ALMOST 15 years after the demise of the 3DO, Panasonic is breaking back into gaming hardware with a new handheld dubbed the Jungle.

The Jungle is designed specifically for online gaming and MMOs, according to IGN.

Details were limited, but according to reports from Gizmodo, Crunch Gear, and others, the Jungle will feature a full QWERTY keyboard, dual directional pads, shoulder buttons and a touchpad.

The Jungle’s official website calls it a “mean little machine features a kick arse display, touch pad, keyboard, and other gaming controls”.

Amongst all that, they also claim it's “designed specifically for online gamers”, and some sites say leaked technical details hint at it incorporating 3G networking to achieve it.

The design resembles some of Nintendo's earlier handhelds, namely the Game Boy Advance, with a clamshell enclosure tipped to include a high-resolution display.

Specific technical elements of the device have not been announced, though it is believed that it will be based on Linux and feature HDMI output.

That "based on Linux" caveat is the only thing standing in the way of World of Warcraft gamers drooling over the possibility of burning up their commute.

Because WoW doesn't run in Linux — at least, not without some tricky modifications — Jungle will have to have some way of getting it to run in a browser, otherwise its games content will be limited.

Currently only one game has been confirmed for the Jungle; a new MMO Battlestar Galactica Online, although Panasonic are promising gamers that they're “working with leading online game developers to create some exciting new content”.

A web show named Online Underground has also been linked to the device, produced by Machinima.com.

A website for the Jungle has been established, although information is scarce aside from a short teaser video.

Watch the Jungle teaser video at IGN