Pandora's Rival: The Gizmondo

Posted By: wraggster

Yaustar posted this excerpt which suggests that the gizmondo may rival the Pandora:

From MCV magazine:

Gizmondo will rival DS and PSP, says new team... no, honestly.

"We can compete with DS and PSP. An open platform offers something new." Ian Murphy, Plextek

"Little is known about the new iteration, but Plextek technical director Ian Murphy told MCV it would be a fully open platform, allowing amateur developers to create and share homemade titles.

...

"There's no reason we can't compete. An open platform will offer something that other handhelds can't"

Download the full article from the Print Magazine here: http://www.mcvuk.com/

It does make me wonder how much research they have done on previous non-mainstream handhelds and how close they are to release.

On the side, since this is getting a lot of media attention, the marketing of the Pandora can piggy back on the whole 'open platform' aspect if they can get in before the Gizmondo since it is what it is most likely to be compared to.

3 comments - Last Comment By sukhi-2006

The First Prototype Of The Pandora Handheld On The 26t

Posted By: argor

i read this over at gbax.com

Feb 18th: We will be in Dallas, Texas, USA, at the TIDC with (we hope/maybe) the first prototype of the Pandora Handheld on the 26th Feb.



edit for you that dont know what TIDC is http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/tid.../global_portal

Details on what pandora is and screenshot via comments

1 comments - Last Comment By AdamRav

Pandora Website was Updated

Posted By: argor

Pandora Website was Updated http://www.openpandora.org/ and it looks great
also on the web site it say the Ordering for the 'First edition' Pandora may start in March, note that these will be beta versions of the console mostly for devs or hackers to try out and report back on.

Full Screen via Comments

7 comments - Last Comment By sukhi-2006

The Future of Homebrew - Pandora Console ?

Posted By: wraggster

The Homebrew scene is bigger now than its ever been, when i first got really into homebrew we just had the Dreamcast and Gameboy Scenes but now we have homebrew scenes for PSP, Nintendo DS, GP2X, Xbox, Wii, PS3, PS2, Dreamcast, GBA, Sega Saturn, GP32, Gizmondo and many others.

Homebrew is so big now that thousands of sites are posting news on it and even the major sites such as Slashdot, Digg, Engadget and even BBC News have posted interviews and articles about homebrew.

A few years ago saw the release of the GP2X a linux based console that was to revolutionize the homebrew scene, it was and is a good console but the build quality of the first units was not so good and the problems of firmware updates bricking the console didnt help either not to mention the crap battery life. Also problems with the company making the console didnt help either, however the F200 Version of the GP2X addressed some of the problems and gave a touchscreen option which is selling well.

The Pandora Console

Last year i was told of a new project to bring a console that would be as powerful as the PSP and maybe even have Nintendo DS Emulation on it, a big boast if ever there was one.

That project was given the name Pandora and a few months ago it transpired that it would look like a Nintendo DS in shape with a keyboard on, the first version was white and didnt impress but a new photo of the design has been released and it looks much better in black.

Heres the photo:



Heres the specs:

ARM® Cortex™-A8 CPU running Linux
800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
OpenGL 2.0 compliant 3D hardware
Wifi 802.11b/g
Dual SDHC card slots
Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
TV output
High Speed USB Host

Heres some more details about the console:

When and where can I buy it?
Sometime around April/May 2008 via UK, USA, Germany and Turkey.

How much will it cost?
Around £199 (inc VAT), $330, Euro212 (Ex.VAT).

What is the device designed for?
It is designed as an ultra portable open source computer with gaming controls.

Why such a radical design?
The design is actually a simple clamshell which gives maximum protection and maximum control layout, it is around the same size as a DS.

From the photograph you can see it borrows a lot from the Nintendo DS with the clam style and body shape but improves on it with the dual SD card slots.

The screen is a rather big 800x480 which may be problematic for some emulators, the Wifi part should be awesome for playing emulators and games against people worldwide.

The qwerty keyboard, tv out and USB mean you have a portable console that could double as a mini laptop.

Is Pandora the Future of Homebrew?

Personally i hope that Pandora will be a major success, lets hope the build quality is professional and that battery life is comparable with the likes of the Nintendo DS.

Its unlikely the console will ever be a console that major commercial games will be released on but it could be a great bed for indie developers looking to impress the likes of EA and the many major companies out there.

Thats my feelings but what do you think about the design and if it will be a success, will it challenge the likes of the PSP and Nintendo DS who have very strong Homebrew scenes.

Give us your views via Comments

86 comments - Last Comment By Kaeruyaki