How Long Before The Pandora Becomes "nothing Special"?

[Tobs]

Technology aside, getting such a community full of budding developers and linux buds is something noone else is going to have any time soon.
If Nintendo ever try open up the DS for us homebrew type, it'll be over run with a thousand kids who want to make their own games.
Plus no UPMC has analog controls, or 10 hours of battery life.
From pretty much every angle, the Pandora's way ahead of the game.

Tobs

 

[mali]

don't be too sure. x86 killed basically every competing architecture - and there were some phenomenally great ones. m68k, mips, sparc, ppc, dec alpha - heck even itanium couldn't survive. the x86 compatibility circuitry takes up less die space than you might think - about 10% for the atom if i am not mistaken. with the current atom intel made its first attempt into the mobile market and ook how far it has cur already. 2 or 3 iterations later and all cell phones might be x86 based. that's what i think will happen at least.

Intel once loud-mouthed announced to take over the smartphone market with their Atom CPU, but they failed completely Multi-core Cortex A9 will be an Atom-killer and ARM's strategical alliance with Canonical to optimize Ubuntu for ARM devices will help pushing Linux into mainstream and set Intel further under pressure, because Windows XP just takes too much resources. And using Linux on Atom devices would take away the Windows-software advantage.

 

[OrR]

Considering that next year there'll be a deluge of ARM-netbooks coming out, how long do you think it'll be before the Pandora is considered nothing special in terms of specs and capability? Since we won't be seeing it in our own hands for a month or two, could another ARM device steal its thunder in that time?

Specs and capability? Right now.


Size and controls? Possibly never.

(PS, it isn't a Netbook, unless there are netbooks the size of a Nintendo DS. I might call my Toshiba Librettos "netbooks", I used them to play emulated Sega Genesis games 3+ years ago, and they ran full Windows, I even had mine on DOS/98 with a CompactFlash card for a Hard drive.)

That pretty much sums it up. With the Zodiac, it took five years for a competitor to show up.

 

[mechanizeddeath]

If I had a tinfoil hat, I'd say that certain companies were getting nervous about Pandora and trying their best to delay it until it is nothing special. DDOS attacks, buying up LCD supplies, bribing FedEx, feeding disinformation to banks. They've got a "new" and grossly underspecced version of the PSP to sell, after all.

But I don't have a tinfoil hat.



I don't either, but the sheer amount of roadblocks tossed our way seem out of the ordinary. But I've never followed a situation like this, maybe it's normal for banks to go crazy, shipments to be delayed or destroyed, supplies to get bought up suddenly, and DDoS attacks to occur.

So maybe it is just the way it is.

 

[MDave]

If I had a tinfoil hat, I'd say that certain companies were getting nervous about Pandora and trying their best to delay it until it is nothing special. DDOS attacks, buying up LCD supplies, bribing FedEx, feeding disinformation to banks. They've got a "new" and grossly underspecced version of the PSP to sell, after all.

But I don't have a tinfoil hat.



I don't either, but the sheer amount of roadblocks tossed our way seem out of the ordinary. But I've never followed a situation like this, maybe it's normal for banks to go crazy, shipments to be delayed or destroyed, supplies to get bought up suddenly, and DDoS attacks to occur.

So maybe it is just the way it is.


I wouldn't be surprised From the business studies I used to do at high school, those kinds of things are possible. Big companies will try to take advantage of anything, loop holes in the legal system, really anything to slow down or stop potential competition.

 

[truekaiser]

You really ought to re check the definition of "vaporware" because it has long been proven not to be.

vaporware is a product that is promised but not delivered.
just because the devs have dev boards does not mean you /will/ get your retail unit.

 

[joseluisjazz]

You really ought to re check the definition of "vaporware" because it has long been proven not to be.

vaporware is a product that is promised but not delivered.

...yet

Actually, that would be de definition of a pre-order.

Vaporware is more like if you're sayin' you have developed something, and you try to fake it, but you don't have a damn thing. The team has some pretty cooking happening in the kitchen, And the cake will be ready to eat when it is done, because people don't like half-made cakes. Furthermore, we've smelled it in the oven and it smells fucking good...

yummy

 

[mechanizeddeath]

vaporware is a product that is promised but not delivered.

I prefer the vaporware definition found on Wikipedia. Particularly the last line:

QUOTE
Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product. The term implies unwarranted optimism, an as yet unannounced abandonment of a project, or sometimes even deception; that is, it may imply that the announcer knows that product development is in too early a stage to support responsible statements about its completion date, feature set, or even feasibility. However, most vaporware would not be considered a hoax since the makers have a genuine intention to create their product, even if it ultimately never materializes. Products with unspecified release dates or long development times that outwardly demonstrate regular, verifiable progress in production are not normally labelled vaporware.

 

[Svartalf]

I think that CES 09 will some devices that could give Pandora some competition.

