On a whim today, I headed over to see what was happening with the Game Store at Phantom Entertainment (formerly known as Infinium Labs). If you recall, a while ago they launched a section of their website with an impressive catalog of games and support. Soon after, it was taken down with a simple thank you message for people who visited.
They now have an official blog as well, which in the past couple weeks has seen some serious action. Apparently the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Phantom Entertainment and halted trading of their stock (PHEI) on June 24th.
Quote:
“The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of the foregoing companies due to a lack of current and accurate information about the companies because they have not filed certain periodic reports with the Commission. This order was entered pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).”
Additionally, it looks like at some point they had a donation website setup, and are now offering to refund money to people who donated.
Could this finally be the end of this ridiculous sham of a company? Sad to see that there are still people posting comments to their blog who really want this stupid lapboard.
I actually thought that the lapboard was the best part of their product. It wasn't by any means something that they could've based a console around, but it'd be nice for gaming on a media center PC.
I called this when they announced this stupid thing all those years ago. It's a miracle they managed to avoid audit this long.
The company is run by a professional business scammer, and the idea was incredibly ambitious considering the technology they were trying to harness. I never thought we'd actually see one running.
I thought the lapboard had actually come out though? Is that not the case? I remember they were taking pre-orders for them awhile back.
I actually had a friend who worked for Infinium Labs and there was a legitimate product that looked interesting but it never saw the light of day.
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I actually had a friend who worked for Infinium Labs and there was a legitimate product that looked interesting but it never saw the light of day.
The product may have been legitimate (they did have some 10 million in funding at start up, so they better have come up with a fucking product), but they were always set up for failure. The simple truth is this: broadband in 2005 was simply not enough to stream games in the way they were describing. Now days, it might be viable. Then, it wasn't, and anyone who knew anything about technology knew that, which is why it was on vaporware lists almost immediately.
The only 'legitimate' thing that came out of them was the lapboard, and you can't even buy one of those anymore as far as I can tell, except off e-bay. And if you read some product reviews, that didn't even turn out decent in the end.
I don't understand the draw for the lap board. A keyboard slanted at a 45 degree angle with a mouse under it? That doesn't sound very usable. I can't imagine typing on a 45 degree angled keyboard. It seems a keyboard with an attachable mouse area (which can attach to the left or right of the keyboard) would be much more natural.
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I don't understand the draw for the lap board. A keyboard slanted at a 45 degree angle with a mouse under it? That doesn't sound very usable. I can't imagine typing on a 45 degree angled keyboard. It seems a keyboard with an attachable mouse area (which can attach to the left or right of the keyboard) would be much more natural.
Well, the lapboard I believe was designed with the Phantom in mind, hence, it was a gaming keyboard and mouse. You weren't going to be typing on it very often. Knowing that, would it be that much of a stretch for WSAD?
Also, the lapboard's angle and position is moveable.
I'm pretty sure I could have got the lapboard into production. It's no wonder these guys are being investigated. I'll admit to having a little soft-spot for them though.
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The product may have been legitimate (they did have some 10 million in funding at start up, so they better have come up with a fucking product), but they were always set up for failure. The simple truth is this: broadband in 2005 was simply not enough to stream games in the way they were describing. Now days, it might be viable. Then, it wasn't, and anyone who knew anything about technology knew that, which is why it was on vaporware lists almost immediately.
The only 'legitimate' thing that came out of them was the lapboard, and you can't even buy one of those anymore as far as I can tell, except off e-bay. And if you read some product reviews, that didn't even turn out decent in the end.
Oh don't get me wrong, the extent of the shady practices aren't well known by the general public. They deserve what they have coming.
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