razer [update2]Razer laptop prototypes stolen at CES

[Bsmith]

source:polygon

Original post:

It looks like people actually stole prototypes from the razer CES booth this year,
this is a major issue regarding other possible cases of theft at CES,
although not much is known like what prototypes or when they where stolen.

 

Since they are speaking about 2 prototypes it's fair to assume that it is about project valerie and project ariana, which where to my knowledge the only protoypes showed off by razer this year, so it's either one of both that went missing or two of one project.

 

Quote

Razer had a great CES, wowing many with Project Valerie, a triple-screened laptop, and Project Ariana, a smart projector that makes use of the company's Chroma lighting to make your gaming experience more immersive.

But the trade show didn't have the happiest of endings, with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan reporting that two prototype devices were stolen from the company's CES booth.

"Two of our prototypes were stolen from our booth at CES today," Tan wrote in a Facebook post. "We have filed the necessary reports and are currently working with the show management as well as law enforcement to address this issue."

The exec has not dismissed this being a case of industrial espionage. "We treat theft/larceny, and if relevant to this case, industrial espionage, very seriously -- it is cheating, and cheating doesn't sit well with us," he wrote.

Tan didn't specify exactly what combination of devices were stolen. Razer was contacted but did not immediately respond.

From Cnet, with thanks to @Kierax
https://www.cnet.com/news/razer-prototypes-stolen-ces-2017/#ftag=CAD590a51e
 

Update 1:

After having this topic up for roughly a day there has been more news that I have been able to filter out of the not so serious responses.
 

Quote

Razer is known for bringing ambitious prototype products to CES and this year's convention was no exception. It trotted out Project Ariana, a smart projector that taps into the company's Chroma lighting for a more immersive gaming experience, and Project Valerie, an awesome triple-screen laptop. Like several of Razer's past concepts, these might never see the light of day. Apparently a brazen thief (or thieves) didn't want to take that chance and managed to steal two unspecified prototypes from Razer's booth. (UPDATE: Razer confirmed that thieves did in fact steal two of its Project Valerie laptops and is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.)

Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed the theft in a Facebook post in which he asks for anyone with information about the theft to get in touch with him. Here is his full statement:

"I've just been informed that two of our prototypes were stolen from our booth at CES today.

We have filed the necessary reports and are currently working with the show management as well as law enforcement to address this issue.

At Razer, we play hard and we play fair. Our teams worked months on end to conceptualize and develop these units and we pride ourselves in pushing the envelope to deliver the latest and greatest.

We treat theft/larceny, and if relevant to this case, industrial espionage, very seriously – it is cheating, and cheating doesn’t sit well with us. Penalties for such crimes are grievous and anyone who would do this clearly isn’t very smart.

If you were at the show and/or if you can provide us any information, please do reach out to us at legal@razerzone.com—all information provided will be kept in the strictest of confidence."

It is not clear when exactly the theft occurred, though given the timing of Tan's post, it likely happened near or at the end of the convention when Razer was packing things up (speculation on our part). Razer initially was also mum on what exactly was stolen. We originally noted that thieves swiped two of Razer's prototype laptops, based on information that was posted at CNET. Razer then reached out and asked us to refer to the stolen goods simply as "prototypes" until it could prepare a statement. We now have that statement, which confirms that it was the laptops that were stolen all along. Here it is in full:

"This note is to confirm that two Razer Project Valerie laptop prototypes were stolen from the Razer booth at CES. The product was taken from the Razer press room at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 8, 2017. A $25,000 reward is being offered for original information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of a criminal suspect. Razer, in its sole discretion, will decide who is entitled to a reward and in what amount. Razer may pay only a portion of the maximum reward offered. The decision will be based primarily upon law enforcement's evaluation of the value of the information provided. When there are multiple claimants, the reward will be shared in amounts determined by Razer. Razer associates are not eligible for the reward. This reward offer is good for one year from the date it is first offered, unless extended by Razer. Information about the theft can be sent to legal@razerzone.com. Razer will not publicly disclose material that it receives or details about respondents, except to those persons with whom Razer is directly working to resolve this matter or as may be required by law."

Apparently this is not the first time someone has stolen prototypes from Razer. According to CNET, thieves broke into Razer's offices in 2001 and swiped a pair of laptops, both prototypes of the eventual Razer Blade.

from PCgamer, with thanks to @LunaP0n3

http://www.pcgamer.com/razers-show-stealing-triple-display-laptops-stolen-from-ces/?utm_content=buffer6ccbd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgamerfb

 

 

Quote

Two unidentified prototypes were stolen from Razer’s booth Sunday night, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan wrote on Facebook early this morning.

