OpenPandora

The OpenPandora is one of the last of a dying breed of amazing products; the Ultra mobile PC. Quite literally, the abilities of a laptop in your pocket; word processing, web browsing, Linux console adminstration, even serious programming. And while we are now used to battery times of 20hrs with occasional usage at most on our smartphones, the OpenPandora is able to run for 12 hours straight with enabled WiFi and multitasking. It holds charge for more than a week when used with standy and about a month turned off.

The OpenPandora, with it's D-Pad, four buttons and analog sticks, also married the Pocket PC with the homebrew and emulation gaming handheld, such as the Sony PSP, the GP32, the GP2X (which ran a native linux kernel already), and the Dingoo. These devices had to be hacked to install custom firmware and allow writing your own software though, with the exception of the gp2x and dingoo. You could say, a lot of developers who made homebrew for the original GP32 possible, later went on to develop on the gp2x and release homebrew software on the psp. Some developers even came from the psp scene, being fed up with lousy software support (since the psp had to be hacked to install software) and social structure of that scene and started developing on the gp2x. This is actually where the original idea for an opensource handheld computer with proper gaming controls originated. The actual discussion can still be reviewed on the archived boards of www.gp32x.com which are now under http://www.gp32x.de This forum was originally intended for importers and hackers of the GP32 and later GP2x, hence the name gp32x. EvilDragon and CraigX started the project on those boards.

Unfortunately, the multitouch iPhone and Android, battle-hardened by a massive tech arms race, easily outpaced the power of the UMPC; if not for it's unique abilities. iOS and Android are nothing like real PC operating systems, and lack a keyboard or onboard programming environment. They are geared to an era where man consumes, and rarely produces.

Perhaps the OpenPandora will remain a relic of an older time; when most users programmed their computers, and were not programmed by them.

Note: However, for those who still subscribe to this open ideology, the developing Dragonbox Pyra has the same Pandora case and unique keyboard/button/joystick layout, but also a beefed up DualCore TI OMAP 5 processor running a full blown Linux operating system. It will feature HDMI output and a revised modular motherboard system, allowing to upgrade cpu, motherboard and graphics independently later on. There is even talk of a might-be x86 cpu board and fpga integration, if the funds can be gathered and there is enough interest after the Pyra release.

Guides

(will add later)

Recommended Programs

The OpenPandora has a motherlode of Linux programs, games, and emulators.

Recommended Apps

Games

• Action
  • Gravity Force
  • Super Hexagon - Maneuver your way through waves of hexagon walls. Ported from Android.
  • VVVVVV - Escape from a damaged spaceship, whose malfunctioning machines pose major obstacles to your survival. A Commodore 64 style retro platformer.
• Adventure and RPG
  • Diablo and DiabloII with LOD expansion - A Port of the original game to Pandora ARM. The same person who ported Starcraft and Diablo I made this possible (Notaz). All versions of pandora run this fullspeed and LAN games are possible between PC and Pandora.
  • EasyRPG Player - Play all the well known RPGmaker games like Vampires Dawn
  • Grim Fandango - Possible through the REsidual Engine, made by the ScummVM community.
  • Digital: A Love Story - A simulation of the home computer scene and the BBS systems of the 80's. Amazing story behind it all.
  • Narcissu/Narcissu: -side 2nd- - A series of visual novels that is closer to the powerful emotional pathos of a Japanese movie, than the typical "galge".
• Arcade
  • Arkanoid Remake - It's good ol' Arkanoid. The graphics are amazing.
  • Boson-X
  • Cannonball - Pandora Compatibility layer for the 80's beach racing arcade game Outrun.
  • Classic Invaders - It's Space Invaders.
  • Mari0 - It's Super Mario... with P0rtals.
  • Not Pacman - It's Not Pacman. Because what if Pacman were like one of those wooden labyrinth games?
  • Not Tetris - It's Not Tetris. Because what if the Tetris blocks had realistic physics? You'll have a hell of a time making a single line; though gravity might just do that for you.
  • Syobon Action - It's Not Mario. Because everything you know about a platformer is wrong.
  • Spout - A simple, almost Gameboy style indie game where you propel a block like a rocket, and use the exhaust to destroy blocks.
  • Mini Slug Project - A Metal Slug inspired shooter game.
  • Neverball - Roll a ball around and avoid falling off the platforms.
  • NodeReviver
  • ProtoType - R-Type style shooter.
  • Siroi Danmakukun - A bullet hell shooter.
  • Spheres of Chaos
  • noiz2sa
• Puzzle and Board Games
  • ASCIIpOrtal - If Portal was a beautifully rendered ASCII game.
  • Gweled - Just like Bejeweled, but with awesome music.
  • Lemmings SDL - It's the classic Lemmings, now native to the Pandora.
  • Portile - Another great portal-style game.
• Simulation and Strategy
  • Starcraft - Amazingly, the full desktop version of Starcraft has been ported to the Pandora, and runs at full speed.
  • Homeworld - A similarly spectacular desktop port for another classic RTS.
  • OpenTTD - Transport Tycoon Deluxe, where you build a railroad empire; similar graphics and isometric design as RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Emulators

