Zeebo, Qualcomm Launch Games Console
When someone asks what your favorite console is, it’s a multiple choice question with three possible answers: PlayStation, Xbox or Wii. Yesterday a start-up called Zeebo announced that it aims to put a fourth option on the market.
The company is aiming the Zeebo console at middle-class buyers in emerging markets and alright, it probably won't give Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony a run for their money, but we love what the company is trying to do.
Zeebo Inc. is targeting consumers in Brazil, Russia, India and China which are typically unable to afford the higher-end devices or the games that play on them. Speaking at GDC in San Francisco, CEO, John Rizzo explained the need for a console in emerging markets. As well as the issue of affordability, Rizzo points out that some games (such as GTA) wouldn’t get the same reception in Brazil, Russia, India or China that they would in North American or European markets and the games that would be a big hit often don’t get released because the publishers worry about piracy.
Backed by Qualcomm, Zeebo uses a Qualcomm chipset that allows users to connect over a wireless network to purchase and download games. Games are stored on the console (Flash memory) and the Zeebo can hold up to 50 games at any time. According to MarketWatch, the Zeebo will be available in Brazil at the price of $199, and the price is expected to drop to $150 within the year. MW also reports that the download service will mostly showcase older titles, like Quake, Need for Speed and Street Fighter.
I don’t know about you guys but I can see a demand for this console in more markets than just Brazil, Russia, India or China especially with the likes of Street Fighter and Quake available. It also looks pretty slick.

But they can't possibly botch it that bad. They already made it at least as far as them with a rendered mock-up.
People look at the rampant pirating of software in these countries, but how much of that is simply the result of an underserved market? People can't buy legitamate copies of your software if you won't even make the effort to sell them.
haha, i'm glad i'm not the only who thought of the Phantom...
That being said, the Xbox 360 is 1000 reals, thats for an cheap Arcade version, which is equall to 350 dollar (... ain't that the price of a elite version... hehe), so if that Zeebo is going to the launched in the price tag of 190 dollar = 450 reals, the it will have a nice market, but if it launched for an expensive 900 reals (which is more real if imported from other countries) then it will fail miserably, at least here in brazil.
Guess I made my point.
PS: I wouldn't like to be stuck with oldies on a console, that's why everone own an PS2, hehe.
How about software? Linux? Custom system? Direct X or openGL?
How about upgradability? Can you buy and attach another drive to put more games on it?
How are they getting already published games to play on their hardware? Many arcade games are coded to proprietary hardware, like older SF games for example... and then the question of how much will games cost?
It sounds interesting to me, I hope they succeed.
http://www.zeeboinc.com/#hardware
looks like 128MB ddr2
628MHz ARM11 90nm cpu (unclear if it's dual or quad core) possibly 32KB of cache per core
a similar cpu as what's in some apple products apparently
Qualcomm Adreno 130 Graphics Core
this article is saying the games could cost 12 dollars per title