He said that the company has filed a police report and is working both with show management and law enforcement to track down the thief.

He didn’t say which of the prototypes were stolen. The company showed off two new devices this year: a laptop with three screens that automatically pop into place when opened and a special projector that extends the lights and looks of a video game to an entire room.

While no more details were offered, Tan did raise the possibility of this being a case of industrial espionage.

“At Razer, we play hard and we play fair,” he wrote on the Facebook post. “Our teams worked months on end to conceptualize and develop these units and we pride ourselves in pushing the envelope to deliver the latest and greatest.

“We treat theft/larceny, and if relevant to this case, industrial espionage, very seriously – it is cheating, and cheating doesn’t sit well with us. Penalties for such crimes are grievous and anyone who would do this clearly isn’t very smart.”

Tan said that if anyone has any information about the thefts to reach out to the company at legal@razerzone.com.

“All information provided will be kept in the strictest of confidence,” he wrote.

Razer unveiled prototypes for its two new concepts on Thursday at the show.

 

Project Valerie is a Razer laptop with a built-in mechanical keyboard and three, 17.3-inch 4K monitors. The monitors automatically slide out of the sides of the main screen and adjust into place when the laptop is open.

Project Ariana uses an ultra-wide fisheye lens and advanced processing capabilities to communicate with games in real time to create both lighting and video effects. A pair of 3D depth sensing cameras are used with proprietary calibration software, which automatically calibrates itself to detect environmental factors such as furniture and room lighting.

On Sunday, Razer announced that Project Ariana, which it calls a virtual reality projector, won “official Best Gaming show honors, as well as distinction as this year’s People’s Choice.” The device was also nominated for Best Home Theater Product and Best Disruption Tech awards.

The company said it plans to develop Ariana into a consumer-ready model by the end of this year. No word on what future plans for Valerie the company may have.

This weekend’s theft isn’t the first time someone has stolen a Razer concept prototype.

In 2011, someone broke into Razer's San Francisco Bay Area research and development labs and made off with two prototypes for the peripheral maker's Razer Blade.

The break-in happened over the weekend of Nov. 4, according to a Facebook post by Razer at the time.

In that case, someone managed to get into the lobby of the building that houses Razer's research and development offices. The thief or thieves then pried open the door to the office and methodically picked through the desks, taking two of the prototypes from different parts of the office as well as a laptop and digital camera. The rest of the computers and electronic equipment in the office, where roughly 30 people work, were untouched.

We’ve reached out to Razer for more details about this weekend’s theft and what specifically was stolen and will update this story when they reply.

Update: Razer answered a few of our questions in a comment they provided us this afternoon. I’ve put the entire comment below.

“This note is to confirm that two Razer Project Valerie laptop prototypes were stolen from the Razer booth at CES. The product was taken from the Razer press room at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, January 8, 2017. A $25,000 reward is being offered for original information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of a criminal suspect. Razer, in its sole discretion, will decide who is entitled to a reward and in what amount. Razer may pay only a portion of the maximum reward offered. The decision will be based primarily upon law enforcement's evaluation of the value of the information provided. When there are multiple claimants, the reward will be shared in amounts determined by Razer. Razer associates are not eligible for the reward. This reward offer is good for one year from the date it is first offered, unless extended by Razer. Information about the theft can be sent to legal@razerzone.com. Razer will not publicly disclose material that it receives or details about respondents, except to those persons with whom Razer is directly working to resolve this matter or as may be required by law.”

from polygon, with thanks to @mosin40
http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/9/14211496/razer-prototype-theft-ces
it looks like it where two of the laptops that have been stolen, with a suspected worth of $25k, this sounds as a lot for 2 laptops, but let's not forget that this are prototypes/proof of concept devices, for the company that made them they are worth a lot more, but the value is probably based on the fact that they don't come rolling of a production line and mostly have been hand made or with special fabrication methods that are not available on a large scale.
let's hope that they catch the thief/thieves soon, some people just that it is "just" razer, but let's not forget that the result of this case can set a precedence for future thefts of other companies.

 

Update2:

It looks like the prototypes have been seen on a chinese resale site, which confirms suspicions of earlier people,

Quote

The leak scene is probably one of the most interconnected bunch of tech enthusiasts around the world and we have something very interesting for our readers today. These are the stolen Razer Valerie laptops the company was looking for and they are no longer in the US. From the looks of it, they are currently somewhere in mainland China and can be yours for just $22000 (well $21733 to be precise).

