Realistic Mockup: "Pandora 2, by Two Months INC"

[ShleeDragon]

I call this model..... Pandora 2, by Two Months INC.

 
Featuring:

• Clamshell
• Pure linux desktop/Android dualboot (not chrooted one into the other)
• 16:9 720p widescreen touchscreen (Bigger the better)
• Fast SOC - Hopefully Exynos 5 Dual or similar
• GPU: openGL ES 3.0
• 4GB of NAND (speed over size)
• 2GB of DDR3
• Two SD slots
• One powered USB3? host (limited due to power)
• Wifi 802.11A/B/G/N
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Four top triggers
• HDMI out
• Accelerometer (3-axis gyroscope/3-axis Digital compass)?
• stereo speakers
• Mic

Notes:

• Price is a mystery...
• No camera, No GSM, No NFC. no GPS. No FM. Rumble?
• The keyboard should have another row of keys so they we can have a full qwerty keyboard (function for rare keys only).

Give me this, and you've got my money. This is exactly what I expect they to sell...... an updated Pandora by the numbers.
It's what I want and what I need.

What do you all think?

*Android UX used for the lulz.

 

[hideki]

Ah, my 2p's worth...

Replacing the analogue controllers either with far better analogue controllers or something else, touchpad perhaps

That keyboard layout is horrible, sorry, but it is. might be fine for occasional use on an ICP  but if you're expecting people to code on it then something better is needed, Standard layout please. The Spectrum + managed a nice layout without too many keys, perhaps something based on that.

Two USB ports with a hub so USB1.1 devices can be connected directly if you'd be so kind! As the existing firmware shows, disabling when not in use can save power so no real downside other than cost.

Not sure if it's at all doable but perhaps a graphics chipset that supports full OpenGL rather than the embedded sort, doesn't have to be lightning fast but it'd make a lot more apps immediately available

HDMI out may be out of the question due to licensing, it's also a fairly large connector... Perhaps some sort of VGA out so the user can use their own active VGA to HDMI adapter if they wish

Better wifi, while the wifi on the pandora has certainly improved as new firmwares have arrived, perfect it is not Something aircrack supports would be icing on the cake.

a Cortex A9 dual core or better

I'd say 1GB of DDR3 would be more than sufficient and I can see no earthly need for more than 2GB of NAND given most software would as now be on SD card

Debian, please, debian, no more angstrom, it's evil -.-

Perhaps a basic camera and the microphone, nothing amazing needed, just something up to the task for webchats

Display wise, perhaps look to existing phone displays if it'd keep the cost down. 1280x800? 1280x720? 1024x600?

 

[ShleeDragon]

Obviously the keyboard can be done better.. let's see how the ICP2 feels.

A9 are old hat... I like the Exynos 5 Dual/quad/octo because it's got paired A15 and A9s..

The Mali GPU in that SOC also has opengl ES 3.0.... which is the aim... having full opengl anything support in a SOC is pretty unlikely.

RAM is cheap. Storage is expensive.. 

You could have multiple USBs but the power will suck the battery life.

the wifi on the pandora is so bad they shouldn't have even bothered.... let's hope the P2 is better

Edited: This is my choice for the SOC

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/product/application/detail?productId=7668&iaId=2341

 

[Binky]

From what ED has said, an OMAP5 is a likely contender for the P2's processor. (2GHz dual-core A15)

 

[ShleeDragon]

From what ED has said, an OMAP5 is a likely contender for the P2's processor. (2GHz dual-core A15)

There is a good chance that they will simply stick with the TI OMAP5 SOCs because they have contacts with TI and experience with their hardware in the designing and software side.....

That said, hopefully by the time they release it. there are better SOCs in their price range.... because the OMAP5 releases at the moment are old hat to me as the GPU is OGL ES 2.0 still

 

[Binky]

Here's hoping the P2 has full OGL hardware.

 

[ShleeDragon]

Here's hoping the P2 has full OGL hardware.

Reading over the current SOCs.. Most of the current releases are opengl es 2.0.. The latest exynos GPU (Mali) is es 3.0... apparently some of the nvidia SOCs have open gl standards but they are generally older OGL standards..

It would be nice to have some real openGL... but I doubt I would buy anything without openGL 3.0

 

[knightron]

Please, NOT Debian, however, something as stable as Debian stable. I currently don't have a Pandora, so i can't comment on what i think of angstrom. If it goes Debian, i'll have to install Slackware on it for sure.
Not owning a Pandora currently, i can't offer to much, but r2 and l2 buttons would be nice for some games, and simcard support would be pretty cool too.
As for the pic posted by the Op. It looks pretty sweet to me. You should make back and side pics too.

 

[ShleeDragon]

Please, NOT Debian, however, something as stable as Debian stable. I currently don't have a Pandora, so i can't comment on what i think of angstrom. If it goes Debian, i'll have to install Slackware on it for sure.


Not owning a Pandora currently, i can't offer to much, but r2 and l2 buttons would be nice for some games, and simcard support would be pretty cool too.


As for the pic posted by the Op. It looks pretty sweet to me. You should make back and side pics too.

