Tell Us More About The Gui

[chad78]

Not that it's a big secret or anything - but I'm one of those - UMPC first people. Here's my priority list:

1. MID (which, to me, includes)
   • web surfing
   • email
   • chat
   • feed reading
   • basic office stuff
2. Media Player (Including)
   • Internet Radio
   • Podcasts
   • TV out for saved video
   • playing multiple formats of video, audio, text, and pictures
3. Emulation of classic systems
4. VNC client
5. Drawing Tablet
6. portable hard-drive/card reader
7. Portable VOIP phone
8. Homebrew device

Homebrew games don't mean much to me at all - as you can see. And Emulation is the third main use after web client and media player. I'm the exact opposite of Rayek. The gaming stuff is just a bonus, really. And, I've already sold my whatever UMPC I have. Greater resale value for my other stuff isn't an issue. But other new stuff that I don't have coming down in price to meet or beat the Pandora.... That is an issue.

A few outspoken people have wished aloud for my banishment from these forums. Pray to the gods of tech that a cheaper better pocketable UMPC that can do the things I mentioned above comes out tomorrow and I find out about it - because once that happens you'll see me no more.

 

[Rayek]

I don't want you to leave, but you have to understand that there has been a general shift in the desires of this console, for good or ill, and we're all trying to find a way to deal with it. Take, for instance, Prophet's list of emulators Vs. your list comparing UMPC devices. They're both really good bits of info, but one (the list of proposed emulators) has been a given since this forum began with the GP32. The other wasn't necessary, really. The only real competition quibble on the 2X forums was solved with a simple "Buy a GP2X if you like old games and homeberew. Buy a DS or a PSP if you like commercial games."

The only thing that troubles me is that this handheld will have a lot of users, but the numbers of active devs are either not speaking up or are far less involved this time around. What good is an awesome open-source handheld machine when only a few people are developing for it?

An answer to this, right now, would be the tone these forums have taken as of late. Not to diss on DCEmu because I love them, but it's becoming a clamor storm like them.

I am VERY excited about being able to do UMPC-ish on the Pandora, but the Pandora is coming from a forum that was filled with gamers, to be quite honest. Nevertheless, I will be pretty sad if this takes a backseat to more 'urgent' (read: loud) issues.

 

[kloplop321]

yeah, It would be nice if there were more dev's. My main use would be roughly in the order that chad stated. I can do a tablet application easily in VB.NET, but I have not done graphical stiff in like C++ or C or anything like that in linux.

 

[darkbiship]

I really hope the Pandora finds a good balance in between UMPC and Gaming Beast.
I first came here excited about the gaming capabilities, and some of the UMPC stuff that I can already do on my modded PSP, but way faster; and with better specs and input methods.
I hope the devs can remember what the pandora originally aspired to be: A badass game playing, media playing, linux running BEAST. Not just another UMPC. This will be my first "UMPC" and I have no reason to buy it other than it's functionality, I have nothing to resell or any reason to gain profit.
I will be mostly using the pandora for gaming, followed by Media watching and some light typing and web browsing. I hope the devs make sure there are plenty of gaming apps for the andora1: along with UMPC ones, for the ones who wish to use it primarily as a UMPC.
Also devs:For the love of god at least post some GUI screens, and just ignore what we have to say unless it's a huge issue people have with it on a widescale, I really want to see the GUI, I can't stand waiting any longer.

 

[Rayek]

We also need to remember that it's not just Craig &c. that are handling everything. It's up to them to get the GUI, BIOS, hardware, shipping, etc. done. It's a community effort, it's all about who's attracted to the scene. Anyone can develop... whatever they want for the Pandora. Open Source. Linux.

All I'm saying is there's no 'making sure' that can be done from their end as to what gets ported and what gets emulated. That's really our job.

 

[darkbiship]

We also need to remember that it's not just Craig &c. that are handling everything. It's up to them to get the GUI, BIOS, hardware, shipping, etc. done. It's a community effort, it's all about who's attracted to the scene. Anyone can develop... whatever they want for the Pandora. Open Source. Linux.

All I'm saying is there's no 'making sure' that can be done from their end as to what gets ported and what gets emulated. That's really our job.

By "devs" I was refering to the community devolpers, not craigx and crew.
But by scott the GUI better be good

 

[chad78]

All I'm saying is there's no 'making sure' that can be done from their end as to what gets ported and what gets emulated. That's really our job.

Well, as a former N800 owner, for my part - I'm probably going to have to learn how to compile stuff so I can install Maemo on the Pandora. Here's the "completely open source" fork of Maemo, called Mamona.

If I can do that - all my UMPC application needs will be met.

of course, I'll post step-by-steps for anyone who wants to do the same. If not an actual install image, if that's possible. (I've never understood why people post how-to-compile stuff for specific devices without actually posting the finished product. It's probably something that I just am too ignorant to understand.)

 

[Esn]

That would have been nice... Looks like I joined about a year and a month after you did.

I was actually lurking on the scene since a couple months before the GP32 was released in late 2001, before GP32X even existed. I waited almost two years to finally make an account.

