Pandora 2 Concept

[peca]

Time show as what coming up. But beside new OMAP or other powerful and low power consume SoC, USB 3.0 and ratable display, I really like to get some digital HD video out. (Mini)Displayport or its successor at best. DVI is too big and HDMI sucks. Even if displayport will be designed as daughter board swappable with LCD lid.

Reversible (open, rotate and close with LCD on top) LCD with a few buttons around will be neat. Especially for reading books, comics or play game only for stylus (touch screen).

AFAIK, displayport may be possible (but not expectable) even now, if top case was redesigned and daughter board was designed and manufactured.

 

[kin]

Hehe, I played Quake II completely through on my N800 using the screen as touchpad
On the left side of the screen is the dpad and the right thumb is used as mouse.
I think it would work best to use a thumb on a touchpad or optical pointer on such a small device instead of a finger, so carpal tunnel syndrome couldn't happen. A very sensitive and small capacitive touchpad on the right side of the device or the aforementioned optical pointer would be ideal.
If I mod something like that, I will make it detachable on the right side of Pandora and add two or three shoulder buttons(maybe even a scroll wheel for changing weapons).

cool I was think exactly the same, but you made a good point on solving this modular.
As for fps shooters:
- sensitive thumbpad on the right side for mouse aiming
- d-pad on the left side for moving forward back and strafe
- probably a R1 R2 shoulder buttons for mouseclicks
- or even a radical modification: between R1 and R2 a mousewheel

 

[skyeyemachine]

Time show as what coming up. But beside new OMAP or other powerful and low power consume SoC, USB 3.0 and ratable display, I really like to get some digital HD video out. (Mini)Displayport or its successor at best. DVI is too big and HDMI sucks. Even if displayport will be designed as daughter board swappable with LCD lid.

Reversible (open, rotate and close with LCD on top) LCD with a few buttons around will be neat. Especially for reading books, comics or play game only for stylus (touch screen).

AFAIK, displayport may be possible (but not expectable) even now, if top case was redesigned and daughter board was designed and manufactured.

You do know that one of the main reasons a reversible screen was left out was that it's a copyrighted mechanism, right? That and the added expense, but I think the copyright issues were the bigger problem.

It's mentioned in the Wiki FAQ.

Personally, I'm content with the hinge as-is; one of the problems with reversible screens is that they make a given device much more fragile at the hinge, and easier to break. Although it would vace been a nice feature in some ways, at the same time, I think the Pandora is a bit more ruggedized this way. Moreover, unlike a laptop, the potential space savings for the Pandora aren't nearly as large: I think the Pandora, with its screen tilted back all the way, has dimensions pretty similar to most paperback books when they are opened, whereas a laptop is far more unwieldy.

 

[mali]

You do know that one of the main reasons a reversible screen was left out was that it's a copyrighted mechanism, right? That and the added expense, but I think the copyright issues were the bigger problem.

It's mentioned in the Wiki FAQ.

The copyright isn't a problem per se, it just means that the additional costs would be twofold. The swivel hinge is more complex and expensive, plus you have to pay for the license. I fear that something like that is out of reach for Open Pandora, because of the relatively low quantity.

 

[Mr.Confuzed]

cool I was think exactly the same, but you made a good point on solving this modular.
As for fps shooters:
- sensitive thumbpad on the right side for mouse aiming
- d-pad on the left side for moving forward back and strafe
- probably a R1 R2 shoulder buttons for mouseclicks
- or even a radical modification: between R1 and R2 a mousewheel

So you would prefer a touchpad and a d-pad over two nubs? I've always found touchpads to be overly awkward in time-sensitive situations. And d-pads are good for menus and grid selections, but first person shooters? I dunno, maybe you're just used to it.

 

[x86Daddy]

I have an ancient Toshiba Libretto, and it had a novel sort of pointing device. Like the nubs in the middle of laptop keyboards, except mounted the the right of the screen, you operated it with your thumb, and the two mouse buttons were behind the screen (on the lid) so you could operate them with your index and middle fingers. I found this as easy to use as any other laptop pointing system, and I expect that for pointing, but not clicking, the right analog nub on the Pandora may be equally ideal.

