Android Gaming Handheld: Odroid

[aho]

It has 512 MB of RAM as well? I don't know, the price sounds too cheap.[...]

Well, RAM is cheap.

No qwerty keypad,[...] only one SD slot, [...] and lack of a current development community still leaves me with the Pandora.[...]

That keypad/board isn't required. Same goes for 2 SD slots. Sure it's nice, but not really essential. Also, Android's development community is far bigger than Pandora's.

[...]
:blink: I just tried to copy some text from their site, BUT IT WAS AN IMAGE.
WTF

"ODROID gives you dynamic challenge of games with high end CPU and game friendly form factor. You can really feel and control any games by touching the sensitive Yeti nipples screen, pressing keypad, and controlling accelerometer"

I had to type that shit out... Damn their poorly designed website.

Korea got about 98.5% IE usage. They don't know anything about proper front-end development. Thing is: they don't need to. As long as it sorta kinda works in IE (with everything enabled - this includes ActiveX) they think it's perfectly fine.

--

Well, imo that device is somewhat odd. The dpad looks bad, but might be alright. Hard to tell. But only one speaker? Seriously? I also don't understand why they decided to put the buttons on the right in the middle instead of vertically aligning them with the dpad.

 

[omega5]

There are several videos on youtube. It is very interesting.

HDMI output with 720P HD video clips playback and SNES emulation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9nUKktK3-w


MP3 player(RockOn) seems to be compatible with Android Market apps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM7N3JDnX4k


Another SNES show~~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj5sKT_2-Dg


AppStore for ODROID?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8S-8gCa2bo


Accelerometer enabled game. It is a very famous game of Android Market.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokog0_vqqg

 

[Nintendo]

I want this now!!!

I even went as far as emailing the company last night. Here, please read.

|

Mel HarringtonHi, I really want to buy an ODROID. Where can I purchase it from? Regards,Nov 24 (1 day ago)

Mel HarringtonLoading...Nov 24 (1 day ago)

<h3 class="gD" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Mel Harrington</h3> to odroid show details Nov 24 (1 day ago)
Hi,

I really want to buy an ODROID. Where can I purchase it from?



Regards,
Mel Harrington

Reply

Forward

Reply

|

odroidDear, We will start official sales from 15th of December. English developer s...11:46 PM (23 hours ago)

odroidLoading...11:46 PM (23 hours ago)

<h3 class="gD" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">odroid</h3> to me show details 11:46 PM (23 hours ago)
[font="굴림"]Dear, [/font]

[font="굴림"] [/font]

[font="굴림"]We will start official sales from 15[sup]th[/sup] of December. English developer site will be open by that time. Currently Korea version is working. Please refer to http://dev.odroid.com [/font]

[font="굴림"] [/font]

[font="굴림"]Thanks, [/font]

[font="굴림"] [/font]

[font="굴림"]Lisa [/font]

 

[quartercast]

That be one fucked up email.

 

[second exodous]

This thing is just ugly and big, the Pandora looks a lot better and is smaller. This isn't the final model is it? This is just the one they give out to developers, will the final one look better and have better controls? Developers just need basic directional pad, action buttons, and system buttons, they don't need style or comfort, I think the final one has to look better.

At it's current design I don't see many people buying this thing.

 

[Tag5]

I'm just too poor to buy one as Christmas has sucked all my funds. Hmmm, I wonder if Santa Claus will bring me one.......

 

[Nintendo]

 

[torpor]

Ermm.. have any of you guys actually *played* any Android games? They're fugly and whack.

 

[Exophase]

Ermm.. have any of you guys actually *played* any Android games? They're fugly and whack.

There are emulators for Android too, fwiw. This might be the best machine for playing them on.

 

[torpor]

There are emulators for Android too, fwiw. This might be the best machine for playing them on.

meh. unless there are some android-only games that kick ass, whats the point except just to have it? sorry, its just i'm not seeing the appeal of an android-based games machine .. i'd love to be shown some kickass android games, though. maybe it doesn't help that i've been hacking on android on my slow-ass G1DEV phone the last year, and all i've seen in the games market for android is a couple of naff racers, a ball-rolling thing, and some junky shooter that makes me think i'm playing a built-in game on some 90's nokia .. are there kickass 3D games out there? if so, what?

