Our New Machine, Pandora

[deathterrapin]

I was thinking mainly of games that might use them, there are flight sims, strategy games etc that we might be able to emulate that make use of just about every key on the keyboard, and function key combos are really awkward in that case.
Also some masochists might want to try and code on the thing

I suppose it is a rather small niche, but if the keyboard is the full width of the device then it would only make the difference between about 10 and 12 mm keys. personlly i'd much prefer the slightly smaller keys to get a proper keyboard layout.

 

[Alex.]

RTS games that use [ ] ; ' # \ / ? Things sure have changed since StarCraft

 

[Squidge]

I suppose it is a rather small niche, but if the keyboard is the full width of the device then it would only make the difference between about 10 and 12 mm keys. personlly i'd much prefer the slightly smaller keys to get a proper keyboard layout.

Personally, I'd prefer usable keys that I can press with my fat fingers than ones which you need a stylus for

Did someone say, touchscreen?

 

[Eolair]

Eolair's design, and talk of two analog sticks inspired me to try my hand at a mockup:

It's much rougher on details than Eolair's, was just trying to get a feel for the aspect ratio and possible control arrangement. Obviously Dualshock inspired, and adding a few more buttons, keeping in mind possible vertical play with the dpad. Comments and suggestions welcome.

You know what might be truly revolutionary? A trackball on the right side instead of a second joystick. Am I crazy?

PS... the pixel dimensions on the screen in the above mockup are exactly half... 400x240. So the real thing would be twice as sharp in both directions, quadruple the total pixels overall.

It's a nice design. Similar to mine but looks cooler because the screen covers almost the entire front. Did you consider the scale of things though? The screen is 4.3" and only 53mm in height which is the same as on the GP2X.

When shrinking the height of the device like that you also have to shrink everything else as well. Your device is only 60mm in height and your buttons only 6mm in diameter. I think that might be too small to be comfortable on a gaming handheld. In comparison the GP2X has 8mm buttons and the PSP 8.5mm buttons.

To better see the difficulty, look at the screen of your GP2X and imagine cutting off what's above and below the screen protector. That's 60mm and is the height you've given yourself to fit the controls inside.

 

[fusion_power]

I'm only browsing with Opera. For my taste, its easier to use than Firefox. And because I have to surf with an slow 56K Modem, Opera is perfect for slow Internet connections because I can disable graphics, plugins an java/script of websites just with on or 2 clicks. I've not found such an easy option in Firefox yet. Without all that stuff, an website loads as fast as with DSL I can tell.

I don't know much about the needed processor power of the browsers but in my opinion, we shouldn't say "OMAP is so powerful, so we can use evcery hardware-hungry browser." On a mobile device, the goal should be OPTIMIZED Software, which means less processor power , underclocking and long battery life so I would choose an application which needs as less processor power as possible. And I prefer optimized Software, sadly, this is rare those days, especially on the PC. Everyone seems to be waiting for more powerful hardware to make dirty coded, unoptimized Software run, nobody optimizes Software for the existing hardware. But for Consoles this is the main goal. Compare the first games of an Console with the last games, often there is an difference like day and night, that's wat I want to see. And I hope this will be the way for the Handheld to.


Other theme: I know, the new handheld can do nearly every 2D Console perfectly, and PSX and maybe N64. Many older 3D Shooters from PC of course and so on. But whats with MAME? I mean, what MAME Version we could run on the new Device? Still an old revision or just an port of the newest MAME builds? Which Games are possible? R-Type for sure, maybe NBA Jam, NBA Hangtime/Maximum Hangtime? Maybe RADIANT SILVERGUN?

 

[javaJake]

What's wrong with Firefox? I assume 128MB should be enough..

I don't like firefox. Perhaps Opera, if there's a port for ARM Linux somewhere.

Hmmm...

http://www.opera.com/products/devices/evalkit/index.dml


Well, Opera was designed for devices. It's light, it's fast. Firefox was never really meant to run on smaller devices. It's true, though that it costs to use it. I'm not sure I'd pay for Opera if we can get Firefox running nicely on it instead, considering the power at our disposal. Muhahahahaha! B) Edit: I do acknowledge that Firefox isn't the best option since it isn't optimized, but it's free.

It's really a matter of whether or not we want to pay for it or not, since Opera really is better on devices.

By the way, most reported memory "leaks" in Firefox in pre-v2 versions are not leaks at all! It is in fact a feature of Firefox, in which Firefox caches the pages in memory for faster loading of those pages later in your session. You can change it in about:config somewhere.


I just had a thought - why not have both? We could have Opera at launch, and Firefox could be ported later.

I don't know much about the needed processor power of the browsers but in my opinion, we shouldn't say "OMAP is so powerful, so we can use evcery hardware-hungry browser." On a mobile device, the goal should be OPTIMIZED Software, which means less processor power , underclocking and long battery life so I would choose an application which needs as less processor power as possible.

