A Pandora 2 Concept


I mentioned it in the other thread, but I would like a dock that has:

  • Power for charging
  • HDMI and other video outs
  • Ethernet Jack
  • USB Hub


Then you could come home, drop your Pandora in the dock and enjoy it on your TV/monitor. I would keep the Pandora itself basically as it is, but I would add L2 and R2 buttons. I really like the current form factor.
 
Once again, where to add l2/r2? under l1/r1? Makes the buttons too small to comfortably use or the device bigger than needed.


The other option is an arrangement like on the old wii classic controller. Which may even be patented, haven't seen that anywhere else. That could also mean that people don't like that arrangement, I don't either. AFAIK the newer classic controller has the 1s and 2s stacked vertically. The downsides of having those buttons in a horizontal line would be awkward controls AND reduced space for all those ports people are crying for.


On the next note, how many uses are there for L2/R2? Only Playstation. Saturn could also benefit having 6 face buttons originally, but the Emu crawls at 1-2 fps anyway.


So, add L2 and R2 only for PSX Emulation and have that affect the whole machine? Makes no sense to me.


I'd rather have analogue L and R.
 
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vcoleiro said:
I seriously doubt any patent on that would hold. It just wouldn't be defendable in court. Just about everything is patented (or applied for), even the clam shell design the pandora uses now, you'd bet Nintendo has a patent on that. Is Pandora being sued for it, no. Just like the tablet designed by apple, whats it called, oh yeah the ipad, they have patents on it, but even though they took Samsung to court and initially won, the courts over turned the rulings. There is some sense in patent law. It's almost impossible to have a patent hold on such a design.


So yeah, I think a design where the screen flips up like a clamshell design but could also slide down to cover the keyboard and allow you to use it like a tablet is the best of both worlds design. I vote for it.
Click to expand...
from what i remember, it wasnt OPTs choice to use the one locking hinge, but the manufacturer that makes the hinges, also makes the hinge for nintendo, and they have to cover their own asses from lawsuits. so unless OPT miraculously opens their own factory and build all of their own material, they will have to take what they can get while abiding to strict regulations. so even if OPT wanted to use a 180/360 hinge, they would still have to find some back alley shop that will manufacturer them while avoiding lawsuits

kuru said:
On the next note, how many uses are there for L2/R2? Only Playstation. Saturn could also benefit having 6 face buttons originally, but the Emu crawls at 1-2 fps anyway.


So, add L2 and R2 only for PSX Emulation and have that affect the whole machine? Makes no sense to me.


I'd rather have analogue L and R.
Click to expand...
N64 also has 6 face buttons, and 3 trigger buttons
 
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kuru said:
I'd rather have analogue L and R.
Click to expand...

The Dualshock 3 has crappy analog triggers. The Logitech controllers have stiff analog triggers. The XBox 360 controller is the only controller I've held that has good analog triggers. I have doubts that any analog triggers the Pandora could have would be very good. Besides, analog triggers are not always acceptable for games designed to use shoulder buttons. Ever played on the Gameboy Player with the Gamecube controller?

N64 also has 6 face buttons, and 3 trigger buttons
Click to expand...

That justifies 6 face buttons (and so does the Mega Drive), but I don't see it justifying a second pair of shoulder buttons. The N64 controller was built to only use 2 shoulder buttons at any given time. What would be justified, then, is for the N64 emulator to allow you to save 3 separate control configurations you can select from easily.
 
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Im not talking about a 180 hinge. What I suggested is a screen that flips open like a clam shell and then can slide down over the keyboard (screen up). As I said Id be surprised if you got sued for implementing a design like that. Id like to see the patents on it if they exist by the way.


Remember that Microsoft applied for a patent to have interchangeable or modular components to smartphones. Again no way would that hold up, it's un defendable. No judge would uphold it.


There are loads of patents any device would be infringing on right noiw that are never actioned because there is a common sense in the patent laws.


I still vote for this design as mentioned above.
 
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Wow, the little Pandora 2 thread that did not die :)


Looks like there's some interesting reading here, and I did quite like DaveC's alternative designs back in the day.
 
The only important thing for me is that the screen should be the same size as the body (if you have a flip design). That is a rule in my mind, the screen is always as big as it can get on a handheld.


lower those sound boxes to the curved side parts, or anywhere else.


Of course you have extra tech nowadays that sure comes handy, but it is a tough job to get a line on them.
 
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I had described what my preference was. Thats how you were to know


Basically it's the concept Binky put up in the first post of this thread. I agree with his concept, I really like that design for its fexibility in the way it can be used, just as Binky outlined.
 
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vcoleiro said:
I had described what my preference was. Thats how you were to know
Click to expand...
You quoted what I said, responded to my quote, and THEN described what you were looking for. If what you wanted to talk about had nothing to do with what I was talking about, why respond at all? No one suggested that the slide down screen would cause a patent problem so there was no reason for me to think those were related thoughts.
 
When I responded to that post of yours my point was about the how patents revolving around such novel things as a hinge , whether it be 180 and slide or 360 , could not possibly hold up. There is common sense in the patent laws, that's all the point was.
 
And my point was that whether it holds up or not is irrelevant: it would still have to be fought and won, a process that consumes time and money during which whomever is making the claim can and will get an injunction against OPT. If you think waiting an extra year for production to resume is a pain, wait until they have to wait an extra year while they shell out large sums of money in a court battle. For an example, look at NTP vs RIM: NTP held patents that were considered invalid by pretty much everyone. When it went to court, an injunction was made against RIM so they couldn't continue selling devices. They could have kept fighting and probably would have won, but in the end they decided it was cheaper to give NTP $600 million to settle the problem within weeks rather than months. Since then, NTP's patents have been revoked but RIM has no way of reclaiming the money they paid: it was $600 million just to avoid the months (possibly years) long injunction while a court battle was waged. OPT doesn't have millions of dollars to throw at the problem, if someone decides to sue them over patent infringement it is game over, they can't pay to settle out of court and they can't afford the cost in time and money of fighting it. The best thing they can do is avoid the problem entirely by steering clear of all major patents. There may be common sense in patent law, but it frequently needs to be greased with green and prodded with a clue-by-four.
 
The design is barely going to change if it happens.


Well... it is actually going to change quite a lot, only you won't notice anything significant.


All this talk of sliding and rotating etc. isn't going to happen - it would be a nightmare, even huge companies can't get that kind of thing to work right.


We have to do this on a budget of a few thousand dollars.
 
@WizardStan


My point is, it would never be fought in the first place. Can we put a stop to this thread derailment now
 
@Craigix


Is there any hope of the things mentioned by Mweston (several pages back) eventuating?
 
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