A Pandora 2 Concept

[Saber]

From a purely hardware perspective, I wonder if it would be better to have two future pandora projects instead of melding them into one. Perhaps one that is very much like our beloved Pandora of today but much more powerful and another that is more pocket sized and simpler like a Gameboy SP. Personally, anything opensourced would be best but i'd be thrilled to see what Openpandora could do with a third option with more of a slate PSP design:


1. 4-5"+ Touchscreen, Stylus


2. D-pad with one nub only on left side, room for 6 face buttons[3 rows, 2 columns] on right plus shoulder buttons


3. start and select on right, Pandora home button on the edge of the handheld


4. one SDXC slot instead of two


5. standard USB port, BT, Wireless, Headphone/Mic, HDMI


The design is minimalistic compared to what we have now. It's in essence an icontrolpad minus a nub with a screen. For fans of the physical keyboard from the Pandora 1, a larger revision of the ICP with the qwerty keys could be added over bluetooth during HDMI output. I understand why some would like to keep both nubs, the keyboard, and the second SD slot but i'm thinking of reducing its footprint, manufacturing costs, and retail price. The Pandora Slim™ could hover around the $199 pricing tier between the Pandora and the iControlpad. Just a thought.

 

[gotwake424]

No the clam shell is a proven design.


The basic size of the pandora is fine too, it could be tweak a little. Thinner and maybe a smidge taller?


The hardware obviously needs to be improved to the latest and greatest. Faster CPU, Better GPU, DSP, ETC


5-7inch screen. Resistive with good pressure sensitivity


I love the layout of they keyboard and gaming controls! the nubs could be tweaked a little for better feedback


Backlite keyboard is a must 1 led could make do im sure


Dual SXDC slots would be really nice, either way dual expandable memory slots


Full size USB with 1.1 and 2.0 and 3.0 would be god tier but 1.1 and 2.0 is a must


Mini usb otg port (like what we have now)


Minidisplay port ( basically hdmi out, but better google it)


Keep the audiophile qualities of the pandora (maybe increase the lineout power a bit and you could market this to audiophiles)


Battery of the same or bigger size


Wifi chip that actually works consistently and at a good data rate


I think a lot of time should be spent looking at powersaving modes and techniques


The ability to have the clam shell convert into a tablet kind deal, so I can hold it like a pda and draw on it comfortably


/end rant

 

[Znirk]

expandora modules would be more expensive than mass-produced equivalents, [...] would add useful functionality to a Pandora unavailable commercially.

If these expandora modules aren't to be mass-produced, and not available commercially, where will they come from?


Seriously, though: Even if you somehow manage to convince everybody that a T-shaped USB device is a good thing for the Pandora Of The Future™, it's still likely to be useless on any other machine the owner happens to have. It won't fit into a USB port that has any protruding part near it (see e.g. the back of any desktop PC ever), and where it fits physically, it'll cover up anything that happens to be near it (other USB sockets, eSATA, external display connection, power switch, cooling fan openings ...)


Yes, there are USB extension cords. But why use an ugly hack to make an unnecessarily expensive device work almost as well as the readily available and far cheaper alternative?


And if some USB device isn't commercially available at all, then that's probably because the people who could make and market such a thing don't believe that enough people would buy one. Making it expandora-shaped would only restrict the market further, limiting it to the potentially very few people who want such a device AND own a pandora. My business sense fails to tingle at the thought of such a product.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I think a device that could boot either into Linux or Android is a great idea. It gives the best of both worlds.


If you were to do this , you need to make sure the device was also designed to allow Android touch apps to be used properly otherwise there would be little point. Games with touch controls are going to be pretty awkward to use on a pure clam shell designed device. If you were to go down this path , a design which opened as per a clam shell but then allowed the screen to sit flat like a tablet would be required in my opinion. Otherwise you would be severely handicapping those who wanted to buy it as an Android gaming device - that market I believe wouldn't go for it. You would be handicapping them enough my the fact the P2 would have a resistive screen (In order to best support the linux desktop). Trying to sell them a device that has to be used in a clamshell configuration to play touch games would be an impossible sell.

