HP targets computer game market
HP used a San Francisco art and film studio as the setting to demonstrate gaming creations that sprang from collaboration with engineers at VoodooPC, a Canada-based premier computer game company HP bought in September of 2006.
HP has its sights set on winning computer game business from rival US computer maker Dell.
"I can assure you that when we start playing in that space, the gloves are coming off," said Rahul Sood, chief technical officer of HP global gaming and founder of VoodooPC.
HP said it would begin selling computer game gear later this year featuring innovations such as mobile technologies that make dashing about outside part of the play.
HP was targeting mobile, online and computer gaming and did not intend to go compete with video game consoles made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo, according to Sood.
"All of our customers own consoles as well as personal computers," Sood told AFP. "The truth is we are looking to build an ecosystem where all sorts of gamers have access to our technology."
Technologies demonstrated by HP Labs included a curved computer display designed to "immerse" gamers in action and a way to incorporate city streets in games played on the move with wireless handheld devices.
The worldwide computer game market is estimated at more than 36 billion dollars by Informa Media Group.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reports that there are more than 12 million active subscriptions to online games such as World of Warcraft.
US gamers spent more than 20 billion on gaming software and hardware in 2005, according to the CEA.
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