Pandora 2, A Year Or So From Now?

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

The slider form factor is patented, and OP is not going to cough up the royalties to use it.

Which is completely reasonable. However, I hope whatever device is the Pandora's spiritual successor when said patent expires will consider such a form factor.

 

[SNESFAN]

The clamshell design is the best for the Pandora. It is the most practical because it allows for the largest possible screen, keyboard and battery without compromising gamecontrols or connectivity. If you want something between a portable console and a netbook then this is the only way to do it well. The Pandora is designed to be unique, not do be as all the other devices.

BTW, the only Zaurus pics I can find are also clamshell.

this right here is 1000% of the reason I bought it, not saying I'd jump ship if I found something else, but for me, this is by far the main selling point... and there's not any competition AFAIK

 

[WizardStan]

Which is completely reasonable. However, I hope whatever device is the Pandora's spiritual successor when said patent expires will consider such a form factor.

We should be on Pandora 5 or 6 by then, and I'm not sure the sliding or the 180 degree rotation will be the best form at that time.

 

[Username]

This topic is kinda late, Pandora 2 has already been discussed many a time before.

 

[Awakening]

This topic is kinda late, Pandora 2 has already been discussed many a time before.

Yepp, which is why I'm not gonna bother everyone again with my requests Now I want my Pandora in my hands so I can better see what I'm missing.

I think a Power upgrade is better called 1.5 or something else other then 2. If they are going to say "this can do everything the first one can, and full speed DC" it's just going to feel like an upgrade, nothing revolutionizing.

 

[EmuGuy]

Why would we need a new one a year from now when we've not even remotely scratched the surface of what THIS one can do?

This. Pandora as it is now should suit me for several years.

 

[Night]

I suppose Usage of the Intel Atom Processor instead of ARM means the current design will have to go trough drastic changes for a Pandora 2..
Which is too bad, or am I wrong somewhere?.

Anyway, since I wasn't there for the older topics about a Pandora 2, here are my suggestions:

1. Ethernet (as mentioned before)
2. USB3 (as mentioned before as well)
3. An SSD drive somehow connected to the Pandora using ether an add-on or some future on board option/hack (not sure about this one)
4. A case modification that allows rotation of the screen in order to allow the screen to lay on top of the keyboard allowing a somewhat similar experience to a Tablet PC.
5. A multi-touch screen (not sure about how useful this can be)
6. Motion Sensing ability (could be fun)

From what I know, Pandora add-ons are already possible using the existing UART port, if its true, then i guess usage of homebrew hardware for the Pandora is already possible (right?)

 

[Caine]

I suppose Usage of the Intel Atom Processor instead of ARM means the current design will have to go trough drastic changes for a Pandora 2..
Which is too bad, or am I wrong somewhere?.

You're wrong in your assumption that having Atom is better than ARM. Power consumption of the Atom platform is considerably higher that that of ARM. X86 compatibility is overrated.

> 4. A case modification that allows rotation of the screen in order to allow the screen to lay on top of the keyboard allowing a somewhat similar experience to a Tablet PC.

This is covered by patents and therefore very unlikely.

> 6. Motion Sensing ability (could be fun)

A small 2D or 3D accelerometer would be nice for automatic screen rotation and some games.

 

[klikklak]

A Pixel-Qi screen, I think I'll be buying whoever (NanoNote?) comes up with a similar device with one of those.

 

[WizardStan]

3. An SSD drive somehow connected to the Pandora using ether an add-on or some future on board option/hack (not sure about this one)

You can already do this via USB.

5. A multi-touch screen (not sure about how useful this can be)

Multi-touch is just one of the differences between capacitive and resistive screens. There are pros and cons to both, and in my opinion, the pros of a resistive screen outweigh the multi-touch of a capacitive one. Fortunately, there are multi-touch resistive screens being prototyped and demoed right now, so maybe in a few years the tech will be mature enough, but I wouldn't count on it.

