Razer USA Ltd
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- This article is about the computer peripherals manufacturer named Razer. For other meanings see Razer (disambiguation).
| Razer USA Ltd | |
 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters |  United States |
| Industry | Computer |
| Products | Mice |
| Website | www.razerzone.com |
Razer is a privately held computer peripherals manufacturer specializing in high end products specifically catered to gamers. Originally started in the 1990s, it suffered a period of dormancy during the millennial change and has recently seen a resurgence, with new products released during 2004 and 2005. The Razer brand is now currently being marketed under Razer USA Ltd, and this article refers to the whole brand instead of the various entities that have held it.
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[edit] History
Razer was founded in 1998 by a team of engineers and marketeers in order to develop and market a high end computer gaming mouse, called the Boomslang. It was claimed as the world's first 1000dpi [1] mouse (as opposed to 200 or 400dpi offerings) and purported to give greater accuracy (and potentially, higher scores) to gamers who used it.
One of the novel innovations of Razer was the sponsorship of gamers, which directly contributed to the emerging pro-gaming phenomenon. Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendell was amongst the first wave of sponsored gamers and is still currently active in the pro-gaming arena (i.e. he plays computer games for a living, earning money through product endorsements and winning prizes).
Unfortunately, Razer stumbled around 2000 in the dot-com bust, although not strictly a dot-com. It was relegated to the economic trash heap, and product development was stalled. Razer was stuck with a mechanical mouse (albeit in new 1400 and 2100dpi flavours) while other manufacturers and users were turning to optical mice.
[edit] Current
In 2004, when the highest available dpi setting for optical mice was 800, Razer made a comeback with a 1000dpi optical mouse called the Viper. This was quickly followed by a 1600dpi optical mouse they dubbed the Diamondback, establishing a formula of naming their mice after venomous snakes. The Diamondback went on to garner wide critical renown (including GameSpot's 2004 Hardware Accessory of the Year award). An update on the Diamondback model, using more sensitive buttons and toting a blue glow (while equipped with a sensor using unseen infrared) was released as Diamondback Plasma. The production batch was limited to a several thousand, however, likely in anticipation of the next generation of Razer mice.
In July 2005, Razer announced a 2000dpi laser-using mouse called the Copperhead, set to launch in late August 2005. The launch was a success, and the Copperhead set several precedents by being the first optical 2000dpi mouse and the first wired laser mouse — the single previous laser mouse being a Logitech wireless mouse.
In May 2006, Razer released a 1600dpi optical mouse titled the Krait. The Krait was introduced as a direct competitor to the new budget gaming mice from Logitech, like the G1. The Krait has technical specifications very similar to those of the Diamondback, but the Krait has only three buttons as compared to the Diamondback's seven. The Krait was given a lower price point than the Diamondback.
In August 2006, Razer released the The Razer Barracuda HP-1 headphones as the first part of its new integrated audio system (Razer Barracuda IAS).
In October 2006, Microsoft released the Microsoft Habu gaming mouse which they teamed up with Razer to create.
[edit] Design philosophy
Since Razer creates mice for gamers — who place great importance on response from their controllers — Razer mice are all wired. Modern wireless mice increase latency, which is unacceptable to gamers. Additionally, the optical sensors on Razer mice are always on, whereas those from most other manufacturers power down if the mouse is lifted or left motionless for short periods of time. This leads to a rather notorious reactivation delay when moved, during which the mouse is greatly unresponsive.
[edit] Razer Pro|Solutions
Razer is also manufacturing products aimed at the professional market, where higher dpi is claimed to be useful in navigating very large screens with speed and accuracy.
The Pro|Click V1.6 is functionally identical to the Diamondback Plasma and is restyled in a white and grey colour scheme. The GUI for the drivers has also been redesigned to match a typical, generic look of applications. The mouse was launched at Macworld, 2005.
[edit] Comparison of Razer mouse devices
| Date of release | Technology | Sensor | Optical resolution (dpi) | Polling rate (Hz) | Mass (grams) | Dimensions (l x w x h, mm) | Buttons (top) [2] | Buttons (side) | Onboard memory (kB) | Firmware upgradeable | Symmetrical form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boomslang 1000 | ? | Mechanical (ball) | Kärna proprietary | 1000 | 1000 | ? | ? x ? x ? | 3 | 2 | No | No | Yes |
| Boomslang 2000/2100/2500 | 1999 | Mechanical (ball) | Kärna proprietary | 2000/2100/2500 | 10-200 PS/2 | 134 | 140 x 60-82 x 32 | 3 | 2 | No | No | Yes |
| Viper | April 2004 | Optical | Agilent A2051[3] | 1000 | 125 | 78 | 118 x 55 x 36 | 3 | 0 | No | No | Yes |
| Diamondback | late 2004 | Optical | Agilent A3070/A3080[4] | 1600 | 125 | 90g | 128 x 64 x 39 | 3 | 4 | No | No | Yes |
| Diamondback Plasma | mid 2005 | Optical (infrared) | Agilent A3088 | 1600 | 125 | 90g | 128 x 64 x 39 | 3 | 4 | No | No | Yes |
| Copperhead | late 2005 | Optical (laser) | Agilent 6018 | 2000 | 125-1000 | ? | 128 x 64 x 39 | 3 | 4 | 32 | Yes | Yes |
| Krait | mid 2006 | Optical (infrared) | Agilent A3088 | 1600 | 125 | 78 | 118 x 55 x 36 | 3 | 0 | No | No | Yes |
| Microsoft Habu | late 2006 | Optical (laser) | ? | 2000 | 125-1000 | 135 | ? x ? x ? | 5 | 2 | 32 | Yes | No |
| DeathAdder | late 2006 | Optical (3G Infrared) | ? | 1800 | 125-1000 | ? | ? x ? x ? | 3 | 2 | 32 | Yes | No |
[edit] Sponsorships
Razer currently sponsors several electronic sports clans, notably:
- SK Gaming — E-Sports clan with teams involved in multiple games.
- Eyeballers — A multi-game clan specialising in first-person shooters
- Jibo — one of the top first-person shooter gamers in Russia
[edit] See also
- Mouse (computing)
- Agilent Technologies — manufacturer of sensors used by Razer mouse devices
[edit] The eponymous snakes
[edit] References
- ^ Dots per inch aka. counts per inch or pixels per inch.
- ^ All Razer mouse devices have a scroll wheel acting as one of the top buttons.
- ^ Razer used a lens with a magnification factor greater than that recommended by Agilent to obtain an effective 1000dpi resolution from the 800dpi A2051 sensor, giving a lower maximum tracking speed. As a result, users who preferred a lower sensitivity setting (requiring greater/faster physical movement of the mouse) found the Viper unusable.
- ^ Depending on date of manufacture. The A3070 sensor suffered from an issue known as pixel jitter compensation; one units worth (a single pixel in the context of a GUI desktop with a 1:1 mouse input/output ratio) of accurate movement was lost immediately after reversing the physical direction of travel of the Diamondback, resulting in the 'skipping' of the mouse pointer. This issue only occurred at high sensitivity settings, and could be largely negated with the use of a software fix (programmed by a helpful Razer user going by the name of "Atalan"), made available as a patch and in Razers drivers. Later runs of the Diamondback used the A3080 sensor which did not suffer from this issue.
[edit] External links
- Razer — official website
- Razer Pro|Solutions — official website targeted at creative professionals
- Razer Blueprints — Razer community website
- Microsoft Habu — Microsoft Habu product webpage
- Optical Mouse technology review — Overview of optical mouse technology by Richard L. Owens
