Market terminates Indrema
Linux-based videogame console has "become another victim of tough times in the technology sector"
Indrema, the console project which was to combine open-sourced gaming, DVD playback, interactive TV, MP3 and Internet functionality into a sub-$300 set-top box has had the carpet pulled from under it, as the technology sector downturn claims yet another victim. "Although there's a lot of interest in the product, the grim reality is that after six months of looking, we're not able to find funding to continue the operation," president John Gildred told videobusiness.com. According to Gildred some staff were already being made redundant, and the rest will be ousted this week. Since January 2000 when Indrema was first conceived, the company has watched the market slowly turn on its head, and witnessed its plentiful funding grind to a halt. Indrema reignited interest in the bedroom-programming industry of yore, with its developers claiming the toolkit would have been available online open-source for anybody to download and develop with. Games were to have been distributed through retail and online. Indrema would have had a tough time even without the technology sector downturn. Competing in a market that takes no prisoners, Indrema would have gone up against PlayStation 2, Xbox and Game Cube, even if the company was hoping to avoid such parallels. Gildred himself still believes in Indrema. "I will develop a similar product and re-invent it under another umbrella without the videogame options," he said. His new employer is a major Japanese consumer electronics company, unnamed by videobusiness.com's report.