Blog Update 2/10/09

[adamorjames]

Check out the official blog or read below.

Hi!
While we're still discussing about the final keyboard layout and font (it's not as easy as you would think), devs are continuing working on the OS.
At the moment, we think that a generic english keyboard layout would be the best, but regional ones can additionally bought for a few bucks. This is not final yet, but it tends to that direction.

Well, back to the OS.
DJWillis got G3 (UMTS) USB-sticks working in his latest image! All praise go to him! He's still tweaking a bit, but there should be a video there, soon.
Meanwhile, cpasjuste started coding a nice menu to run apps in minimal mode (as it would've been too complicated to finish gmenu until the release). The menu already supports PXML Format (which has changed a bit, but we'll release the new specs of it soon).
I'll take a video of it once it is running fine, which should be about next week.
I'll also start coding an app which helps every dev creating PXML files by simply filling in all the required and optional field and click on "Create it!".

And last, but not least, cpasjuste released a small Pandora Toolchain installer which automagically downloads needed files and libraries and installs a toolchain on Linux system, which can be used to compile for the Pandora.
This is not the final and official one yet, however, if somebody wants to see if some of his projects compile or want me to test their programs on a real Pandora, here's his (or her) chance

 

[Vorporeal]

It's nice to know that we're still getting some of the old "Here's what's new in the Pandora dev world" updates.

 

[skeezix]

Everyone is breaking their necks, don't worry. (Most of us are doing it in our spare time, around family time etc, so its tough to get a lot of time, but we're doing our best. Certainly a few people are really shouldering a lot of the load. Some of the devs who've been around a long time, back in the gp32 days and now through to pandora .. its amazing to see how skilled everyone is in different ways. Anyway..)

cpasjuste's menu is pretty cool, maybe he'll post a video publicly; he's got touch scrolling going on and its using the standard pandora lib and auto-discovering PXML based apps, and shows apps by category and so on. The OS images are really coming along, the kernel is coming along..

Wooot

jeff

 

[dsraa]

This is awesome work. I really like that you guys are polishing the OS so much, and that this won't be some out of the box naked linux package.

I was worried that after a while things were slowing down it seemed, (atleast to me). I'm glad that all the parts are now in and that the first batch can finally start. I was hoping to get one before my birthday, March 11th, but april is just as nice...

Are their still any re-orders left over that people backed out of? Or is it too late?

If so, I am definitly in for the second batch.

DSR

 

[Once]

Very good news !

What do you mean exactly with this :
QUOTE
upon release you should have a localized version of the OS on your Pandora.


Can we choose the localization or is it more like if you bought in germany, you get a german OS ?

English version + optional localization in the system settings would be great !

Cheers guys, keep up the good work !

 

[hedwards]

Can we choose the localization or is it more like if you bought in germany, you get a german OS ?

English version + optional localization in the system settings would be great !

I'm pretty sure that they'll allow you to localize without too much work. But even if they don't, since it's an open platform, they can't exactly stop people from doing so.

 

[urjaman]

Very good news !

What do you mean exactly with this :
QUOTE
upon release you should have a localized version of the OS on your Pandora.

Can we choose the localization or is it more like if you bought in germany, you get a german OS ?

English version + optional localization in the system settings would be great !

Cheers guys, keep up the good work !

Hmm, if it's at all linux'ish localization, it means just that change the setting in GUI
(which changes it in some text config file) (or change the config file directly with a text editor)
and reboot (even logout+login might work, dont remember) = linux in a different language
I'm thinking that propably every pandora will ship with the same image flashed to the NAND (it's the simplest solution), so by default the OS will be english and you can change it via some method.
Maybe on first boot it will ask for location/localization?...
This is all just guessing based on my experience with linux, so don't take this as certain (i can be wrong).

 

[CCmachined]

Update from the 2nd of October? :lol:. I hate differing date formats.

 

[RajTakhar]

Cool Update

 

[socket]

Update from the 2nd of October? :lol:. I hate differing date formats.

Hehe, yeah... people at work hate me because I do YYYY-MM-DD so things sort alphabetically.

 

[WizardStan]

Update from the 2nd of October? :lol:. I hate differing date formats.

No, it's obviously October 9th, 2002.

 

[Vorporeal]

Everyone is breaking their necks, don't worry. (Most of us are doing it in our spare time, around family time etc, so its tough to get a lot of time, but we're doing our best. Certainly a few people are really shouldering a lot of the load. Some of the devs who've been around a long time, back in the gp32 days and now through to pandora .. its amazing to see how skilled everyone is in different ways. Anyway..)

cpasjuste's menu is pretty cool, maybe he'll post a video publicly; he's got touch scrolling going on and its using the standard pandora lib and auto-discovering PXML based apps, and shows apps by category and so on. The OS images are really coming along, the kernel is coming along..

Wooot

jeff

I didn't mean that no work was getting done, I just meant that I'm glad that we're getting more text updates and less pictures. I know how it's going to look more or less - I'd like to know more how work is progressing on the software and whatnot.