 

[second exodous]

There are emulators for Android too, fwiw. This might be the best machine for playing them on.

meh. unless there are some android-only games that kick ass, whats the point except just to have it? sorry, its just i'm not seeing the appeal of an android-based games machine .. i'd love to be shown some kickass android games, though. maybe it doesn't help that i've been hacking on android on my slow-ass G1DEV phone the last year, and all i've seen in the games market for android is a couple of naff racers, a ball-rolling thing, and some junky shooter that makes me think i'm playing a built-in game on some 90's nokia .. are there kickass 3D games out there? if so, what?

Is there anywhere you can just look at Android apps or do you need an Android device? You see iphone apps everywhere but I never see a Android app mentioned.

 

[craigix]

It seems very difficult to develop for the Andoird platform, it seems to be java based and you have to sort of wrap C around it. It isn't just a case of recompiling.

I or Zod wanted to port Wizzley to it but it is a pretty confusing platform, although I'm sure someone will tell me why it is in fact awesome. Please do as I would like to try to dev on it.

 

[torpor]

I or Zod wanted to port Wizzley to it but it is a pretty confusing platform, although I'm sure someone will tell me why it is in fact awesome. Please do as I would like to try to dev on it.

Its awesome if you want to make forms-based applications, or stuff that is low-performance oriented, but for 3D and audio related stuff, its very difficult to shoe-horn your typical way of thinking about such things into the Android SDK .. it wasn't designed for performance.

I enjoy the experience of working with Android - the way things like Intents and App Overlays work is quite amusing - but its not a portable platform, in any sense of the word, and I had a really difficult time trying to get performance out of a port of an audio synth engine to it .. just wasn't worth it in the end.

I'll have another look once I get my hands on SDK 2.1 .. should be interesting.

 

[aesir911]

sounds a bit $pricey$... I'll stick with my Pandora, unless it fails to come out soon

 

[Exophase]

In that thread someone comments that at least some of the bottom left "d-pad" buttons are function locked. So much for using it for vertical orientation or left handed play, unless there's a way to disable this.

 

[ferg]

If they can sell that for 250 I am sold. Making a new box for it and sticking a 800x480 shouldn't be hard.

Standardized A/V output ftw, maybe I can find some small keyboard somewhere too.

At least it won't be vaporware.

 

[Nintendo]

It might not be vapourware, but it MIGHT be DOA.

@ omega

Stop being such a little ODROID fangirl!!!! <_<

 

[streak]

Right buttons design shows that GPH hides behind it.. Thats no doubt..

 

[aesir911]

I don't know if you guys got the memo, but:

HardKernel is shipping a developer-focused handheld game device that runs Android and offers source code, schematics, and a debug board. The $350 Odroid is based on a Cortex-A8 Samsung S5PC100 clocked to 833Mhz, and offers 10GB of flash, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, 720p video via HDMI, plus WiFi, Bluetooth, and accelerometers.

Korea-based HardKernel tipped its Odroid device in September, and by late October,SlashGear was reporting that the first run of 500 devices was sold out via pre-order. HardKernel confirms this and boasts that the Odroid "is the hottest item at Aesop, the biggest Korean Linux developer community."

The Odroid is now shipping, says the company, presumably with many more devices ready to fill orders. The 5.9 x 3.0 x 0.6-inch (150 x 76 x 15mm) device primarily targets mobile gaming, but also serves as a general-purpose ARM Cortex-A8 reference/development platform, says the company.

The Odroid ("Open-Android") runs an optimized Android OS aimed at the general open source developer community, and ships with a full hardware schematics and full source code based on a Linux 2.6.27 kernel (see farther below). The company encourages developers to spin off both the hardware and software "into a variety of different Android-based gadgets."


HardKernel's Odroid, developer edition

Games could get an extra oomph from the Samsung S5PC100 system-on-chip (SoC), an 800MHz Cortex-A8 SoC that's reportedly also used by the Apple iPhone 3GS. The S5PC100's ARM Cortex-A8 core offers Neon multimedia acceleration, 720p pseudo-HD video output, and OpenGL ES 3D graphics supporting 10 mega-triangle transforms per second. The SoC -- a previous generation of the smartphone-targeted, 45nm fabricated S5PC110 announced by Samsung in September -- pairs its core with a hardwired video processor to decode/encode a variety of multimedia contents (see block diagram below).

Samsung S5PC100 block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

The Odroid is supplied with 512MB DDR2 RAM and 10GB of removable flash memory, says HardKernel. The storage allotment is said to be divided into a full-size SDHC slot with an 8GB card (expandable to 32GB) for user storage, as well as a micro-SD (T-Flash) slot with 2GB for the kernel boot ROM and Android system file storage.