 

[TrashyMG]

There is nothing stopping the current Pandora from running Android.. In fact I have an SD card that does just that.. but it's not as polished as Angstom for sure.. Need to find an interested Developers to continue making it work better.. Personally myself I'd prefer Angstrom over Android..

 

[shinifish]

I personally would prefer a "fun" design but if it leads to legal issues or an increase in price then I am against it.

 

[FRZ]

It might be that SD Cards will die out, who knows.


We'll see.

I doubt that. Compact flash card are still around and kicking so SD cards, dont think they are going away any time soon.

 

[Saber]

No the clam shell is a proven design.


The basic size of the pandora is fine too, it could be tweak a little. Thinner and maybe a smidge taller?


The hardware obviously needs to be improved to the latest and greatest. Faster CPU, Better GPU, DSP, ETC


5-7inch screen. Resistive with good pressure sensitivity


I love the layout of they keyboard and gaming controls! the nubs could be tweaked a little for better feedback


Backlite keyboard is a must 1 led could make do im sure


Dual SXDC slots would be really nice, either way dual expandable memory slots


Full size USB with 1.1 and 2.0 and 3.0 would be god tier but 1.1 and 2.0 is a must


Mini usb otg port (like what we have now)


Minidisplay port ( basically hdmi out, but better google it)


Keep the audiophile qualities of the pandora (maybe increase the lineout power a bit and you could market this to audiophiles)


Battery of the same or bigger size


Wifi chip that actually works consistently and at a good data rate


I think a lot of time should be spent looking at powersaving modes and techniques


The ability to have the clam shell convert into a tablet kind deal, so I can hold it like a pda and draw on it comfortably


/end rant

That's an interesting perspective but i'm bewildered on why you said the Pandora is a proven design. I've owned the Gameboy SP, the Pandora, and the icontrolpad, and my experiences with each have been mostly positive. I adored the Gameboy SP for its size and battery power. Ergonomics were outstanding. The clamshell was helpful for protecting the screen from scratches but then the exterior got rubbed up a bit instead. Had to purchase a case anyways. The ICP is compact and lightweight, relatively cheap, and just works as it should. The Pandora had a lovely screen, sound quality output, and nice tactile controls. Community support is of course wonderful and encouraging for an owner. My negatives with owning it though were several:


1. The shoulder buttons quality could be improved


2. Ergonomics for gaming were okay. Would of enjoyed a smaller, less rectangular shape and button placement.


3. Touchscreen was nice to have but understandibly awkward to use for a clamshell.


4. Weight was...umm...heavy. Battery lasted forever but device was dense and big for my use.


5. Two SD slots for me were one too many. If I had two cards and one slot, I would of just ejected one and inserted the other. With two slots and one card, it seemed redundant.


6. Nubs worked good. One of mine was loose when I first bought it though. I hardly used them.


7. Price was expensive. I'm financially able to buy what I want for the most part, but playing old emulators up to a few N64 and squinting at slow loading website text just wasn't for me.


Of course a Pandora 2 might diminish these negatives. Please understand, I don't mean to anger anyone, especially the people who worked to bring the Pandora and the ICP to us. I only wanted to voice my opinion and my experience as an owner.

 

[FRZ]

If P2 should have android on it, I hope it will be removable completely and there will be the option of an alternative os.

 

[TrashyMG]

The Current Pandora and most likely the Pandora 2 if they stick with OMAP technology currently has the ability to remove the OS from the NAND if you feel like it and replace it with something else.. But what's easier is just to boot another OS from an SD card..

 

[Kaepora Gaebora]

So basically, what I have in mind is a Pandora with better specs, all remaining issues removed and some things improved, as open as it is right now, but with two OSes to choose from.

The perfect device. Don't change too much!

 

[Grench]

So from an end user perspective - it simply isn't there.

