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Infinium Labs to Demo Phantom in NVIDIA booth at CES

Unknown   on 31 December 2004 - 14:55 · 43 comments & 6043 views

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Infinium Labs will demonstrate its flagship Phantom Game Service in the NVIDIA® booth (No. 35311) in the South Hall of the Convention Center during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Thursday - Sunday, Jan. 6 - 9, 2005, in Las Vegas. Infinium Labs' selection of NVIDIA to supply graphics processing chips for the company's Phantom Game Service signals the emerging importance of graphics processing in the home entertainment stack.

Infinium will incorporate NVIDIA's state-of-the-art GeForce(TM) line of graphics processing units (GPUs) and nForce(TM) platform processors in its Phantom Game Service to deliver top quality graphics, cinematic gaming, and media and communication processing performance to players of the on-demand game service, set for launch in 2005.

"Gamers want crisp, vivid images," said Kevin Bachus, president, Infinium Labs. "NVIDIA's GeForce and nForce processors will help us deliver the best possible on-demand performance to our customers, direct to the living room." The Phantom Game Service will be delivered over broadband to a Windows XP Embedded-based receiver that sits with other devices in the room where family members go for entertainment.

News source: Yahoo Biz


I contacted LokiTorrent earlier today about what they were up to; site administrator Lowkee was kind enough to answer our questions.

First, the obvious : why are you doing this?

There are many reasons why I am doing this, but the primary reason is that I run a completely legal website that the MPAA or anyone else has no right to force me to close. In just the past few weeks, the MPAA has forced the shutdown of many other bittorrent sites which were setup to do nothing more than allow people to share what they wished. It will be a dark day when we roll over to let organizations such as the RIAA and MPAA make our freedom of speech laws for us. I'm sure you have heard of the bill the RIAA is currently trying to pass here in the US making ALL reproduction and recording devices illegal? If that bill passes, even our telephone answering machines will be considered illegal. As I cannot lobby government to prevent such self-serving bills from passing, I will fight the battles I am able to. When I was given this lawsuit, I simply made a conscience decision that if it has already gone this far, it is time I took action to stop it for myself. The astounding support from the community is simply reinforcement of my position.

Do you think that piracy is acceptable?

Piracy is a byproduct of peer sharing. When peer-to-peer software is being written, there aren't 10 developers wringing their hands together over how much software and music people can steal from those who make a living selling it. Peer sharing is used to allow people who don't have the financial funding of the MPAA and RIAA to share there works, for free, to a worldwide audience without the massive costs of bandwidth punishing them for being popular.

The MPAA are a massive organization with large backing for funds; do you think you can stand up to them where so many sites (like suprnova) have fallen by the way-side?

You can be as frightening as you wish, make all the threat you want, but in the end an invalid argument is just as invalid. We run a legal site for use by those who wish to share their own creative works, and as much as I realize the MPAA is a huge organization with deep pockets, I have the law, common sense and millions of people behind me.

Looking forward- what is your legal road ahead?

I can't say I have much of a legal road ahead. Yes, I don't doubt there are people who abuse the policies of peer-sharing sites such as mine by sharing illegal files, but suing me is tantamount to suing the highway department for drug smugglers using their roads. And like the highway system, the benefits of such a system unmistakably outweigh the side-effects.

Have you received any sizable donations so far?

I have received a few donations from average people that are most likely giving 1/2 of their weekly paycheck, so yes, I have. These are not large amounts of money, as legal council is very expensive, but it clearly shows the peer-sharing community is behind us 100% and is willing to invest a little to save a lot.
Lowkee

It is important to note that Neowin does not endorse or support piracy of any kind; members posting links or detailed information will face severe action.

Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 43 additional comments
(2 replies) #1 Solarix on 31 Dec 2004 - 14:56
didnt they already demo this before then promised its release then got sued by Hard OCP? and then havent heard of them until now, where are they getting at with this console?
#1.1 Krankerz on 31 Dec 2004 - 15:57
it was demoed at this years e3
#1.2 ubugmetoo on 01 Jan 2005 - 18:27
The system I made was displayed at E3 in the parking lot running off a street lamp. But just because it was at E3 doesn't make it a system in till its at stores.
#2 Nvidia on 31 Dec 2004 - 15:55
Hmm... after the last two or three news articles I read about this thing, I was sure it was dead in the water. Oh well... I still don't think this idea they have over this console will work. But props to them anyway if they're still gonna try to run with it.
(4 replies) #3 Billprozac on 31 Dec 2004 - 16:02
Ok, just a few thoughts...

built on XP embeded...

"...in the home entertainment stack."

Anybody else wonder why they don't throw a tv tuner card in it, build it on XP MCE and bill it as an all in one computer/media center/game console?
#3.1 Surr3al on 31 Dec 2004 - 16:36
Isn't it a bad idea to use a familiar OS? Couldn't this thing get cracked easily in this case?
#3.2 Kushan on 31 Dec 2004 - 17:00
Don't be stupid, you can't crack something that's not ever going to be released
#3.3 SaLiVa on 31 Dec 2004 - 19:44
Everything is crackable so long as the cracker has the will to do it and the patience.
So why make something "uncrackable" when its going to be cracked for sure anyway?

Besides, this thing has lost its lime light since the day it was presented. Lawsuits everywhere, the company is being hit hard!
#3.4 GamblerFEXonlin on 04 Jan 2005 - 12:41
QUOTE
Everything is crackable so long as the cracker has the will to do it and the patience.
So why make something "uncrackable" when its going to be cracked for sure anyway?


Exactly! Let's just stop making things secure all together and instead work on the culture. Take piracy for instance, everybody is doing it because they haven't gotten enough beating when they where young.

The police is not the only think stopping people from killing each other, if everyone started simultaneously we could kill, say, 90% of everybody!


What?
#4 nugg3t on 31 Dec 2004 - 17:11
Why dont they just give up god damn it!

They know its not gonna work. They should stop while they still have a chance.
#5 Mx² on 31 Dec 2004 - 17:41
We'll see the "amazing" Phantom.
#6 2xSilverKnight on 31 Dec 2004 - 18:37
this console is already dead and is not even out yet
#7 Cmdr. Grunt on 31 Dec 2004 - 19:09
Do you know how much money they will have to make now, to break even, let alone turn a profit? LOTS. I wonder what they burned it all up on?
#8 sodapop on 31 Dec 2004 - 19:38
I'm quite cirtain that most people know that this idea was dead before it even began.
#9 jagedEdge on 31 Dec 2004 - 21:28
Heh, I wonder how Nividia is liking that. Having a ridiculed console shown in their booth.
#10 OrionPSU on 31 Dec 2004 - 21:34
Was most definitely the most appropriately named console in history.
#11 Coolme on 31 Dec 2004 - 22:21
More like a computer..... so might as well get one....
#12 devinlamothe on 31 Dec 2004 - 23:02
lol, I thought this thing was never going to actually become anything... oh well... we'll see.
#13 Shibby on 01 Jan 2005 - 00:47
um if its going to be running some kind of windows xp, graphics by nvidia. why don't i just bulit a top notch pc?
(1 reply) #14 emel on 01 Jan 2005 - 01:12
If this actually comes out, it will be easiest console to crack. According to them, you need a broadband connection and you will download games just like Half life 2 streams. All we need is soemhow extract the stream from hard drive and distribute to internet..
#14.1 jagedEdge on 01 Jan 2005 - 04:10
Unless it locks your copy to your device via some sort of key.
#15 craZySoldier on 01 Jan 2005 - 01:30
ive been waiting for this
(1 reply) #16 Fubar on 01 Jan 2005 - 01:36
nice to see we have some gaming industry experts in , come on how else is anyone sure how well or not well this console will do ?, as far as i can see people hate the for no reason, cant we just think cool another console coming out , makes a change from the 2 main one's ps2 and xbox , nah people like to type out something on the internet like they know something most users dont , id love to see this product come sqaure up againts the ps2 , yet so many of you experts dont think so , i wonder why , maybe because you believe everything you read ? who knows lets ask the xperts eh
#16.1 Kushan on 02 Jan 2005 - 03:44
Actually, people hate this company for very good reasons.
Didn't you read the comments about lawsuits and stuff? For years, the console has been on the "to be released in a few months" stage, yet nobody ever even seenw hat it looked like.
Infinium also took many companies and such to court, mainly over trivial matters too. They lost as well.
Everything about this console screams disaster. The lawsuits, the "broadband connection required" thing, even the design of it, but also the 3rd party support which may or may not exist (Infinium released press reports stating that certain companies were supporting their console, but the company's themselves would then deny it or make no comment on it.)
#17 Nvidia on 01 Jan 2005 - 02:31
I remember quite some time ago, they were looking for beta testers for this console, primarily people who thought they could crack it. They told them to try everything in the book to break that thing wide open to piracy to help prevent it from happening. Never heard anything after that though
(4 replies) #18 Liquid on 01 Jan 2005 - 02:33
*cough* Playstation. *cough*

