Release Final Transparent Case and finished battery "Starter for 10"

[offbow]

Final Case and mass production battery





the case image is from MWeston

The cases finally arrived a few minutes ago: http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa99 ... C01163.jpg

The keymats, however, will probably not be here until next week. They're on their way to Craig this time. This gives me time to put things together but unfortunately nothing special coming from me this week. Craig will be able to swap out the proto keymat for a real one on his unit this week so that will be nice. Look for demos to come from him soon (TM).

the battery pic was uploaded by craigX

BTW you should clip your nails LOL (a woman at the battery company)

 

[Kramy]

Wow, thin battery! :lol:

@Offbow: I have nails roughly that long, too.

 

[craigix]

Gads, they are not my nails!

 

[emil10001]

Gads, they are not my nails!

Geeze, people really seem to be latching on to that, huh?

I'm very excited about the updates today, and looking forward to some videos of the assembled clear pandora!

 

[lulzfish]

You should trim your nails anyway. Just in case.
Like, if you get a really cool game for the Pandora and you play for a week straight, only stopping 6 hours in to plug it into mains power, you don't want your nails to get really long.

 

[Prometheus]

Gads, they are not my nails!

Geeze, people really seem to be latching on to that, huh?

I'm oh-so-vaguely reminded of seeing some postings on various items at DealExtreme where people pass comment on the somewhat unclean-looking fingernails of one of the photographers. Now that people are latching onto not-Craig's-nails here, it ends up looking like a bizarre fad of some sort. :lol:

I'm very excited about the updates today, and looking forward to some videos of the assembled clear pandora!

+1, very much looking forward to it all.

You should trim your nails anyway. Just in case.
Like, if you get a really cool game for the Pandora and you play for a week straight, only stopping 6 hours in to plug it into mains power, you don't want your nails to get really long.

It is a nightmare trying to play anything with long nails. They tend to scrape against the surrounding casing, and with some types of plastic that's very much like scratching a blackboard. :wacko:

 

[second exodous]

So if this is the 100% correct case how long will it take to make 6,000 of them? I remember once they get the case right it won't take that long.

It looks like every thing is pretty much done now, I can't wait.

I think to most societies fingernails are a big deal, especially the thumbnail. In Brazil they put fingernail protectant on, a.k.a. nail polish, but don't ever tell a Brazilian guy it's nail polish.

 

[offbow]

So if this is the 100% correct case how long will it take to make 6,000 of them? I remember once they get the case right it won't take that long.

It looks like every thing is pretty much done now, I can't wait.

I think to most societies fingernails are a big deal, especially the thumbnail. In Brazil they put fingernail protectant on, a.k.a. nail polish, but don't ever tell a Brazilian guy it's nail polish.

i think i remember that once the mounds are done they can make 5000 a day (maybe wrong)

one thing i was thinking is why is this blog update named "starter for 10"
does this mean something (e.g. University Challenge where its a catchphrase or the movie based around that)

 

[lulzfish]

This is still a CNC prototype. From what I've gathered, the remaining steps are sort of like this:

1. Make sure everything fits together
2. Send the FCC and CE a prototype
3. Get authorization from FCC / CE, double-check CNC prototypes
4. OK for mass production
5. 30-day or so delay while molds are hand-machined by tiny gnomes that....
6. First batch of 400 cases rolls out in a day or so
7. Cases, boards, keymats, LCDs, batteries are piped *somewhere* for assembly
8. First batch is shipped.

I think they're taking a few of the first batch for testing, and the keymat is pretty much ready to go at this point. They're just making sure the case fits together perfectly.

disclaimer: This is what I've heard, it's somewhat paraphrased and not necessarily 100% precise.

 

[Vorporeal]

This is still a CNC prototype. From what I've gathered, the remaining steps are sort of like this:

1. Make sure everything fits together
2. Send the FCC and CE a prototype
3. Get authorization from FCC / CE, double-check CNC prototypes
4. OK for mass production
5. 30-day or so delay while molds are hand-machined by tiny gnomes that....
6. First batch of 400 cases rolls out in a day or so
7. Cases, boards, keymats, LCDs, batteries are piped *somewhere* for assembly
8. First batch is shipped.

I think they're taking a few of the first batch for testing, and the keymat is pretty much ready to go at this point. They're just making sure the case fits together perfectly.

disclaimer: This is what I've heard, it's somewhat paraphrased and not necessarily 100% precise.

2) CE prototype can be (and will be) a prototype, FCC requires a mass-production, final unit. CE testing should take 2-3 days, IIRC.
3) Don't really think this is necessary - this clear case check basically is the double-check. They changed a few minor things, so most of the checking will be double-checking already.
6) I'm pretty sure that they said the plastics company could produce around 5000 cases A DAY. As soon as the molds are finished, we'll have all of the cases in short order.
7) Most of the production (and final assembly, IIRC) is done in Texas.
8) They'll be doing them in batches of about 400, IIRC. The amount of time spent testing these (and possibly the batch size) is dependent on the first (and EXTREMELY thorough) initial testing of mass-production units.

