The week ahead will hopefully be a colorful one.
Why? Find out in todays newspost :)
Let's start with...
1. The RAM
----------
Upgrading to 4GB or RAM was not as simple as we had hoped to, but we're now ready to test it.
What was the problem? Well, the main problem was the rare use.
The same manufacturer offering the 512MB RAM chips we use (four of them make 2GB) also offers 1GB versions, which should basically work out of the box on our current CPU board.
However, as they are not requested that often, the price for them quadruples - so 4 times the price for double the RAM.
It would be possible, but not my favourite solution.
A second solution would be to use Samsung RAM chips. They have a neat 4GB solutions using dual-channel 2GB chips.
Those require additional wiring to the SoC, so we thought at first we'd need a new CPU board for those... but then Nikolaus found out that he actually DID that wiring just in case (he just forgot about it, as that was over a year ago).
That means: We've requested samples of chips for both solutions and will put them on a current CPU board as a test.
We will also check for idle power usage, as there might be quite some differences as well.
So yep, 4GB will happen, but I hope this little information shows to you that it's not just a simple plug and play replacement as it is on a PC.
2. The keymat
-------------
The keymat company has done some accurate testings to make sure the keymat will work as good as possible.
There is special test equipment for stuff like that available, you can see a sample picture at the boards.
They also have a Pandora keymat as comparison, so we can make sure the DPad works as good :)
Test results have shown that the pressure point of the Pandora keymat actually was as good as it could get, based on the physical limitations (button size, etc.)
Still, some improvements can be made with the Pyra keymat like lowering the distance from the carbon pad to the PCB to get a smaller travel distance as well as using a softer material so it needs less force.
We decided to lower the carbon pad / PCB distance by 0,1mm. The moulds are already being adjusted, we can expect the (hopefully :)) final samples in a few weeks.
The samples will come in different material stiffness so we can choose the best one.
3. The Touchscreen
------------------
As you know, I wasn't too happy with the touchscreen, as it added some grainy colors (especially in bright areas).
Funny enough, not everyone even saw these (so it depends on how sensitive you react to them), but it's still something I wanted to work on.
I'm now 100% positive that the grainyness is a result of a matted touchscreen combined with a display with high ppi.
The GPD XD has a matted protective film included in the package, and if you put that onto the GPD XDs display, you can also see these grainy colors (although less visible with our current touchscreens).
So I can see two different solutions:
1. Use a matted touchscreen with grain that's fine enough to be usable with high ppi
2. Use a non-matted touchscreen with various other anti-glare effects applied so that it doesn't turn out to be a mirror.
Two companies are now working on this. The company that provided the touchscreen for the Pandora and another partner of BOE directly.
4. The cases
------------
Now it's time for the colorful news:
According to my contact in Greece, 20 prototype sets of the cases should have shipped last Friday, so they should arrive sometime within this week.
These should hopefully have all tweaks included (so almost if not already final versions) and they should come in the various colors I've chosen in January.
As mentioned: We'll use black (or something dark) as main color, but I'll also make pictures and let you all decide on a possible second color!
The metal plate for the logo is also finished, so let's see how this will all look like combined together.
You can discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/colorful-week.77519/
This will be a short but nice newspost - it's 3am already, and I'm trying to get at least a bit of sleep these days (after having two weeks with almost no sleep since the preorders started...)
But I think nevertheless, you'll like it.
The main hardware
-----------------
First up: Nikolaus is on a relaxing holiday this week, so there won't be much coming from him right now.
Most of the hardware has been tested though, tons of software bugs have been squished (which prevented us to test the hardware properly!) with quite some help with the TI kernel guys, we're on the finish line of the hardware design!
The plan is to have everything fixed until middle / end of June. That includes implementing the hardware changes into the PCB design files, so that we can order the PCBs afterwards (production of those will take about 6 weeks).
Thanks to the preorders, parts with a long leadtime will be ordered upfront, so that they should arrive together with the PCBs as well.
After a quick test run, we will be ready to start the mass production anytime them (so hopefully August / September).
TAKE THESE PLANS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT THOUGH!
While we will hurry, we will not rush. So if there is something within the hardware we need to confirm to be working first, we will do that, even if it delays things a bit.
In the end, I don't think you all want Pyras with a serious hardware issue, but would rather wait a bit longer, right?
The case
--------
Tweakings of the case are almost done.
According to my contact in Greece, they will most likely be produced next week (or shortly after), in different colors.
This will be the time when we can assemble more prototypes and make pictures of the colors, so we all can decide which one we'll take (black will be one, that's for sure).
