Gizmondo Execs land at Xero Mobile

I give you guys props. I only discovered you in October or November of last year, and the fact that you're now huge enough to have companies take notice and request comment edits on your site is F#$%ing awesome. Well done overall, and thanks for the frequent updates and sweet info. I love that you can both scoop and refer to IGN and the other big players. Keep it up!

Wow. A gizmodo-gizmondo-gizmonster. That would be a good name for the large lizard on the t-shirt: Gizmonster (note the hard 'g' sound) After this t-shirt, doesn't it descend into SF bay or wherever for the next thousand years?

Seriously though, #2, Gizmodo is something you read, and Gizmondo is something you laugh at. Unless you bought one, in which case it is something you are laughed at for owning, and somehow respected for at the same time. As in:

"Wow. You actually have a Gizmondo"

"Yes.... What about it?"

"Nothing, nothing.... Is it any good?"

"No, it's a piece of shit."

"Yeah. I heard it sucks."

"We removed the comment from Joystiq"

Isn't that sort of like letting a corporation -- one that isn't even affiliated with Joystiq (that I know of, at least) -- edit your blog? True or not true, since when does a corporation have the right to tell another site owned by a different corporation what comments should and shouldn't be deleted from their blogs? And how many of these corporations are having their PR men and lower-end legal teams sniffing around various blogs? Seems a little big-brother-ish, and completely pathetic on the part of the corporations who really should have something better to do with their time.

GeoCities' legal team asked me to remove a parody of their service from my site and I refused. I asked their legal team to either sue me or leave me alone. I never heard from them again. A year later the same thing happened with Microsoft. I did the same thing, and they left me alone. Of course they could have chosen to sue me for parodying their sites and services, but they didn't have a case and they knew it. The only corporate pressure Joystiq should buckle under (if any) would be AOL, since they are your parent company. But even then, AOL would be unethical to take over as editors of Joystiq.

I agree with Sloopydrew... you shouldn't have bowed to pressure and removed a comment.

Bill

Fair or not, Joystiq is liable for its users' comments. If a user posts something inaccurate and Xero were to threaten legal action, chances are that Joystiq would be vulnerable. Not that Joystiq would lose, necessarily, but that they would likely have to defend themselves.

On top of that, they deleted the comment but _reposted the information on their main page_, in a more thorough context. What the hell is wrong with that? They didn't just delete a user's questionably-sourced comment - they investigated it, reposted it on their own credibility, and added more information to it. What the hell is wrong with that? If only mainstream media were so thoughtful when it came to ferreting out inaccuracies, whether their own or others'.

Let's say I post on Gizmodo that recent reports suggest that Victor Cole has a small penis. Let's also assume that this isn't a troll but actually meant as news.

Although we can't find any hard sources(pardon the pun) saying that his bajunkajunk is indeed in such a state, it sounds credible enough that we take it as fact. But furthering, if Victor complains, he is within his rights to ask it to be deleted or amended.

Without solid evidence, it's just slander.

Sorry about using penises to make my point. I just know it's something that most everyone here can relate to.

The Gizmondo Saga: the gift that just keeps on giving.

Just like herpes.

"On top of that, they deleted the comment but _reposted the information on their main page_, in a more thorough context. What the hell is wrong with that?"

Nothing is wrong with that. I think it's great that Joystiq looks into claims made by other corporations. I guess my point was that I thought they should have looked into this before deleting the original post that sparked the whole thing.

If a company really wants to waste the cash on bringing frivolous lawsuits against a successful blog based on something a USER posted, that's their prerogative. If Joystiq wants to delete posts before it comes to that, that's their prerogative. If I disagree with their deleting the posts at the whim of another corporation, that's my prerogative. If you don't agree with me disagreeing with Joystiq on rare occasion, that's your prerogative. Lastly, if Bobby Brown wants to haunt me for life with his song "My Prerogative," it is his prerogative.

That said, I really do commend Joystiq and Vladimir for his post. It was very impressive, and I agree with you that it's probably more than most "respectable" journalistic outfits would do. Could Mr. Cole be the first blogger to win a Peabody?

Victor Cole has a small penis? haha

Why does everyone love to cuss the Gizmondo? Seriously, it's just boring now.

The machine itself is actually an amazing device, it's just the shit management and marketing that was its downfall.

I've got a PC Engine emulator on mine, Thanks to Squidge, a NES Emulator, Thanks to Critical, and a Sega Genesis Emulator, thanks to a few people.

I'm completely frickin happy with my purchase, not a single regret.

The_Solidshadow: That's the point! It's not about the hardware for you, for us, or for them. It was a scam to defraud investors and line the pockets of their (sometimes sketchy) executives. That's why the guys at Xero mobile wanted to make sure nobody confused or misrepresented the relationship between the two companies; while looking for funding, it could prove disastrous.

see also:
Sketchy Infinium Labs numbers

Giz is one of those companies that everybody loves to hate, but just to think that with right pricing strategy and release dates they could have had a slight chance of capturing a part of market before PSP and that wouldn't be bad. Competition would only help.

yay, emulators on gizmondo... remember, you could have done that just as easily with a nintendo ds or even a (gasp!) sony psp... even a nintendo game boy advance sp/micro... if you're totally happy with your gizmondo purchase because it's running emulators, i've got news for you: nintendo ds games *also* whoop ass.

and how is gizmondo an "amazing" device?

on another note: sloopydrew, your website is bad ass.

