Local Tech Wire
MORRISVILLE, N.C. – is branching off into the video game console business.
According to in the China Daily newspaper, Lenovo has spun off a group of some 40 engineers to form a new company in Beijing called “eedoo.”
Its first product will be a game console called “eBox.”
The Wall Street Journal also reported on the new venture, quoting Lenovo spokesman Jay Chen. Chen said Lenovo developed the console internally.
"We saw game consoles as an area with growth potential," he told the Journal.
Lenovo assembled a group of developers to build a prototype then decided to spin off the group as a new company.
The eedoo console doesn’t require a controller, instead using a camera to track player movement, according to the China newspaper.
"We are the world’s second company to produce a controller-free game console, behind only Microsoft," Jack Luo, a former Lenovo executive, told China Daily. He is president of eedoo Technology.
The new company is the latest move by Lenovo to diversify away from just PC and server manufacturing. The world’s No. 4 PC maker now manufacturers smart phones, called lePhone, after reacquiring its mobile phone subsidiary.
Just how much Lenovo invested was not disclosed, the newspaper said. Lenovo’s parent Lenovo Group as well as Legend Holdings and Legend Capital also invested.
The China Daily report follows a Financial Times story noting Lenovo’s so-far successful efforts to in rural China.
Lenovo maintains its global headquarters and employs some 1,500 people in Morrisville. Most of its operations are based in China.
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