Panasonic scraps Jungle handheld gaming machine

In October 2010, electronics company Panasonic unveiled the Jungle, "a new mobile device concept designed specifically for online gamers." More details were promised soon but instead, via Reuters, we have word that Panasonic has now scrapped it.

"Panasonic decided to suspend further development due to changes in the market and in our own strategic direction," the company said. There you go, then.

It wasn't clear exactly what function the Jungle, which seemed to sit somewhere between a smartphone and a netbook, would serve. On a mission to "Create an ecosystem around online gaming," the device would pack a touchpad, keyboard and unrevealed "other gaming controls." The only parts of this ecosystem that were confirmed, though, were browser-based MMOs Battlestar Galactica Online, RuneScape and Stellar Dawn, along with and a web series about gaming.

Hardware specs were also unknown. Perhaps we'll never know what exactly the Jungle was intended to run, along with other incidental details such as who would buy one and why.