"Smach Z is Back!" ...?

[Exophase]

Does anyone have any estimate of dimensions from this render? Using the USB C socket as a reference I'm coming up with around 17mm (not counting the grips of course) If reasonably accurate that's quite a bit thinner than GPD Win which is 23.5mm.

Meanwhile their prototype is what, 50mm at least? And that's with what's probably a much lower power solution.. I get you can optimize the prototype somewhat but if it was already using Imasd's modular technology you have to wonder what is supposed to be changing so dramatically.

EDIT: Okay, just saw this and it's adorable.


Check out these demos of "final hardware" consisting of benchmarks running on an AMD dev board, streamed into their original prototype. So more PGS-level nonsense.

 

[ible]

i dunno, maybe it's nigh the era of backpack computing. all the cool kids wear a backpack anyway.

Spoiler

 

[MJPIA]

Wait from that video description.

This are video of the benchmarks session running on the final SMACH Z hardware: run on the final hardware of the SMACH Z PRO: Merlin Falcon RX-421BD (12-15w) SoC at 2.1 GHz with Radeon R7 at 800 MHz and 8 RAM DDR4 2133Mhz, running on Windows 10.

From the thunderclap page.

Specifications*:

• CPU: AMD Merlin Falcon RX-421BD (15w) SoC at 2.1 GHz
• Cores: 4/4
• iGPU: Radeon R7 at 800Mhz
• RAM: 4GB (SMACH Z) || 8GB (SMACH Z PRO) DDR3 2133 MHz
• HD: 64GB (SMACH Z) || 128GB (SMACH Z PRO)

So they've gone from ddr3 to ddr4?
I can't say I know enough about ram and integration into the motherboard or whatever circuitboard its on in this thing to say for sure but that seems like a big last minute change.

 

[Exophase]

Wait from that video description.

From the thunderclap page.

So they've gone from ddr3 to ddr4?
I can't say I know enough about ram and integration into the motherboard or whatever circuitboard its on in this thing to say for sure but that seems like a big last minute change.

I don't think it's a last minute change because I don't think they've yet committed any real resources towards their true proposed electrical design. Hence why they're showing demos running off of off-the-shelf dev boards. It's a sliver of good news though, seeing as how DDR4 is decently more power efficient than DDR3L.

Imasd is supposed to be doing the CPU/RAM/PMIC module - probably in addition to most or all of the other PCBs - so ultimately it'd be on them. Based on how their technology is advertised you would think that most of this electrical work will be done independently of Smach Z's progress and that it would be relatively simple to purchase the samples needed to make a representative prototype. But I have a feeling that Imasd doesn't have these particular modules ready yet and may in fact be waiting on a large order commitment from Smach Z before completing the design work.

Hence where the KS comes into play. And it very much looks like if they launch the KS tomorrow as planned it'll be a repeat of PGS, showing a prototype that runs someone else's hardware in a misleading way. That and the specter of their first KS failure are going to make it hard to succeed.

 

[AVahne]

No vents, a 20W processor and no space for the battery... that sounds like fun

Lemme get the eggs and bacon ready.

 

[EvilDragon]

A 15W SoC... just running the SoC without anything else would eat a battery like the one in the Pyra in about 2 hours. Well, they've got more space, so they coukd squeeze a 12000mAh battery in, that would be 4 hours just for the SoC...

 

[MJPIA]

Campaign is live.
Throwing down a pledge on the early bird for now and I'll see how it goes and if I decide to pull out.

heh

Pledge €900 or moreABOUT $988 USD
THE GOLDEN SMACH
GOLDEN SMACH (16 GB RAM) WITH NAME ENGRAVED + Carrying case + T-Shirt.

Get the legendary GOLDEN SMACH Z PRO with even more RAM (16GB) and engrave the sentence you want in the back of the console. Note: If you don't like the golden color, you can choose another one.
The Golden Edition is a very limited Edition!

- Recommended for collectors-

ESTIMATED DELIVERYApr 2017
SHIPS TOAnywhere in the world
Limited (100 left of 100)0 backers

Pledge €700 or moreABOUT $768 USD
SMACH Z PRO EXPRESS
SMACH Z PRO and charger at least 1 week before than everyone.

