Razer Switchblade mobile PC gaming concept unveiled
by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 6th 2011 at 5:00PM
Not paying attention to the Consumer Electronics Show this year? You should be. Today, Razer revealed the Switchblade, its concept for a mobile PC gaming platform -- a PC gaming and multimedia device that fits in your hand.
Though this product is but a concept at the moment, Razer's vision for the Switchblade includes a 7-inch screen and a dynamic LCD keyboard. That is, the keys are clear, tactile buttons laid atop a dynamic LCD screen that will change depending on what game you're playing or what you're doing in the game. Imagine questing in World of Warcraft and jumping into a vehicle. Rather than your in-game UI changing, the keyboard's display itself would change to represent the vehicle's controls and abilities.
It's unlikely that a device like this could be used for long sessions of hardcore gaming -- even if the keyboard works perfectly, that's some serious eye strain -- but it could make PC gaming on the go a reality rather than the clunky kludges it's been thus far. Here's hoping this product actually hits the market.
[via Engadget]
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Bill Jan 6th 2011 5:06PM
My first thought was "oh great, just another smaller laptop some company is going to try to sell using big words and fake enthusiasm". Then I saw the keyboard tech and my jaw dropped.
Can you win a nobel prize for awesomeness?
Drakkenfyre Jan 6th 2011 5:24PM
Oh God, this thing showed up here, as well?
Let's lay this out, right now.
It uses an Intel Atom processor. They choke to death on Flash games. Try it. Go get any netbook, try to play a game on it. You know the worst computer you ever played the game on? The one with integrated Intel video? This is worse than that.
It's keyboard is actually a touchscreen LCD, NOT an actual keyboard. The keyboard is a rubber overlay to provide physical keys. The images displayed thru them are going to be distorted.
This is a concept piece. it's unlikely to ever be release. They still haven't released their XBox360 controller they announced a year ago.
Outside of World of WarCraft, the only other two games it shows in the video are WarCraft 3, and Quake Live. WarCraft 3 is from 2002. Quake Live is a port of Quake 3, which is 12 years old. Think about that two of the three games they show on the rendered device were old games. Doesn't inspire much confidence, does it?
The device shown above is a rendering. It's not even real, let alone running anything.
This is coming from a Razer fan. This is NOT some end-all, be-all portable gaming device.
Boocat Jan 6th 2011 5:27PM
I thought the same thing until I saw the video, I just wish they can make a real keyboard just like that. It would be the prefect gamer keyboard.
Arturis Jan 6th 2011 5:36PM
@Drakkenfyre
You kind of rebuked your own point half way through. As you pointed out yourself, it is indeed a concept piece - little details like what processor they decide to use can and most likely will change before this thing sees the light of day (if it does at all). I highly doubt they are going to release a gaming console (and lets face it, thats what this is - a PC based portable gaming console in the shape of a netbook) that doesn't run games.
Drakkenfyre Jan 6th 2011 5:37PM
And I knew I would get downvoted.
The people who think this is the most awesome thing ever either aren't paying attention to the technical details released, or don't know any different.
This is a very, very low-powered device being spruced up in a fancy case with a fancy keyboard. It's like a German sports car manufacturer taking a Volkwsagon, painting it in their colors, saying it's meant for racing, and charging $50,000 for it.
The Intel Atom CPU slows down on heavy Flash apps. How do you think it's going to run any game with any decent performance?
It's a fancy netbook, nothing more. If you buy this thing, IF it were ever actually released, you are going to be severely disappointed.
Drakkenfyre Jan 6th 2011 5:43PM
Arturis, if I were promoting a concept item, I certainly the hell woudn't use what's the laughing stock of the CPU world for a "revolutionary gaming system."
Look at the comments on the other sites, a ton of them are "An Intel Atom? Are you !@#$ing KIDDING ME? HAHAHAHA!"
Nothing inspires confidence in your maybe-comes-to-market system like saying it uses the worst portable CPU out there.
Will it change if it's ever released? I would hope so. Because it quite literally is a laughing stock it if didn't.
bigadnan2000 Jan 6th 2011 6:27PM
Dare I say: Switchblade has no gaems
Kylenne Jan 6th 2011 6:56PM
It looks like an ergonomics nightmare.
