Gizmondo Europe Ltd, subsidiary of Jacksonville, Florida-based Tiger Telematics Inc., can confirm the new multi-entertainment handheld will be stocked by more than 700 stores across France for launch on May 19, 2005. The retailers confirmed for launch are Antares, Virgin Megastore, PC City, 3 Suisses (VPC), Leclerc, Madison Nuggets, Cora and Surcouf handled by three distributors Innelec, Erbel-Disca 7 and Sodifa, while Darty and Boulanger will be supplied directly by Gizmondo France. Gizmondo France will also be working with leading distributor, DIES, for Belgium and Luxemburg.
Both the standard model Gizmondo and the Smart Adds-enabled version will be available in France, Belgium and Luxemburg at 349 and 189 respectively, with the Value pack being launched at 289. Software will be priced on three tiers; 19.99, 29.99, and 39.99, and the titles confirmed for the launch period in France are TRAILBLAZER, FATHAMMER CLASSICS, GIZMONDO MOTOCROSS 2005, HOCKEY RAGE 2005, STICKYBALLS, TOY GOLF, INTERSTELLAR FLAMES 2, POCKET PING PONG, RICHARD BURNS RALLY AND VIRTUAL SQUASH, with more titles to be confirmed closer to launch.
Baeza Console and Multimedia Buyer, Virgin Megastore France, stated, "The arrival of Gizmondo in the French mobile entertainment market is a real revolution. All of the functions available make this product totally unique and we are sure it will be incredibly successful in seducing our customers."
David Maille, General Director France commented, "We're delighted to be confirming our first retail and distribution partners in France. The French market is about to experience a genuinely new and fantastic generation of mobile entertainment with Gizmondo. We are finalizing more significant orders for launch with major retails and look forward to making subsequent announcements regarding the detail."
Mike Morgan, vp of Global Sales, said, "Gizmondo France has been extremely proactive in seeking the best possible retail and distribution partners for the launch on May 19 and we are delighted to have secured suchbreadth and diversity in retail channels so rapidly."
Carl Freer, co-founder/chairman Tiger Telematics Inc., commented, "France currently represents approximately 25% of the European games market, in terms of hardware and software sales. Adding Gizmondo's extensive functionality, we expect our demographic to grow to include some of the periphery technology sectors of portable media players and GPS hardware."
The Gizmondo is powered by Microsoft Windows CE advanced realtime operating system, boasting a 2.8-inch TFT color screen with a Samsung ARM9 400Mhz processor and incorporates the GoForce 3D 4500 NVIDIA graphics accelerator. It provides cutting-edge gaming, multimedia messaging, an MP3 music player, Mpeg4 movie playing capability, a digital camera and a GPRS network link to allow wide-area network gaming. Additionally, it contains a GPS chip for location-based services, is equipped with Bluetooth for use in multi-player gaming and accepts SD and MMC card accessories.
Gizmondo Europe Ltd. is an owned subsidiary of Tiger Telematics Inc (TGTL) and is the maker of Gizmondo, a next-generation mobile entertainment device. Launched in 2004, the gaming device includes built-in music, video, messaging and picture functions and GPS.
Tiger Telematics is a designer, developer and marketer of mobile telematics systems and services that combine global GPS functions and voice recognition technology to locate and track vehicles and people down to street level in countries throughout the world. The systems are designed to operate on GPS and are currently being marketed to GSM current and potential subscribers, primarily by the company's United Kingdom based subsidiaries.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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