The development company Zodiac and their handheld unit, Tapwave, say goodbye to due harsh competition.

This week the California based company announced that they have gone under and have halted all production of their handheld system hardware and software.

The official post on Tapwave?s official web site states: ?We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th, 2005.?

This Palm OS-based handheld system contained many handy and entertaining functions. However, their game library was on the weaker side, only supporting less than 20 games. Despite high acclaim from critics, the system was doomed to fail thanks to its poor advertisement and stiff competition. With GBA sales skyrocketing and the DS and PSP on the way, the Tapwave barely even saw the light of day. It even had severe competition from Nokia?s N-Gage.

This falling out is good news for Tiger Telematics, a Florida based company responsible for the upcoming Gizmondo handheld system. Even though the Gizmondo now has one less competitor, it could be a foreshadowing of their own fate. The Gizmondo has already released in the UK, bringing its high-end functionality with it. A Windows based OS, GPS, and the ability to play games makes the Gizmondo fall into the same category of the Tapwave. Only time will tell if this upcoming system will earn its place in the brutal handheld market.

R.I.P. Tapwave. Your fans will miss you.

-Zachary Gasiorowski