Pandora's Box

A new blog post to start with :

Hello everyone, Craig here,

Here is a video which Pickle made showing the classic Quake engine running at 800*480 with the SGX first at 55Mhz then at 110Mhz. (Video is after the Jump.)

The results with Quake2 are almost exactly the same, we are also able to use full screen antialiasing in Quake2 at 800*480 while still getting over 30fps.

These early results show that a) the 3D hardware is up to the job at our high resolution and b) there is a lot more power to extract once we move to OpenGL2ES (this port is using 1.1ES) and begin to experiment with using the NEON command set to speed things up further. The final ideal situation would be full OpenGL2.0 somewhere in the future.

Then there is a Tweet from Craigx that he recieved his case.

And a Quake 3 video!

Demo with some bots running I guess, it appeared to me the average framerate was around 40. This at 600 Mhz and 110 Mhz.

Read more...

Blog, News, Pandora, Software Blog, Video, Game

Official blog update from ED :

Well, some people may have met me at the Olymptronica during the last days and played around with a Pandora devboard
ALL people were amazed by it, that's for sure. I'll post more about it (and a little video) soon.

You might have also read and seen that Pickle got Quake 2 running using OpenGL ES on the Devboard! He's currently working on Quake 3 — and it's looking good already.
So expect some more hires videos from me within this week.

Yep, the prototype case is finished (and WHITE, it will surely become something special :D)
When it arrives at Michaels place, he's gonna build a nice working Pandora for you... expect more soon :)

Blog, News, Pandora Blog, Case, Prototype, Photo

New blog update from EvilDragon :

Well, all the errors of the case files have been fixed — and the final prototype cases are now in production!
They will be finished and shipped out on Friday, huzzah!

After that happened, we need to do stability and CE tests as quickly as possible, and if everything is fine, the moulds will be produced.

The production of the moulds will take about 30 — 35 days, however, once they are finished, the company can produce 50.000 units a day... should be enough for us. The good thing is, that the company that produces the moulds and the case is exactly the same company that made the prototype cases, so we won't have any file export errors this time.

The last pieces missing for the board productions have also been shipped and are on their way. This means that everything should be ready for the mass production of the boards. If everything goes well, we can start producing the boards shortly before the cases are finished so we can begin to ship early / middle of April!

Oh, I (EvilDragon) am at the Olymptronica this weekend — with Pandora devboard as well as with a WIZ prototype. So, if you want to come over and have a little chat or test some stuff on the prototypes, you're welcome. I hoped I could take the case with me, but as the show starts one day after the cases are finished, there's no chance getting one to me in time.

Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Case, Production, Prototype

A new post from EvilDragon on the official blog…

Hi,
I told you, cpasjuste is currently working on a simple and clear launcher, using skeezix libpnd to work with PXML.
cpasjuste just posted a small sneak preview of the menu, you can see how PXML works (showing icons in categories, preview pictures, etc.).
skeezix libpnd is already pretty advanced. Together with vimacs, he made it possible for EVERY dev to easily use PXML and therefore, automatically add games and programs into the right categories as soon as you put an SD card into the slot!
We will show a video with that feature included into the matchbox UI as well soon!
Now onto some news on the case: The company is working on it already, however, a few files got errors while exporting them. We are working together to fix them, should only take a couple of days.

Watch video after the jump.

Viridior and the Gentoo team now have their own news blog. Check it out.

We started our own news/blogs site to help us keep track of Gentoo Pandora development. We are charging forward at full speed to get a nice small and functional image well before the Pandora ships, if your interested check out http://gentoo.openpandora.org, it has a RSS feed.

PXML, the ‘ID Card’ of all Pandora applications, has just been updated.

skeezix together with cpasjuste implemented PXML into his lib_pnd (yep, every dev can use that lib and easily read out all PXML stuff).
PXML has changed slightly to be more easily read by his library, so I updated the specs.
For those who have no idea what PXML is:
It is basically a file which devs include within their games archive. The Pandora menu reads out that file and can automatically sort the game into the correct category, show descriptions or preview pictures and associate filetypes with. So basically, the user puts all his games onto the SD Card, inserts that into the Pandora, and the menu becomes automatically populated.

Download: PXML v1.5

Read more...

Blog, News, Official, Software Blog, OS, Prototype

New blog post from ED, with video:

Hi,

still waiting for the case, however, I got some news: According to the factory, it should be finished by next week, so there was a one week delay because of the chinese new year here. Could be better, but it could also be worse!

So, in the meantime, I injected MDaves theme into my Angstr?m image of my Pandora devboard and can show you a nice video (HD  ).

It shows, how easy it is to change the icon size to suit the menu to your needs.

As a little bonus I also ran some first version of ScummVM. Some seconds are missing though, as the video footage was broken for some reason. Watch video after the Break.

App instalation explained :

We’re building a system to make app installation stupidly easy.

We’re still banging it out, but assuming it all comes together and works (and it should, we’re nearly there) ... you’ll download special apps in a bundle, a .pnd file. Inside that will be a directory structure and so on for the app to live, but users won’t care (unless they unpack it into a directory.)

So an entire app (all its data etc) can be downloaded as one file, dropped onto an SD card. Stick the card into Pandora, and te launcher shows the app in its category. Tap to run and it just works. No unzip, no set up... just download and run. Piece of cake. (You are of course able to unpack it, futz with it, put it in anywhere you want on sD or in NAND, etc.)

