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OpenPandora - an open source handheld device!

October 1st, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

The OpenPandora project is ready to ship the first batch of 3000 open source Pandora handheld devices starting the end of September 2008. The system will cost about $330 in the US and is for all practical purposes, a portable computer with game controls. The device boast an impressive spec, includes 3-D acceleration and a QWERTY keyboard

ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
800×480 4.3″ 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
Around 10+ Hours battery life

The OpenPandora device already runs Ubuntu Linux and can be used as a mini PC to run popular game emulators like SNES, NES. With built-in 3-D acceleration, it can even run games like Quake. As Pandora runs a full linux operating system, users can browse the internet, play music and videos. The Pandora even has an SVideo TV output for playback on television screens.

The portable gaming console market is dominated by the likes of SONY’s PSP and the Nintendo DS. The SONY PSP has 350+ game titles available and the Nintendo DS over 600+. The one big downer is the lack of games and applications for the Pandora. Despite this shortcoming, it can still be a very useful portable mini PC, with good battery life, for general purpose use. So go and order yours now!