Due to the use of buzzwords and the lack of details, the product was derided nearly from the beginning[4] by news sites such as IGN[5] and Slashdot and in the Penny Arcade webcomic.

[10] In September 2006 the company (which had changed its name from Infinium Labs)[11] promised to introduce its Phantom Lapboard product in November 2006, with a gaming service to follow in March 2007.

[13] In August 2007, Phantom Entertainment signed an agreement with ProGames Network to provide Lapboards and "game-service content" in hotels worldwide.

Two units of the first-generation prototype were known to exist, one publicly destroyed by HardOCP at QuakeCon 2004 as a result of their legal battles with the company (see below),[18] the other was spotted by a computer repair shop in Venice, Florida in 2015 and reported by Ars Technica.

It was missed; the company later claimed it would go on sale in November for the holiday season, although it had not developed online-delivery software, licensed games or found any retailers.

[27] On January 3, 2006, Infinium Labs announced that the lapboard component of the console (a keyboard and mouse designed to be held on the lap, for example, seated on a couch in front of a television) was due to be released to online retailers by the second quarter of 2006.

In April 2008 Maximum PC published a preview of the lapboard, describing it as "extremely promising" although the supplied mouse "experienced signal dropouts at a distance of about 24 inches from the sensor".

[37] In September 2003 HardOCP, a computer-hardware news website, published an investigative report by writer Steve Lynch critical of Infinium Labs and its founder.

[38] On February 19, 2004, Infinium Labs' lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to HardOCP's editor demanding that the news site take down the article, claiming that it "painted a portrait of a company intent on swindling the public" and threatening to file a defamation suit.

Rather than concede to Infinium's demands, HardOCP owner Kyle Bennett filed a lawsuit for a declaratory judgment that his company had done nothing wrong.

[39] Infinium Labs then filed suit in Florida, denying that Texas was the proper jurisdiction (although it had previously maintained a staffed office in Richardson).

[40] In September 2004, the judge required Infinium Labs to produce a number of financial records, including Roberts's personal income-tax returns, by the end of that month.

[45][46][47] When Roberts was CEO of Infinium, the company failed to report a substantial amount of interest and penalties on unpaid payroll taxes.

[48] From its inception, the company had consistently reported a small amount of cash on hand amid extensive (and increasing) debt.

In January 2006, Infinium Labs reached an agreement to borrow up to $5,000,000 from Golden Gate Investors to finance the manufacturing of the Phantom Lapboard, scheduled for release later that year.