I will state it AGAIN...unless it's got a Cortex-A8/A9 CPU (or in it's class...) with at least the SGX 530 in GPU power, coupled with a DSP in the same class as the TI DaVinci (This means something on the order of the OMAP3 or the Snapdragon, a design that only taped prototype silicon out in JUNE of this year...) you do NOT have "something that could give Pandora some competition". Seriously.

 

[mali]

I started writing a lengthy post yesterday, describing where Pandora is placed among those many different devices, but I discarded it. When Pandora is out, it will be easier to make it clear. 300g of brute force with a power draw of a small flashlight

 

[Svartalf]

I don't either, but the sheer amount of roadblocks tossed our way seem out of the ordinary. But I've never followed a situation like this, maybe it's normal for banks to go crazy, shipments to be delayed or destroyed, supplies to get bought up suddenly, and DDoS attacks to occur.

Heh... I thought I'd address this reading back through the thread...

The "sheer amount of roadblocks" we've seen have little to do with anything other than they typical comedy of errors ongoing with any new product development (you just don't typically get to SEE the "fun" like you're doing here...)- I should know, I've been involved with that sort of thing for about the last 6+ years now. Couple that with a global economic slowdown, typical Internet idiocy, etc. and you've got the story here.

QUOTE
So maybe it is just the way it is.


Heh... Yeah, it's just the way things happen. No need to ascribe to malice what can adequately be ascribed to an ordinary SNAFU situation. There's a reason why many don't go into business and why most businesses fail within the first year or so.

 

[CandidStan]

Am i the only one who wants ARM to win this sudden netbook/mobile handheld war and for intel to gtfo with x86?

Wow, you actually think the ARM could support all those good lookin high cpu usage games everyone likes to play? x86 is the only way, even fucking APPLE has switched to Intel, they have officially won. I like having a high powered netbook that can run steam games and such.

 

[Drack]

Am i the only one who wants ARM to win this sudden netbook/mobile handheld war and for intel to gtfo with x86?

Wow, you actually think the ARM could support all those good lookin high cpu usage games everyone likes to play? x86 is the only way, even fucking APPLE has switched to Intel, they have officially won. I like having a high powered netbook that can run steam games and such.

Gamers are not the intended netbook audience.

 

[sindbad]

Am i the only one who wants ARM to win this sudden netbook/mobile handheld war and for intel to gtfo with x86?

Wow, you actually think the ARM could support all those good lookin high cpu usage games everyone likes to play? x86 is the only way, even fucking APPLE has switched to Intel, they have officially won. I like having a high powered netbook that can run steam games and such.

x86 is not inherently very powerful, it's just popular. All those good looking games could run just fine on an A8 and most certainly on an A9. Apple switched to intel because of bootcamp mostly.

 

[closetwam]

I don't think Pandora will ever become "nothing special". It is a landmark project, due to it's open nature and community focus. The Panda will have a special place in my mind for the remainder of my existence =)

 

[Brockway]

Perhaps when the Nokia N900 or whatever is launched. If it were to use the same OMAP3 as the Pandora, roughly the same sliding form factor as the N810, and have dual SDHC slots, along with 10+ hours battery life. But thats really just if you want to use the Pandora as a UMPC replacement. I really do like my N800, its just soooo dang slow.

 

[tazg]

What really makes it special is that it's not all about making money. If that ever becomes nothing special (the norm) it's nothing to be concerned about. As for specs, I believe it's literally impossible to pack better specs into a handheld without making serious compromises.

 

[PoisonedV]

i think it would be easy to usurp the pandora in terms of power, gaming controls, or even open sourceness. but no ones going to attempt it.

 

[closetwam]

i think it would be easy to usurp the pandora in terms of power, gaming controls, or even open sourceness. but no ones going to attempt it.

I don't think it would be easy, at least not in all three categories. In terms of power, I'm sure the Pandora will be usurped in the very near future. It's unlikely that a more versatile controller will grace a handheld anytime soon. And Beagle Board is arguably more "open" than the Pandora already. If the Pandora takes off a bigger company might attempt to introduce a competitor, but it would be miraculous if it was anywhere near as "open". It certainly won't be community based. You guys wrote the book on the Pandora, and I'm completely fascinated by what you came up with. It's sad that it took a project like this to show that there is a market for such a beast, but I'm filled with hope that such a thing is being accomplished by an independent dev team and a community of supporters. Awesome.

 

[Svartalf]

x86 is not inherently very powerful, it's just popular. All those good looking games could run just fine on an A8 and most certainly on an A9. Apple switched to intel because of bootcamp mostly.

You've got that backwards... Bootcamp was done because they switched to X86.

For the record, Apple didn't move to X86 because it was intrinsically better. It's not.

IBM couldn't supply mobile G5 parts that were credible against the Intel lineup at the time.