March 21^st, 2005 (9:32pm) - Tiger Electronics newest device, the Gizmondo portable gaming system launched in London on Saturday, March 19th at the Gizmondo flagship store.

Celebrites Pharrell Williams, Dannii Minogue, Verne Troyer, Busta Rhymes and Lennox Lewis all came to get Gizmondos. The store’s allocation of units was sold out before the doors shut at 6pm.

Tiger Telematics’ CEO, Michael Carrender, addressed the crowd at the stores opening saying:

"The handheld entertainment sector is an enormously exciting place to be right now, and we are delighted to be part of the revolution that it is undergoing. We believe that with the Gizmondo we have brought a strong player in the market to stand alongside more established brands, and this is just the beginning for us. We have some great content in the pipeline and enhancements to our already wide range of features that will secure our place as the only true multi-functional entertainment device on the market today."

The Gizmondo launch party included performances by Sting, Jamiroquai, Pharrell Williams, Clipse, and Busta Rhymes. The event was hosted by Tom Green, and Dannii Minogue.

Carl Freer, Co-founder and Managing Director of Gizmondo, says:

"The event was more than a marketing exercise. We wanted it to be a time stamp indelibly marking Gizmondo’s high street launch." He added, "The store has been a huge success. Turnout was amazing and we were completely cleared of stock we’d expected to last beyond the weekend. From here we have a very aggressive retail rollout campaign planned, and will be making more announcements over the coming weeks."

The Gizmondo and its games are in retail stores now in the UK, and in North American and Continental Europe markets from Spring 2005.

The Gizmondo includes built-in music, video, messaging and picture functions and GPS, and plays games as well. Microsoft has announced support of the platform.