Gadgetoid

As the Pandora inches closer to production the dev team are appeasing the slathering appetites of Pandora pre-orderers the world over with pictures and video of what amounts to be the closest thing to a final Pandora we’re likely to see until mass production actually begins.

The only differences: the gloss (instead of matte) finish of the case and lack of silkscreening. Otherwise this is it. The culmination of an unexpected multi-year journey during which several optimistic predictions strung pre-order customers along and gave them something to moan bitterly about to pass the time.

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It’s not perfect, it’s not even really impressive at this stage, but it makes up for that with oodles and oodles of promise. Suffice to say, playable N64 on the Pandora is more or less a certainty and we’ve surely got the dual analogue to thank for making it an awful lot more comfortable than it’s likely to be on any other handheld.

A big thanks to the guys behind the port, and to MWeston for taking the time to video it. Not long until us eager Pandora pre-orderers can try these emulation marvels out for ourselves.

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Born on the same forums as the Pandora console, Snega2usb is a re-envisioned cartridge ripper that shows up as mass storage, making it an absolute synch to simply drag and drop ROMs right off your dusty old cartridges, or even play them right off the cart. It’s now available to pre-order and needs your support to get demand up, and the price down.

Snega2usb Pandora support is almost guaranteed, making it possible to create your own classic console system that will read old cartridges, smoothly upscale them to your television and provide up to 4 controller connections for good old multiplayer fun.

• USB 2.0 Mass Storage device. No drivers or special software required.
• Loads SNES and Genesis ROMs from the cartridge.
• Reads and writes battery-backed SRAM on SNES cartridges.
• Professionally made PCB and custom cartridge connectors of the highest quality.
• Rugged aluminum case
• Optional support for up to 4 gamepads, can easily be retrofitted by anyone. They appear as USB Keyboard devices.
• Updateable firmware based on the amazing LUFA framework by Dean Camera. Will become open-source in early 2010.
• Availability: December 2009
• Preordering: If you want one, visit the website now and place your preorder.
• Group Buy: Price will drop as more people participate.

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Craig has finally uploaded another video to YouTube. This time it shows off a Pandora PSX emulator in action, with the CPU clocked to 550mhz. The slight stuttering in sound should, with any luck, be ironed out with further optimizations. If all else fails, over-clocking should give us Pandora fanatics full speed PSX emulation in most circumstances and, with the clearly better controls on the Pandora, should place it well above the PSP as a top notch PSX emulation platform.

Fingers crossed!

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I’m perplexed at the widespread, comparatively anyway, adoption of 3g USB dongles in lieu of far better and more flexible alternatives. So perplexed, in fact, that I decided to try one such alternative, the MiFi 2352 from Novatel Wireless, to see if there’s really a glaring flaw keeping it from the mass market, or if it’s simply been a bit slow to catch up.

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EvilDragon, the voice of sanity and reason from the Pandora Project, has posted yet another blog update to keep us slathering, news hungry pre-order customers happy.

I’ve always found, despite English not being his first language, that EvilDragon maintains a very reassuring, positive and personal tone and am glad he posts these updates to combat the not unsurprising negativity of those from Craig.

I do, of course, have nothing against Craig, the effort, time, blood, sweat and tears he’s put into the Pandora Project far eclipse the dedication I’ve had to anything, ever and I would have given up a long time ago. It’s clear, however, that his constitution is wavering- fingers crossed that the Pandora project pays dividends when it’s completed.

Anyway, the customs problems with Pandora parts have been resolved and the first test mass production is on target for completion on the 20th July. The case is still being worked on by Dave in what little time he has to spare, but could be complete in days.

To echo EvilDragon, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The forums are currently down for an upgrade, so you should head on over to the openhandhelds.org alternative if you want to discuss.

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Craigix has posted a very highly debated and controversial poll on the gp32x forums asking if a Pandora “Cube”, a headless, non portable version of the Pandora much like an HTPC or games console, would be a worthwhile pursuit.

The topic is controversial because many people who have “invested” their time and money into the Pandora project are concerned to see any evidence that the people behind the much anticipated linux-powered portable are deviating from the task of polishing off the Pandora and getting it production-ready.

I think it would be necessary to pursue some deviation from the core Pandora project in an effort to keep it financially viable and generate as large a return for the time and effort that has gone into the production of the Pandora’s internals as possible.

But the question remains; what, if anything, would such a device be used for? And could it really be as worth-while as previously mentioned cut down but still portable, gaming/PMP orientated editions of the Pandora.

Discussions touch upon the idea of a “smart” Pandora dock, but using a Pandora to dock a Pandora might be slightly overkill. I am, however, all for the idea of a straight-forward dock, and believe that selling such Pandora accessories is a surefire way of keeping the project buoyant.

If I could pick a second Pandora form factor, it would most certainly be along the lines of the Dingoo A320 or GP2X Wiz with the addition of the Pandora’s existing, larger touch-screen but sans the full keyboard. If USB host is retained then such an eminently more PMP/gaming orientated console could easily be repurposed as a portable computer and used for slightly more awkward but still functional on-the-go C64 emulation.

Arguably, in fact, such a product, when combined with a portable keyboard, would facilitate a greater level of productivity. The Pandora’s keyboard, whilst extremely handy and clearly usable, could never quite be on par with a full-sized folding affair.

If a more Portable, keyboard-less Pandora could be made available then it would also be a much better fit for a dock that allows its use as a low-power desktop. Imagine connecting a larger monitor for your primary display and reserving that of the Pandora to function as a MIMO-like secondary display. The retention of the standard, but slightly re-configured Pandora internals, would mean that this hypothetical desktop-ready unit would be blessed with a UPS.

Of course, leaving in the battery and the display means the Pandora “Cube” alternative would still be saddled with some of the more expensive components and may still miss out on a niche that a screen-less, battery-less but HDMI/DVI and USB hub endowed “Cube” might hit.

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CraigIX has posted the most complete pictures of the Pandora yet. Although it’s still clad in a prototype CNC case this particular Pandora is actually in a fetching black, as opposed to the white stress-line-revealing getup of previous assembled units.

There are more pictures and, of course, much discussion available in the thread.

Edit: Given the massive response to these recent photos of the Pandora I felt it prudent to draw attention to the fact that this is still a prototype case and that the final unit will most definitely not be held together with tape. Still, it’s portable, it’s battery powered, it’s functional and, despite the years of delays, setbacks and missed deadlines I think that it is pretty safe to proclaim that the Pandora is imminent.

Because of the turbulent past of the Pandora there were a several pre-order dropouts that have resulted in first-batch Pandoras still, apparently, being available to late-comers. If you’re still interested in the console, then check out the product page at GBAX.com for more information.

I’m doing my best to make sure I can bring a review of a production Pandora to Gadgetoid, and am confident it may come sooner than many skeptics might think. Still, I’m placing what I think to be a conservative guess at around early August (but secretly hoping for the seemingly impossible-due-to-FCC-requirements early July).

Shout backs to Slashgear, Engadget and PMP Today.

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More videos are promised, and the Pandora team has implored viewers to subscribe to their Youtube feed so that they might be able to publish tastier, lengthier videos in future. Do it!

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The ball is really rolling now with the Open Pandora project! The video below says it all! Quake 3 really looks stunning.

Check out the Open Pandora blog for more pictures and videos.

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