US computer peripheral manufacturer, Razer has revealed its latest innovation – a high spec gaming tablet. Unveiled at the Las Vegas’ Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Razer hopes to bring the great graphics and immersive gameplay associated with PC gaming to the increasingly popular tablet market. Razer announced plans for the tablet in at 2012’s CES but this year released an actual physical product which was available for demonstrative purposes.
The tablet is based on the new Windows 8 operating system and includes powerful components that make it possible to play the latest PC games on its 10 inch multitouch enabled screen. The tablet will be available in two options, the standard Razer Edge and a more powerful ‘Pro’ version which boasts specs that would not look out of place on a high end desktop PC. The Edge Pro will be powered by an Intel Core i7 Dual core processor with an NVidia GT 640M LE handling the graphics. The tablet will have a massive 8GBs of DDR3 RAM and either 128/256GB of solid state storage.
Razer also used CES to unveil a series of accessories designed to make the Edge suitable for more than just touchscreen based games. This range includes an add on hand grip controller which adds two hand grips equipped with a similar thumbstick and trigger set up to other popular console controllers. Razer has also designed a docking station that has the ability to turn the tablet into a fully-fledged media center, outputting data via an HDMI port and controlled by up to three external USB controllers.
Razer utilised ‘crowdsourcing’ in the design process for the Edge tablets and accessories. The company hoped to create the perfect device for the PC gaming community by actively asking for what features they wanted to be included and feedback on design ideas. During the design process, Razer claim to have received over 10,000 emails and survey responses from fans excited by the possibility of full featured portable tablet capable of running the latest games.
With all the high end components that make up what they believe to be “the most powerful tablet in the world”, the Razer Edge is not going to be cheap. Initially it will only be released in the US and the basic version will be priced at $650 with the ‘Pro’ costing $1000. The accessories and extras are not included in the tablet cost and must be purchased separately.
