Last week Razer debuted Project Valerie, a cutting-edge laptop concept that switches automatically between one and three displays. On Sunday, two prototype models were stolen from the Razer booth at CES 2017. The company is offering $US25,000 ($33,960) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
The news of the theft was posted to Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan’s Facebook page earlier today. Tan noted that two unspecified prototypes had been taken from the Razer booth, condemning the act of potential “industrial espionage” as “cheating”.
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.
We reached out to Razer for clarification surrounding the incident, and were told that the prototypes in question were indeed Project Valerie laptops.
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.
While still in concept prototype stage, the Project Valerie units on display at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show were fully-functional. You can see the tech in action in a post over at sister site Gizmodo.
Razer laptop prototypes seem to be high-demand items in thieving circles. Two of the earliest models were stolen from Razer’s San Francisco Bay research and development facility in 2011.
In a statement to Kotaku, Razer detailed a $US25,000 ($33,960) reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft of the Project Valerie prototypes.
A ,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.
Comments
7 responses to “Triple-Screen Laptops Stolen From Razer’s CES Booth”
Lol why would anyone want to steal razer products, corporate espionage inferior quality products pffft. Probably Linus if you ask me. Biggest razer fan boo out there.
Inferior products? All their stuff i’ve either used or owned over the years is well built & has been able to withstand the abuse I dish out. As I type this on a Blackwidow with Cherry MX Blue switches.
You are very luck then. My entire wow guild 6 years ago had various issues with razer products from faulty firmware updates bricking keyboards and mice. Blue screen errors. Mice switches breaking. Chroma lighting spazzing out. Razer synapse causing blue screens. You name it, it happened across 30-40 different cases. In the end we swore off razer. Since switching to steel series and Logitech I have had 0 problems. And likewise my group of about 70-80 online friends have switched to zowie corsair and Logitech and 0 issues.
Which is a shame because I really like the feel of the naga.
I remember the DeathAdder that came out before the Chroma had serious firmware issues. Well, it did for one person I knew & so did the Lachesis mouse I sold him a few years prior, yet I never had an issue when I owned it lol. Yeah Razer & software/firmware updates on a lot of their stuff, questionable not going to argue there.
It is a real shame though. As bitter as I am about the amount of money I have thrown away on their products… they have really good ergonomics and the feel good.
I hope they find whoever was responsible. Absolutely horrible.
$25,000 is the bounty? Would rather sell it to a corporate rival for more.