An OMAP4 drop-in would probably be best, if for no other reason than the aforementioned compatibility. Anything less than a year seems wrong, but 3-5 for what's essentially an entirely internal replacement is a bit much. I'm also not sure we need a laundry list of improvements. FFS, it already has a full qwerty keyboard, dual analog nubs, a SNES controller's worth of buttons (in an identical configuration) on TOP of all that, a touch screen, dual SD slots, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB slave (I think) AND host, and a level of open source support only reached (and it's a distance second) by the button-less Touchbook (which, as you might guess, kinda sucks at playing games). Aside from a slightly faster chip, just what more does a homebrew handheld
need?
While I brought up the idea of a chip update in a year (keep in mind that most companies update their products or release new ones on a six-month cycle. Heck, even most Linux/Unix distros work on that interval), and only a chip update, it wasn't to ruin the experience for existing owners. I'm well aware of how annoying it is when development ceases on one platform to move onto another (I own two "A-100" generation NMT devices. Now that the PCH A-200 is out, there's very little chance that we'll ever see IDX/SUB support on the older models).
But would that really happen with this sort of upgrade?
We're talking going from the exact same screen and buttons that are already in the Pandora to a faster chip. Old software would work across both (especially given that I doubt we'll see an update for OpenGL ES 2.0 this year, and possibly not next), and new software would work just fine across both as well. About the only diff would come from performance edge cases (say, nullDC or Quake 3 derived games) where the updated model could benefit from nicer framerates. The thing is, we're not talking about a console or even an OS generational update. The Angstrom OS the Pandora runs on is light enough that we really don't need to worry about potential bloat in new software. Plus given that this is a community and not a company
fiending to get rid of old hardware, I can't imagine we'd see new apps that aren't compatible with the current model, or even OS updates for that matter (How could it? It's the OPEN Pandora. They're not gonna REMOVE drivers from future updates, there'd be more backlash than it would be worth). There's also something that seems to be ignored by the "Why bother buying this one when there's an update coming?" crowd. Why does it even need to replace the Pandora? Maybe the OMAP4 model comes at a price premium, and they're both sold side-by-side. People who need program X to run 20% faster (or can't go fifteen seconds without playing the 1080p movies they have stored on their 2.5" USB drive on the 480p screen
) go for OMAP4, everyone else just buys the OMAP3 Pandora. It's not a cell phone by Apple, "upgrade" doesn't mean "kill the old one", it means "multiple market segments".
It's a hand-held gaming device. The screen, while bloody AWESOME for gaming and watching movies, really sucks for a desktop environment (IM, office, web browsing). Why does a 4" screen even
need to do that? Does it really need Compiz? Does it really need extra fluff in the interface that can't be handled by updating the loader? (and I can't imagine the loader getting an update that the OMAP3 would flinch at, especially given that it all hides away when the game starts running) Does it really need a sharper screen? The Pandora's already got a higher DPI than the bloody KINDLE (800x600 vs 800x480, but at a smaller screen size). It almost doesn't need anti-aliasing the screen's so sharp.
I'm not saying this even needs to happen in the first place. The Pandora is
just about to start shipping, so I'm sure it'll be about a year before an internal update even comes into an honest dialogue.
I'm just saying it would be pretty neat.
