Back in September, GameStop announced that the $499 Android-powered Wikipad gaming tablet would be available through its stores and website on October 31. As you recovered from your candy hangover this morning, you might have noticed that GameStop is a Wikipad-free zone. Well, that's because the tablet has been delayed. The Wikipad confirmed the device's delay yesterday evening, blaming necessary minor refinements and a 'last minute opportunity to refine the Wikipad bundle.'
The company wasn't able to provide a new release date, or even a time frame for the device's launch, but said it would provide a new date soon. Those that pre-ordered will get the refined, upgraded bundle as well as a special bonus gift when the tablet does start shipping. Check out the full statement below (via Kotaku):The Wikipad team has been relentlessly working with our manufacturers and partners to perfect the Wikipad bundle to ensure our first product is the best tablet and entertainment experience at launch. There is a last minute opportunity to enhance the Wikipad bundle as well as a minor refinement needed to ensure our first customers are completely satisfied with the Wikipad. We have informed our retail partners about this delay. For those who pre-ordered the Wikipad at GameStop through today October 31st, we will deliver the refined and upgraded bundles as well as a special bonus gift with the pre-order. We are very eager to deliver the Wikipad experience and are passionate about excellence. We apologize for this delay and want you to know that we are committed to bringing you the very best, high-end gaming tablet possible. We are in the final stage and will be announcing the new date soon.
The Wikipad hardware is similar to what Google offers on the Nexus 7: Nvidia's Tegra 3 quad-core SoC clocked at 1.4 GHz, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, at least 16 GB of storage, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Other components include a 10.1-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, an 8MP camera on the back, a 2MP camera on the front, and a six-hour battery. It supposedly weighs 1.2 pounds, making it a little heavy for portable gaming. The Wikipad's attachable video game controller adds analog sticks on each side, a D-pad mounted on the left, four action buttons to the right, a set of speakers embedded into the controller at the bottom, and shoulder triggers at the top.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
Over-priced, under-powered, and delayed. This is not a good start. I mean the first reason was enough to get me to stray away from it, but this is just a recipe for utter failure.
tburns1Here's an idea ...sell a controller that you can affix to your own tablet. Do they make those?
Every tablet I'm aware of has USB capability, so joystick support is trivially easy to implement.
Don't worry guys, I can speak the native tongue of Gamestop execs, bullshittese. Let me translate for you:
"Nintendo announced the launch date of the Wii U and it's fairly close, so we're going to hold back our device a couple weeks to compete with it and drive up our sales. Hopefully customers will confuse the Wikipad for a Wii Pad. Why else would the difference be one letter?"
Any consumer that believes the wikipad is a good idea for fellow consumers is a moron.
ddpruittI guess the one guy who preordered is going to be really depressed Seriously who thought this would succeed?
Sadly there have been people here that vehemently defend this.
Why you'd want to lock yourself into an unproven hardware platform that's currently in high rates of advancement is beyond me. As soon as you get it, it's going to be 6 months behind the tech. curve. Tegra 3 is already old and mostly lackluster, and doesn't really have good graphical games to the extent where it justifies buying a tablet designed with gaming in mind for such an unimpressive price.
