Gamescom 2018

[Nintendo]

Awesome, thanks for the pics @ingoreis and @TeDaDeS

Judging by the pics and imo, Pyra looks way better than the Win 2

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Thanks guys for the pictures. Like watching p0rn to me.
Sorry for not being here again, hi to everybody !

 

[levi]

A new picture from ED at gamecom of devices including the Pyra has emerged on his twitter feed:

 

[ClockworkCoder]

A new picture from ED at gamecom of devices including the Pyra has emerged on his twitter feed:

Not to sound biased or anything, but purely aesthetically the Pyra looks by far the best of those handhelds

 

[directive0]

Not to sound biased or anything, but purely aesthetically the Pyra looks by far the best of those handhelds

Kind of makes me like it even more.

 

[levi]

Certainly looks the easiest to take on the move and to use when out and about. Maybe the slimness of the gemini makes it easier to pocket when closed, and while I used to thumb type a fair bit on my old Psion S5s when out and about, the grip was somewhat fragile at times.

 

[NetBLOKS]

I really like the "long neck" of the Pyras aesthetic.
All the other handhelds look thick and bulky, but the Pyra, having that space between the corpus and screen, looks refreshingly different and lite.

 

[Grench]

This thread should be moved to the "Pyra News" section.

Seeing a running Pyra prototype is always a treat.

I particularly like that the GPD Pocket pictured is running Linux Mint.

That must be a WiFi only (no 4G) version of the Gemini? (No SIM signal strength icons on the top row.)

Good stuff. Newsworthy stuff.

 

[ThinkPad]

Not to sound biased or anything, but purely aesthetically the Pyra looks by far the best of those handhelds

It really looks more like a "tool" the other ones are just toys.
Especially with this matte black case.

Very nice I am impressed.

 

[Nintendo]

Looks like Pyra is the original trend setter, while the rest are just mere copycats.

Too good!

 

[levi]

This thread should be moved to the "Pyra News" section.

Here's the blurb for Pyra News:

News and news snippets from the Pyra Team. New topics can only be created by official team members, but you can answer to them.

In other words, I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.

That must be a WiFi only (no 4G) version of the Gemini? (No SIM signal strength icons on the top row.)

Or a 4G Gemini without a SIM installed? I've no idea if it works like old phones and only lets you dial the emergency services without a sim in.

I'm somewhat surprised that the keyboard backlighting is so visible even in a well lit hall.

It's also interesting that for those that think it's the only businesslike-looking one, how prominent those game buttons are backlit like that.

 

[Grench]

Here's the blurb for Pyra News:

News and news snippets from the Pyra Team. New topics can only be created by official team members, but you can answer to them.

In other words, I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that.

Ahh - too bad. I was thinking a moderator might be able to move a thread to there. Oh well. People will find this thread if they're itching for a news fix.

Or a 4G Gemini without a SIM installed? I've no idea if it works like old phones and only lets you dial the emergency services without a sim in.

On a 4G Gemini two strength meters show up in the status bar regardless of whether you have a SIM in either or not. At least that is the case of the one sitting on the desk next to me. Insert a physical SIM and one of them shows signal (if present). The 2nd one would hypothetically show up if no-card soft SIMs were a real thing. Right now the 2nd signal bar is more a placeholder than anything.

I'm somewhat surprised that the keyboard backlighting is so visible even in a well lit hall.

Why do I want someone to retake that same picture in an unlit closet?

It's also interesting that for those that think it's the only businesslike-looking one, how prominent those game buttons are backlit like that.

Because those aren't "game buttons". They are "mouse & navigational buttons". At least they are until the screen shows something other than an OS desktop, command prompt, browser or productivity application.
[doublepost=1534978436,1534978091][/doublepost]Oh, and to note - it looks like they keyboard backlight is set to maximum. There are dimming controls built into the keymat attic (Fn+brightness = up, Fn+shift+brightness = down). That might not be linked up in the prototypes yet though.

But, yeah, max brightness on the keyboard is really bright. You should be able to see those keys in full sunlight! Oh, wait, umm.... Most of us will never keep them on that bright for anything but displaying the fact that it has a back lit keyboard, in a well lit convention hall.