We will ship your order in priority, so you can be the first in playing SMACH Z. If you are a youtuber, reviewers or journalist you will be able to make the first unboxing!

- Recommended for youtubers-

They even got high priced tiers aimed at certain groups.

Pledge €1,500 or moreABOUT $1,647 USD
SMACH DEVKIT
DEVELOPER SUPPORT FOR LIFE + 1 SMACH Z + 1 SMACH Z PRO + ClickARM development board with different modules + Carrying case + T-Shirt.

Get direct access support to our team and priority developers handling. You get the two versions of the console to test your games on both, and a clickARM development board to make your own.

- Recommended for developers -

clickARM development boards sounds interesting.

The prototype will not be the final form of the console. We're updating the look and form of SMACH Z to make it more comfortable to handle with the new 6" screen size. The main modifications include:

• More prominent grips, to make it more comfortable
• Reduced the touchpads from 40mm to 35mm.
• Moved the option buttons to the top, to access easier
• Adjusted positions of buttons and other aesthetic changes.

The final version will also be much thinner and compact with an estimated weight of approximately 400 grams.

GPD win was what, 350 grams with a 6700mah battery compared to this?
[doublepost=1476808929,1476808352][/doublepost]

SMACH Z will have passive cooling only, using the latest Copper Foam technology in heat sinks. Testing shows that these heat sinks can outperform their comparable competitors by up to 6ºC/W, making this new range a major breakthrough in thermal management.

The large surface area created by the interconnected pores of the foam coupled with the excellent thermal conductivity of copper allows either for the height of the heat sinks to be reduced or improved thermal performance in the same form factor.

The copper foam is coated with a thin, hard layer of high temperature copper oxide that improves the emissivity of the foam to improve its radiant properties and reduce the temperature of the component.

hmmmm didn't someone try stuffing a case with copper foam once and it went poorly?
I need to go look that up.

 

[kracken34]

The Kickstarter is now Live.

 

[MJPIA]

• CPU: AMD Merlin Falcon RX-421BD (12-15w) SoC at 2.1 GHz
• Cores: 4/4
• iGPU: Radeon R7 at 800 MHz
• RAM: 4GB (SMACH Z) || 8GB (SMACH Z PRO) DDR4 2133 MHz
• HD: 64GB (SMACH Z) || 128GB (SMACH Z PRO)
• Screen: 6” FULL HD (1920x1080). Capacitive touch-screen.
• Battery: 5 hours of gaming.
• MicroSD Card Slot.
• USB 3.0 type C.
• HDMI video output connection.
• Wi-Fi connectivity 5.0 Ghz. 4G LTE mobile network connectivity (PRO model only)
• Bluetooth connectivity.
• Front-camera 1.3-megapixels (PRO model only)

*Some specifications depend on Stretch goals, you can check Stretch goals at the end of the page.

So 1080p screen depends on the stretch goal after all.
Phone function?
Seriously?

 

[Alperoot]

It looks too big to be pocketable, cannot compare the size to a GPD Win, or a Pyra. They at least say it will be more thinner, so it must be thinner than it looks.
That is how it works, right? They just say it and we will believe. Just reminded me an old friend. PyraGpdSolo.

 

[TrashyMG]

Kodi is really a 600,000 stretch goal?

 

[kracken34]

Ok. Kodi is a bit funny. But in terms of marketing stretch goals in general make a lot of sense. I think, clever stretch goals would also have been a boost for pyra preorders.

 

[EvilDragon]

I wonder why you wouldn't be able to install and run Kodi with Windows 10

 

[edgex004]

Or even just install it on SteamOS: https://github.com/ProfessorKaos64/SteamOS-Tools/wiki/Kodi

 

[TrashyMG]

Don't let ptitseb see this we owe him 600,000 for the Pandora port of Kodi...

 

[vcoleiro1]

Boy I hate when campaigns don't state the size of the battery. What is the voltage, what size mAh is it

Reading the details for the SOC, it says it has a Configurable TDP from 12-35W.