I think we should jump to archlinux-arm.

 

[Binky]

Please, NOT Debian, however, something as stable as Debian stable. I currently don't have a Pandora, so i can't comment on what i think of angstrom. If it goes Debian, i'll have to install Slackware on it for sure.


Not owning a Pandora currently, i can't offer to much, but r2 and l2 buttons would be nice for some games, and simcard support would be pretty cool too.


As for the pic posted by the Op. It looks pretty sweet to me. You should make back and side pics too.

What's wrong with debian?

 

[knightron]

I don't like dpkg, and because apt/aptitude uses dpkg, it inherits the same problems with it. It's all about how it denies the ability to remove a dependency if it 'breaks' another package. I like it that it informs you it will break a package, but if i so desire to remove it anyway, i shouldn't be forced to either leave it, or remove the 'broken' package as well.
It sounds dumb, but i've had several issues when using Debian because of this. It usually occurs when compiling packages from source, (not that i'm any good at that though). With pkgtool, or even rpm, i can ignore a dependency when i want.
That's why i don't like Debian. In saying that though, i have a lot of respect for Debian and learnt a lot when i used to use it.

Sorry for steering this off topic.

 

[ShleeDragon]

I don't like dpkg, and because apt/aptitude uses dpkg, it inherits the same problems with it. It's all about how it denies the ability to remove a dependency if it 'breaks' another package. I like it that it informs you it will break a package, but if i so desire to remove it anyway, i shouldn't be forced to either leave it, or remove the 'broken' package as well.


It sounds dumb, but i've had several issues when using Debian because of this. It usually occurs when compiling packages from source, (not that i'm any good at that though). With pkgtool, or even rpm, i can ignore a dependency when i want.


That's why i don't like Debian. In saying that though, i have a lot of respect for Debian and learnt a lot when i used to use it.


Sorry for steering this off topic.

Debian is the same as gentoo/arch/slackware... they all do things their own way.. I like the archway of dealing with package management. some people like the debian way.

but building and maintaining a bottom up OS for the pandora.... Debian isn't going to work

 

[vcoleiro1]

Isn't this just an ICP2 with a smartphone attached as it's designed for currently? Not that there is anything wrong with that

Remember you will soon  get Ubuntu Smartphones that I'm sure you will be  able to dual boot with Android.

 

[ShleeDragon]

This is a slightly more attractive and better speced pandora.. It's a P1 with a new hat! It's what I want.
Give me a Pandora with a larger screen and better SOC and I'm sold.

also, fuck ubuntu... the ubuntu phone is andorid with a new UX.
Ubuntu is the Hep.B of linux.. You can live with it, but nobody reallllly wants it.

 

[ThinkPad]

I call this model..... Pandora 2, by Two Months INC.

Featuring:

• Clamshell
• Pure linux desktop/Android dualboot (not chrooted one into the other)
• 720p widescreen touchscreen (Bigger the better)
• Fast SOC - Hopefully Exynos 5 Dual or similar
• GPU: openGL ES 3.0
• 4GB of NAND (speed over size)
• 2GB of DDR3
• Two MicroSD slots
• One powered USB3? host (limited due to power)
• Wifi 802.11A/B/G/N
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Four top triggers
• HDMI out
• Accelerometer (3-axis gyroscope/3-axis Digital compass)?
• stereo speakers
• Mic

Notes:

• Price is a mystery...
• No camera, No GSM, No NFC. no GPS. No FM. Rumble?
• The keyboard should have another row of keys so they we can have a full qwerty keyboard (function for rare keys only).

Give me this, and you've got my money. This is exactly what I expect they to sell...... an updated Pandora by the numbers.


It's what I want and what I need.

What do you all think?

*Android UX used for the lulz.

Seems legit for me too, but I want my 3G/LTE support god damn it. :lol:  

If they make it with impact resistant polymer, magnesium internal roll cage, and steel/titanium hinges, I will sell my house in order to buy it, then a Thinkpad logo stiker will be added and the nubs will be painted in red...     :wub:

 

[ShleeDragon]

Important question is.. would you buy that?

 

[Binky]

I'd really like to see an optional expansion layer (between the motherboard and the battery) that provided GPS, DAB/DVB, rumble, acceleromter, second SDXC slot(etc) released a year after the main device.

Generally my preference would be for NAND + microSDXC + SDXC + optional SDXC

I'd accept microSDXC + optional SDXC

I would hate NAND + microSDXC (or anything that misses out fullSD)

Making the design 1cm wider (to 15cm wide) creates 16cm2 of PCB space, which has to be enough to fit a fullSD slot, doesn't it?

 

[ShleeDragon]

The modular nature which is apparently already "prepared" by Weston... might totally work with that.

 

[Grench]

Sorry - microSD (lack of full sized SDXC)  is a deal killer for me.  At that point it may as well be any other generic tablet.

 

[3_bit]

The edge seems too rounded. Either that or I'm soooooo 21.1st century. (as in 2000-2009). I bet if it was un-rounded, we could cram in a better wifi antennae, an infrared port, or something like that.