What Do You Think The Gp3X / Caanoo 2 Should Have?

[traylorpark]

Ill keep this simple.


An evenly backlit screen.

Speakers that arent under my fingers.

An OS.

 

[wizzx]

A Dualcore CPU (ARM or Intel Atom)
A Faster GPU
More RAM
Bult in Wifi
Built in Webbrowser ( Opera or FIREFOX )
A better screen
Better battery
Linux like on Pandora ( if not please integrate a FILE MANAGER )
2 USB ports
A better volume slider
Speakers at bottom of the device

 

[Schnatterplatsch]

A nice handheld capable of everything up to SNES and nice PSX.

A heart for the community devs, dev units, coding competitions.

DPad, real volume slider, OLED screen.

 

[klikklak]

Oh I remembered what I really want. Always on! Srsly, put a good suspend on it, its a big difference between 'turn on-wait 20s-navigate dozen menus-game' and 'oh here I was-game'.

 

[Popcorn Dave]

Ah yeah, I totally second it having a suspend or standby function. It's silly for any handheld not to have that function nowadays.

 

[Blackcurtain]

I'd like the same design as the Caanoo (the Wiz is too small and doesn't feel as comfortable in the hands), but with speakers perhaps at the top, so that the sound doesn't get muffled by your hands. Technically I would like faster and perhaps more RAM, loading time can be very long sometimes.

 

[hmn]

Here is my list, from a Wiz owner's/coder's perspective:

Backwards compatibility and/or longer release cycle so it doesn't fragment the community too much
* It is really annoying that the Wiz and Caanoo aren't software compatible, since the hardware is nearly identical
* If hardware is different (likely), include compatibility layer ala Ginge

More collaboration with the community in developing the firmware
* More open development model would have meant more testers and more bugs fixed
* There are talented Linux hackers in this community
* Tearing issues could have been avoided
* Maybe proper high-res timers could have been developed for the kernel
* USB networking should have worked out of the box
* Better firmware/flash file system stability (I had to reflash several times in the first weeks I had my Wiz)

Fix the SDK
* Libs are in odd places (ie SDL/GLES are packaged as part of DGE, which no one uses)
* SDL header needed to be fixed
* SDK compiler version does not seem to match c++ runtime version
* You cannot compile against the packaged version of freetype as there are headers missing
* One of the libpngs crashes (i forget which one exactly)

Better battery life
* Three hours aren't enough

Better power management
* More fine grained than on the Wiz (only 4 levels)
* Possibility for developers to monitor power consumption (optimize for battery life, not just FPS)
* Charge while running

Faster booting
* When you want to pick up the device to play, every second matters

 

[Optimus]

Hmm,. I am not really sure what I'd like from a new console. Do I need another one? Probably not. Also, I have lost that homebrew feeling since the GP2X. I remember my GP32. I wish to buy a new one. I also wish to resurrect my GP2X. Those were unique for their time. Then the repetition, another handheld with a strong hardware, everyone does it now, so many chinese companies producing look alikes, the scene ports old stuff again. Even with GP2X we had the most important emulation we wanted. With the Wiz/Caanoo, the SNES emulation didn't improve dramatically. The touch was a good think in the Wiz and especially more correct in the Caanoo. I'd love a build in wifi. If the CPU gets better, it would be good that faster memory or cache or something (I don't know) will be used so that there are not serious bottlenecks. Why the performance from GP2X to Wiz/Caanoo is not as much as it should? Maybe a naive comparison, but Pandora has 600Mhz CPU does miracles in emulation which is like Wiz/Caanoo slightly overclocked, but maybe it has better architecture or faster memory, I don't know. They should be aiming for this. 1GHz would be fun, but would we still not have SNES and PSX full speed? (Ok, SNES is almost there and it's fun enough now) Or Amiga and Dosbox?

Anyway.. after my babble, in a nutshell:

* Better CPU is good but faster memory/cache or something, better architecture to not have bottlenecks
* Build in Wifi

Nothing else maybe. I love the model of the Caanoo for this. They could continue from this. They have slider for volume. Big screen. USB port. Acceleration. Good Touch. Nice grabing. It's great! One of my favorite since GP32. They could even keep the CPU and improve the memory/cache performance.

* Oh, one more thing. Quality. Why every stick/pad in every gamepark generation stops playing properly after a while? GP32 didn't do diagonals after a while, GP2X had some problems too, Wiz Dpad does diagonals too easilly when I don't ask for, Caanoo pad starts to not doing diagonals easilly. Why this has never happened in any Nintendo console? Quality,. and an idea, have both two kinds of stick, the analogue stick and the dpad of the wiz, but better designed. Even if one becomes worse, you can play with the other. If you prefer dpad for some games you can use it. Etc..