Remember when playstation was annouced... Everyone was acting the same way. OH ITS NEVER GONNA WORK BLAH BLAH BLAH. Just wait and see.
#18.1 anakinsolois on 01 Jan 2005 - 04:45
Yeah but the console market was empty back then wasnt it? And it costs much more than any other console available on the market today
#18.2 afext on 01 Jan 2005 - 05:06
Uh, no, the console market was still on fire from the massive success of the SNES, the massive success of the Sega Genesis (prior to the SNES's massive success) and with the Nintendo 64 potentially around the corner around the time of th PSX's release.

Yay for ignornace and misinformation!

Everyone is just a nay sayer. I hope for this reason the Phantom takes off, just to piss all over everyone... (Too bad, realistically, it wont, but who knows really).
#18.3 neufuse on 01 Jan 2005 - 07:17
playstation was orignally Nintendo Playstation so you can see why they thought it would fail at first Nintendo and Sony joint developed it as a Nintendo console... I remember reading about it in Nintendo power way back in the day when Nintendo was getting excited about it, then all the sudden they droped the idea of a CD based system for N64 with cartridge agian
#18.4 daftperception on 01 Jan 2005 - 20:33
what i read was that sony was making a cd add on for the snes(like mega cd) then nintendo went screw that and kicked it sony said ok we will make are own and the PS was made really it's ironic nintendo had a perfect chance to keep sony under it's finger. This is what I heard might be wrong idk.
#19 fishie on 01 Jan 2005 - 05:57
i was suppose to be a beta tester but now they say all testing will be done in house. a lot of companys are putting money behind them i just wonder if its worth it. i played it at e3. it was kinda fun.
#20 roxics on 01 Jan 2005 - 09:01
Doesn't seem like that bad of an idea. If the price is right and so are the games. Except if you lose your broadband connection for whatever reason. Then you can't play.

What were some of the legal problems they were encountering?
#21 vetBroChaos on 02 Jan 2005 - 06:20
lame...i "saw" the phantom at e3 last year...wasn't that impressed, plus you could never see what it was actually connected to. now it's a year later, and they are still just doing these shows?
(2 replies) #22 Qumahlin on 02 Jan 2005 - 17:43
You people are missing the true picture.

Infinium knows there will never be a phantom, they know it will fail. They don't care. The only reason they are doing these shows and "partnering" with Nvidia is because if they don't all the Venture Capital that has been funding them and paying the employees large salaries will dissappear and the VC companies who endorsed them will sue them for fraud..

In short Infinium can't just "give up" or else the CEO/etc will risk losing his own money.