So probably why they have listed a TDP of 12-15W rather than the top 35W. They have seemingly configured (limited) it to be 12-15W. Not sure on how that all works, but anyway

(http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bulldozer/AMD-R-Series RX-421BD.html)

 

[Agricola]

My favorite stretch goal: Emulators at 500.000$.
I mean - why would anybody not just be able to install the emulators they want? Just using emulators is harder than installing them on most distributions of Linux. And the other problem: Emulators are intellectual property of their developers. You can't just sell your product with an piecwe of software preinstalled without consulting the developer, and because of the open source nature of many emulators, that's particulary hard. Most times, they are free to be downloaded for personal use, but not to be preinstalled on hardware, similary to the Google Apps on Android (in this case, Google wants a LOT of licensing fees if you want to preinstall them, but downloading them for personal use is free). Many developers of emulators don't even want their emulators to be preinstalled at all, and using them as a piece of advertisement like the Smach Z would if they were would be even worse. (is that even a correct sentence?)

Also, the 1.000.000$ stretch goal is amazing. The final prices of the accessories are still undisclosed to my knowledge (except for the T-shirt and carrying case), so what would stop them from making everything more expensive if the goal is achieved? As long as the Smach Z is only sold via Kickstarter, no one else is going to buy these accessories, so doing it any other way would probably just mean they'd bleed money.

All in all, not the most trustworthy Kickstarter campaign, but also not as bad as the PGS. I'm personally not intersted in the product, but if I were, I'd wait at least for a real prototype, not a development board streaming footage to some device. The concerns about the APU overheating and its performance are serious, a lot more so than they ever were with the Pyra. And a few things of their KS page, like the strange stretch goals, make me question their professionalism.

 

[vcoleiro1]

I must admit, the tech specs are very misleading. It says 1080p screen in the specs. Then at the bottom of the specs, it says some specs depend on stretch goals - without identifying which specs depend on stretch goals. In the stretch goals it says 1080p is a stretch goal and it otherwise comes with 720p. Pretty bad way of laying out the specs

 

[MJPIA]

They've responded in the comments.

I understand your concerns, there is still a lot of work to do with the battery. The 5 hours are an estimation and a goal. We don't know the details about GPD projects, there are many things that could affect battery life and weight of the device, not only the mAh. Other devices are getting more gaming battery hours that GPD win. You have phones and tablets that last more than 10hours of video playback and 3-4 hours of gaming. Then of course the duration can vary a lot depending on the game, if you're playing only AAA probably you may get 2h. The 5h is for the average use of games. Also, to improve the battery life we plan to try some harvesting techniques in the device. For the weight, again, the 400 gr is an estimation and a goal, considering that we're using cooper foam for the heat sink, that is much light we hope to save some grams there. However, the weight is not a big priority for us, the current prototype weights more than 500gr and nobody complaint about it. The battery is in the back of the console, not in the grips, but it's a good idea, we may use it if we need to add more battery ;-) We'll try to give more details about the battery in future updates to clarify any doubt.

Well my guess of batteries being in the grips was wrong.
Yeah no way as gonna be as thin as their 3d model, battery in the back along with the copper foam that thin?
Can't see that happening.
Speaking of copper foam my previous knowledge of copper foam heatsinks was off, reading a bunch of papers about it now and this stuff is interesting.
Although its not gonna magically cool the device passively if there isn't any airflow in the case, intake and a fan on the bottom of one of the grips, internal ducting forcing airflow through the copper foam would be interesting though.
I'm not entirely sure what they mean by harvesting, first thing that popped into my head is electric cars and regenerative braking but I am 99.9% sure thats not what they mean.

Yes, we'll show in an update the ClickARM test board. You have different modules to work with clickARM that you just need to place on the board pushing with your fingers. "SMACH Z OS" will be Linux modified by us to work better in the console and with Steam, but it's not a branch of Steam OS.

Out of everything this is kinda what I want to see the most.
I'd hope if anything this system spreads to more devices.

Yes, the RAM, space capacity and even the SoC when a newest one is announced are "clickArmed"

Stick to saying upgradable please....

We will first try to achieve of goal with passive cooling only. But if we see that we need to add a fan we will add it.

Just give up on passive cooling and shove a fan in there already.

 

[FBnil]

I know! The product's name is so cool, it keeps the SOC cool!
[doublepost=1476909897,1476909816][/doublepost]

sure what they mean by harvesting

Peltier module?