Microphone

[OrR]

Yeah, but integrated webcams ARE worthy of derision. Because they''re not really as useful as a keyboard, gaming controls, or a microphone.

edit:
torpor said:
"A camera could be good for Pandora2 for things like vision-based control systems, object recognition, and stuff like that. I mean, it *could* be useful for new generations of games that use computer vision in interesting ways."

Actually, I had the EyeToy for PS2 for that exact purpose. It was horrible. Never again.

I also haven't seen too many games that would profit from a camera but on a portable device, it is at least much more useful than a static cam like the EyeToy. For example, this is awesome: CODE
http://toyspring.com/arcade/
I want an accelerometer more than I want a camera, though. Also, GPS, compass, solar panel, fuel cell, coffee maker, ...

 

[SuperRoach]

An update too - although propritary, it was possible to use a windows based program to be a server for a s60 based phone app. this would connect over wifi, and stream the webcam at fairly good quality.

 

[Monk]

yes, which is why a USB camera about the shape of a flash stick would be great. I think these exist, and they seem a lot more useful than an integrated one.

I believe they do, and suspect they're mentioned in a thread here...err...somewhere. It's pretty much what I assumed you were thinking of in terms of connecting a USB camera to the Pandora, and a USB stick is decidely more convenient than many other shapes (though obviously not as convenient as built-in - a USB stick is easier to forget or lose than an entire Pandora, for example).

I suppose in the end it's the dev team's choice, really. We'll have to wait and see. <_< It seems useful, but I just don't think it's useful enough.

Well, that choice got made already and I hope the Pandora remains fairly constant for a couple of years at least

 

[WizardStan]

By the same token, couldn't we have eschewed the gaming controls and let people attache their own favourite console controllers via USB?

Not exactly. The purpose of the Pandora, to give it the most basic purpose I can think of, is to be portable. Requiring an external game pad or keyboard kills that right off. It'd be like removing the screen, saying you don't need it because it can plug into any video device.
A webcam, on the other hand, is small enough that it can be attached externally without sacrificing the portability. They come in sizes as small as thumb drives now.
To be fair, by this logic the microphone and speakers could have also been left out (favoring an external setup) but the cost of including these inside is almost nothing, as opposed to an included camera which would push you at least $15 (or up to 3 times more) for anything decent.

 

[Monk]

By the same token, couldn't we have eschewed the gaming controls and let people attache their own favourite console controllers via USB?

Not exactly. The purpose of the Pandora, to give it the most basic purpose I can think of, is to be portable. Requiring an external game pad or keyboard kills that right off. It'd be like removing the screen, saying you don't need it because it can plug into any video device.
A webcam, on the other hand, is small enough that it can be attached externally without sacrificing the portability. They come in sizes as small as thumb drives now.
To be fair, by this logic the microphone and speakers could have also been left out (favoring an external setup) but the cost of including these inside is almost nothing, as opposed to an included camera which would push you at least $15 (or up to 3 times more) for anything decent.

I'm not sure that you and I disagree enough for me to take the "devil's advocate" approach much further, except that I'd debate that both keyboard and game controls are NECESSARY to the Pandora's ability to be portable. There have been a good deal of portable devices without keyboards (for example, the WIZ due out "soon" and the PSP and...) and quite a few keyboard-based devices that don't have digital gaming controls AND analog "nubs"...

To be honest, the microphone is a bit of an irritant to me, as I'm unlikely to make much use of a mic that doesn't have noise reduction capability built in (which I assume it doesn't, being a cheap "almost free" component). The keyboard and gaming controls are both of considerable interest to me (well, the keyboard is more of a concern since it turned out to be a mobile phone/remote control keyboard rather than a "nice" keycapped one - it will either work for me or I will have to carry around a keyboard in addition, or dump a whole pile of what I was buying the Pandora for), but I can see how not BOTH will be of vital importance to everyone - there may VERY easily be some of us to whom a camera would be as important or more important than ONE of the other devices.

And... stuff in my pockets tends to get crushed or lost. We are, in fact, about to set out on a marathon hunt for my blasted MP3 player again - and that has headphones attached!

A USB camera looks like a must-have purchase for me, and if my Pandora ever arrives I'll probably get one. In the meantime I'm likely to buy some kind of camera-enabled netbook this week just because I'm fed up of waiting with no end in sight for my pocket pc replacement

I also haven't seen too many games that would profit from a camera but on a portable device, it is at least much more useful than a static cam like the EyeToy. For example, this is awesome: CODE
http://toyspring.com/arcade/
I want an accelerometer more than I want a camera, though. Also, GPS, compass, solar panel, fuel cell, coffee maker, ...

From a very VERY quick look, conceptually at least... that looks like FAR too much fun to be legal. You now have me picturing myself walking along with a handheld device shooting everyone else on the streets - hopefully not encountering anyone else playing the same game in an online "my process got killed because I got 'shot' on the streets" kind of way.

 

[cools]

My PDA has a camera, which I've used all of about 3 times. The Pandora is replacing the PDA.

Fortunately my phone has a far better camera than any PDA/laptop, so no problem.

