The All New Pandora Status Update

[j.pickens]

Thanks for the update Chip.

Well sadly I received my refund mail today, I thought i was safe after all this time and well i wont re-order, it there's too much going on and i prefer to play it safe (will buy a wiz) I dont see any chance that the first batch will be send before end december at this stage :-(

Good luck all

I call "Dibs"!!!

 

[MaxSteiner]

Is there any word on whats happened to the LCD's?

 

[gp32rich]

Great update chip! Congratz on getting the 'PR' task.

 

[Chip]

Is there any word on whats happened to the LCD's?
It's all explained in the previous status update.

 

[greendots]

Its pretty disappointing to see all the delays... not enough to ask for a refund yet but still...

I don't believe we are being lied to at all, just that no news is is better then bad new sometimes. <_<

 

[MaxSteiner]

Sorry, I wasn't quite clear enough, I was wondering why the amount of LCD's delivered seems to have been reduced from the last time we were given a figure?
Were there some faulty ones, were they used for testing units or is the latest figure actually the secound consignment? (Or was the 640 actually just an estimate?)

Eitherway, I was very happy to see a Pandora board hooked up to one of the LCDs, all looking very impressive!
And hopefully after the x-mas rush is over the lcd bottleneck should be cleared!
We're nearing the final stage, Im looking forward to all the excitement the next two months will bring

 

[jakewastaken]

Thank you for this update. Between Chip and MWeston's recent updates I now have a much better idea of where we stand.

I too would have rather had it sooner than later, but I'm willing to put up with delays if it means we get a better quality product in the end.

Bad news IS better than no news. We're pretty paranoid when we hear no news at all.

That being said, I don't necessarily think this update was filled with bad news.

All of the issues sound manageable, but they are a pain for the devs to deal with.

I absolutely cannot wait until we start seeing more videos and pics though

20 pandoras being almost completed with non-finalized cases is still pretty cool. At least progress is being made.

 

[Chip]

Sorry, I wasn't quite clear enough, I was wondering why the amount of LCD's delivered seems to have been reduced from the last time we were given a figure?
The last number may have just been an estimate. When I specifically asked how may we had two days ago, I was told 400.

 

[lokiase]

Thanks for your commitment chip!
Continue with the good work

 

[TaG]

There is an update from ED in the Translations Thread, started by Mali and helped by Fishbong.

I'll quote it here as it is the main update thread - hope you don't mind Mali.

Rough Translation:

So, a few infos from my side(I was underserved recently - Besides from the trouble with the banks, craig has got a case of severe illness in his family, so he couldn't care much recently, but he is back at the moment)

1. 20 boards are finished and have been delivered to some devs(or are on the way to them)
2. The prototypes of the keypads and cases have been finally ordered a few days ago.
3. The bank issue(raised because of the financial crisis - Craig's bank got the jitters because of the huge amount of money in a short time and locked his account) isn't over completely, but is nearing it's end. My banks didn't make problems.
4. Wifi and Bluetooth will be testet when the cases are here. Drivers exist for nearly everything.
5. The kernel has got a GIT. For those, who are interested: git://openpandora.org/pandora-kernel.git At the moment pandora-27-omap1 branch is used but it will be more up to date, soon.
6. Unfortunately, because of the illness, the banks and some minor problems(we are so cutting-edge, that the facilities have to improve for mass production) there are more delays. The production continued besides the bank issue, but Craig wasn't able to pay the bills, so I had to do it - he has got an USD account, I've only got an EUR account, so the transfers take a few days longer. The new RAM is delayed, too. But don't worry, we are on the right track!

Maybe Chip can get the latest details and update accordingly.



edit:not sure what happened with the quotes, I'll try it differently.

 

[neogramps]

QUOTE
When I specifically asked how may we had two days ago, I was told 400


640 is a strange number for an estimate

 

[MaxSteiner]

I'm thinking 640 seems an odd estimate particularly when you could just take a look at the invoice.

Edit ====>Ah heres another CraigX quote from the 29th of Oct 'We have around 600 already and are waiting on the rest'

Heres a quote from CraigX posted Oct 30th:

'Any delays are still down to the LCDs, we have 640 and the rest are coming when ready.'

That sounds like a definate ballpark figure, and it also implies that they had them as of that date.

Im guessing it could all be a game of chinese whispers gotten out of hand.
Since the production is happening in the US (or somewhere in asia... Hmmmmm..... why don't more places get stuff made in Hawaii, wages are cheap, the weathers nice and its technically in the US ).
Craig could have heard a figure 'between 600 and 400', assumed that they've already arrived and interpreted it as 640.

Its no biggie, just gotta try and shake the feeling that it's further behind schedual than it was on the 30th Oct

 

[Joshwaan2k]

So once 400 are pretty much good to go hardware and software wise and teams happy with them they will ship out. So would I be safe to say 600 people at least will get a Pandora this year?

I'd also like many other rather things get done right the first time "cough Xbox 360 cough"

I get the feeling a few people will have a nice Christmas present and I hope it's me.

These updates are awesome and makes me want it more thank you

 

[javaJake]

6. Unfortunately, because of the illness, the banks and some minor problems(we are so cutting-edge, that the facilities have to improve for mass production) there are more delays. The production continued besides the bank issue, but Craig wasn't able to pay the bills, so I had to do it - he has got an USD account, I've only got an EUR account, so the transfers take a few days longer. The new RAM is delayed, too. But don't worry, we are on the right track!

Before anyone freaks out, I think the deal is that they need the money from the bank, but the bank won't release it soon enough, so ED (EvilDragon) is paying for some of the stuff right now, and will get refunded later when the money finally comes through.

So, production is still not affected by this issue.

 

[Mjlink]

I don't have the thread, but I was under the impression the 400 LCDs were on hand and another order was en route? Maybe it was a vision...

 

[Ze_ro]

Thanks for keeping us informed Chip!

--Zero

 

[Sphinxter]

Good job and thanks for the updates.

 

[NickLoTurco]

More updates! I need updates! I need updates on updates! Speculation on when there might be updates regarding when the may or may not be updates.............excuse me, I have a killer hangover, will keep you updated on how I feel a little later.

Lo Turco

 

[crasherball]

Other News
As many of you already know, I have officially been brought into the Pandora project as sort of public relations liaison. I am not "employed" by Openpandora, I am only helping out on a voluntary basis. This means that I have better access to more accurate (direct from the horse's mouth, so to speak) information. I will be relaying these updates the same way I always have - via stickies in this forum. I may occasionally post news or blog updates to openpandora.org as well, but that is more an outlet for the actual developers. They post milestones there. Here is where I post the minor day-to-day and week-to-week stuff for which everybody has been clamoring.

In addition to better access to information, my position with Openpandora might lead to some other perks, like videos, interviews, photos and more. There is also a chance I might get one of the very early Pandoras for demonstration purposes. Not one of the 20 we have now (those will be more useful in the hands of software devs), but one of the first final units to come off the assembly line. Possibly before testing and before anything else ships. This means I might be able to post extensive photo and video documentation of the device, weeks before they start shipping. Nothing is carved in stone, just something we're batting around.




= Chip > rest

 

[TheCraiggers]

Thanks a bunch Chip / MWeston. This is exactly what I (and probably many more) have been wanting.