I know one could argue this has been done to death, but I'm more openly musing on what the differences in potential capabilities and problems then anything else.
Processor related
OMAP5, or a equivalent, will be available in 2012 meaning a product like Pandora would likely window 2013 if it was to use it. At that point the 20/22nm node should be considered cutting edge with 28nm being the standard. The stated clock rate for OMAP5's Cortex A15 dual core is 2 GHz, which is roughly equivalent to a Cortex A9 3GHz dual core, which is in turn roughly equivalent to a early 32-bit Athlon. In A8 terms it's theoretically the equivalent of a 3.75GHz dual core.
Using factor 8 rule of thumb and assuming full parallelism we're talking the equivalent of a 750MHz processor, based off A9 equivalence, or a 938MHz processor based off A8 equivalence. This means the power jump is enough it could emulate the Pandora 1.
In terms of other systems it should allow the XBox 1 and be able to handle Dolphin for the Gamecube and Wii. The Playstation 2's custom chipset makes emulation beyond the realm of the OMAP5. If a significant programming effort is put into it a solution like XMOS processors that may help allow a clean room solution to this problem, but that's far from guaranteed.
Emulating beyond this should be constrained as much by lack of emulator maturity, size of games, and being too close to the current lines the companies and justifications about legally bypassing encryption to pull ROMs would tend to prefer.
Windows related emulation/WinE/Qemu looks like it should be in the early Pentium III era and overall at this point the CPU shouldn't be real limiting factor. Particularly as at this point we start talking games big enough generally available SD cards start looking small.
RAM & NAND
Given the Pandaboard and the rest it seems reasonable to presume TI and other SoC providers will probably provide at least 1GB of each which given this is GNU/Linux should satisfy all but the most multitasking obsessed.
Screen related
Pixel Qi claims that they have a proven ability to reduce screen power usage to 1/5 of the standard LCD technology, and offers better outdoors capability. Currently they are mass producing 10.1” screens and developing 7” screens. Hence a screen appropriate for the Pandora will not be available for a while. Once they catch on the Smart Phone manufacturers should however push for there to be an appropriate model. I can see this potentially occurring in the 2012-2013 time frame.
Devices like the Pandora's power draw is still primarily in running the screen, so this should more then offset any potential power creep associated with the processor despite at least three process iterations, improved gate technology that reduces current leakage among other things, and potentially SOI.
Controls
To handle the systems Pandora 1 cannot, some kind of accommodate needs to be made towards more then two shoulder buttons, which will tend to demand a case redesign. Potentially along the lines of a beavertail trigger under one like the current design or something like the current trigger on the bottom of the case that just happens to line up naturally with the hand in the normal holding position. Additionally it would not be unexpected for screens designed for resistive multitouch to be the standard at that point, allowing further control options for various things.
Overall such a device should in my estimation have more power then it is easy to find something to do with, and tend to be blocked from moving meaningfully further forward for a long time, provided console manufacturers don't act entirely out of character.
Processor related
OMAP5, or a equivalent, will be available in 2012 meaning a product like Pandora would likely window 2013 if it was to use it. At that point the 20/22nm node should be considered cutting edge with 28nm being the standard. The stated clock rate for OMAP5's Cortex A15 dual core is 2 GHz, which is roughly equivalent to a Cortex A9 3GHz dual core, which is in turn roughly equivalent to a early 32-bit Athlon. In A8 terms it's theoretically the equivalent of a 3.75GHz dual core.
Using factor 8 rule of thumb and assuming full parallelism we're talking the equivalent of a 750MHz processor, based off A9 equivalence, or a 938MHz processor based off A8 equivalence. This means the power jump is enough it could emulate the Pandora 1.
In terms of other systems it should allow the XBox 1 and be able to handle Dolphin for the Gamecube and Wii. The Playstation 2's custom chipset makes emulation beyond the realm of the OMAP5. If a significant programming effort is put into it a solution like XMOS processors that may help allow a clean room solution to this problem, but that's far from guaranteed.
Emulating beyond this should be constrained as much by lack of emulator maturity, size of games, and being too close to the current lines the companies and justifications about legally bypassing encryption to pull ROMs would tend to prefer.
Windows related emulation/WinE/Qemu looks like it should be in the early Pentium III era and overall at this point the CPU shouldn't be real limiting factor. Particularly as at this point we start talking games big enough generally available SD cards start looking small.
RAM & NAND
Given the Pandaboard and the rest it seems reasonable to presume TI and other SoC providers will probably provide at least 1GB of each which given this is GNU/Linux should satisfy all but the most multitasking obsessed.
Screen related
Pixel Qi claims that they have a proven ability to reduce screen power usage to 1/5 of the standard LCD technology, and offers better outdoors capability. Currently they are mass producing 10.1” screens and developing 7” screens. Hence a screen appropriate for the Pandora will not be available for a while. Once they catch on the Smart Phone manufacturers should however push for there to be an appropriate model. I can see this potentially occurring in the 2012-2013 time frame.
Devices like the Pandora's power draw is still primarily in running the screen, so this should more then offset any potential power creep associated with the processor despite at least three process iterations, improved gate technology that reduces current leakage among other things, and potentially SOI.
Controls
To handle the systems Pandora 1 cannot, some kind of accommodate needs to be made towards more then two shoulder buttons, which will tend to demand a case redesign. Potentially along the lines of a beavertail trigger under one like the current design or something like the current trigger on the bottom of the case that just happens to line up naturally with the hand in the normal holding position. Additionally it would not be unexpected for screens designed for resistive multitouch to be the standard at that point, allowing further control options for various things.
Overall such a device should in my estimation have more power then it is easy to find something to do with, and tend to be blocked from moving meaningfully further forward for a long time, provided console manufacturers don't act entirely out of character.
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