Linux-Based Pandora Ships with 600 MHz ARM
It's a pocket computer that looks like the Nintendo DSi XL.
Back in December we reported that the open-source, Linux-based Pandora pocket computer was close to completion, facing a final testing with the FCC by the end of the year. Now the device has entered mass-production, with the Pandora team currently building the first batch of 4,000 units. Private pre-orders have even begun to ship.
Pandora appears unchanged since December, sporting a small, Nintendo DS XL-like clam-shell appearance while retaining the usefulness of a netbook. It still uses the ARM Cortex-A8 600 Mhz+ CPU and a 430 MHz TMS320C64x+ DSP Core. Additional hardware includes the 110 MHz PowerVR SGX GPU, 256 MB of RAM, and 512 MB of flash memory. The device's 4.3-inch resistive touchscreen provides a native 800 x 480 resolution and 16.7 million colors.
Although Pandora is promoted as "the most powerful gaming handheld," the specs lean more towards an ultra-portable, pocket-sized PC. This portable rig can surf the Internet thanks to a built-in Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g wireless adapter, allow users to compose email using its 43-button QWERTY keyboard, and perhaps even export high-quality video to a TV thanks to its S-Video output jack. The Pandora sports a battery with a 10+ hour duration.
On the gaming front, Pandora supposedly runs Quake 3 Arena rather well, however it's promoted as a device capable of running older games and console ROMS via emulators--heck, the Motorola Droid can do those equally as well. Currently pricing is unknown, and general consumers are unable to pre-order as of this writing.
Is this just a glorified smartphone?
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Ugliest device I've seen in years.
Yeah.. that's not pretty.
Ooo that looks Victorian and funky...
Ooo that looks Victorian and funky...
Victorian?
Wah?
he means that due to the colouring, especially in the smaller photograph, it looks like steampunk - the burnished bronze colouring found in The League of Gentlemen and other reimaginings of the Victorian era.
Hope this helps.
Not sure they should be pushing it for gaming but as a pocket computer could be neat. Not sure about the game pad buttons though, is that to compete with the psp or something?
Did I just step back into the mid 90s?
High quality video via S-video?? Seriously, that is really poor. Analogue video on a brand new device?
Also, doesn't seem any more powerful than an iphone but in a larger, clunkier case, worse screen and no phone.
Glorified smartphone? how about unglorified non-smartphone...
The new Samar Bomb? Looks like it came out of the 80s.
*Smart
This looks like my grandpa's gameboy
Nice machine - and seriously hackable by design. The retro look is neat imo, but not compulsory. If you don't like steampunk, you won't get it. Other illustrations (eg the one in the previous review linked above) have shown a conventional dark finish.
S-Video is an old standard, but works OK for games on many TVs - you weren't expecting 1080P from a hand held at this price, were you?