We also intend to build the OS in such a way that you can just use Angstron packages if you want to, but thats suboptimal. (I can explain why if you want.)

Anyway, its going to be easier than on the gp2x, which was not really rocket science either

We or I will start writing up some docs on the wiki soon, so folks can get an idea how it wll/does work.

(For devs... it is pretty easy to pack up the files into a .pnd; trivial on linux, a little work on Windows.)

In response to the current timeplans there have been a few comments from EvilDragon and Chip:

EvilDragon

CE shouldn”t take one month — I know the test itself can be done in a couple of days and we”re looking for a company that won”t give us a long wait before they start testing.

Chip

The case manufacturer already has the CAD files, as they are the ones making the CNC prototype as well. That is why we went with CNC (as opposed to other, much faster rapid prototype technologies). Since it is the same factory, we know they have the exact dimensions down. Since it is the same machines in the same facility, there is little chance of (and no excuse for) variations between the prototype and final cases.

These cases are being made in China. As I understand things, the cases will be shipped to TX where everything will be assembled and tested. The completed, tested Pandoras will be shipped to the UK and from there to everybody who ordered one.

EvilDragon

… and to Germany ;\)

Chip

It would be cheaper in some ways (to ship the ones destined for the US to MWeston), much more expensive in others. MWeston has a day job which would preclude him from boxing and labeling hundreds of Pandoras in a reasonable timeframe. I have offered to do it, but Craig declined for what are actually quite good reasons that I”m not sure I can discuss. Rest assured that it is being planned in the most reasonable way possible.

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Blog, Hardware, News, Software Blog, Video, OS, Production

New blog update from EvilDragon :

While the mould for the keymat is currently being produced, we're concentrating on working more on the keyboard layout.
We mostly scrapped out old layout since we had too many important keys missing — so there are no Umlauts or language specific keys on the layout, it's a plain English keyboard with a compose key to do special characters.
That layout is not final yet, it's our current WIP.
It might look weird and mixed up at first sight, but there's one major difference with a standard PC Keyboard: You only use two thumbs for typing on that one, so it's much more important that the most used characters are convenient to reach (which can be a problem when using the Fn Button).

And a new video demonstration of 3D hardware after the jump.

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Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Video, Drivers, Keyboard

A new blog post from EvilDragon :

Hi!
While we're still discussing about the final keyboard layout and font (it's not as easy as you would think), devs are continuing working on the OS.
At the moment, we think that a generic english keyboard layout would be the best, but regional ones can additionally bought for a few bucks. This is not final yet, but it tends to that direction.

Well, back to the OS.
DJWillis got 3G (UMTS) USB-sticks working in his latest image! He's still tweaking a bit, but there should be a video there, soon. Yep, it means you can go outside and surf anywhere with your Pandora if you got a mobile phone surfing flatrate and a compatible stick.
He also included locales support, so upon release you should have a localized version of the OS on your Pandora.
Meanwhile, cpasjuste started coding a nice menu to run apps in minimal mode (as it would've been too complicated to finish gmenu until the release). The menu already supports PXML Format (which has changed a bit, but we'll release the new specs of it soon).
I'll take a video of it once it is running fine, which should be about next week.
I'll also start coding an app which helps every dev creating PXML files by simply filling in all the required and optional field and click on «Create it!».

And last, but not least, cpasjuste released a small Pandora Toolchain installer which automagically downloads needed files and libraries and installs a toolchain on Linux system, which can be used to compile for the Pandora.
This is not the final and official one yet, however, if somebody wants to see if some of his projects compile or want me to test their programs on a real Pandora, here's his (or her) chance :)

Blog, News, Pandora, Software Blog, OS

New Blog update fron EvilDragon :

Yeah, I know you gotta be fed up with renderings already... however, this one might be interesting for you:

This time, you can see the Pandora including the stylus.
The keyboard layout is nearly finished, we're still discussing about some keys and the font, however, I don't think much will change.
Fn+ [1 - 0]are the F-Keys, SELECT will be used for CTRL.

Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Prototype, Stylus

New blog update from EvilDragon :

Yup, I found a bit of time... not that much, so there's not that much to see on this picture.
Basically, it shows the back of the Pandora with all the ports (which we haven't finished designing in that render).
From left to right:
Mini USB, EXT Port (where TV Out, etc. will be connected), USB 2.0 and DC in.
Of course, in the finished version those ports will have their names or symbols printed below.

Again, click on the pic for a bigger few. See you next time! :)

Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Prototype

A new post has appeared on the official blog, which won’t make the slow news day any faster, but does offer a concise state of the nation and the promise of good things to come.

Hi!
I know you’re all waiting for news… well, here are some tiny tidbits, but nothing major YET. And there won’t be as much stuff to post as I did last week, since we’re now all waiting for the CNC case.

Well, and that brings us to on topic:
The CNC case has been ordered and while we don’t know yet how long it’ll take, it should hopefully be finished within the next two weeks.
During that time, we won’t have much to show you — well, except for some more polished videos of the prototype case you’ve seen already since Michael will probably send it to me.
Also, I’ll show you some emulators on it, running directly from Matchbox!

I’ll also try to do more renderings from various views as well.
Stay tuned!

Blog, News, Official, Pandora Blog, Prototype