Odroid block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

The device is equipped with a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 capacitive touchscreen, and can output 720p video to HDTVs via an HDMI port and supplied cable, says the company. The Odroid also offers speakers, microphone, and a headphone connector. WiFi and Bluetooth are provided, but no cellular connection is offered. The device provides a high-speed USB 2.0 port that doubles as an ADB connection and connector for storage devices [http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/HardKernel-Odroid/##] , says HardKernel.

The Odroid PCB is composed of a 12-layer stack.
(Click to enlarge)

Specifications listed for the Odroid developer edition include:

* Processor -- Samsung S5PC100 (Cortex-A8 clocked at 833MHz)
* Memory -- 512MB DDR2
* Flash -- 10GB (2GB Micro-SD for u-boot/kernel/Android system, 8GB SDHC for user space)
* Flash expansion -- SDHC slot for up to 32GB
* Display -- 3.5-inch, 320 x 480, capacitive touchscreen
* Video -- supports 720p via HDMI cable (H.264+AAC MP4 format)
* Networking:
o LAN -- 802.11 b/g
o PAN -- Bluetooth 2.x
* Other I/O:
o USB 2.0 high speed port with bus-powered charging
o Line out/in
o UART for development
o Mini-HDMI video out connector with SPDIF audio
o 3.5mm headphone jack
* Other features:
o Built-in speaker and microphone
o 3-axis accelerometer
o Gaming-oriented keypads
o Serial monitor debugging board
* Dimensions -- 5.9 x 3.0 x 0.6 inches (150 x 76 x 16mm)
* Weight -- 5.6 oz (160g) with battery
* Battery -- 1300mAH rechargeable lithium-ion (2 pcs); extra charger input
* Operating system -- Android 1.5R3 with Linux 2.6.27

Odroid's companion serial monitor debugging board
(Click to enlarge)

The Odroid developer edition also ships with a serial monitor debugging board equipped with a serial port, mini-USB port, and male and female TTA20 connectors (pictured above). The board can be used to update and monitor system software from the boot-loader to Android applications, says HardKernel.

Odroid driving 720p output via HDMI
(Click to enlarge)

The Odroid ships with full source code, including U-boot 1.3.4 boot loader, Linux 2.6.27 kernel, and Android 1.5R3 system. Tools such as a cross-toolchain, build environment, and T-Flash burning software are said to be available for download on the Odroid developer web-site. The hardware-optimized, open source Odroid software platform includes some components that are in beta and pre-release format, cautions HardKernel.

Odroid software architecture
(Click to enlarge)

Software components (and their current status) are said to include:

* Android Cupcake 1.5R3 (recently moved up from 1.5FR)
* Sensor handling for accelerometer with proper reference axis to JNI
* WLAN power management added (Bluetooth power management not yet ready)
* More stable capacitive touch screen input device driver
* OpenCore Media framework now ported to utilize hardware accelerator for H.264 and other Codecs
* Correctly using 3D hardware for OpenGL ES via HGL library, with bugs fixed for fog, compressed texture, lighting, shader update, etc.
* USB driver for ADB and mass storage
* HDMI hot plug for video as well as audio through HDMI’s SPDIF
* HD media playback for both LCD and HDTV at different resolutions
* Hardware-based JPEG engine for faster image operations
* RTC bugs fixed
* ALSA audio driver with I2S audio codec
* iROM booting for Micro-SD card, for U-boot and Android system file
* Battery device driver for Android power management

All components are open source except for the 3D library HGL and surface flinger copy-bit library, which "are not open source due to Samsung’s intellectual property policy," says HardKernel. Regular software updates are planned, with the next version based on Donut (Android 1.6), and Eclair (Android 2.0) also being considered, says the company.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5fKrScVtP8]
Odroid running Android 3D Game demo on YouTube; additional YouTube video showing 720p output may be found here.)

Availability

The Odroid is available now to developers for $350, including schematics, source code, and debug board, says HardKernel. Full source code access will be available by end of this year via the Odroid git server [http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/HardKernel-Odroid/##] .

Website : www.odroid.com

 

[craigix]

Right buttons design shows that GPH hides behind it.. Thats no doubt..

Probably as Michael has one and it's like trying to play games on a TV remote control.