Editing Tapwave Zodiac (section)

==Primary features==
[[File:Tapwave-Zodiac2-Bottom-FL.jpg|thumb|right|The back of the Zodiac]]

===Music, images, and video===
An [[MP3]] music player is included in the system's applications, and allows the creation of custom playlists using drag-and-dropping of files. MP3 music files can be played from either SD slot, or the internal memory of the device. MP3 files can also be used as alarms, along with conventional Palm OS alarms.

Photos ([[JPEG]] or [[Portable Network Graphics|PNG]] format) could be downloaded to the device using the Palm Desktop software or loaded onto [[SD card]]s, and could be shared and made into a slideshow (with background music) on the device.

The bundled video player on the device, Kinoma, would only play videos in a proprietary format, converted using the Kinoma Producer software (which supported conversion of MPEG1, MPEG4, QuickTime, AVI and DivX). The software however was limited in its conversion abilities, enticing users to pay for the full version{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}. It has been suggested{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} that this difficulty in converting video for the device diminished the Zodiac's success. Several aftermarket [[DivX]] and [[XviD]] players have been developed (such as the [[The Core Pocket Media Player|TCPMP]]), and, at the time of bankruptcy, Tapwave were working on an update to supply [[MPEG-4]] hardware decoding{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}.

===Device design===
Due to the metal construction of the Zodiac, the device was seen to be more solid than other [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]]s. However, on some models the adhesive on the shoulder buttons failed, and occasionally the screen was scratched by the screen cover when grit entered{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}. Furthermore, due to the insecure clip holding the stylus, they could be knocked loose and potentially lost. Some alternative cases solved this problem with their own stylus holder.

===Compatibility===
The Zodiac is a [[Palm OS]] 5-compatible device, and most software compatible with Palm OS 5 runs without issue. In particular, most Palm OS 5-compatible games play on the Zodiac. Tapwave also provided proprietary APIs to allow developers to take advantage of the Zodiac's graphics and sound hardware. A great deal of [[freeware]] and [[shareware]] games and [[emulators]] are therefore available. For example, there are versions of ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'', ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'', ''[[Hexen: Beyond Heretic|Hexen]]'', ''[[Hexen II]]'', and ''[[Heretic (computer game)|Heretic]]'' as well as versions of emulators such as [[Unix Amiga Emulator|UAE]], [[ScummVM]], and LJZ/[[Little John Palm|LJP]], a multi-system emulator. There have also been attempts to emulate [[PlayStation]] games onto the Zodiac, the most successful emulator being PPSX.<ref>[http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=24315 Now closed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210085853/http://www.emuboards.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=24315 |date=2006-12-10 }}. Emuboards (2013-05-05). Retrieved on 2013-08-23.</ref> It is, however, nowhere near completion and many games are not playable yet.

===Battery===
The device has a total battery life of about 3 hours when using video, backlight+screen and CPU-intensive tasks, and while running as a dedicated audio player it is closer to 6 hours. The original battery was a 1500mAh [[Li-Ion]]; third party replacements with 2000mAh capacity are still available from some manufacturers.

===Software===
The Zodiac used a modified version of the Palm OS, designated version 5.2T. The main navigation menus consisted of 8 radially-arranged choices selected using either the touchscreen or thumbstick. It also came with the Palm OS Productivity Suite (containing a calendar, to do list etc.), an eBook reader, the Wordsmith word processor and the powerOne graphing application. It came bundled with two games, ''AcidSolitare'' (by Red Mercury) and ''Stunt Car Extreme'' (by Vasara Games).

===Models===
The Zodiac console was initially available in two models, Zodiac 1 (32MB), and Zodiac 2 (128MB). The Zodiac 2 was $100 more expensive than the original Zodiac.