I can't wait for those :)
The prototype orders
--------------------
Speaking of prototypes: When we receive the cases, I'll send mails to all prototype orders asking what they would like.
We will be able to build prototypes, but the won't have the final keymat yet and not the new touchscreen.
They will also have some minor hardware faults which will be fixed for the final release.
You will be able to choose whether you still want one of those (it's a pretty neat collectors item) or whether you want to wait until we do the quick test run (which will still be before the mass production happens), as that would be an almost final unit - but of course, you would still get the case in the color you've chosen, so it will always be something special :)
Do we have enough money?
------------------------
Well... I got a confusing answer for you: Yes, we have enough money to produce 1000 units and no, we don't have enough money for those yet.
While this sounds confusing, here's a quick explanation:
As you know, the Preorders come with a downpayment only. That money will be needed to do a downpayment for the production itself. But some parts already need to be paid in full in advance.
Once we have about 900 preorders, we have enough funds from the downpayment to start a full production of 1000 units.
But you might ask: What will happen if we don't reach 900 preorders?
Well, no worries:
Then we'll split the production into two batches of 500 units.
We can easily fund the production of 500 units already, and once we receive the final payments for only 100 of them, we can already fund the production of the next 500 units.
So that would mean, there would be a short break of about 3 - 4 weeks after the first 500 units have been delivered, then we'll continue with the rest.
But I think, once we receive the final prototypes and I'll make more videos with those, we'll receive more preorders, so we probably don't need to split the production into two batches.
emails... and replies...
------------------------
I have to admit: I'm far behind with those.... sorry for everyone who is still waiting for one.
I'm only one guy, trying to fight myself through my normal job, the shop and the emails I receive right now.
Thankfully, for the shop I got help, but there are still many things I need to do myself.
Next week, I'm on holidays - which means: I'll have time to reply to the emails.
I'm planning to catch up with all of them! I will not forget you!
You can discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/cases-colors-and-emails.77466/
As preorders are running fine so far, I could take the time to create a LibreOffice document that helps me predict production costs, funds, etc.
The document is actually pretty complex. It takes the live orders into account and uses the percentage of each unit sold for predictions of future production run.
It makes an ideal calculation (no failure rate) as well as a worst calculation (5% failure rate).
It also deducts the percentage lost from payment fees (e.g. credit cards).
So, here's a litte calculation from the Live-Statistics :)
Is it enough to fund the production? Is it enough to continue the production afterwards?
Here's a prediction!
In case you're in a hurry and don't want the details:
We got enough preorders already to at least produce the preordered ones!
To produce 1000 Pyras, additional 220 - 280 orders are needed.
To produce 1500 Pyras, additional 325 - 480 orders are needed.
After we sold 1500 Pyras, we can afford to produce a little batch of 500 without any preorderings.
Once we sold 3000 Pyras, I can finally pay all the debts back to the Pyra investors!
After the first 950 - 1000 delivered orders, there will be a delay before the production continues (we can only afford those units once we received the final payments for the first 1000, so we can't order more LCDs before).
So much for the short info, here's the detailed one:
Is the current production safe?
-------------------------------
The minimum production number we can start with is 500.
We passed that number long ago.
Currently while I'm posting this, we're sitiing at 621 orders. That means I would need to be able to manufacturer at least 656 units (5% failure rate is the max one).
Those 656 units need a downpayment of about 125k EUR to GC.
I also have some more additional costs (like finishing the molds, etc.).
But we also received downpayments for the 621 ordered Pyras and already paid for the LCDs and batteries a long time ago.
If I add all that up (my own funds, the downpayments, the pre-production costs, etc.), we've got enough to start the production of those 656 units!
So these are safe, yes!
What I didn't include there yet are the additional costs to get a new touchscreen - which are a whopping 30k EUR (as we need to buy at least 4000 of them). To do that, we would need a few more preorders (but only 10). So we're close here as well!
What's needed for the production of 1000 units?
-----------------------------------------------
To be able to produce 1000 units, we still need some more preorders.
If we want to produce 1000 Pyras (and get the new touchscreen as well), we need an additional 220 to 280 preorders (depending on how many new or pre-preorderers order those units, etc.)
That would be a total of 844 - 950 orders (depending on the failure rate as well).
It would be great if we could produce 1000 Pyras at once, so hopefully we'll get more pre-orders when I've got finished prototypes and can do more videos.
Once the first 1000 Pyras have been shipped, there will most probably be a little delay (unless we get at least a total of abour 1300 preorders,), as I need to buy 1000 more LCDs.
Batch 2: 500 Pyras more (a total of 1500 Pyras)
-----------------------------------------------
As you can see, 1000 Pyras are NOT enough yet to produce more units without any further preorders.
