CES show-stealing Razer reports theft of laptop prototypes
Razer, a video game technology company, stole the show at CES this year with a three-screen, portable laptop and color projector that drew rave reviews and awards.
Now someone has stolen two Razer laptops from its CES booth, prompting the tech company’s chief executive officer to offer a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture and arrest of the thief.
“I have just been informed that two of our prototypes were stolen from our booth at CES today,” Razer CEO and co-founder Min-Liang Tan wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday, the day the expo closed. “We have filed the necessary reports and are currently working with the show management as well as law enforcement to address this issue.”
Tan did not clarify which prototypes were stolen. CES said in a statement it has contacted police to work directly with Razer on the investigation. The police could not immediately comment on the investigation.
News of the theft garnered attention on social media, prompting some to speculate it may be a publicity stunt by Razer to raise interest in products that many fans say is too expensive for the average gamer.
“(Portable laptop) Project Valerie will never see the light of day,” wrote Reloader-1 on the Razor website. ”The price for a Valerie laptop would easily be $6-8k.”
Razer spokesman Kevin Scarpati confirmed that the prototypes stolen were both 3-screen laptops, known as Project Valerie.
Due to theft at CES in the past, the FBI has maintained a booth on the show floor.
Razer was certainly not lacking for attention at CES this year. Before the first day of CES was over, technology news sites were raving about Razer’s Project Ariana projector and Project Valerie portable laptop.
Crowds of young people gathered around Project Valerie, encased in glass like a rare diamond. The laptop creates a 180-degree gaming experience and neatly folds up to look like a simple, one-screen monitor for easy transport. The laptop weights about 12 pounds with a thickness of 1.5 inches.
True glorious PC gaming realized with Project Valerie — the world’s first automated triple display laptop: https://t.co/teULJ9v7IG pic.twitter.com/s7P53JwGBu
— RΛZΞR (@Razer) January 5, 2017
Project Ariana takes the information from within a video game and projects it around a room, creating a visual sensation of being inside the action. Ariana, which employs Razer’s own lighting technology with laser sensors and 4k video, won a “Best Gaming” award at this year’s CES.
Razer plans to begin sales of its new products by the end of the year.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.