Someone's pic of it on Flikr:


Where I can use the nub for gaming, I can't see a trackpad being nearly as versatile... I'd definitely prefer nubs in 2.0.

 

[skyeyemachine]

You do know that one of the main reasons a reversible screen was left out was that it's a copyrighted mechanism, right? That and the added expense, but I think the copyright issues were the bigger problem.

It's mentioned in the Wiki FAQ.

The copyright isn't a problem per se, it just means that the additional costs would be twofold. The swivel hinge is more complex and expensive, plus you have to pay for the license. I fear that something like that is out of reach for Open Pandora, because of the relatively low quantity.

Ah, thanks for the correction, mali; I see I oversimplified the matter.

@x86Daddy - The Libretto concept is interesting, if only because it gets the pointing device off the lower half of the device, making the minimum dimensions smaller. It's a neat tweak to the standard (and very long-lived) clamshell design. I wonder how long I could use it for, though, since I imagine I'd have to hold my arm up while using it a lot, and moreover, it could be a pain to have the mouse accidentally click if the outer case got jostled...

 

[zaoin]

Not about pandora 2 but I would prefer some kind of cheap handheld like dingoo.

I'm sure that openpandora team could do it.

Some kind of:

With similar o bigger size than the dingoo.

Without wifi. No analog. No with the features of the wibrain.

It's only about merging dpad and ABXY buttons with keyboard.

No ultra good quality like pandora. Perhaps with analog L and R triggers or some simple accelorometer inside(or touchscreen).

 

[Vorporeal]

I think, in terms of adding a trackpad, it would be interesting to add two to the bottom of the device, one on each side. (You would have to press some key or flip a switch to enable it so you didn't use it by accident though.) You'd be able to control a mouse by moving your fingers around on it without having to shift your hand position, and because there are two, you could do some interesting multi-touch things (zoom/rotate and others).

 

[kin]

indeed, ive never seen a device with buttons on the bottom. Actually you can use all fingers while clamming the device with your handpalms.

And yes i could possibly prefer touchpad over nubs/d-pad because it's less irritating for the thumb and less stress/moving parts.

But from an industrial/designer view its quite comfortable to use the pandora as a replacement for the mouse+keyboard on desk. Ofcourse using video out on a big screen. The body is in natural position.

Imagine the pandora being crossplatform recognisable as a keyboard/mouse thru usb, so you can use it for a powerfull desktop pc!

 

[skyeyemachine]

Y'know, the one thing I would have really liked to see on the Pandora was some kind of webcam, even just a small one embedded in the hinge or the outside of the lid. I'm not much of a photographer, but sometimes I use a webcam to capture visual information I may need later while on the go, so that I can review it when I have an opportunity. Good examples would be street signs, passages from books, locations I'll want to find again later or describe to others, etc. Even a low-res camera (2-3 megapixels?) would suit this purpose; again, high-quality photos would not be the aim here. As the Pandora is now, I would have to either bring my camera along in another pocket or bag, and/or record such data by scrawling notes on the touchscreen, punching it in via keyboard, or verbally recording it via the mic, which is a lot less convenient.

Maybe one day I can mod such a device in somehow, I guess, but I would have loved such a feature to have been integrated from the start.

And I know I can use a USB webcam or the like, and have had some entertaining thoughts about such things, however, it's still far less convenient than an integrated device would have been.

 

[mali]

I don't know on which side right now, but there is some space left above one of the speakers to add a webcam. On one side there is the Wifi antenna, the other side is empty.

 

[skyeyemachine]

I don't know on which side right now, but there is some space left above one of the speakers to add a webcam. On one side there is the Wifi antenna, the other side is empty.

Oh, that's exciting! Thanks for the tip, mali! But is there a way to connect it directly to the Pandora circuit board (I know there is some space for mods left over, but I lack the finer details), or would I still have to work through USB? :blink:

That leaves aside the details of exactly how I'd go about doing it, of course...I have almost zero modding experience and only a basic theoretical understanding of circuitry and the like: My hacking education has only just begun. :rolleyes: Still, great to know if the capacity is there for when I finally get the skillset together.