The idea rocks! I bet they planned this whole f#####g thing to get free marketing!!!... you dumb f##ks, you are helping the cause... If you want them to fail, stop writing about them. People in my campus are waiting for them to launch. If they raise enough money they will either run away to China or pull it off.
Time will tell. One thing is for sure, if they DO pull it off, the only thing you morans will be pulling is your own dicks (That is, IF you really have any...)

Carl Freer, the other puppetmaster behind Xero Mobile (Stefan Eriksson being the other) has joined Stefan in jail!! News at 11:00p.

'Impersonating an Officer' Charge Added to Bizarre Ferrari Case
By Richard Winton and David Pierson
Times Staff Writer

4:35 PM PDT, April 26, 2006

A business associate of the man accused of crashing his rare Ferrari in Malibu this year was arrested today for allegedly posing as a police officer to buy guns.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said that Carl Freer flashed a badge from an obscure San Gabriel Valley transit authority and claimed he was a sworn police officer so that he could purchase guns from a dealer without the required background checks. Authorities said he also signed documents swearing he was a sworn officer.

The detectives said they found 12 rifles and four handguns during searches of Freer's Bel-Air estate and on his 100-foot yacht Brigatta, docked at Marina del Rey. They say at least one gun, a .44 magnum, was obtained illegally and are checking on the others.

Freer, 35, was a top executive at a failed European videogame company Gizmondo along with Stefan Eriksson, who drove the Ferrari. Eriksson has been charged with grand theft, embezzlement and DUI charges in connection with the accident.

Both men were also members of the "anti-terrorism police commission" of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority, a small private company that provides rides to disabled people and the elderly in Monrovia and Sierra Madre. Both men were issued badges by the authority.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said that neither Freer nor Eriksson would have been allowed to purchase guns in the United States because they are foreign nationals.

"We have a wider investigation into who has given police identification by this supposed police agency," Whitmore said.

Meanwhile, detectives are continuing to explore why a handgun belonging to a reserve deputy for the Orange County Sheriff's Department was found at the Bel-Air mansion.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies confiscated the gun during a raid at Eriksson's home. Whitmore confirmed Wednesday that the .357 magnum Smith & Wesson was registered to Roger A. Davis, a Newport Beach businessman and deputy with the Orange County sheriff's professional services division. Davis also serves on Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona's Advisory Committee.

Davis was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon by the Orange County Sheriff's Department in August 2002 for self-protection, according to public records.

The disclosure comes as Carona has come under criticism for his large expansion of the reserve deputy program, in which he has given badges — and in some cases concealed-weapon permits — to volunteers with no police training.

Maze, you should be a-mazed now, or are you still behind these guys? The Titanic is sinking again...Get off the $14,000,000 Boat...Why don't you wake up and quit your job at XERO Mobile, Vision Mobile, Smart Adds, Gizmondo, Tiger Telematics or whatever they are calling it this week and get a real job at a ligitimate company that is not stealing money from grandma's and Grampa's savings account. These guys are the biggest con artists in the world. Arn't there any jobs left in LA? College, sure...you are working for the Wizard's of OZ, the difference is we can now see the men behind the magic curtain.....Can you guess who they are.....Carl Freer and Stefan Ericksen...your boss!!! Get a life!

Great Job Guys, Xero Mobile's New office is at a rent an image building on the shady side of Olympic Blvd. A far cry from the hyped up architectual building you pitched or the old Gizmondo office. After checking documents, the same Officer Roger A. Davis who's gun was found in Stefan's house during the raid is the signer on the Corporate Documents filed in Delaware for the tri-fecta name change from United Telecom Intl,Inc. to Vision Mobile, Inc., then finally to Xero Mobile. Picked up the wrong gym bag? Don't think so, it is obvious as CEO and President of the UTI, Vision and XERO MOBILE, you know a little more than you are saying. It's time to get on the right side of the badge you falsely proclaimed to be on and tell the truth. Maybe then you will get some credibility. Probability is you will be wearing the same jewelry as your buddies though....Silver Bracelets.

Good to know you took comments about things you have no proof of. However, this is something Peter Lilley and David Levett might not be please to read either, however for which, I have all the proof needed.
I have no reason to publish this except for the fact that frustruation in getting reimbursed for travel made at Vision's/Xero's request has gotten the better of me.
I was asked to go to LA on an expense paid trip to interview for a position at Vision Mobile. It's been close to 6 months now and I can't get anyone there to reimburse my expenses. I did receive a check for the same that "bounced". Interesting that they have so much money to spend on developing their systems....but not enough to repay someone what they owe.