationwide https://www.gamezone.com/news/the_tapwave_zodiac_now_in_compusa_stores_nationwide/ 26 October 2020 GameZone 4 May 2012 Official developers were required to make their games run on both systems. Graphics The GPU used in the Tapwave Zodiac was a ATI Imageon W4200 with 8MB of VRAM. The Tapwave Zodiac has a 3.8 inch, color transflective display with a resolution of 480 by 320 pixels.Tapwave Zodiac 2 - handheld - Palm OS 5.2T - 3.8" Specs https://www.cnet.com/products/tapwave-zodiac-2-handheld-palm-os-5-2t-3-8/ 26 October 2020 CNET en Hardware The Tapwave Zodiac supported wireless communication through an IrDA communication port, as well as bluetooth. The Tapwave Zodiac has a 1540 mAh rechargeable lithium chemistry battery.Carnoy David Performance https://www.cnet.com/reviews/tapwave-zodiac2-128mb-review/ 26 October 2020 CNET en Software The Tapwave Zodiac runs Palm OS 5.2T. This operating system choice was finalized in May 2002, one year after development began to leverage an existing large base of developers for Palm OS, as well as for it's existing large library of applications. The operating system was modified to allow for access to Tapwave specific functions, like it's GPU, analog stick, and Rumble feedback. The Tapwave Zodiac has an internet browser. Notable games Most games for the Tapwave Zodiac were either existing Palm PDA games, or Tapwave exclusive ports that leveraged the specific hardware of the device. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 Doom II Duke Nukem Mobile SpyHunterTapwave Zodiac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapwave_Zodiac Wikipedia 28 April 2021 en 12 April 2021 Gallery External Resources Tapwave Zodiac Tapwave Zodiac Video Game Kraken - Tapwave Zodiac page. References 2100%__NOTOC__