Shial Jan 6th 2011 7:02PM
@Drakkenfyre: Though Quake III Arena runs good on an Atom, Quake Live does NOT... Even disabling ALL in-game textures, particles, lightning, etc... the hardware would fail to provide a decent framerate most of the time.
Hivetyrant Jan 6th 2011 7:43PM
@Boocat
You should google "Optimus Maximus keyboard"
Hope you got rich friends!
Cowfodder Jan 6th 2011 8:28PM
@atom haters
There are operating systems other than Windows, and atom processors work just fine in them, especially in an Ion setup. See my HTPC for example. Zotac IONitx-g-e with 4gb ram. Runs 1080p video and flash games just fine. Did run WoW via WINE once and it performed awesome.
Also, once the new generation of Intel and Amd 45nm processors with onboard HD graphics comes out this argument will be moot.
originaltdiddy Jan 6th 2011 8:49PM
Sorry to burst your bubble, but my Asus eeepc plays WoW just fine. My only limitation is that it's very tiring for long gaming sessions. Granted, I need to turn the graphics down quite a bit, but it's not as processor-choking as you let on.
scherbaddie Jan 6th 2011 8:50PM
Volkswagen IS German, and they DO make cars meant for racing!
http://germancarscene.com/wp-content/uploads/volkswagen-scirocco-race-version-3.jpg
Drakkenfyre Jan 6th 2011 10:07PM
Cowfodder, this system runs Windows 7. This system, if it runs on current Atom hardware, will run like crap. Your point is moot.
scherbaddie, I should have clarified "Volkswagon Beetle". A company (other than Volkswagon) taking a Beetle, painting it their colors, and calling it a race car.
originaltdiddy, I have personally seen a netbook with an Atom CPU choke on Farmville on Facebook. The person who owned it said it slowed down all the time. Your Asus might have been faster, but it's still no secret the Atom is the weakest mobile CPU on the market today. Not hardly the "gaming revolution" the company promotes.
scherbaddie Jan 6th 2011 10:35PM
Like this one?
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/volkswagen/2001-volkswagen-beetle-rsi-ar952.html
Haha, ok I'll stop it now.
Shial Jan 7th 2011 6:15AM
@Cowfodder: Your nettop runs great because Zotac added a goddamn GF9400 to the mix. Most Atoms got an Intel GMA950 which performance is on par with a Geforce2Mx from 10 years ago... and a bad GF2MX from a crappy manufacturer, not the good ones. The only improvement is that the GMA supports Dx8.1 level shaders which only help things go worse. There are even relatively new netbooks (hello HP minis) that even have a worse graphics chip than the one I just mentioned.
I hate Atoms because I had one. Upgraded it to 2gb, removed Win7 and installed a XP stripped to the bone with some modded graphic drivers that also improved performance a bit... and got a 40% improvement over default factory settings... Yet the 40% performance increase in WoW meant going from 12fps in Undercity to ~19fps. It was fine for auctioning, nothing else... In Dalaran it was like 1fps. Go type in your WoW /console farclip 60, that's how I played to be able to do 5-mans at ~7fps.
Forreststump Jan 7th 2011 10:23AM
Drakkenfyre is spot on, focusing on the Atom processor. It is far too weak. I run WoW on an Acer netbook with an Atom processor when I want to take my AH monitoring with me around the house as I do other things. At ~10 FPS, that's about all I can do reliably.
And the small screen, even without a graphical UI cluttering it, will be less-than-ideal.
blake.norton Jan 7th 2011 11:01AM
Engadget got a hands on with a working prototype. It is probably using oak-trail not atom and they seemed pretty impressed.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/razer-switchblade-preview-3g-intel-oak-trail-almost-definitel/
AGx07162 Jan 7th 2011 5:35PM
@Drakkenfyre
I guess you miss the entire point of what a concept is. Given the power-efficient cores that are in development and are being released, I highly doubt that they would use Atom in this and if they did, it would indeed be a bad idea. While I cant imagine exactly how this would work out, I'm not a Razer programmer and neither are you so I would suggest you wait and see before you bash something thats a rendered concept. Key word here, concept. Concepts are what most great products result from. Maybe one day they will release something, it might not look anything like this. It may be in the form of a more traditional laptop, or have more keys but the idea is there, its a good one and something great may come from it.
Shyster Jan 6th 2011 5:07PM
My inner computer geek just jizzed a little