Right. I am excited as well. But... Unlike a lot of people who have just hopped onto the scene, this will be my first mobile computer. Ever. I don't even own a laptop, mind. All of that is just a bonus, really. And if the homebrew/emulation scene for the Pandora gets overshadowed by everyone clamoring for UMPC-like stuff, I'll be a very sad person, to tell you the truth. I don't need the Pandora to get in my palm really quick so I can sell whatever other UMPC I have at greater aftermarket value... That's not my priority, and I have a feeling, a lot of the "oldies" just want an open gaming platform, and would be completely satisfied with the Pandora sans UMPC-ish.

And to be quite honest, I haven't see anyone even mention an emulator or a homebrew project on this forum in a while...

This will also be my first mobile computer. Although my FLU GP32 actually fulfills some of those functions already, despite not being designed for it at all; I regularly use it to read ebooks, for example, as the screen isn't too hard on the eyes.

So really, I'm not sure where I stand on the UMPC issue. I'm certainly not against it, but I've never used one before so I'm not sure how often I will be using that part of it. Maybe I'll end up using it very often, maybe not. But the important thing for me is that it doesn't interfere with the homebrew/emulation aspect, which seems to be the case. Even if I never used the keyboard for UMPC stuff, I'd still use it for Sierra adventure games or something.

But I think that this problem of different audiences will be solved eventually by creating different forum sections; there will probably be a forum about applications, to which people like chad78 will gravitate, and other forums about emulation, homebrew, and so on. All of these "problems" are just because the system hasn't been released yet. That goes for the lack of announced emulator/homebrew projects too (although I don't think this is true; quite a lot of emulators have been announced before the system has even been released. Look at Prophet's pinned emulator list)

 

[bigtruck]

I too fall more into the UMPC crowd, but that's not to say that I won't have plenty of ROMs and whatever homebrew games there are on my SD cards. Perhaps, however, the reason more of the talk has been centered on the UMPC capabilities is that from what I've read many of the gp2x emulators should be trivially easy to port. I am very interested in the progress of the n64 emulator, though.

Hopefully once the developers start receiving the mk0s we'll hear more news about their projects.

 

[Rayek]

I too fall more into the UMPC crowd, but that's not to say that I won't have plenty of ROMs and whatever homebrew games there are on my SD cards. Perhaps, however, the reason more of the talk has been centered on the UMPC capabilities is that from what I've read many of the gp2x emulators should be trivially easy to port. I am very interested in the progress of the n64 emulator, though.

Hopefully once the developers start receiving the mk0s we'll hear more news about their projects.

I realized that, too... About the GP2X ports being trivial. It still worries, though... Haven't seen/heard of an update from zodttd in a while, and nothing from Franxis about MAME (that I'm aware), let alone a lot of the other genius devs in the GP2X scene. I don't want the scene up there to die off, but it's still scary to see how little the gaming aspect of the Pandora is being paid attention to, regardless of port ease or lack of dev boards...

To Esn:

I actually am looking forward to using the Pandora to replace many of my devices, such as my phone (if that's possible), my alarm clock, and my broken iPod, as well as filling in the holes of devices I've never had (dictionary, web browser, GPS...). But the Pandora will always be a gaming machine first and foremost in my eyes.

Perhaps this will all be sorted out once the forums get bigger, at least we know now that there is a need for an additional board to specify.

 

[CandidStan]

Not that it's a big secret or anything - but I'm one of those - UMPC first people. Here's my priority list:

1. MID (which, to me, includes)
   • web surfing
   • email
   • chat
   • feed reading
   • basic office stuff
2. Media Player (Including)
   • Internet Radio
   • Podcasts
   • TV out for saved video
   • playing multiple formats of video, audio, text, and pictures
3. Emulation of classic systems
4. VNC client
5. Drawing Tablet
6. portable hard-drive/card reader
7. Portable VOIP phone
8. Homebrew device

Homebrew games don't mean much to me at all - as you can see. And Emulation is the third main use after web client and media player. I'm the exact opposite of Rayek. The gaming stuff is just a bonus, really. And, I've already sold my whatever UMPC I have. Greater resale value for my other stuff isn't an issue. But other new stuff that I don't have coming down in price to meet or beat the Pandora.... That is an issue.

A few outspoken people have wished aloud for my banishment from these forums. Pray to the gods of tech that a cheaper better pocketable UMPC that can do the things I mentioned above comes out tomorrow and I find out about it - because once that happens you'll see me no more.

Different strokes for different folks

I'd like to say with all those internet needs, you'd better hope the ISP's don't launch the pay-by-the-byte bill.

 

[JakeK]

The only thing that troubles me is that this handheld will have a lot of users, but the numbers of active devs are either not speaking up or are far less involved this time around. What good is an awesome open-source handheld machine when only a few people are developing for it?

I think you'll see the devs pop out when they get to know the capability of the Pandora. There is a lot of heresay on the forums that it is kind of confusing in what to think about it. Once dev's start showing off their apps etc and start saying "Look what I can do with the Pandora" more low laying devs will get interested.

