Hasta La Gadget!

Razer promised it was aiming to iterate its Blade gaming laptop on a yearly basis, and despite the company’s recent focus on tablets, it appears to be keeping its word. Today, a mere eight months after releasing the second-gen Blade, Razer unveiled two new members of the Blade family: the 17-inch Blade Pro and its 14-inch sibling. As you might expect, the Pro tops its elders with new silicon and storage options. It’s exchanging third-gen Intel Ivy Bridge silicon for a fourth-gen Haswell chip and upgrading from an NVIDIA GTX 660M to a GTX 765M GPU. Oh, and Razer’s nixed the HDD options from the big Blade’s menu — the Pro packs a 128GB SSD standard, with optional upgrades to 256 or 512GB. That new hardware is evidently smaller than what it’s replacing: though the Pro shares the same size chassis as its predecessor, it packs a 74Wh battery (the older Blade has a 60Wh cell). Other than that, the Blade Pro comes with Razer’s Switchblade interface, a trio of USB 3.0 ports, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 1920 x 1080 display, just like the prior Blade.

Meanwhile, the new 14-inch Blade will come with mostly the same hardware as the Pro, meaning it’s got a Haswell chip and GTX 765M graphics along with a buffet of SSD choices. Those components are stuffed inside a chassis that measures 13.6 x 9.3 x 0.66 inches, and weighs 4.13 pounds. Naturally, given its smaller size, it lacks the Switchblade LCD and buttons, has a 1.3 megapixel webcam (as opposed to the Pro’s 2 megapixel unit) and a 14-inch 1600 x 900 display. And, despite its relatively svelte dimensions (for a portable gaming rig), the baby Blade still has a 70Wh battery inside. The Pro starts at $2,299, or $200 less than prior Blades and the 14-inch model will set you back a minimum of $1,799. Each will be available in North America in Q2, with a worldwide rollout of the Pro coming sometime later this year.

Update: Good news, Indie game developers! Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan just announced that those devs with a successfully funded Kickstarter can get a new Blade Pro for just $999.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

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As a child of the 80s, I spent plenty of time in the arcade playing video games and continued that practice as long as there were arcades in the mall. One of the things that used to irritate me more than anything was when my favorite fighting game had a damaged joystick. There’s nothing worse than a junky joystick when you’re playing a fighting game. I miss the days of brawny joysticks for gaming, and if you do too, Razer has got your back with its latest offering.

Razer has unveiled the Atrox arcade stick – made specifically for the Xbox 360 console. This is a big and beefy controller with an actual Sanwa Denshi arcade-quality joystick, along with 10 Sanwa arcade buttons. The coolest part about the controller is that Razer has designed it to support the modding community.

Razer offers a template to allow you to print out your own custom artwork for the lid, and the top opens to reveal a storage compartment underneath. Inside that compartment the controls is an interchangeable bat-shaped handle for the joystick, a screwdriver, and a storage compartment for its detachable 13-foot-long USB cable.

You can also mod the controller and it has a special honeycomb system inside designed to make it easy to screw in additional hardware or accessories. The Atrox controller will ship worldwide this June for $199.99(USD).

When it comes to gaming controllers for just about any machine capable of playing video games, Razer probably has the controller you need. The company made its name creating gaming keyboards and mice for computer gamers, but has branched out into controllers for game consoles as well. Razer has unveiled its latest game controller, and it’s an old-school joystick specifically for Xbox 360 fighting game fans.

The controller is called the Razer Atrox Arcade Stick. Some manufacturers try and make their hardware as tamper-resistant as possible, but Razer has fully embraced the modding community. This arcade stick is built specifically for enthusiasts to be able to access the inside of the controller and modify the device to their preference.

Razer even offers a template for the top panel to make it easier for you to customize the controller to your liking. The controller opens at the top of the arcade stick revealing access to internal storage compartment where you can store the detachable cable, screwdriver, and space for two more buttons. The joystick itself comes with a ball top and an additional bat-shaped top.

The cable for the controller is 13 feet long and can be removed for portability. Razer uses Sanwa Denshi hardware components that promise to last for a long time including 10 high response buttons and a precision eight way joystick. The top of the controller is designed to allow you to add your own custom artwork.

The arcade stick also has a honeycomb structure on the inside making it easy to attach screws so you can add your own components and hardware. The controller has a 2.5 mm audio jack for use with the Xbox 360. The Atrox will be available for pre-order on May 21 with the launch in Japan set for this month and a global launch in June. The controller will cost $199.99.

SOURCE: Razer

Razer Atrox for Xbox 360 gives retro joysticks another try is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Look out, MadCatz — Razer’s ready to add an Xbox 360 arcade stick to its peripheral lineup. The $200 Atrox should please serious button mashers, thanks to Sanwa-sourced controls and completely customizable parts. A total of 10 buttons sit alongside the joystick, and you’ll find storage compartments for an additional stick and the bundled 13-foot detachable USB cable under the lid. Fighting game enthusiasts can pre-order the Atrox beginning on May 21st from Razer’s online store, with global availability set for June — Japan’s lucky shores will see it this month. There’s no word on variations for other systems, but that may be the price to pay for the integrated Xbox Live headset jack. Catch a render of its internals and a press release after the break.

Filed under: Gaming

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Source: Razer

Razer has rolled out an open beta of its Razer Comms service, something it says is a one-stop-shop sort of communications solution for gamers around the world. Razer Comms initially started off as a closed beta, which supplied the company with feedback from those who were part of the program. Using that information, changes were made to the program, and now everyone can check them out.

Razer Comms utilizes a combination of VoIP, IRC features, and instant messaging to provide a multi-method means of communications for gamers. The aim of the service is to offer a single solution that any gamer can use, providing a communication platform across different kinds of gaming. The service is said to integrate with PC games, and to offer an overlay in-game.

Issues that would be detrimental to the service, such as lag and timeouts, are said to be dealt with using both fast servers and audio algorithms that sidestep the problems. To help ensure the audio is of a good quality, Razer Comms also features echo cancellation and noise reduction. According to the announcement, the project started off as a small internal endeavor and grew from there. It is free to use.

Razer’s co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said: “As a gamer, it gets pretty annoying switching between multiple clients all the time when playing and talking with your friends. Razer Comms offers a way around that challenge. By connecting gamers globally through a versatile software solution without any additional costs for the user, Razer Comms is a way for us to give back to our passionate fan base.”

[via Razer]

Razer Comms gaming communication service beta opened to the public is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.