Also, a netbook to replace a Pocket PC? :blink: Slight difference in form factor there, unless you're not one who carries it in your pocket.

Pandora + mobile phone = perfect combination, complement each other exactly.

 

[Monk]

My PDA has a camera, which I've used all of about 3 times. The Pandora is replacing the PDA.

Yeah, my Pandora was meant to do pretty much that last year too

Fortunately my phone has a far better camera than any PDA/laptop, so no problem.

My phone has no camera - curiously enough in part because I said "Well I don't need a camera on my phone do I? How stupid would THAT be? Such a waste!"

Also, a netbook to replace a Pocket PC? :blink: Slight difference in form factor there, unless you're not one who carries it in your pocket.

I have some pretty big pockets, but I am hoping that the netbook will work particlaly as a fill-in for the Pandora while I wait (and wait and wait) so I want the device to be different enough to the Pandora to give it some kind of use after the pandy arrives (assuming it does). But each month I forgoe buying something that's ACTUALLY available is another month where, err, I am basically depriving myself just because OP can't give realistic time estimates (if I'd known the Pandora still would not be out by now I would have bought a Netbook in September, see).

Pandora + mobile phone = perfect combination, complement each other exactly.

Well, with YOUR phone maybe. Mine doesn't have a camera or bluetooth or tethering - because what I wanted was a phone. That would be mobile. Kinda like, I dunno - a mobile phone. So that's what I have

 

[Exophase]

I'm not sure that you and I disagree enough for me to take the "devil's advocate" approach much further, except that I'd debate that both keyboard and game controls are NECESSARY to the Pandora's ability to be portable. There have been a good deal of portable devices without keyboards (for example, the WIZ due out "soon" and the PSP and...) and quite a few keyboard-based devices that don't have digital gaming controls AND analog "nubs"...

To be honest, the microphone is a bit of an irritant to me, as I'm unlikely to make much use of a mic that doesn't have noise reduction capability built in (which I assume it doesn't, being a cheap "almost free" component). The keyboard and gaming controls are both of considerable interest to me (well, the keyboard is more of a concern since it turned out to be a mobile phone/remote control keyboard rather than a "nice" keycapped one - it will either work for me or I will have to carry around a keyboard in addition, or dump a whole pile of what I was buying the Pandora for), but I can see how not BOTH will be of vital importance to everyone - there may VERY easily be some of us to whom a camera would be as important or more important than ONE of the other devices.

The devices with keyboards and no gaming controls suck for playing games (in particular console style games and emulators) and the devices with gaming controls and no keyboards suck for doing things that utilize textual input. Pandora is trying to be good at both of these things, which is something nothing else is trying to do.

Why do you care if it has a microphone? If you don't like it then just pretend it isn't there, I doubt you'll ever notice it. A microphone is a lot cheaper than a camera, withholding it wouldn't save much of anything.

 

[WizardStan]

Well, with YOUR phone maybe. Mine doesn't have a camera or bluetooth or tethering - because what I wanted was a phone. That would be mobile. Kinda like, I dunno - a mobile phone. So that's what I have
You can still get those? :blink:
Seriously, a friend of mine is in need of a new phone, and between the two of us we've investigated over 50 phones, and every single one had a camera and bluetooth. I was starting to think they just didn't make basic, phone-only phones. At least not to market them. I'm sure they exist, but try finding a store that carries one.

 

[typs lik dis]

^Haven't you heard of the Jitterbug? It's a phone for old people. (or trial attorneys?) There are operators, a dial tone, and your family can enter their phone numbers for you on the internet; it's only $30/month for 60 minutes of talk time! I don't think anyone cares enough to unlock it.

Seriously, why not just smash or duct-tape over it if you need to go places with a phone but not a camera? You could turn off the bluetooth in software. Oh, or find an old used phone on eBay! Even unlocked ones shouldn't be terribly expensive.

 

[WizardStan]

I'm not saying that we need a phone without a camera or bluetooth, I just find it funny that these features seem to have become so standard that to get a phone without them constitutes a special order.
Unlike the Pandora where a camera is an unnecessary cost that has been thankfully left out

 

[lulzfish]

That's how the market works. It would be too expensive for a phone to not have a camera, and lose all the revenue from people who want one.

edit: And laptops are are becoming funny shapes. It infuriates me.

 

[danielliu88888]

i hate those macbook hinges

 

[DigitalWings]

I'm not saying that we need a phone without a camera or bluetooth, I just find it funny that these features seem to have become so standard that to get a phone without them constitutes a special order.
Unlike the Pandora where a camera is an unnecessary cost that has been thankfully left out

I think that actually because both blue tooth and a camera are apart of the 3G standard so I phone can't be 3G unless it has them.

 

[Chip]

I think that actually because both blue tooth and a camera are apart of the 3G standard so I phone can't be 3G unless it has them.
3G just means "third generation". It only refers to the generation of the network, and is not even really a standard. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with whether or not a phone has BT or a camera.

This thread has gone wildly off topic and no longer has anything to do with the Pandora. The OP's questions have been answered, so this thread is now closed.