I have no idea what an “all-new form factor” is, but that is the ridiculous phrase Razer are using to describe something that’s currently dubbed Project Fiona, due to be announced properly on the 10th. Appearing on their incredibly unhelpfully named pcgamingisnotdead.com website (er, yeah, we all knew that thanks) is a deliberately opaque trailer for, um, something. Whatever it is, Razer assures that “it’s not simple, it’s not delightful, it’s not magical”. But it is, they inform, “just badass”.

The last time we were taken through this rigamorale was for the announcement of the Razer Blade, an astonishingly expensive gaming laptop. For nearly $3000 you will be able to get a middling-spec gaming machine, that’s barely 2cm thick and only 3.2kg. Arguments in favour of a standardisation of PC specs are one thing. Expecting people to pay three times the price of a higher specced desktop machine is another. Goodness knows where that one’s heading.

But this is something else, and The Verge reckons it’s going to be the Razer Switchblade, about which we heard much last year, but never saw a release. That was promising what was essentially a gaming netbook, with a touchscreen replacing the need for a mouse. I think. It’s a touch problematic that a year ago they were talking about the Atom chip they’d developed with Intel, and then went completely silent and didn’t release it. Also, I’m not quite sure how having my hand in front of the screen the entire time is going to be entirely conducive to gaming. That did strike me as the dumbest idea of all time. Although the keyboard is flipping ace (see the link above).

If it’s that, I absolutely cannot see it working without some sort of retractable track pad. If it’s not, then it’s something else, and it’s definitely not going to be delightful. They say so.



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All these mysteries will be resolved at CES next week.