You may recall a recent post, here at GadgetAddiction.com that asked the question “What the Heck is a Gizmondo?” Well, it turns out that this question was fairly prescient as apparently, sales of a device called “the Gizmondo 2″ begin in November and/or December of this year. This is all according to a blog called “The Nordic Link“. In a post about the Gizmondo’s second coming at The Nordic Link, blogger Hans Sandberg interviews Rich Jenkins, the CEO of Media Power, the new company behind the new Gizmondo handheld device. In the interview Jenkins explains that the big G is here and ready for sale, but isn’t being sold yet.The new version of the defunct device will feature only two differences from the original big G and those will come in the form a new, more advanced graphics chip and a new battery. The other upgrade, of sorts, is the price. Jenkins told Sandberg the G2 would come in at more than $100. Assuming that the price doesn’t come in at too much more than $100, people might actually go for the device… assuming they were time travelers from the year 2005.See, that’s the real problem with the Gizmondo of 2008. It looks like aside from the new graphics chip, the new battery and new price point, the damn thing hasn’t changed a lick in three years. As a result, the features that seemed so cool back in the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century, seem pretty average in the here-and-now of the latter half of the first decade of the twenty-first century. Think about it:1) Gaming system2) GPS3) Bluetooth4) GPRSNo mention of WiFi in this new model means that it’s not even on par with a lot of other handhelds already being produced. The Nintendo DS does wifi, for crying out loud. With the 3G iPhone being the real convergence device du jour, and it being available to people for $200 plus cell phone contract (which, one assumes you’d need for the Gizmondo), you wonder why anyone wouldn’t just spend a bit more for something with, you know, WiFi onboard.So, will this new Gizmondo take off? We’ll find out in a few months.