These aren’t the Razer Valerie laptops you are looking for – unless you have $22000 lying around then they very much are

The Project Valerie laptops feature an incredibly innovative design with three screens (Acme Portable anyone?) that flips out and provides an immersive surround experience on the go. While it currently features a moderately specced GPU, if the company goes on to adopt the design they can bring in the big guns as well. For now, however, the prototypes being shown on the CES floor are the only ones in the entire world. The temptation however, was apparently too much for someone because two prototypes were stolen earlier this week from the show floor.

Turns out that the guy or girl who stole them were able to take them overseas to mainland China where they are now on sale on Taobao for 150000 Yuan or roughly 21700 USD. That’s quite a price tag but considering the novelty value as well as the rarity of the product, its pretty decent all things considered. Razer, here are your laptops, now where is my bag of $$$?

The stolen Razer Valerie prototypes are on sale on Taobao for $21700.

Jokes aside, the company should be able to track the laptops down from here or at the very least buy them back. The company’s CEO posted the following message earlier this week on his facebook page detailing the theft of the Razer Project Valerie laptops.
-message removed, can be found at the beginning-

from loveley WCCFtech, thanks to our darklord @Sauron but also a special mention to @MyEngGooest since he/she reported it before, but sadly with links that I cannot properly visit without a redirection to the wrong page.
http://wccftech.com/razer-valerie-laptops-found/
 

This is both good, but also bad news, the seller is probably known and can be identified, it's not a crappy marketing idea of razer;
but to get the prototypes bacl they first need to find him and get to Chinese authorities to cooperate in this witchhunt.

[MegaDave91]

Losing faith in humanity on a daily basis.

[Jamtoad]

i just watched the video of linus showing the lenovo AIO pc and when he took the 1070 out of the model to show you the easy upgradeability i was like damn someone can just swipe that 1070 easily

[Tieox]

Surely stealing from CES is about as intelligent as taking a dump on your mother in laws brand new designer white sofa?

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, MegaDave91 said:

Losing faith in humanity on a daily basis.

nothing new. thieves have been around since the dawn of time 

[MegaDave91]

Just now, Jamtoad said:

nothing new. thieves have been around since the dawn of time 

We are far advanced from the primordial human.

[Tieox]

1 minute ago, MegaDave91 said:

We are far advanced from the primordial human.

Still haven't invented a space BBQ

[WolfDeville]

scum.

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, MegaDave91 said:

We are far advanced from the primordial human.

and that just means more clever ways of thieving, not saying this is that but maybe it is for no one see them. or i guess they could've easily worse a shirt saying Razor staff and walked off with it, but then again more clever ways of thieving. evolving does not mean losing things we deem bad.

[MegaDave91]

2 minutes ago, Kierax said:

Still haven't invented a space BBQ

[Space Reptile]

crime school anyone?

[Dackzy]

@LinusTech What have you done?

[SCHISCHKA]

someones getting high on crack tonight and their dealer will be having fun with their new razor gear

[Tieox]

I wonder if one of the missing computers is that triple screen laptop Razer showed off?

[Droidbot]

they've been ripping people off with bad quality peripherals since 2013, I guess karma can bite you in the butt

[MegaDave91]

4 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

@LinusTech What have you done?

He dropped it which subsequently broke it. He then deemed it not suitable for display. 

[SCHISCHKA]

9 minutes ago, Kierax said:

Still haven't invented a space BBQ

 

[Space Reptile]

2 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

they've been ripping people off with bad quality peripherals since 2013, I guess karma can bite you in the butt

but rgb mousepads  

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, Space Reptile said:

but rgb mousepads  

Corsair did it better tbh

[Jamtoad]

1 hour ago, SCHISCHKA said:

someones getting high on crack tonight and their dealer will be having fun with their new razor gear

or someone's reverse engineering 

[Space Reptile]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

Corsair did it better tbh

my table is my mousepad

[Urishima]

15 minutes ago, MegaDave91 said:

We are far advanced from the primordial human.

No, we really are not. Still pretty much the same monkey we were a couple thousand years ago.

[MegaDave91]

1 minute ago, Urishima said:

No, we really are not. Still pretty much the same monkey we were a couple thousand years ago.

I am no monkey, sir.

[Streetguru]

23 minutes ago, Bsmith said:

It looks like people actually stole prototypes from the razer CES booth this year, this is a major issue regarding other possible cases of theft at CES, although not much is known like what prototypes or when they where stolen.

 

More news to follow as soon as possible.

I'm still waiting for them to release a modern Switchblade

[TheRandomness]

You'd think, at CES, they'd have some sort of monitoring to prevent this...