 

[tryone]

The main design of the CAANOO is great. GPH did a good job. BUT as every time they forgot the most important things, or made them bad.
E.g no compatibility with WIZ and still no really big hardware differences.
And it's not a bad idea to implement a rumble motor, BUT it should be a rumble motor, and not a noise generating "destroy-my-caanoo" thing.

I don't need a quad-core 2GHz CPU. I need a working Handheld for emulation and hombrew, and developers, who have fun to develop for it.

I really hope GPH improves their feeling of a right done Handheld.

 

[SolarLune]

They're getting closer, but there are a few things that should be improved. The next iteration / release of the Caanoo really needs built-in Wi-Fi, as well as (I would think) a faster CPU (for perfect PSX emulation, though that could be a lack of optimization on the emulator's part). A couple of extra buttons would set it apart from the Caanoo, as well. I would also think that a Linux OS would make it easy to port things to - just download the Linux version of ZSNES and go.

 

[tryone]

For the "native" linux OS and just-download-your-linux-emu you will need an x86 chip, at least if you don't have an emu or a arm-linux version.

And I think a handheld should not be a mobile computer. The Games and emus should be really ported to it, and not only "standart" ones. for those things I can use my netbook.

It should be a thing like the caanoo, but have improvements, which make it more better than the caanoo did with the GP2X. Not heavy changeings, but small improvements.

If you find some typos, you can keep them.

 

[dnlgreenwood]

Now that I've thought about it, I think these changes would be ideal:

-Keep the volume slider, but make it more accurate
-Keep the speakers on the back and make them louder
-Keep the controls as they are, but add a digital joystick akin to that of the NeoGeo Pocket
-Floating-point operations
-Support for more media formats such as Ogg Vorbis
-Possibly implement a slide-out or clip-on keypad for fast and efficient text entry
-Wider screen viewing angle
-Greater range in backlight settings
-Better battery life, lower battery self-discharge
-Package the system with TV-out, RS-232, and MIDI cables
-Implement a desktop environment or, at the very least, an environment that can be navigated more efficiently than the one that is currently available for the Caanoo
-Add in an infrared port for communication with certain devices, such as computers, palms, and audiovisual equipment
-WLAN/Bluetooth communication
-An additional SD card slot or USB port
-Triggers that are more fall-resistant
-Perhaps include a Mini-USB port like the ones that the current-generation Blackberry devices and cellular phones currently bear
-Vastly improve the quality of the microphone
-Introduce a suspend feature that may be activated by briefly sliding the power switch

-Vastly improve the FunGP website so that it is at least navigable
-Develop cross-platform applications for managing games for the Caanoo so that non-Windows users like me can actually use their games without having to borrow a Windows computer
-Allow users to purchase games directly via credit card or Paypal

I generally dislike resistive touch screens. I'd like to see a capacitive touch screen, but only if it's done right.

 

[lisalover1]

Following the Wiz->Caanoo hardware progression (power first, then features) would be the best way to keep costs low. For simplicity, let us call the first major hardware upgrade the GP3X and the feature-adding handheld the CaanooToo.

GP3X Added Features:
- 1GHz Dual-Core Processor w/ Floating Point Unit for N64 emulation
- 1 GB RAM
- Built-In WiFi
- Analog stick and D-Pad/Joystick

CaanooToo Added Features:
- GPS Radio
- Bluetooth
- 3G Adapter Support
- 5/8 Megapixel Back Camera
- 3 Megapixel Front Camera
- HDMI-Out

 

[monstercameron]

5-6" 800x600 display
amd c30/50 apu
clamshell design
interchangeable keypads
6 cell battery
$350 price tag

-- or --

4.3-4.8" 852x480 display
ziilabs zms-20/40 soc, ti omap 4xxx soc, samsung exnios soc
bar design
6-10 hour battery life
$200 price tag

design: the screen fills the whole front panel and has a capacitive panel that fully covers the front section. the buttons then would sit on the capacitive panel. i can't be more descriptive than this!

