New handheld device in the works - Pandora

[MethodGit]

Official site and Wikipedia article.


I really hope this turns out to be great in the end. I've been looking for a portable console that can properly handle Amiga and SNES emulation for a long time now!

[alexh]

It looks horrible.

I am sure that the design of the clamshell is too close to that of the DSLite for the comfort of their lawyers

I bet I could sue them already

Originally Posted by Pandora.org

16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD

As someone who works in the industry, there is no such thing. Apple are currently being sued for saying something similar.

It may have 24-bit output, but no LCD is going to correctly reproduce all colours, and no panel manufacturer claims to be able to make them either. (They put this little disclaimer in the bottom which talks about faithful representation of colours).

[P-J]

I think it's designed and build by a guy (or guys) who are instrumental in the GP2X scene.

But I agree, it looks hideous but I hear it's got quite a lot under the bonnet.

Originally Posted by alexh

I am sure that the design of the clamshell is too close to that of the DSLite for the comfort of their lawyers

I very much doubt it. Clamshell handheld machines (like LCD games) have existed WAY before the DS lite. It'd never stick. If this isn't prior art, I don't know what is!

[alexh]

Clamshell yes, but did they have LED's in the hinges, made so you can see them when it is open and shut. Did they round the edges like that?

Going a bit off topic, having had a Wii console for a while, where your hands can be any distance apart from each other (cos of the wire between the nunchuck and the wiimote) I now find it painful to go back go control systems which make you hold your hands together in that unnatural way, even the most ergonomic ones like the N64, NGC Wavebird or X-Box S-type.

[P-J]

Originally Posted by alexh

Clamshell yes, but did they have LED's in the hinges, made so you can see them when it is open and shut. Did they round the edges like that?

Hmm, I have no idea. Have Nintendo patented that? Will be interesting if they have.

Bear in mind a laptop is really a clamshell and there might be a laptop with a similar feature.

[NLS]

you don't really expect this to be out by summer (as the site says) do you?

[alexh]

P-J, perhaps it's just because I've repaired so many DS-Lites. The proportions, the rounding, the concept for LEDs in the hinge, the speakers either side of the screen all are identical.

I've also had many laptops and non sprung to mind when looking at the shapes.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...andora_big.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:D...hite_trans.png

[P-J]

Originally Posted by alexh

P-J, perhaps it's just because I've repaired so many DS-Lites.

Perhaps it's because I've never handled or even seen IRL a DS lite

Having looked at the two pictures, it just doesn't seem 'close' enough to me. Then again I'm not a lawyer so I don't really know of what I speak.

I think we're both agreed it's hideous though! It also seems VERY busy. If it's the same size as the DS and has all those controls, I hate to think how cramped it is and what's more how small the keys on the QWERTY keyboard are.

Plus those pictures are blatantly renders giving the impression the product is miles off.

If that IS to become the official successor to the GP2X, I'll be seriously disappointed.

[FromWithin]

Originally Posted by MethodGit

I've been looking for a portable console that can properly handle Amiga and SNES emulation for a long time now!

[paranoid]

Looks a bit like a Libretto.

[alexh]

I had never seen one of those... but I still think it has more in common with the DS-Lite

[MethodGit]

Originally Posted by FromWithin

What IS that then? And is it running UAE4ALL or WinUAE?

[OddbOd]

Presumably it's a Zaurus running regular Linux UAE.

Might as well drop some eye candy while I'm here

[ant512]

Originally Posted by P-J

I very much doubt it. Clamshell handheld machines (like LCD games) have existed WAY before the DS lite. It'd never stick. If this isn't prior art, I don't know what is!

That would be a Nintendo Game & Watch. Nintendo, y'know? Like the Nintendo DS.

Anyway, you're right - the clamshell design has been around for ages. Think laptops for a better example.

The advantage of the Pandora over everything else is two-fold. First of all, power - 600MHz CPU, 128MB RAM. Secondly, despite its weird-ass appearance it's designed as a games machine. It's got a d-pad and two analogue sticks, which any PDA won't be able to compete with.

[Zetr0]

Originally Posted by OddbOd

Presumably it's a Zaurus running regular Linux UAE.

Might as well drop some eye candy while I'm here

mmmmm a 1Ghz C7 in my mobile phone..... mmmm much gaming i would have

[T_hairy_bootson]

I agree its ugly, the DS design similarities cant be avoided as they dont have an industrial designer, they cant afford the slide screen config so clamshell is really the only choice. The DS lite design is pretty practical and common sense for something this size so it would take more effort to make something different. Hopefully future revisions will have a more attractive exterior.

That said the hardware specs and gaming layout for its size really kick arse and the gp32/gp2x scene has some very talented coders so I can see this becoming the emulation and homebrew console to own at least until something more powerfull comes out.

I will probably be getting one if it takes off in the gp32/gp2x scene which it most likely will. Expect delays and bugs though as its just a group of gp2x distributors and a hardware guru that designed it with input from the scene.

Manufacture will be done by chinese contractors so hopefully quality doesnt suffer too much.