Hot on the heels of its European release, the Gizmondo is the third device entering the handheld space this year. Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo arrived at E3 in fine booth-babe fashion boasting an impressive feature set that runs the gamut from instant messaging to GPS to geo-caching.

　　Among its many purposes, the Gizmondo is capable of playing movies, music, and video games. In addition, it has built-in GPS, just in case you get lost; internal Bluetooth for wireless multiplayer and syncing between your many devices; and general packet radio service (GPRS) for your data needs on the go. Tiger Telematics built the Gizmondo by combining an ARM9 400MHz chip, made by Samsung, and an Nvidia GoForce 3D 4500 128-bit graphics accelerator. 64MB of RAM coupled with a SD flash card reader round out the device's data features. The device also has a built-in 640x480 camera that produces decent pictures for the unit's 320x240 2.8" TFT display. The Gizmondo has all the buttons you'd expect on a gaming device.

　　Tiger Telematics backed up the GPRS capabilities of the Gizmondo by implementing triband functionality. It's unclear as of yet if Tiger Telematics will be forging relationships with any US carriers prior to launch. However, owners will be able to use their existing SIM cards as long as they have data plans with their providers. A handful of American GSM providers have unlimited data plans that can be used with the Gizmondo. With a data plan, you'll be able to add POP3 and IMAP email services to send and receive mail and messages.

　　Overall, the unit feels comfortable, despite the odd placement of the shoulder buttons. The two shoulder buttons jut out at the top corners of the device, but feel as responsive as the eight-way D pad that's found on the left side of the unit. Tiger Telematics used a four-button diamond layout for the context-sensitive action keys on the right side of the device. The buttons have the typical “Play”, “Stop”, “Fast Forward” and “Rewind” symbols rather than the abstract symbols present on other gaming consoles. The buttons take double duty by performing gaming and multimedia functions.

　　The Gizmondo uses Microsoft Windows CE v4.2 for its OS, and Windows Media Player as the default audio and video player. For playing movies, the picture quality is clear despite the small screen. For letterboxed movies, the 2.8-inch screen might not have as much viewing area as Sony's PSP, but it definitely does the job. Additionally, Gizmondo will be working off a rental model for those of you who want to watch movies on the device. At some point in the future, either at or near launch, you should be able to download movies from Gizmondo and rent them for a set number of days. After this time, the digital-rights-management system will render the content expired, and you'll no longer be able to view it unless you pay to rent it for a longer period of time. Of course, you can encode your own movies in near-DVD quality and fit it on to a 256MB SD card.

　　Battery life is estimated to be between three and four hours for games and movies, and up to 12 hours for music. For those who want extra battery life, though, an additional battery will be available for purchase, which should at least double your time with games and movies, as well as music.

　　With 89 games due out this year alone, the only remaining issue is price. The Gizmondo will launch at two different price points on August 11: $229 and $399. If you choose the $229 price, you'll be asked to view at least three ads per day. You can choose to sign up for more ads per day, but this won't affect the price of the unit. When you first power up the device, you'll encounter a brief introductory screen where you'll be asked about your ad preferences, in addition to your likes and dislikes. And from then on, Tiger will try to send you targeted advertising. The ads will never interrupt what you're doing and will only show up when you go back to the home screen.

　　The ad-based model goes a little further by using the internal GPS to give you a map to the closest provider of a specific good or service. For example, if you receive a coupon for a free small order of fries at your local hamburger joint, the Gizmondo will give you precise directions on how to get to the establishment from your current location. Once you get there, the hamburger joint will simply ask to scan the bar code on the coupon you were sent, and then send you off with your free small order of fries. The second price point of $399 is an opt-in model for advertising, and it doesn't require you to view ads, although you can certainly sign up for them if you want.

　　Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo is certainly shaping up to be quite a device. With so many features and a plethora of games slated for arrival, it should be interesting to see how the Gizmondo fares against the likes of the PSP from Sony and the veritable horde of gaming devices available from Nintendo.