March 5, 2015
Less mobile, more fun?
Less mobile, more fun?

Xbox, Play Stationand Wii may have the lion’s share of the gaming console market, but a new Israeli tech team known as ZRRO Technologies is hoping to change that. The Tel Aviv startup is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise $200,000 for the manufacturing of its Android-based micro-console.

The team raised more than 50 percent of its $200,000 goal in the first three days of the crowdfunding campaign aimed at bringing mobile content to big-screen TVs.

The ZRRO (pronounced “zero”) system lets users play more than a million mobile games and apps on their TV.

Sounds familiar? Ouya and Razer micro-consoles promised similar feats for gamers looking for a bigger screen, but the Israeli team says its unique, patented hover technology will ensure it succeeds were the others faltered.

ZRRO points out in a press statement that key players are launching Android consoles, so clearly mobile entertainment is migrating to the big screen. But while other consoles lack content or offer limited content, ZRRO’s standalone Android-based console would connect to any TV with an HDMI port to let people access the games they are accustomed to playing on smartphones and tablets.

 ZRRO is building an Android-based micro-console.
ZRRO is building an Android-based micro-console.

“ZRRO’s new zTouch hover and touch technology mirrors multiple finger positions from the ZRRO Pad with pointers on the TV, virtually turning TVs into huge tablets. The ZRRO Pad detects the user’s hovering finger position up to 1.2 inches above the pad while the pointer on the TV responds by getting smaller on the screen as the user’s fingers approach the touchpad,” according to the company.

ZRRO is not meant only for gamers. The system can turn regular televisions into smart TVs, so users can watch Netflix, browse the web, and use all touch-based Android apps on the television.

“ZRRO revolutionizes the TV experience, the same way touchscreens changed the way we consume content on our mobile devices,” says cofounder and CEO Ori Rimon. “We want to give the Kickstarter community the ability to try ZRRO first. If the community believes in our vision and we reach our goals, we will go straight into manufacturing ZRRO so we can have it delivered to our backers as soon as possible.”

ZRRO Technologies was founded five years ago and the product has been in development for more than three years. The Tel Aviv team notes on the site that while crowdfunding campaigns are usually behind schedule, they’ve been tweaking their product all along and plan to meet all September 2015 deadlines.

“We could have launched ZRRO more than a year ago but we wanted to deliver the best user experience. We are glad we waited; the last year allowed us to perfect the technology and improve the hardware. During this time, Android games/apps also improved their graphics and performance to really enhance the experience,” reads a statement.

If the comments on the crowdfunding site are anything to go by, it would seem this Israeli tech team is headed for all-star status in the global gaming community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYw4LtPnW2k

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