We recently heard that Valve was in the process of developing a gaming console for the Steam platform, which would see it partnering with hardware manufacturers in a gaming-world riff on Google's Android strategy. In a conversation with Kotaku, however, Valve VP of Marketing Doug Lombardi said that the company didn't have plans to ship any such hardware itself in the near future. According to Lombardi, any test units or boxes Valve had recently built were part of testing efforts for Steam's "Big Picture" mode, which will allow gamers to more easily play games on TV-connected PCs. He did confirm that the company has been experimenting with the biometric feedback devices we reported on, but that "it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware." Of course, our sources had indicated that Valve wasn't planning on releasing its own hardware, and was merely creating a spec for other manufacturers to adhere to. Either way, with Lombardi inferring that no announcements will be made at this year's E3 conference, we may have to wait a little longer to see what the company has in store next.