Once we've cleared and fully sold the first 1000 Pyras, we need at least 125 - 200 preorders before we can step up to 1500 units.
That should be possible though, once Pyras have been released and are out in the wild, it's probably easier selling the second batch (or do some Kickstarter / IndieGogo).
Batch 3: 500 Pyras more (a total of 2000 Pyras)
-----------------------------------------------
Once we've reached 1500 sold units, we can finally start producting small batches to put them directly in stock.
That would be a really, really great milestone!
... and then?
-------------
Well, while 1500 sold Pyras get us enough funds back to produce them from stock, we still have to pay back 300k EUR to our investors who supported us when the Pandora was in an almost bottomless pit.
To be able to do that, we need to sell a total of 3000 units.
If we can achieve that, I'll be a happy camper. Finally!
I know (and always knew) it would be hard - but let's hope we can pull that through!
So... I hope you like the little prediction.
Most important thing for you is probably that we already have enough preorders to get things running at all :)
Let me know if something is not clear or you have any further questions.
You can discuss about that here:
https://www.pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/current-statistics-and-some-pr…
We had a really, really succesful start and reached over 500 orders after a few days already (and 600 if you count in the remaining pre-preorders!)
You can always find a live statistic here:
http://p.rdw.se/pyra-preorder.html
That means:
We already passed the absolute minimum number needed for a small mass production run of 500.
After only a couple of days! You guys absolutely rock!
Of course, we're now aiming for the next goal... producing 1000 units. With 750 preorders, we should have enough to start the production of those.
Right now, sales are slowing down a bit, which is totally normal for crowdfunding projects.
1. Let's spread the word!
-------------------------
Up until now, we have NOT approached any newssites in order to give the regular readers and long-time-followers the chance to grab one of the first units.
But now the time has come to spread the word and let others know!
That's why we created a PressKit which includes many free-to-use pictures as well as texts that explain the motivation and idea behind the Pyra.
You can find (and share) it here: http://cloud.openpandora.org/index.php/s/a0Q0TXV8gh5NLAC
You can use them anywhere you like: Spread the words via Social Media, forums, etc.!
You can also help translating the texts of the PressKit, head to this thread to help out: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/posts/1376979/
And while you're at it, let us know which newssites you think we should approach at this thread here: https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/media-and-press-who-should-we-cont…
2. About voucher codes and pre-pre-order voucher codes and BitCoins
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I made a small mistake setting up the pre-order and therefore, if you ordered May 1st within the first hour, you didn't receive a pre-order voucher code.
Don't panic! I'm currently creating them manually and you'll receive it eventually!
And if you didn't receive anything until Sunday night, drop me a PM or email (evildragon(a)openpandora.org).
About pre-preorder vouchers:
Sane as the Pre-Order voucher, the codes are NOT in your account but have been sent to you via eMail.
In case you can't find your pre-pre-order voucher code anymore, please do contact me, I can resend it to you.
If you pre-ordered via BitCoins:
This will take a few days. I've got a limit of 1000 EUR per day with BitPay (but absolutely no transfer costs), so that's 1 - 3 orders per day.
If you try to pay and receive an error from BitPay, it means my limit for the day is already reached.
Simply wait until I resend the email to you - I'm now handling this manually, so in case you haven't received a mail to complete your BitCoin payment: Don't panic! :)
3. Some information about the LCD
---------------------------------
Even though I was mostly busy replying to mails and working on the PressKit, I tried running a few games on the Pyra Prototype that have ghosting issues on the Pandora: Like Phoenix (Atari 2600) where the bullets are nearly invisible, and Sonic 2 and 3, where the green trees turn the sky black with scrolling.
I wanted to record that on video for you, however, the camera can only do 25fps which is horrible for recording screens that run with 60fps.
But I can tell you: Pyras LCD is WAY better in that regards. I haven't seen ANY ghosting, it's a crisp and clean image!
And: Scanline-Simulation looks a LOT better as well, due to the higher resolution. They look great!
That's it for now!
Back to replying emails - and hopefully, I'll find time to do some videos soon :)
You can discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/what-a-great-start-prepare-for-the…
We're nearly there:
The preorders are about to start in one and a half hours, as this is when it's 00:00am in Germany, which means it's May 1st!
We had to do some last-time changes with the downpayment price to be sure we will have enough funds to fund start of the production, even if something bad happens.
We kept the promise to keep the normal Pyra at 500 EUR (without VAT), the downpayment for it will be 330 EUR.
The 4G version will be at 600 EUR (without VAT), the downpayment for it will be 400 EUR.