 

[kayuz]

today I was thinking about what will be the next console from GPH...
I was thinking about some things:
the next console should not necessarily be completely new, a kind of revision, but more powerful, a bit like Nintendo did on the nintendo ds ... with Dsi.
I was thinking the name to something like "Canoe" or "Caanoo2x" .. however I also thought about the technical specifications:
CPU: about the cpu i think 600 mhz will be ok, similar to actual smarthphones, naturally with overclock it can arrive around 850 mhz...
GPU: i'm very thinking about a caanoo with a real gpu, and i think a gpu with 100 mhz will be ok, (similar to psp)
RAM: the ram should be around 600 mb ... i see 200 mb ram cost 10 euros...
for the emulation, the new console is naturally retrocompatible with CAANOO and Wiz and even add the N64 emulation, thanks to the great ram
others: WIFI built in, bluethoot too, a smaller camera of 0.3 megapixel (for example), a little big display and even a OLED display( like the WIz) and even a multitouch screen
i like too a real easy program to allow all to make games for the console, and a built in APP STORE...
the controls are already ok, but it will be might to have a real volume manager...
what else, oh yes the cost of the console: i think 120/140 euros will be ok and will be competitive with the 3ds and psp2...
new accessories, like the 3G ADAPTER, for every GPH console( wiz,caanoo) and even a software for use it
and important it must be COMPATIBLE with CAANOO Software and the WIZ too

i hope GPH read this topic and posts, it's very interesting to see what people want from a new console

 

[monstercameron]

CPU: about the cpu i think 600 mhz will be ok, similar to actual smarthphones, naturally with overclock it can arrive around 850 mhz...

you do know that most modern smartphones are using newer, faster arm architectures. they use arm v7 isa with core design arm cortex a8-a9. clock for clock the newer architecture is faster so comparing the caanoo's arm 11 soc to mobile phones is biased. they definitely need to update the cpu, even to a 600mhz a8 core

 

[renejr902]

a D-PAD, the only thing i want, that caanoo dont have. still the stick is great, but its not a D-PAD

 

[Leonar]

For me next Caanoo should have:
- Faster CPU Lets stick to Tegra or Tegra II. The are cheap. Many tables within range 100$ have tegra.
- More screen resolution 640x480 should be enough or maybe something in 16:10/9. No pressure for OLED
- Dpad and analogue stick
- Better placement for shoulders button (in caanoo for my big hands is hard to keep fingers on them)maybe pressuresensitive
- GPH should be more helpful to community. Release some emulators or stuff
- Web browser with psp a-like keyboard
- Ginge compatibility layer with gp2x and wiz (just pay a fair price for licence and for further development
- stick with that size of caanoo
it should create an AWESOME next generation console

 

[holyfuck77]

I really support the 2016 release date and the Caanoo mkII ideas.
I think GPH should "finish" their work on the Caanoo properly before even thinking of doing a next-gen handheld.

A Caanoo MkII with the same features as the Caanoo but a better design is a good idea in my opinion:
-Better Screen
-Fix the screen placement
-Built-in Wifi (and Bluetooth)
-Speakers on front or on the bottom of the handheld.
-Maybe a D-Pad
A firmware update:
-Improve the media player
-Improve the e-book reader
-Add a suspend function
-A browser
-Wiz Compatibility
-Maybe some multitasking (at least with the music)
And some improvements to the overall platform:
-Improve the SDK and optimize the libraries
-Open developement in order to get full support from the community
-Full feedback (as much as possible) from the community
-Fix the FunGP store
-Develop software that is worth it to sell on (and give some life to) the FunGP store
-Develop sofware to manage the Caanoo for other platforms than Windows

I think that once GPH had all those points covered and the Wiz/Caanoo generation matured they would be able to go next-gen. No need to hurry since the mobile gaming world is changing so quickly, I think it's better to let things mature, so the community will follow, and see new challenges with perspective when the time comes.

 

[torpor]

Just my thoughts, please feel free to ignore if you don't wanna listen to a lusty rant about gadgets.


It should be the size of an average card-case, silver, the kind you slip into your pocket for 10 minutes and it comes out warm.

It ought to feel moderately hefty, not necessarily heavy, but not light. 8 to 10 hours of operational battery life would be fabulous.

I don't think it should have built-on controls; it should come with something like the iCP: remote. Of course, touch-screen for the days when the remote is not taken, too, would be expected. Face it, screen/control locality is an awkward dilemna .. play in iCP+iPad remote mode comfortably some time and realize that the body has its ways. No more strain, keeping my hands in front of my face, just so I can see.

I would pay a couple hundred, no more, no less. I'd expect to use it for a few years, and share it with my kids, and I would be very happy if somehow it were user-maintainable, battery-wise. I am very sad of the loss of battery standards in the world.. although, since this is a wish list, I would put: solar panel charger included, in the box.

Software-wise, I'd expect a 100% open-source linux-based shell to the system, and a raw and thriving attempt at promoting the platform as a fully open-source platform, from the get-go. I'd expect a decent distro policy that allows all the wonderful hairy tools of Linux eco-system to be pinned into a smart onboard interface for easy installation of software by the user. This eco-system should promote and allow and accomodate online as well as offline usage, equally; -i.e. no, the web is not the computer you're playing with, but sometimes, the whole web can be played with.