Everyone here keeps talking about breaking even etc...technically the company has not lost anything as it is not running off it's own income.

think about it, even if the company goes under the employees still made a ton of money off a project that was nothing but a farce to get the venture capital in the first place.
#22.1 Garrett Socling on 02 Jan 2005 - 21:22
You win the brass ring!

Those poor venture capitalists end up taking it in the ass...while everyone at Infinium is gainfully employeed and laughing into their sleeves...

Oops, did we just say that? Better not let the VC know!

G
#22.2 Magallanes on 04 Jan 2005 - 16:18
You people are missing the TRUE PICTURE.

Really don't care if it's a fake, vaporware or not. The truth is there are a FEASIBLE idea behind Phantom and nobody has taken it.

Phantom can take time but everyone known (or must known) that the future is simmilar to phantom idea, Valve Steam for example



#23 ArtOf_War on 03 Jan 2005 - 12:23
It's a good idea but i think its a bit ahead of it's time
#24 pharrett on 03 Jan 2005 - 14:18
Well...I think "Phantom" is the perfect name for this system. They also could have called it "Vapor" since the thing still seems to be nothing but vaporware.
#25 DoNuTs© on 03 Jan 2005 - 15:05
Sure, we'll see
#26 Elite_graphix on 04 Jan 2005 - 23:57
throw in the towel jackassess.....
#27 The Cub on 05 Jan 2005 - 12:38
The name says it all really

phantom adj : something apparently sensed but having no physical reality.

noun

1: a ghostly appearing figure.
2: something existing in perception only.
#28 Ikshaar on 05 Jan 2005 - 20:04
So funny, that and just few news above the result of the lawsuit from Infinium against HardOCP... for their article showing/proving (?) that InfiniumLabs/console is a fake idea created by greedy people to raise venture capital... lol

#29 Mando on 06 Jan 2005 - 08:59
hmm sorry but i think its all just a glorious scam.

After all Hard OCP just won their court case regarding their website & the dodgy data about the CEO of infinium labs past with a string of bankruptcies etc and no offical offices for the "pheonix"

sorry but i still think its a scam.

It cracks me up they are offering "pre-orders" oh and ill bet you ll see a console if you prepay ......NOT
even the name of the console tells you that this is a ficticious item.

Phantom ~ A trace or remnant of a mortal spirit eg no longer around and dead!

I think ill pre-order 100 of them bargain!

Its a scam to make EO of infinium rich with investors money then they will file for bankruptcy when it all crashes around their ears.

Check the CEOs track record on HardOCP 1 company in over 15 was marginally successful (still floatiing on NASDAQ "just" was going to be pulled becuase share price fell under $1 a share.)

all the rest of his companies took investors & developers money to create something then reported record losses every fiscal year until they filed for bankrupcy.
its alleged that high profile partys, exhibitions & racing sponsorship cleaned the companys funds out. (thatll be all the coke & prossies)

Schmoozing i think its called. Sorry but that company is there to make one person obscenely rich on other peoples money.

Dont any entertainment companys ever use Credit checking before investing millions into develping companies? Obv not

check out the article with an interview with the CEO, heheh the HQ for infinium a post office box lmfao cracks me up, and his mum is quoted on his website as offically endorsing his products lmfao, i think ill get my momma to endorse that i can tie my own shoe laces and fully house trained :p

Lets be realistic here come on you reckon any new console that comes out can actually sneak anything away from the 3 major players left in this cutthroat market?
I didnt think so either

Im not sure about law in US but over here (UK) that chancer couldnt startup again after filing for bankruptcy on so many occaisons.

Im going to suggest a new console its called the dogs danglies it uses Broadband & will use a version of XP called XP (BE) < Bullsh*tters Edition

ITs going to have the best support & games like HL2 & doom3 will be upgradeable & can cook your dinner in time for you returning home after a hard days work.....



Last edited by 11418 on 06 Jan 2005 - 09:19

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