Phantom Lapboard coming to PCs

Infinium Labs announces plans to release wireless keyboard-and-mouse combo for PCs in second quarter of 2006.

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While the Phantom Game Service has yet to materialize, the company behind it is planning to let gamers get their hands on a key part of the hardware later this year.

Infinium Labs has announced that the Phantom Lapboard, the custom-made wireless keyboard-and-mouse combo the company designed for its long-in-development service, will be released for PC gamers in the second quarter of 2006.

The entire keyboard is angled up slightly to create a second platform underneath the keyboard that functions as a mousing surface. The keyboard also swivels 360 degrees for optimal positioning for left- or right-handed gamers. Infinium Labs claims the lapboard will work within a 30-foot radius of the PC.

This doesn't mean that Infinium Labs is giving up on the Phantom Game Service. According to Infinium Labs CEO Greg Koler, the release of the Phantom Lapboard for PCs is "the perfect stepping stone and bridges the subsequent launch of the full service further down the line."

Pricing for the Phantom Lapboard has not yet been finalized, though the company has said it will sell the unit through online retailers. In addition to a traditional advertising campaign, Infinium Labs is planning to use viral marketing to promote the peripheral.

34 Comments

  • absentsmurf

    Posted Feb 23, 2006 9:53 pm PT

    The lapboard looks cool

  • final_toni

    Posted Feb 22, 2006 9:42 am PT

    lol

  • innerwar

    Posted Feb 22, 2006 4:31 am PT

    Oh and just before i forget it, NOBODY ever looks "cool" when playing games. This is the worst sony/ms fanboy criticism of the Rev controller, that they'll somehow look more stupid playing a mario game with a remote than they will playing a mario game with a classic controller. If you fear your manliness will be compromized by the way you operate a toy, as opposed to the fact that you are operating a toy in the first place, you got bigger problems than the toy!

  • innerwar

    Posted Feb 22, 2006 4:29 am PT

    The least retarded bit about the phantom this. But still a little retarded, if anything because it takes the stance that the keyboard/mouse combo is the most awesome way to control anything, ever. It doesn't attempt to innovate, it attempts to put in one package what anyone with a laptop has done at their home for ages. I'm sitting in bed with my laptop on my.. you know. LAP. Already, mouse at my side. It's fine. I'm not sure i'd like to have a controller that huge around anyway, even if it has a moderately hot industrial design. How the hell were they expecting to package that thing, console, powersupply, lapboard.. the box would be the size of a Morris Mini O_o

  • superkoolstud

    Posted Jan 26, 2006 10:29 am PT

    I'm buying one to play WoW from the Couch.

  • lquidsnake133

    Posted Jan 9, 2006 6:17 pm PT

    I could use this if i bought a tv computer media center

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 4, 2006 5:32 am PT

    i like my keyboard and mouse the way they are.

  • pyth0n13

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 7:30 pm PT

    lopsided. for those of us with one arm shorter than the other i guess.

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 6:13 pm PT

    Looks sexy.

  • Thanos_of_MW

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 5:18 pm PT

    I'm already using a wireless keyboard and mouse from Gyration (25 feet reach) for my home theater PC. No sale here

  • mrhs84

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 5:07 pm PT

    maybe its handy concerning with wireless part.

  • lakai2k5

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 4:47 pm PT

    obviously not really ment for typing, awesomely convenient for using the WADS and a mouse on your lap though.

  • LordOfMidnight

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 4:27 pm PT

    I'll believe in the whole Phantom system when it comes out. Pictures don't impress me.

  • Vodoo

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 3:02 pm PT

    I think the Phantom game console would actually be better off coming out in a few years from now. Think about it... it's a system that only plays games you've downloaded, no more hard copies. This is a relatively new way of doing things. And Microsoft is just really starting this market up with Xbox Live's transaction system. People arent use to it yet and still want their boxed copies. Once this sinks in more with the consumer, it would be a better time to release a system like that. If the Phantom would've already launched, it would've been ahead of it's time and would've failed miserably. It's definately an idea with potential, but I'd give it a few years.

  • Chrono5788

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 2:46 pm PT

    Looks pretty cool. I put my keyboard in my lap all the time, now I'll actually be able to use the mouse, too. I just hope they build a little rise around the edges so the mouse doesn't slide out when you're angling the keyboard up and not using the mouse.

    And to all those people saying it's gonna fall out of your lap and it's stupid and whatnot, get a grip. Having a keyboard in your lap is not like juggling eighty machetes. There's this force called friction and another called pressure that help you out. And let's not forget about that magical gravity which applies the pressure.

    And to those who "don't want to balance" while playing games and it's gonna get in the way should similarly get a grip. Unless you're a fetus you should have the physical fortitude to hold a mouse comfortably, it's not exactly an eighty pound dumbell. Try it. Pick up your mouse and grip it like you do on a flat surface. Hard to balance, yes?