In case you want to get two or more units of the Pyra, you will get a discount of 5% (which are applied when you do the final payment).
As many were asking for a 4GB unit, we added that one as well - for 30 EUR more.
However, we do not yet know if that works well, so in case it doesn't, you will get a 2GB unit (and of course won't have to pay the 30 EUR more in the end).
The downpayment is the same.
As some users have asked to pay more upfront, simply buy additional shop vouchers from here:
http://www.dragonbox.de/46-gift-vouchers
You can then use these vouchers for the final payment.
If you want to further support us (which would be very welcome, as we can need every cent!), simply add as many donations as you want from here:
http://www.dragonbox.de/103-donations
The following payment methods will work:
----------------------------------------
* Bankwire transfer (cheapest for us)
* Credit Card payment
* BitCoin payment
PayPal payment is not available since they didn't allow crowdfunding.
Please note that for security reasons, the credit card needs to be registered in the same country as your IP is registered to. In case you still have issues with the payment, please contact your bank as international payments might be blocked for your card (this depends on your credit card company)
Both Bitcoin and Bankwire payment will take a while, but your place in the queue will be decided when you placed your order. The 200 pre-preorderers don't need to hurry, as they already have their place in the spot.
You can find all available units and place your preorder here: https://www.dragonbox.de/45-pyra
Be sure to carefully read the product description as well as the Preorder FAQ (https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/preorder/) which I will update during the next two hours based on the questions you had.
Now... let's get things started. I hope we will get enough preorders pretty soon, but I still wanted to keep everything low in order to give you followers the chance to preorder first!
I'll concentrate on a nice video of the Pyra and official press releases soon :)
Really, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing support.
Everyone here at the "Lange Nacht der Computerspiele" who tried the Pyra prototype was amazed by it - and all Pandora users loved the new nubs.
It's great seeing so much interest, especially considering how much time and effort we've already put into it!
Thanks... just thanks :D
I love you guys :D
You can discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/preorders-will-start-in-two-hours.…
Whew, what a busy week!
I didn't even find the time to post what happened during the days, so you'll get a huge newspost update here!
1. Finalizing the case
----------------------
During the last two weeks, the last missing parts of the plastic case have arrived: The stylus and stylus holder as well as the nubs and the DPad.
The only thing missing now is the metal frame for the logo, but that will have to wait until early May.
Just as a reminder (or in case you didn't know): This case is a first physical test with the real plastic molds.
It is not intended to be perfect yet (and it isn't), so now the company will start to work on tweaking the small details.
For example, the shoulder buttons are too wobbly and don't even reach the button.
Why is that?
Simple: A mold is a negative of a case (which is logical, as the plastic is being injected in there), so making a peg LONGER (like the one on the shoulder buttons to actually reach the switch on the PCB) is easy. You just need to remove a bit more steel.
However, if a peg is too long, it's hard to shorten it in the mold, as it means you need to fill it up with steel.
As things like the shoulder buttons need VERY exact measurements, the best way to achieve that is to make the peg to short, measure how much is missing and drill some more steel.
And that's what they'll do now. Measure, drill and tweak until everything is fitting perfectly!
So how well does the case work?
Overall, I'm pretty happy so far.
The nub discs work perfectly, and even though the nubs themselves are a bit noisy (you can sometimes hear the springs moving inside), they feel great and moving the mouse is just awesome!
Every key of the keyboard is easily reachable, thanks to the rounded corners, the Pyra is comfortable to hold, the DPad works great.
I can't wait until all the tweaks have been finished.
What's great is that you can easily unscrew and open all parts. You can access the LCD and display board without the need to open the base part and vice versa.
It's very repairable and moddable, which is great!
You can see a picture of the nubs and DPad on the forum post.
2. Finalizing the LCD Cable
---------------------------
The current LCD cable works fine but it is too short and therefore damage to the cable will happen eventually.
Now that we got the real case, we could create some more paper dummys and finalize the LCD cable design as well.
A picture of the gerber can be found on the forum post as well.
As you can see, it's pretty simple compared to Pandoras LCD Cable, as it simply connects two PCBs together whereas the Pandora had a PCB built into the cable.
This makes the cable a lot cheaper, of course.
3. Finalizing the keymat
------------------------
While the current keymat works okay, it also can be improved, and I was working on that during the last week.
* The keys will become a bit more rounded (this feels a lot better when your fingers are gliding over the keymat).