From what I know, Pandora add-ons are already possible using the existing UART port, if its true, then i guess usage of homebrew hardware for the Pandora is already possible (right?)

It's actually got 3 UART ports that are also general purpose IO pins coming out the EXT port. Originally there was going to be I2C lines as well, but those had to be appropriated elsewhere in the system. So sad, but the Pandora is powerful enough that it should be able to emulate I2C on the GPIO lines. It'd make for an interesting experiment, at any rate.

 

[Exophase]

No, it's more of "a definite roadmap" vs "whenever it makes sense". Right now, it doesn't make sense, and nobody can predict when it will.

The vibe I've been getting from craigix is that they'll start working on a revision about as fast as they can get an OMAP4, which craigix believes will be far enough in the future to be a suitable gap. What he's describing as suitable is about 2 years. If you don't count the 3G release of iPhone as a core hardware upgrade - which you shouldn't - then there were actually 2 years between release of the original iPhone and the 3GS.

craigix's statements, especially the reference to how Apple's doing things, shows that he intends to have an upgrade path determined by market availability and desire to stay competitive with other devices, not by user response or any kind of harder practical determinations.

 

[Exophase]

I suppose Usage of the Intel Atom Processor instead of ARM means the current design will have to go trough drastic changes for a Pandora 2..
Which is too bad, or am I wrong somewhere?.

Why do you think they intend on moving to Atom?

 

[Monk]

I suppose Usage of the Intel Atom Processor instead of ARM

Where did THAT come from???

 

[Night]

Why do you think they intend on moving to Atom?

I wasn't, I was just thinking about suggesting that and posted what was concerning my mind so that someone might explain it better.
Caine explained the reason why they shouldn't move to Atom, so now I understand better.

..The part with the small processor supporting X86 caught my attention, didn't know it was just overrated.

 

[Exophase]

I wasn't, I was just thinking about suggesting that and posted what was concerning my mind so that someone might explain it better.
Caine explained the reason why they shouldn't move to Atom, so now I understand better.

..The part with the small processor supporting X86 caught my attention, didn't know it was just overrated.

I think the real reason they won't (or at least shouldn't) want to move to Atom is because it'll make maintaining compatibility/seamless transition much harder.

 

[craigix]

I hope we will make an OMAP4 Pandora, but as I've said, the OMAP4 isn't even available as a development kit yet. It's at least 2 years off for something like a Pandora 2.

The only way for us to stay in business - (and to stay cutting edge, you all want that, right?) - is to keep trying to move to the latest tech quickly.

I'm sure in 2 years time when you can see the Dreamcast emulation possibilities of an OMAP4 you will be interested, then add on 2 months...

 

[Farox]

uhmm OMAP4 or MARVELL ARMADA 618 ?

From the Spec :

ARMv7 @1Ghz
API DirectX, Open GL ES 2.0 e Open VG 1.1
support Linux, Android & Windows Mobile.

 

[MarkoeZ]

I hope we will make an OMAP4 Pandora, SNIP
I'm sure in 2 years time when you can see the Dreamcast emulation possibilities of an OMAP4 you will be interested, then add on 2 months...

LMAO, but please, make it 8 weeks then, i can't stand 2 months anymore

 

[willrandship]

NO NO NO NO GOOD GOD NO! Micro SD is great for devices that don't have the space for a full sized SD card. If the device can fit a full sized SD card, there is absolutely no reason to put in a micro and many reasons not to.

But but but but... in the space used by 2 SD slots, you could have 6 micro-SD slots!

not possible. Read above posts, board can only handle 2 SDs.

How about this? Build yourself a clip on shell with a usb hub that has microSD readers built in? Or better yet! Plug in the FREE adapter that comes with every microsd in exsistence!

Why are you so latched on it? It's way too pricey, and the only reason it exists is for the reason quoted above yours!

 

[craigix]

How about 12 weeks, then that gives us something to work backwards from.