 

[mali]

Usually those webcams work via USB, any webcam ripped out of a laptop should work if you connect it to the USB port. You should wait till someone else does this MOD(I won't, because I don't need a cam) and posts a howto

 

[skyeyemachine]

Usually those webcams work via USB, any webcam ripped out of a laptop should work if you connect it to the USB port. You should wait till someone else does this MOD(I won't, because I don't need a cam) and posts a howto

Mm, I was thinking something more like, say, a cellphone-style camera; they're compact and produce modestly good images that don't take up much space. I assume those don't use a USB interface, but I know little about this sort of thing. I'd rather not have a cable dangling from my modded camera that I'd have to plug in, since it'd occupy ports I'd rather keep open for other devices, and I'd rather not have connectors I might forget about poking out of those ports for when I put the Pandora back in my pocket or bag, but if there was no other way to do it I'd probably still give it a go.

Anyway, yes, I will definitely be awaiting the inevitable stream of modding examples that will arise from the Pandora's release; perhaps somebody cleverer than I am will have a go at a similar mod.

On a side note, speaking of mods, this site is really interesting:

http://hackaday.com/

 

[igboo]

I think, in terms of adding a trackpad, it would be interesting to add two to the bottom of the device, one on each side. (You would have to press some key or flip a switch to enable it so you didn't use it by accident though.) You'd be able to control a mouse by moving your fingers around on it without having to shift your hand position, and because there are two, you could do some interesting multi-touch things (zoom/rotate and others).

I've thought all along that a track pad on the bottom would be great on a device like this. I've even bought the parts I need to test it out on the first pandora. I found a small track pad that has a panel a little less than 2mm thick. I want to try mounting it into a cutout on the Pandora battery cover.

igboo

 

[skyeyemachine]

I think, in terms of adding a trackpad, it would be interesting to add two to the bottom of the device, one on each side. (You would have to press some key or flip a switch to enable it so you didn't use it by accident though.) You'd be able to control a mouse by moving your fingers around on it without having to shift your hand position, and because there are two, you could do some interesting multi-touch things (zoom/rotate and others).

I've thought all along that a track pad on the bottom would be great on a device like this. I've even bought the parts I need to test it out on the first pandora. I found a small track pad that has a panel a little less than 2mm thick. I want to try mounting it into a cutout on the Pandora battery cover.

igboo

Sounds like an neat project. Let us know how it goes!

Personally, I think even more controls are a bit overkill on a device like this, considering what it has already, but it'd be interesting to be proved wrong!

 

[skyeyemachine]

...also, I know touchpads are fairly hardy for the most part, but aren't they likely to be damaged if they're on the bottom of the device, without anything to cover them when not in use? Everything else is pretty much protected, but if they're on the bottom, obviously they're liable to be scuffed and bashed and so forth if the device is dropped or jostled, moreso than any other active component.

 

[second exodous]

I have an ancient Toshiba Libretto, and it had a novel sort of pointing device. Like the nubs in the middle of laptop keyboards, except mounted the the right of the screen, you operated it with your thumb, and the two mouse buttons were behind the screen (on the lid) so you could operate them with your index and middle fingers. I found this as easy to use as any other laptop pointing system, and I expect that for pointing, but not clicking, the right analog nub on the Pandora may be equally ideal.

Someone's pic of it on Flikr:


Where I can use the nub for gaming, I can't see a trackpad being nearly as versatile... I'd definitely prefer nubs in 2.0.

My friend had a ThinkPad with one of those nubs in the middle of the keyboard, right between the G and H keys, towards the bottom(where ThinkPads have them). It is so so so so so so so much better than a track pad, you don't have to move your hands of the home row of the keyboard and the I think the right left mouse button could be reached by your thunbs. He just had the track pad disabled. I think the nubs on the Pandora would be just as useful, and I haven't used one yet but I don't think you have to shift your hands much to switch form keyboard to gaming controls/gaming controls to keyboard.

 

[Tensuke]

Noo!! No nipples in my Pandora! Besides the yetti-nipples currently used, they are a very high cut of nipples.