I'd argue from an end user perspective it shouldn't even really be a question of whether DSP support is there or not. It all boils down to the quality of the software. Writing for the DSP is an optimization. It could be useful for a lot of software, with a lot of work, but so could a lot of other optimizations.. for most stuff on Pandora there are probably easier things you can do first.

In my understanding, proper use of the DSP for audio playback could result in -doubling or more- the battery life of the Pandora for playing MP3 files. At one time there was an estimate thrown around of 100 hours, but that sounds insane. For this end user, that is a level of quality in the device and software that would be very nice to see. Video would be great too - both would be awesome.


For perspective - does anyone remember the Tapwave Zodiac from 8 or so years ago? It had DSP optimized sound AND movie playback. Movies played at @20-25fps, which was adequate on a 3.5" screen.


On a program by program basis there may be other things that would be 'easier' to optimize - but if one person figures out how to address the DSP for audio playback and publishes it, then it could be brought forward by someone else with a video player, etc... The whole catch is that since the DSP driver isn't in the OS, nobody is going to even try to write for it.


It almost needs to be a toggled driver like the WiFi so it can be turned on & off to save RAM - then the PND for the audio/video players could tell it to turn on when they launch?

 

[sukhi2011]

Yes i had Tapwave zodiac 2 it was great system but weak hardware,emulators were really slow.


We need to keep it clamshell and change the design if we need to.


Pandora only needs better hardware,more usb ports,bigger screen,better thumbsticks,i don't think the thumbstick on p1 is good as n64 but p1 stick is quiet good.

 

[diligentcircle]

Yes i had Tapwave zodiac 2 it was great system but weak hardware,emulators were really slow.


We need to keep it clamshell and change the design if we need to.


Pandora only needs better hardware,more usb ports,bigger screen,better thumbsticks,i don't think the thumbstick on p1 is good as n64 but p1 stick is quiet good.

They're technically nubs, not thumbsticks, so a more proper comparison would be to the 3DS or PSP or PSV.

 

[Binky]

Another point re expandora: I would feel a bit silly using a smartphone just to provide HSPDA, GPS because my pocket computer wasn't up to it. (form factor + driver issues)


(some) People seem to support expansion modules, others more USB ports. Combining these seems obvious.


Depending on the shape of your pocket, (thin) modules on the side might be better than adding to the front-back width?

 

[FRZ]

I much rather this thread for the all the pictures of what the p2 could look like. I'd like to see more concepts.

 

[asimov-solensan]

Lately I remembered a thing that I would like to see integrated on the pandora.


http://celluon.com/products/laserkey1_4.htm?sm=2_1


I usually read this forums and news and other things during my breakfast time and sometimes i think that will be a lot more comfortable to let the pandora opened at 90 or 120 degree and then browsing using this "projected mouse" on the table.


Of course don't hope to see this implemented, I don't think it's size can be reduced to fit into the pandora and maybe it's not a feature that many people would use, not to talk about linux support for this.

 

[quadcricket]

I had to make an account to comment (I normally just lurk).


I honestly think Nintendo gives the best example of handheld evolution.


What I see from them is you have a first release which shows off the new technology, then the second version is pretty much JUST an improved design. It may have one new feature that everyone thinks is a must have though. They do that until the competition just raises the bar too high and they need a complete redesign.


Right now the Pandora has a lot going for it. The next version should be %100 backwards compatible though. The first thing that came to my mind was the DSi XL.


Same resolution, larger screen, better color, better backlight, better wifi, better build quality, new case colors. And the Pv3 could have an upped processor and memory because that does not affect backwards compatibility.


I say Pv3 because it truly will be the third version of the Pandora. 1st gen had 256MB RAM and various issues. 2nd gen has fixed some of the issues and has twice the RAM. 3rd gen should follow the same track. IMHO of course.

 

[sswam]

Yeah it's important to keep what the existing user-base loves about it.


You could make a total different great product, but if it appeals to a different set of users that would be fail.


Whoops, resurrect old thread => fail too.