Pandora Possibilities

[cptshennanigan]

hi all,

ive been following pandora for a good two years now, had a preorder down november before last, but money being what it is namely scarce, had to get a refund for other things. Just about to take the plunge again and put some money down for one again, as we seem to be approaching release soon. I have a few questions id like to ask though, and would appreciate any thoughts/wisdom.

firstly im not a programmer, in any way. i struggle to program my car radio. As such, im interested in what will be working at launch. My only real requirement is to play downloaded films and tv without having to convert them, and as i dont have anything at 720p i understand thats already possible. I saw xbmc running on beagleboard, is that a n approaching possibility on pandora?

I am also interested in a bit of gaming, and was wondering whether theres a comprehensive list of what works. i hear talk of quake 3, and playable n64 emulation?

im assuming someone more intelligent than me will resolve the wifi problem quick enough, and was wondering about the possibility of putting the pandora into monitor mode, for WEP hacking? i have a few dongle modems which are capable, maybe i would need to use one of them? I should stress that im aware its poor form(illegal) to hack someones WEP, but in my weak defense, i only wish to use it to collect and send emails whilst on the go. My apologies if it offends.

My final thought/query, is whether there will be case replacements available? id like to customise my pandora, and would like a different colour other than black at sometime. If theres no official plan, could the design specs of the case be released for others to get different cases made? Also i understand the swivel to tablet design was rejected due to expensive copyrights on the design, but how feasable is this as a homebrew mod? eg, putting a pivot under the screens central hinge block? could the ribbon be bunched so it doesnt tear? or would it require a special cable?

thankyou all, and cheers for keeping me informed over the last 2 years, in an age of corporate greed, built in obselesence and overly frequent creeping hardware upgrades, the pandora looks to be a product that will actually see its full potential, and have a very long life.

Jonny

 

[WizardStan]

Standard def videos run with no problem, we've seen them on both Pandora and Beagleboard (Beagleboard being kind of close enough to the Pandora for a reasonable comparison). h264 encoded videos may be more than it can handle though, but if you don't use any of those, you'll be fine.
Here is a very incomplete list of what will be available. Anything labeled "Working Build" is already working and should be available at launch. Anything that is "WIP" (Work in progress) is ongoing and should be available eventually, maybe even around or slightly after launch (a lot of developers are just waiting for hardware to actually test on). There's a lot more that should probably be added to the list.
We'll skip your question regarding hacking of WEP.
We have also been told that all parts will be available aftermarket for users to mess around with, including the cases. A swivel probably isn't a very good idea because of the ribbon cable to the LCD. It doesn't like to be twisted. That'd be your biggest challenge I would think.

 

[TrashyMG]

I saw xbmc running on beagleboard, is that a n approaching possibility on pandora?

I would think if it's running on the beagleboard, it should work without too much modifications on the Pandora.

Edit: Just read up more on this more on XBMC.. only hang up now on the project is getting OpenGL ES FB Support, which will make the Beagleboard / Pandora render videos at a watchable rate. people are working on it..

Personally XBMC has a lot of bloat and to me a simple interface for mplayer would be the best solution.

 

[second exodous]

I saw xbmc running on beagleboard, is that a n approaching possibility on pandora?

I would think if it's running on the beagleboard, it should work without too much modifications on the Pandora.

Edit: Just read up more on this more on XBMC.. only hang up now on the project is getting OpenGL ES FB Support, which will make the Beagleboard / Pandora render videos at a watchable rate. people are working on it..

Personally XBMC has a lot of bloat and to me a simple interface for mplayer would be the best solution.

XBMC and mplayer shouldn't even be compared. XBMC is a media center, it's used to download content, organize media, and I think record live TV if you have the hardware also. Mplayer plays video, nothing more nothing less. XBMC would be good on the Pandora when hooked up to a TV because it would be easier to navigate but when it's in your hands I think pretty much any video player is better.

 

[juniorm33]

FWIW - No pvr yet, but they've said they will be adding it via being a proper client to say media portals tv engine.

Edit: Only mentioned it because it's what's really been missing from my point of view.

 

[TrashyMG]

I saw xbmc running on beagleboard, is that a n approaching possibility on pandora?

I would think if it's running on the beagleboard, it should work without too much modifications on the Pandora.

Edit: Just read up more on this more on XBMC.. only hang up now on the project is getting OpenGL ES FB Support, which will make the Beagleboard / Pandora render videos at a watchable rate. people are working on it..

Personally XBMC has a lot of bloat and to me a simple interface for mplayer would be the best solution.

XBMC and mplayer shouldn't even be compared. XBMC is a media center, it's used to download content, organize media, and I think record live TV if you have the hardware also. Mplayer plays video, nothing more nothing less. XBMC would be good on the Pandora when hooked up to a TV because it would be easier to navigate but when it's in your hands I think pretty much any video player is better.

Who said I was comparing, I just stated my opinion. Secondly if XBMC is straining hardware just on its own, think of how that will affect video playback performance.. why I stated my opinion that a simple mplayer interface may be better than bogging the system with a bloated frontend.

 

[second exodous]

I saw xbmc running on beagleboard, is that a n approaching possibility on pandora?

I would think if it's running on the beagleboard, it should work without too much modifications on the Pandora.

Edit: Just read up more on this more on XBMC.. only hang up now on the project is getting OpenGL ES FB Support, which will make the Beagleboard / Pandora render videos at a watchable rate. people are working on it..

Personally XBMC has a lot of bloat and to me a simple interface for mplayer would be the best solution.

XBMC and mplayer shouldn't even be compared. XBMC is a media center, it's used to download content, organize media, and I think record live TV if you have the hardware also. Mplayer plays video, nothing more nothing less. XBMC would be good on the Pandora when hooked up to a TV because it would be easier to navigate but when it's in your hands I think pretty much any video player is better.

Who said I was comparing, I just stated my opinion. Secondly if XBMC is straining hardware just on its own, think of how that will affect video playback performance.. why I stated my opinion that a simple mplayer interface may be better than bogging the system with a bloated frontend.

Oh man, I sounded like I was attacking you but I wasn't, I was just trying to clarify, sorry about that.

Since the Pandora doesn't have HDMI I don't think I'll install XBMC even if it works. Whoever was working to get it working the BB was pretty confident that the hardware could handle XBMC it was just a work in progress. It would be nice for someone who hooks their Pandora up to their TV though, I just have other devices for that that output HDMI so I don't think I'll use it.