Too true... another reason to get Opera. If we want to pay.

 

[Vimacs]

meh , you dont "have" to pay, we can just fetch the bin from one of the countless other arm devices.

 

[fusion_power]

I don't know much about the needed processor power of the browsers but in my opinion, we shouldn't say "OMAP is so powerful, so we can use evcery hardware-hungry browser." On a mobile device, the goal should be OPTIMIZED Software, which means less processor power , underclocking and long battery life so I would choose an application which needs as less processor power as possible.

Too true... another reason to get Opera. If we want to pay.


Hmm...yes, I think Opera costs money when you want to use it on mobile devices. Well, isn't there any good Linux Browser besides Firefox? Whats with this "Conqueror" thing? People always tell me, Linux is much better than Windows so there shold be an perfect browser for linux to. And if not, maybe someone want to code a simple browser for the new devcice? Could be part of the firmware or so. So this Browser could fit perfectly for the handheld.

 

[javaJake]

People always tell me, Linux is much better than Windows so there shold be an perfect browser for linux to.

This is illogical - just because Linux is better doesn't mean every corner of the Linux software world is filled to perfection.

And if not, maybe someone want to code a simple browser for the new devcice?

Developing a new browser takes a long time.

There is Universe v3 being developed for the Palm OS v5, and Palm OS v5 runs on ARM processors. Maybe we could use that? Or at least we could look at UniverseCore, the renderer behind the whole thing, which is open-source AFAIK.

Could be part of the firmware or so. So this Browser could fit perfectly for the handheld.

I'm not sure I like this idea either. Firmware requires flashing - something that can brick a device if not done properly. I'd like a fool-proof upgrade system instead where you merely copy in the new binaries.

Edit: ...or maybe not.

meh , you dont "have" to pay, we can just fetch the bin from one of the countless other arm devices.

You mean, from opera.com right? We aren't going to break any license agreements are we?

 

[fusion_power]

Developing a new browser takes a long time.

There is Universe v3 being developed for the Palm OS v5, and Palm OS v5 runs on ARM processors. UniverseCore, the renderer behind the whole thing, is open-source AFAIK.

Sounds promising.
I don't know if it is complicated to code a browser, I'm not a coder. But I know, what people here coded for the GP2X and I can't imagine, that an simple tiny "thing to browse in the Internet" should be more complicated than an Emulator or an entire Game. ^^""" If people can do entire PSX and GBA emulators for the GP2X I'm sure, people can do great browsers for the new Handheld.

...yes, Browser in the Firmware is actually an bad idea. ^^"""

 

[Orkie]

Why is a browser in the firmware a bad idea? You install browsers on your desktop Linux OS, so why is it any different?

 

[javaJake]

Why is a browser in the firmware a bad idea? You install browsers on your desktop Linux OS, so why is it any different?

Because the firmware is required to boot the thing. If the firmware is improperly written or whatever, the whole thing won't boot, whereas a browser "installed" doesn't affect the firmware to the point of no return.

Edit: ...or maybe not.

 

[sam fisher]

Why is a browser in the firmware a bad idea? You install browsers on your desktop Linux OS, so why is it any different?

Because the firmware is required to boot the thing. If the firmware is improperly written or whatever, the whole thing won't boot, whereas a browser "installed" doesn't affect the firmware to the point of no return.

You confuse the terms bios and firmware.

 

[Orkie]

Because the firmware is required to boot the thing. If the firmware is improperly written or whatever, the whole thing won't boot, whereas a browser "installed" doesn't affect the firmware to the point of no return.

Please don't try and educate me on the meaning of 'firmware' .

 

[sam fisher]

Javajake, you should know that Orkie has written his own firmware for GP2x

 

[Squidge]

Javajake, you should know that Orkie has written his own firmware for GP2x

Really? I thought he was hacking up a Linux OS for the GP2X, not writing his own firmware

 

[Javacat]

Maybe something like Dillo would be a better option to use as a web browser on this new console. There is also Konqueror embedded.

 

[cj1138]

About the browser...

Nokia is developing a Gecko-based browser called "MicroB" for their OMAP-based 770/N800 Internet Tablet devices. It might come in handy.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS8360022837.html

http://browser.garage.maemo.org/

 

[Null]

Maybe something like Dillo would be a better option to use as a web browser on this new console..



Read my previous thoughts

It may require more work than people want to put in. h34r:

 

[Javacat]

Maybe something like Dillo would be a better option to use as a web browser on this new console..



Read my previous thoughts

It may require more work than people want to put in. h34r:

Silly me :unsure:

Edit: Still, after reading about Konqueror embedded, that does sound quite interesting.