[5] Powered by an ARM9 processor, the Gizmondo had the usual features seen in handheld consoles of the time (Nintendo DS, Nokia N-Gage) but notably also included a digital camera and a built-in GPS chip.

Despite a degree of market expectation[7] it ended up as a major sales failure;[8] this was further worsened by a delay in its American release and the announcement of a widescreen version shortly before debuting there.

[11] The Gizmondo was conceived by Carl Freer, chairman of Florida-based Tiger Telematics, Inc.[4] Originally the plan was for a GPS child-tracking device before the idea turned into a game system.

During December that year, Gizmondo made its debut as a concept product at the Las Vegas CES in January 2004,[13] and later appeared at the German CeBIT show in March 2004.

In London's Regent Street, Tiger Telematics threw a party with several celebrities invited to promote the device at the time of the March 2005 release.

Also, in an attempt to promote the console, Gizmondo's executive Stefan Eriksson took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race of 2005 in a Gizmondo-sponsored Ferrari 360 Modena GTC.

It was intended to have a larger, 4" widescreen screen and upgrades like Wi-Fi, TV-out support, an improved 480 × 272 pixel resolution, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 500 MHz processor.

The Gizmondo was further overshadowed when, in October 2005, Sweden's Aftonbladet revealed criminal pasts of several executives, causing their resignations including Tiger Telematics CEO Carl Freer.

[11] This occurred shortly before Gizmondo's American launch and by this time both Freer and Eriksson had moved to the United States, residing in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

[11] In January 2006, Gizmondo Europe went into administration (a British legal term similar to filing for bankruptcy) despite a loan from its parent Tiger Telematics, putting the system's future into doubt.

[27][28] Although U.S. sales figures were not officially released,[29] the GamePro website cited less than 25,000 units overall (without further clarifications) and called it the worst selling handheld console in history.

The SMS service of the Gizmondo enabled people to send messages by pre-pay SIM cards from Vodafone bundled in with the device.

[34][8] The company said that it would roll out to the rest of Europe starting from 19 May 2005,[35] including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Nordic countries.

Some ads would include special offers in the form of vouchers or barcodes, and some would utilize the device's GPS system to direct users to the nearest store carrying the advertised product.

[citation needed] In addition to 14 games, a further 30 titles were known to have been in development for the system but all were canceled before their release due to Gizmondo Europe's bankruptcy.

[46] Additionally several games including Gizmondo Motocross 2005, Hockey Rage 2005, and Sticky Balls had Bluetooth multiplayer features.

Former Tiger Telematics chairman Carl Freer announced to a Swedish newspaper in November 2007 his intentions for a new Gizmondo, and said there were already 35 games in place, a manufacturing base in Shenzhen, China, and that he hoped the handheld would retail at US$99.