 

[Rayek]

Yeah, its pretty early to be worried about that, isn't it? The only real reason it came up, though is that everything we've been hearing for a god while has to do with UMPC functions. Disappointing for the wishful Pandora gamer. Good to see any interest, though, and everyone certainly is still welcome.

 

[cools]

I'm another one who's mad keen on the UMPC possibilities - lets face it, nothing else out there compares in terms of the interfaces available and the form factor. The N810 comes close but it's really not a patch on what the Pandora will allow.

Not sure why people are worrying about the emulation and homebrew gaming possibilities - these have always been single apps that run with their own file selectors and settings. Integration with the OS has never been an issue before. A NES emulator gets developed, it gets used, a better one comes along, this gets used, and so on.

PDA/UMPC/MID (wonder what the next acronym will be) stuff is a lot harder to get right, since everyone has different ideas as to what they want from the machine. I'll be content if there's a good (fast) web browser, a good (fast) media player that doesn't need re-encoded files, and a good port of GNUCash. Hell, I could go without the media player since I don't tend to passively watch things, it's just something that's always been lacking in handhelds.

Chad wants email/RSS/office/tvout/VNC/paint/voip - only email is partially important to me, I'm quite happy using the web interface for gmail. The rest are absolutely no use whatsoever as far as I am concerned.

Fact is there isn't a decent pocket machine out there that does all of this and the Pandora is the first that will be perfectly capable of it. I totally understand where he's coming from.

Emulators and homebrew games are a great bonus, and tend to appear on machines irregardless of who wants them or not, or their suitability to the inputs available.

The Pandora is going to be great either way

 

[emil10001]

I think that what's great about this device is the fact that this is really close to the amount of convergence that I think is ideal. The phone is pretty much the only thing missing (this is not a complaint, a suggestion or anything else, just saying) that would make this the single device that I will carry with me. The phone is not a big deal, plus I am anxious for an Android phone. But I digress.

For me, I suppose I'm close to the middle of wanting a gaming device and wanting a UMPC type device. I have owned the 770, and now the n800 and they are great devices that have served my mobile computing, and media needs very well over the past couple of years. I picked up an OQO 02, but got rid of it after OS2008 came out for the n800, and I decided that the n800 is actually faster for what I want to use it for.

I had wanted a mobile game system for a while, I sold my gba 4 or 5 years ago and haven't replaced it, but what I really wanted out of a dedicated portable game device was tv out (very, very happy that the pandora will have this). And, too bad the n800 has hardware crippled video display, otherwise gaming there wouldn't be too bad (although it's getting better, a handful of emus and a few ports like supertux, and tuxpuck).

Some sort of video out was also something that I also wanted on my ultra-mobile computing device, n800 doesn't have it (yet?) and stupid via wouldn't support their chips in linux for me to have used the external monitor output on the OQO. The other thing holding me back from buying a portable game system has been that I didn't want to be carrying one extra device. The n800, laptop (w/charger), hard drive, phone, headphones, and work stuff takes up enough space; I didn't need one extra thing tossed in there, plus the switching back and forth between n800 and game device.

My very long-winded point is that this is the type of convergence device that I have been waiting for for a long time. I'm really looking forward to this because I can finally have the portable gaming device that I've been looking for and not have it take up much extra space in my bag (or pocket). I'm also looking forward to it blowing the n800 out of the water in terms of normal computing performance. I am not at all worried about devs for this thing, I think that as soon as people get their hands on these, we will start seeing plenty of content, both for the UMPC side, and for the game side.

 

[Snu]

I think that what's great about this device is the fact that this is really close to the amount of convergence that I think is ideal. The phone is pretty much the only thing missing (this is not a complaint, a suggestion or anything else, just saying) that would make this the single device that I will carry with me. The phone is not a big deal, plus I am anxious for an Android phone. But I digress.

i agree, except im glad it doesnt have a phone built in, i prefer to keep my phone seperate from everything else - small, efficient, and doesnt interrupt my games or music when i get a phonecall.
but for you, maybe there's a usb gsm module? would a 'usb gsm modem' work for this (assuming there were drivers)?

 

[nexferret]

QUOTE
doesnt interrupt my games or music when i get a phonecall.


I'M SORRY DARLING, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER CAUTERIZE!

 

[Snu]

QUOTE
doesnt interrupt my games or music when i get a phonecall.

I'M SORRY DARLING, I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER CAUTERIZE!

cauterize? that a band?
i didnt say i ANSWER every phonecall, and most of the time i use headphones, so just take them off.
also, i like to always keep my phone on me, i doubt ill carry something as big as the pandora everywhere.

 

[Alex.]

Emulators and homebrew games are a great bonus, and tend to appear on machines irregardless of who wants them or not, or their suitability to the inputs available.

Given Pandora's hardware, inputs, and GP32X roots, it would be a downright shame for them to be regarded as a bonus, rather than as one of the strongest pillars. Perhaps this is just the UMPC fans being more vocal than the rest, so only time will tell how this scene will evolve.

 

[emil10001]

To be clear, I wasn't saying that I wanted a phone included, just that adding a phone would be the only other piece for some sort of 'totally convergant device.' The Pandora is exactly what I'm looking for in a device.