Filed under: Gaming

As much as we’re going to miss covering the entertaining side show that has been the life of Bo Stefan Eriksson for the last nine months, we’re relieved that the former Gizmondo Europe director has finally admitted some culpability in this strange saga — and that he’ll soon be forced to leave the country and become someone else’s problem. After a Los Angeles jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in Eriksson’s grand theft auto case last week — resulting in a mistrial — the imaginary friend-loving Swede apparently decided that a retrial coupled with the separate weapons charges would be too much to bear, and ended up receiving a pretty sweet deal from prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of embezzlement and one count of illegal gun possession, the one-time mobster weaseled his way out of an auto theft charge and ended up receiving a three-year sentence plus three years of probation — but because of the time he’s already served as well as “other allowances,” he should be free in about a year. Once he gives up his orange jumpsuit, Eriksson faces immediate deportation from the US, although his lawyer has stated that the now house-less and car-less felon was planning to leave anyway (expect us to be liveblogging his bon voyage party). The only matter that has yet to be settled is how much loot will have to be paid to the British banks who repo’d Eriksson’s Mercedes and non-crumpled Ferrari, so after December 7th, ol’ Stefan will be lucky to have enough money in his commissary account to afford a package of Twinkies.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Virgin Mobile, MVNOs

As our mamas used to tell us, “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Those are wise words right now for any company, investor, or individual with an interest in Xero Mobile, brought to you by some of the same winners that brought you Gizmondo. We’d assumed these folks would’ve folded by now, but Xero claims to be on target for a January 2007 launch of their free, ad-based MVNO for college students (sound familiar?). In the meantime, they’ve gotta make an honest buck somehow, so they’ve begun licensing their nonexistent service to foreign companies with “expressions of interest” in launching Xero in their local markets. We hope this madness comes to an end before the world has to witness another work of art needlessly destroyed by crooked execs, but even in the unlikely event Xero makes it to see 2007, at least Virgin is a step ahead on the business model.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: MVNOs

Well wouldn't you know it, the same people behind Gizmondo who're now behind Xero Mobile (those that aren't in jail, anyway) have found a way to bypass an IPO in getting Xero as a publicly traded company. Basically they merged with Desi TV, a publicly traded company (that couldn't dig up even a little info on), swapped the ticker symbol to XRMB, and started trading on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board securities market. Oh, did we mention the first thing they did with their stock was split it 25-to-1? 25 to freaking 1, man! Peter Lilley, CEO of Xero Mobile (and former head of Gizmondo's Smart Adds division) seemed pretty stoked about "implementing [their] ground-breaking business plan." Uh, would that be the same business plan that sunk his former game company and lost a half a billion dollars? Right, dude. Investors beware; remember those who learned a hard lesson about that fateful UK-based game company that seemed eager to cash in on VCs and work a pump n' dump stock scam on all y'all.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Transportation

border="1" src="http://www.engadget.com/media/2006/04/083.jpg" alt="" />

We shamelessly ripped this
headline verbatim from the subject of reader Dave M’s tip, because, well, it’s just so perfect, isn’t it? Specifically,
former Tiger Telematics Europe executive and drunk driving enthusiast Stefan Eriksson was arrested at his Bel-Air
residence on Saturday, booked on suspicion of grand theft, and is currently enjoying decidedly less-luxurious
surroundings, as the Sheriff’s Department is wisely holding the slippery Swede without bail. It’s not immediately clear
whether the theft charge is related to Eriksson’s href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/22/former-gizmondo-execs-crashed-1m-ferrari-enzo/">destruction of that million
dollar Ferrari Enzo in February (pictured in cake, above), but since we’d already heard that href="http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/02/more-twists-and-turns-in-gizmondo-execs-ferrari-crash/">a Scottish bank may be
the rightful owners of the mangled supercar, we wouldn’t be surprised if the former videogame exec is guilty of
playing a little real life GTA along with his favorite DUI. Meanwhile, Eriksson’s imaginary friend and supposed
co-conspirator, "Dietrich," remains at large.

[Thanks, Dave M]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Multimedia

Everybody read that Wired profile of Stefan Eriksson, right? Or all our coverage of Eriksson, Gizmondo, and the company that formed (and reverse-merged with Desi TV) in its wake — Xero Mobile? Well, there should be enough links there to keep you entertained for a little while, but once you’re up to speed you might find it interesting to know that Xero’s actually about to begin its ever-crucial testing phase in anticipation of commercial launch in 2007. We’re watching you, Xero, and not necessarily in the watch-ads-get-airtime sense you’d probably prefer.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.