* J and F will get little markers (which improves blind typing a lot)
* The ABXY buttons will be lifted up about 2mm (otherwise you easily hit the backspace button while playing games)
* The normal keyboard keys will also be lifted by 0,5mm to make them more accessible
* We're trying three different material types to determine the best feel for the material
We should have the new keymats in a couple of weeks, and we ordered enough so we can create all the needed remaining prototypes from them :)
4. Finalizing the PCB design
----------------------------
Last week, Nikolaus has worked on the whole battery charging circuit and already made a few small improvements to it.
We will probably also replace one charger chip, as the current one can only handle one charger port input, but want that you can charge through both MicroUSB ports so you can use the other one while charging.
He also built prototypes of the S-ATA adapters, which will need to be tested.
The PCBs are working really well now, and most of the remaining work is software stuff. Nikolaus worked on the SSD kernel driver and seems close to have it finished.
Once he's done that, I can finally simply use the official PyraOS and start playing games with the framebuffer :D
Maybe that'll already work until next week, when I'll be at the "10. Lange Nacht der Computerspiele" in Leipzig (Germany), a free event with tons of playable retro consoles - and I'll be there and have a table with one or two Pyra prototypes.
Everyone is welcome to come and play with them!
It happens on April 30th, so if you're near Leipzig, you should really visit it (it's a lot of fun!)
5. Finalizing the calculation
-----------------------------
We're almost through doing the calculations, and as promised, the 500 EUR price tag for the normal unit can be kept, the 4G unit will be approximately 100 EUR more.
I'm also browsing through the part list to see whether there's a useful way of making a cheaper unit (by e.g. removing the keyboard LEDs, etc.)
We don't want to make something crippled, just removing parts that not everyone needs to help customers who don't have that much money.
6. They're multiplying!
------------------------
We've also continued to build some more Pyra prototypes now.
Two are fully assembled, next week I plan to assemble a few more.
These will go to devs (one is already on the way to one) and will hopefully help us increase the software faster.
After the devs units, I'll also start to assemble the sold prototypes, but I want to wait until they have the final case and keymat, so they will be more useful.
7. We're listening to you!
--------------------------
Quite a few of you have cried for a 4GB version, and we MIGHT be able to provide one.
When we started, there only were 512MB versions of the RAM chip available that we're using for the OMAP5.
Now there's also a 1GB version available, and if we're using 4 of them, that would add up to 4GB RAM.
And for the 2GB version, we would only use two of those chips
That would have some advantages:
* Two 1GB chips will probably be a few EUR cheaper than four 512MB chips (though this is marginal)
* Two chips will probably use less power than four chips, and every mW of power we can save is useful.
* Both the 4GB and 2GB CPU board would use the same RAM chips, which means we wouldn't need to buy different types of chips but just populate two or four of them. This is REALLY helpful for the MOQ (Minimum order quantity) and for an easy production run.
However, take this info with a grain of salt right now.
We first have to check whether the OMAP5 works with only two memory chips instead of four, and we need to make sure maintaining both versions here is not a lot of work.
What we also don't know yet is whether we'll offer the 4GB as an optional upgrade or include it with the 4G version. It'll become pretty complex for the production run if we have so many different version.
Of course, once we'll know more, I'll let you know.
8. Preorders!
-------------
My current plan is to start the preordering May 1st. No final delivery date will be given then (I rather make sure everything is working well than rush things just to get the units to you for a fixed date), but as soon as enough preorders are there, we will order all the parts... so once everything has been finished, the production can start shortly after.
We're getting there! :D
You can find the pictures and discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/finalizing-everything.77289/
Time for another update!
Slow but steady we're moving along.
Let's start with some...
1. Bugs!
--------
Luckily, no hardware bugs, but some more software quirks that make the hardware look bad.
Remember that we currently are running the Pyra prototypes with a maximum speed of 1GHz because otherwise it freezes?
Well, seems like Nikolaus finally found the culprit for the power issues. It's not hardware, it is a buggy driver. To be exact: The driver we used for the battery charging / power distribution chip.
Nikolaus used an Android driver he found, but that one doesn't work as it should. For example, VSYS (the system voltage) is always set at 3.2V - which is the absolute minimum to run the system, and therefore will cause instabilities when there's the OMAP5 needs a lot of power.
Additionally, even though it claims it charges the battery with 900mA, it only provides 150mA.
The chip itself can do that, but the driver doesn't really do as it should.
So it's time to study the datasheets and fix the driver. That was basically the last bigger issue we had, and it looks like it' finally fixed soon.
2. Calculations
---------------
Askarus and me are currently working on the calculations of the Pyra to find out how high the preorder downpayment has to be and how high we have to set the final price.
It's no easy task, balancing out everything.