 

[levi]

On a 4G Gemini two strength meters show up in the status bar regardless of whether you have a SIM in either or not. At least that is the case of the one sitting on the desk next to me. Insert a physical SIM and one of them shows signal (if present). The 2nd one would hypothetically show up if no-card soft SIMs were a real thing. Right now the 2nd signal bar is more a placeholder than anything.

Ah, zooming into that picture I can see three icons there, the first a wedge shape which might well be a strength meter, another one which I think has a stroke through it, and a final one which is mostly rectangular but with an uneven top edge which might well be a battery indicator. Is that Android, or is he running some Linux on it or other?

Why do I want someone to retake that same picture in an unlit closet?

It's not a picture, it's a rather shakey mobile phone video, but at 5 seconds in you can see what it looks like in the dark breifly:

But, yeah, max brightness on the keyboard is really bright. You should be able to see those keys in full sunlight! Oh, wait, umm.... Most of us will never keep them on that bright for anything but displaying the fact that it has a back lit keyboard, in a well lit convention hall.

That's Askarus' prototype unit, I assume. Maybe he's only keeping it on max brightness because it's not on the keyboard mappings yet and he hasn't investigated which /sys file to write to to fix it, but the fact he's not bothered to find that out and is living with it must say something.

 

[Grench]

Ah, zooming into that picture I can see three icons there, the first a wedge shape which might well be a strength meter, another one which I think has a stroke through it, and a final one which is mostly rectangular but with an uneven top edge which might well be a battery indicator. Is that Android, or is he running some Linux on it or other?

The wedge shaped one is WiFi signal strength. The cell connection icons look more like an inclined plane. Two of them sit between the WiFi signal meter and the battery meter on the 4G equipped model. That is the stock Gemini Android lock screen.

It's not a picture, it's a rather shakey mobile phone video, but at 5 seconds in you can see what it looks like in the dark breifly:

I've seen Pyra in the dark. What I would find more interesting would be a picture of those four units together in the dark, preferably from above. Kind of a highlight of keyboard backlighting. There have been several moments with the Gemini that I have had to tilt the screen down to see the markings - mostly for punctuation. Backlighting should be the norm not the exception on handhelds.

That's Askarus' prototype unit, I assume. Maybe he's only keeping it on max brightness because it's not on the keyboard mappings yet and he hasn't investigated which /sys file to write to to fix it, but the fact he's not bothered to find that out and is living with it must say something.

It is a bit disappointing that Askarus' prototype is the only Pyra being shown off. I know the reasons, but it would have been good to have a half dozen clear cased fully assembled prototypes to show off.

 

[levi]

I'm not sure a strictly overhead shot would really tell us anything we don't already know. You're unlikely to even get any reflections from the screen on an unlit keyboard at that angle, so only the Pyra's keyboard will show up. It might be a fun advertising approach, but it shouldn't actually be interesting to anyone who's been paying attention

Yeah, I'm also a little disappointed we haven't seen any clear prototypes yet. Turns out gamescom's been open to the public and this now is the third day, so everything should be set up now (as it looks on the photos we've seen to be fair). Perhaps ED and others are rushed off their feet serving interested customers to be able to find the time to test and assemble any prototypes, although getting half a dozen would be more than I ever really expected there to be at this event.

Edit: Seems I might have been posting unaware of recent developments at the show:

Evildragon17 wrote on twitter:
First sign of life of our own OS on the current prototype boards with 4GB RAM. Rotation is missing, but I can boot to the First Time Setup Doing this at the GamesCom hidden away in our booth.

Spoiler

 

[Grench]

Edit: Seems I might have been posting unaware of recent developments at the show:

I am no longer disappointed.

Is anyone else kind of thrilled to see the purple light rolling out of the left edge of the display cover? Clear lid seems to be acting as a light pipe for the lid LEDs. I like it.

 

[NetBLOKS]

I like the first run wizard on the Pyra!

 

[levi]

I like the first run wizard on the Pyra!

Yeah, referring to Pyra's box and the OpenPyra really shows the origins of this wizard.

Makes me wonder, mythically speaking, what happens when you open pyra's box. Maybe it unleashed extensive patience into the world.

 

[Askarus]

I finally made a proper background for the Pyra.
Visit us and be friends.

 

[rygD]

Can I have a Pyra?