    I think when I play F.E.A.R. or HL2 or Soldat it'll be doubly cool if I'm laying back with a wireless keyboard and mouse combo watching the action as opposed to hunched over my table.

  • secily

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 2:37 pm PT

    Hey kids its a phantom piece of crap!

  • DeathStar17

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 1:18 pm PT

    How much will it cost?

  • ssj4_2004

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:28 pm PT

    TheRagingGamer, did You say that You have A keyboard IN Your mouse how did You manage that?

  • Mona5443

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:26 pm PT

    Forget that they are releasing a peripheral and charging for it when it should come free with the console when it releases. Forget that it's at an awkward angle that would make it hard to maneuver. It just doesn't look comfortable. I don't know about you, but having to balance something on my lap for hours while I play something like F.E.A.R. doesn't sound like a good time. I think that they should at least have made the bottom platform more comfortable. Maybe include some adjustable grips for your thighs, or make the base out of something more comfortable than hard plastic. And, as some have said already, releasing a peripheral for a gaming machine early is not a good idea. Since the gaming machine they are releasing is pretty much a PC for the TV, the nearest thing to use it for is a PC. I don't understand why anyone would rather use an uncomfortable lopsided keyboard than a normal keyboard.

  • madgamer2000

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:24 pm PT

    This is actually kind of cool imo. At least they are trying to salvage something out of their horribly botched adventure into console land. I dont see why the angle on the keyboard would really bother people that much, and it would be great to play console MMOs, or if you like to sit on the couch and have your computer hoooked up to a HDTV or a projector or something for gaming.

  • TheRagingGamer

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:20 pm PT

    I'll buy that Lapboard since it looks perfect for my setup (I currently use my keyboard in my mouse) but it will not be because I intend to support their braindead console.

  • ssj4_2004

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:19 pm PT

    I think it looks to cumbersome to be used while sitting on th couch. You would have to keep Your legs perfectly still wile typing and using the mouse at the same time (like lets say, moving around Doom). The agle the keyboard is at actually looks pretty comforable.

  • TheElusiveJedi

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:18 pm PT

    It's an interesting idea but personally I'd probably get frustrated about the angle eventually and revert to my original, and much flatter, setup.


    I don't see how it can make gaming any easier though.

  • KillaZero

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:17 pm PT

    I've got a large projector with my computer hookep up to it. I like to play games on it...but the keyboard and mouse situation is a pain in the a**. I guess im the type of person they're going after.

  • tenorio_rotc

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    viral marketing, and normal marketing? Do they really think people will be that hyped up about a new keyboard and mouse combo?

  • general_bison

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:08 pm PT

    The mouse is attached to the keyboard, it's obvious ¬_¬

  • Sherban

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 12:02 pm PT

    I think a lapboard would be perfect for MMORPGs or Shooters on consoles. Think about sitting in your living room with the controllability of a keyboard and mouse sitting on your lap, not confined by a cord. I really liked the idea when I first heard it.

    But the PC? The only reason the lapboard was cool was because you could sit on a couch and use it while playing on a TV. I have a 19" monitor, I dont feel like sitting 10 feet away from it just to be able to use the lapboard. As for use on a desk, its really pointless. I already have enough room for a mouse and keyboard on my desk, so why would I want to position them awkwardly?

    Lapboard for Consoles = Fantasic Idea.
    Lapboard for PC = Stupid.

  • whalesex

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:53 am PT

    Too funny....

    I used to be part of the original "beta test" group for this console, and was even in charge of a section of the official forums. After a number of management swaps, as well as a complete destruction of the community, I find this effort laugable at best. We were never told what was going on, we never recieved any beta units, and moreover, we we're left in the dark on everything. I wish investors and anyone else involved with this project would just give up. By the time the console comes around, it will be so out of date and so crappy that no one will even care ( they don't care now, and they didn't care 2 years ago.)

    The design of the lapboard is actually nice though, and that comes from a hands on experience I had with it at e3. I'm not sure of the demand on a product like this, but it's possible that this is a last ditch effort to make money so they can release their crap console. Who knows...who cares?

  • HeyTranquil

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:45 am PT

    I think this could work well with a console, possibly more than a desktop computer. Note the "could" and "possibly".

  • raiden7890

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:45 am PT

    why the angle...

  • Truth01

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:43 am PT

    Just another product that companies will make you think you need.

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:43 am PT

    A move not unlike what Microsoft did with the PC-compatible 360 controller.

  • NeoJedi

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:37 am PT

    Looks sweet.

  • jaokhan

    Posted Jan 3, 2006 11:32 am PT

    Yes, because we all love typing at an angle.

    And why does the mouse have a wire coming out of it if it's wireless?

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