Our money is little, we will need every cent of profit we can get, but setting the price too high will lower the amount of preorders we get.
The problem would be fully gone if we can reach 1500 preorders, that would lead into normal production runs without any further preorders needed.
If we reach less, then the second batch also needs to be done with preorders - so hopefully, we can sell enough units so that no further preorders are needed.
We'll finish the calculations, we're still missing a few parameters (like costs for the case or the packaging) before I can let you know the details.
Also, I need to contact PayPal and ask about taking preorders.
Once all that's done, the preorders will start. Yes, really :)
Let me know if you got any further questions :)
You can find the pictures and discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/bugs-and-calculations.77212/
Well, I hope I didn't shock you on the forums too much on April 1st.
Don't worry though, the Pyra is alive and well :)
So it's time for some real news...
1. Updated keymat design
------------------------
As I mentioned, the keymat is working fine, but the hard edges of the keys makes gliding over the keyboard with your thumbs a bit uncomfortable.
That's why they will be rounded a bit.
The design is now finished, it will go into production next week.
You can find an updated rendering from me showing how the keys will look on the forums (linked to at the bottom)
2. Calculating the price and some more hardware infos
-----------------------------------------------------
We're almost finished calculating the price, so we're also almost ready for the preordering.
The good news: We can almost certainly keep the projected price of 500 EUR for the normal unit. We're still working on the price for the 4G unit, mostly because we need to discuss with the module manufacturer.
Usually, the minimum order quantity for one module is 1000. However, as we need both US and EU modules, we need to work out a deal with them... we don't have a use of 1000 each at the beginning.
I'm sure we can get lower quantities as well, but that will raise the price - so we can't determine the final price (yet).
Onto the hardware infos, or, to be exact, the eMMC:
4GB eMMC cost between 3 - 4 EUR, 8GB eMMC also cost between 3 - 4 EUR (so it's a no-brainer to NOT use 4GB).
The 16GB one is between 6 - 7 EUR.
I just checked my working PC: My ArchLinux needs 15GB. That's with ALL programs installed I can imagine, KDE5 (Plasma), FireFox, Chromium, Vivaldi, FreeCad, Inkscape, Gimp, Krita, Scribus, LibreOffice, Claws-Mail, and so on.
So honestly, for something like the Pyra, where the eMMC is mostly being used for the OS and the preferred storage are SD Cards, 8GB would be enough - but I think 16GB would be nice.
This should be more than enough for a normal OS with the most important programs installed.
After all, we're not using Windows, where the base OS without any applications needs a lot more already...
What do you think?
3. The Case
-----------
I've received the next case part, which is the back lid.
So now I've got an almost fully assembled Pyra with real case parts!
Not yet finished is the mold with small parts: DPad, Stylus, Nubs, Stylus Holder, Logo.
Everything else is finished and assembled, here is a quick picture I posted on Twitter two days ago, which you can also find at the forum post.
One thing you will probably notice is that the LEDs are not properly aligned behind the logo.
Don't worry about that, the Display PCB will be vastly changed as well: Right now it weighs 20g (which is a lot).
The final version will have quite a few holes cut in, which will lower the weight quite a lot, and the LEDs position will also be fixed then.
I'll make more hires pictures of the assembled prototype within the next few days.
4. The OS / Drivers
-------------------
Nikolaus had a crashed harddisk, so he couldn't do much last week, sadly, he needs to reinstall his computer.
I did work on the OS a bit more, the keyboard layout is now fully working.
BTW: Using the right nub click as left mouse button and the left nub click as right mouse buttons works nice and is pretty comfortable!
I am now looking for devs who can help us finishing everything right now.
The LCD / SSD driver combination exists as shell script only right now:
http://git.goldelico.com/?p=gta04-kernel.git;a=blob_plain;f=Letux/root/ssd2…
This script needs to be changed into a kernel module.
Anyone here who would like to do that?
Send me a PM!
And maybe you could help with that too, but this is very specific:
The OMAP5 is not using PRMC (which are power saving functions) as good as it could - so there's a lot of potential to save battery.
Is anyone here experienced with that or wants to take a look at that?
Send me a PM as well :)
5. Website
----------
As mentioned, I plan to overhaul the landing page a lot. Christoph.krn has already contacted me with quite a nice list of hidden features, which is a great start.
I'm looking for a HTML coder who could code a small page based on our input (layout, text, pictures).
Nothing too fancy, just some standard HTML, but it should be responsive (which is what I can not do myself).
I've also updated the blender file (which was used to render the pictures above), which will be used for that landing page to create various nice pictures.
I'll clean it up a bit and will release it as well, so any 3D artists here can play around with it a bit.