(You forgot the stress testing in your list - this could take a decent amount of time, on the order of a week, possibly.)

 

[bzar]

But it's already so close! Squeee! ^_^

 

[kin]

Yeeey!!! :lol: And the forums are online again Yeeyy!!

 

[WizardStan]

5. 30-day or so delay while molds are hand-machined by tiny gnomes that....

Craig mentioned back on gp32x a month or so ago that some of the case parts are already in mass production. There was something vaguely mentioned to that effect here, as well. I'm hoping (beyond hope, at times) that they're only waiting on a few unknowns which will cut the mould time down to days instead of weeks. I'm not holding my breath on that, though.

 

[axenzoku]

the final-final will be a black case like the rendered images on the front page, right? I hope so because I love how the black one looks

 

[shiftybill]

the final-final will be a black case like the rendered images on the front page, right? I hope so because I love how the black one looks

yes the final case will be black, the transparent case is to see any stress points and to make sure everything fits nice and snug

 

[axenzoku]

Awesome p&|a

Before I knew about OpenPandora, I was planning on buying the newest PSP so I COULD HACK IT! lol Because it's more fun using emulators and applications as well as games... Except PSP has really lacking controls (Only 1 analog stick, no keyboard, no touch screen...) and a lot of the things I was trying to do with my bro's psp needed a usb port and more storage space and more RAM... Pretty much we had this cool idea: What if there was a linux-based handheld gaming device with a full keyboard and controls like a PS3 controller... with no cd-drive and just some memory slots... Essentially bringing games to Linux and making the open-source operating system a more viable platform for gamers, so you're not stuck with Windows (which isn't free) if you wanted to play good games... Lo and Behold, I found this... It's my dream come true

 

[Poem58]

Awesome p&|a

Before I knew about OpenPandora, I was planning on buying the newest PSP so I COULD HACK IT! lol Because it's more fun using emulators and applications as well as games... Except PSP has really lacking controls (Only 1 analog stick, no keyboard, no touch screen...) and a lot of the things I was trying to do with my bro's psp needed a usb port and more storage space and more RAM... Pretty much we had this cool idea: What if there was a linux-based handheld gaming device with a full keyboard and controls like a PS3 controller... with no cd-drive and just some memory slots... Essentially bringing games to Linux and making the open-source operating system a more viable platform for gamers, so you're not stuck with Windows (which isn't free) if you wanted to play good games... Lo and Behold, I found this... It's my dream come true

I know exactly how you feel. I was talking with a friend at work on day around say 2000-2001 and I told him the coolest idea would be for someone to design a pocket sized computer with the sole purpose of emulating older systems. At that time however there was probably nothing even remotely affordable that could have been assembled that could have been small enough or powerful enough to do a whole lot. But I told him someday someone would design such a device and it would be a wonderful and very profitable venture. Then I found Pandora, and although i could not afford one I did whatever I had to to make sure I got one. It is a dream come true. Craig and Co. have made it all I ever imagined and more. I never envisioned a touch screen or actual desktop functionality. These are bonuses that make this device irresistible for any tech geek. I can only imagine how well this device should do once it has begun to ship and be available without a wait time and the software side of things has good support. I would wish the Team luck, but I don't think this has to be lucky, just handled well. While some may say it hasn't been handled well due to delays etc. Given the fact that it was not developed by a major company and the kind of details being paid attention to I think it's being handled pretty well. That doesn't mean I'm not a it impatient as I can't wait to play with this sucker! I think the only limiting factor is the availability. I really feel strongly that once this whole "batch" thing ends and people can just order and receive them, this could really take off. At least I hope it does. Years form now I want to be able to put in my order for the successor.

 

[axenzoku]

Just everyone make sure you show off a lot and make everybody jealous :lol: That way it'll spread and OpenPandora may be a household name... Because that means game developers would have to take a serious look at designing games for it... Which would mean they would be designing games for linux XD.... Which would make linux a little closer to being a popular personal computer operating system... Which would mean more people would be developing linux... Which would make linux better... Which would mean a free operating system with no downsides lol sorry about the rant
I like the idea of game consoles being open... Hey maybe they could make a console version with beefed up specs? *uh oh* Wait, that's a PC
It's a good thing there has been delays, otherwise I may have been out $300 at a bad time :wacko:
But, personally, I'm very glad they're taking their time... Don't want it rushed... I wanna buy it and keep it for a long time... Nothing wrong with striving for perfection, especially when it comes to my most favorite piece of technology I've ever seen...
I think the people complaining about things are just the biggest fans and the most impatient