We need to let new users know what the Pyra can do and what's special about it!
You can also help working on the Wiki: (https://www.pyra-handheld.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page)
The login is the same as on the forums, so if you got an account, you can login and work on it right away!
That's it for today. More news soon, some pictures tomorrow.
You can find the pictures and discuss about that here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/were-still-alive.77184/
I hope you had some great holidays. Last week was quite busy for me, I had an appointment with Global Components to discuss about the productions cost (yep, it's getting serious now), and I was also fiddling around with the prototype quite a bit.
In fact, I am writing this newspost here in a train using the Pyra prototype. An excellent test for the keyboard.
It takes a bit getting used to (I always hit ' when I want to press SHIFT, as that's where SHIFT was on the Pandora), but I can already type pretty fast.
All keys are easily reachable, they feel good, but as you know, I already decided the keymat will be tweaked a bit to improve it even further.
So, here's what happened last week...
1. Heating tests
----------------
I've started playing around with some special heat spreading, blocking and dissipation materials with quite a bit success.
Currently, the unoptimized OS with all features enabled (Wifi, modem, display, all LEDs, all USB ports, etc.) and no suspend or powersaving features enabled gets quite warm without any anti-heat solution... in fact, the CPU reaches 40,1C when just sitting around for 10 minutes, using about 4W (running both cores with full load at 1 GHz uses about 6W with everything enabled)
With just a few layers of cleverly placed heat blockers (to block the heat getting to the battery and the DPad) and some heat spreading as well as two copper springs added to the USB ports, the unit ran for over 40 minutes staying at a comfortable temperature of 30,2C, which is a lot better.
I don't think we need to do much more (after all, those materials are the same every smartphone uses these days), and it will be enough for normal usage. For continuos high power usage, it will still be warm (like every smartphone out there), but there's nothing you can do (except for adding a fan...)
2. Meeting up with Global Components
------------------------------------
I had a meeting with GC and received the production costs for both the normal and the spiced up unit (which has 4G and a few more sensors added)
As it looks like, we can keep the prospected 500 EUR price tag, but will use the better Wifi chip (which also has 5GHz speed) in the normal unit as well.
What we need to find out and discuss are some MOQs (Minimum order quantity).
It won't help if a MOQ for one type of the 4G module is 1000 pcs. We need to be able to mix them up (US,European versions).
As usual, I'll let you know as soon as I got more informationa.
3. Meeting with BOE
-------------------
My BOE contact visited me this week to check the touchscreen issue (heavy color grains) with me.
Thank god it looks like it's a very simple issue.
The touchscreen is currently applied with some double adhesive tape. Because of that, there's a bit of air between the glass of the touchscreen and the LCD.
That air refracts the light which leads to diifused light entering the touchscreen layer.
Matted touchscreens are always a bit grainy, but the added refraction makes it worse (as colors are being refracted to different directions).
Another way to apply the touchscreen is using bonding. That way, a touchscreen is firmly applied to the LCD (without any air inbetween) which should solve that problem.
4. OS, developer info, updated website
--------------------------------------
The first few developer units will be shipped in about a week and I'll spend the next few days to actively work on the website and Wiki to show the advantages and strength of the Pyra to newcomers on the main site and to give developers access to the current status of the OS and kernel so they can help improve the system.
Any help is welcome. I'll let you know how you can help with other threads on the boards.
5. Protoype units and a preproduction run
-----------------------------------------
We were able to create 10 working PCB sets from the prototype run. This is enough for the developers, but not yet for all the ordered prototypes.
However, we still have a few fixes and the ordered prototypes I want to ship should have a full case and a fixed keymat (though I'll also throw in the old one in case you want to compare it).
So they'll still take a while, but you'll still receive them before anyone else, no worries.
6. Preorders
------------
Well... we now got a working prototype (which I used to type this newspost), so the time for the preorders has finally come!
I will now do a proper cost calculation which means the preorder won't be far away now!
BTW, the battery lasts about 8 hours currently with normal desktop usage... without any powersaving included yet and all components enabled.
That's pretty good already. About the same the Pandora had at the beginning without any powersavings enabled.
7. Some more thoughts
---------------------
Well, honestly, what a weird feeling. Actually typing ON the Pyra on a train!
It almost feels surreal! It took a long time, but we were always moving forward!
You all played a huge part in the process - so thanks a lot!
It's awesome seeing coming a huge project to an end!
Discuss about that post here:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/first-newspost-coming-from-the-pyr…
As you all know, I've had the the Pyra prototype for about a week now.
What were my experiences so far?
Well, don't expect me to tell you how it can be used in everyday life!
We're still setting everything up, so my main focus is getting a basic working system first and testing the hardware itself.
Here are some results:
Case:
-----
It seems to be pretty robust. Like the Pandora, I've had it with me in the pockets and it survived that.
One little thing is that the LCD-to-LCD-PCB connector came off one time, but that can be fixed easily by doing a minor modification in the case (so that it keeps the connector in place).
It's a bit thicker than the Pandora, but that's not really an issue (at least not for me).
It feels a bit weird at the beginning, but you quickly get used to it. The rounded edges are great when you hold it in your hand for a longer time.
The weight is similar to the above: It WILL be a bit heavier than the Pandora. We can't change that. The battery itself weighs 30g more.
The mainboard and cases are almost the same, but right now, the LCD-PCB adds another 20g. These can be brought down a lot though. as that PCB is full-sized and takes has a few copper layers. We can cut out large areas (as not much space it needed) and remove a lot of copper, which will reduce the weight down to probably 5g or something like that.
The Pandora weighs about 320g, btw.
Heating:
--------
I can't say too much about the heat it produces yet, but it can be quite a handwarmer.
Right now, we have done nothing yet to spread or reduce the heat. We haven't put any heat spreader in there or connected it to the SD Card slots, so we're in the worst possible state now.
I will do some tests with that and different heat dissipation methods once I've finished setting up the basic stuff.
Additionally, right now, all components are active (so that they can be tested) and there are nearly no powersaving features included in the OS right now (the OMAP itself doesn't do any powersaving at the moment!), so that's also the worst possible state now.
I can't say much about the battery life right now, as we haven't calibrated the battery yet (so I don't know when it's fully charged or empty) and as we run everything without power saving now, it wouldn't be a very accurate result.
OS:
---
I got our own OS to work (with MATE desktop), but haven't done much. I want to implement our keyboard layout first. WIthout it, I can't even enter my Wifi password. Yes, I know I could use a normal keyboard, but I want a mobile Pyra experience :)
I'll create the keyboard layout next week so I can fully enjoy the OS.
Nubs:
-----
As the upper part of the case is still partly printed (and therefore a bit fragile) and I don't have a tool to calibrate the touchscreen yet, I mostly use the nubs for mouse navigation.
And geez, these really rock! They're a hundred times better than Pandoras nubs, very accurate, and really usable as mouse replacement.
I have issues controlling the mouse when I take the Pandora into my hands, after I've gotten used to those.
They're a huge improvement!
LCD / Touchscreen:
------------------
Well, since it can't all be rainbows all the time, here is my currently biggest concern.
The LCD is great, but I'm not happy with the touchscreen yet.
It is VERY grainy, sadly, it decreases the picture quality quite a bit.
So that's something we need to fix.
The bad thing is: 1000 LCDs exist with that touchscreen already applied to, so they need to be reworked.
This is going to cost us a bit (probably between 5000 and 10.000 USD), but it seems we can't prevent that...
How did that happen? Well, when we tested the touchscreen, the OS we were using had a black background. And you don't see the grain before black, only with bright colors.
So when we approved it, we thought it was good... but now, when running the normal OS, I can see it isn't.
Well, I'm trying to find out who the manufacturer of Pandoras touchscreen is (the last ones were also custom made for us), as that one really really rocks.
I guess even if you try to do your best, some fallbacks happen... and here it seems we didn't test it good enough (though I have to admit I've never seen so much grain in ANY touchscreen I've ever seen, so I didn't expect that and we mostly tested the function of it).
Besides cost (and more work for me), it shouldn't do any delays, as replacing the touchscreens can be done within a week and the leadtime for the PCBs is a lot longer.
So, I'm mostly content with the Pyra right now, except for the touchscreen (which really frustrates me right now!), but we'll get that right as well!
Heating is still a bit of a concern, but I'll concentrate on that one too, and the battery manufacturer has agreed to help us here when we provide them case data and informations where the heat spots are, so we should be fine with that.
What I'm really looking forward to is when we have the system released:
Improvements in the future. Thanks to the fact that everything is replaceable, it'll be fun working on new CPU boards, etc. to improve the system.
Preordering:
------------
As so many of you are asking about preorders:
I'm having a meeting with Global Components next week to find out the production cost details.
I can then continue to work on the prototype during the easter holidays (keyboard layout, etc.) so that I'll have a good feeling about it.
So preorders should start shortly after the easter holidays.
Oh, ans as many mentioned they would like to get two or more: I'll probably make a discount for that. Can't say how much though until I got the final prices, right? :)
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/one-week-with-the-pyra.77116/