• Home Consoles
  • Picodrive - A Sega Genesis emulator.
  • SNES9X - A Nintendo SNES emulator.
    • SNES9X+ (Rebirth or higher) - Optimized, newer version of SNES9X, which requires a more powerful processor.
  • PCSX ReARMed - PSX Emulator. Requires not a lot of CPU power as it is very well optimized on the Pandora.
• Arcade
  • GNGEO - A Neo Geo/Arcade emulator; for Metal Slug, King of Fighters, and all those other awesome arcade classics. Fullspeed at no frameskip on low cpu speeds.
  • C4A MAME - The jack of all trades for arcade emulators.
• Handheld Consoles
  • Ginge - This is an exclusive emulator for gp2x/wiz/canoo games. No other console or android device has this. If you used to own a gp2x, the whole world of homebrew history is right there to grasp.
  • gPSP - The famous full-speed Nintendo GBA emulator.
  • DraStic - Exophase's famous DS emulator got it's start on the Pandora. Runs almost at full speed for most games, a once unthinkable prospect for the weak little CPU.
  • PPSSPP - Sony PSP emulator. It's slow and only supports a few games, but such an emulator is an incredible prospect already.
• Home Computers
  • UAE4ALL - An Amiga Emulator, returning you back to a world of incredible computer games and the demoscene.
  • Hatari - An Atari ST Emulator. Comes with quite a few
  • Vice - A Commodore 64 Emulator.
  • Atari800 EX - Imagine your Atari 2600 games; but enhanced! With better graphics! That's what the Atari 800 offered; but it was overlooked everywhere but Europe.
• Flashenv - A few older Flash games can be run with this compatibility layer.
• Nxengine - Cave Story RPG emulator. It plays one game; Cave Story. And what a great game it is.

OpenPandora Alternatives

The OpenPandora is unmatched in vintage home computer emulation, thanks to it's unique features of resistive touchscreen, dual joysticks, full keyboard and 800x480 screen resolution which makes scaling very convenient for retro emulation. Eventhough Android devices outrun it by far spec wise, the Pandora is still a more stable machine with a lot more speed then you can get on most smartphones because of bad rom porting and terrible Android overhead. There is no lag on the Pandora like one most Android roms and emulation tends to be pixel perfect, while it is often optimized to a certain extent on Android emulators whith framskipping for speed or post processing to get closer to the native resolution.

However, for the rest of us, we're probably looking for something different.

• Pocket PC Linux Console
  • Nokia N900 - Seriously, even this elusive open source legend is a fraction of the price of the OpenPandora (at $100 on eBay). It has a very modern Symbian-style theme with the best translation of a Desktop Environment into a smartphone that anyone has ever attempted.
  • In fact, you can even run a few Pandora ports on it (as long as the app needs no joysticks), since it uses a similar TI OMAP chipset as the Pandora. Sadly the N900 lacks the horsepower and kernel optimizations of the Pandora, so performance lacks a lot in comparison. Also the N900 lacks memory, that the later Pandora revisions have.
  • Palm Pre 2 - If you really want to get into the low end, the Palm Pre 2 with WebOS costs only $30 on eBay, and is capable of running Debian chroot with XOrg.
• Game Console Emulation
  • Android Phone + PS3 Controller - Just grab a cheap Moto G or some other Android 4.x phone, pair it with a PS3 Controller, maybe even slap on a Gameklip to hold it in one piece, and you've got far more processing power and screen quality than the OpenPandora and smooth performance for all general console emulation up to the PS1; the stuff we best remember in America and Japan. Not to mention the larger ecosystem of Android games.
  • Moga - A more portable Android gamepad alternative to the PS3 controller. Folds up and fits in your pocket.
  • Nvidia Shield - It's really just an Android with a gamepad form-fitted and built-in. Not sure why anyone would want it instead of the cheaper, more accessible controller combos, but hey, it's there.
  • Ouya - An Android set-top Box that plugs into your TV and comes with an Xbox-style controller. No different from before, just a form factor for the living room.
• Experimental Linux Board/Linux TV Box
  • Raspberry Pi - Costs only $25-35, yet offers similar specs to the Pandora itself. It's a bare board, but you could plug it into a TV, use it as a server, and even create a Portable PC out of it (with some difficulty).
• Ultimate Pandora Replacement
  • Dragonbox Pyra - Made by the same Pandora company, but with a new 720p IPS display and a TI OMAP5 processor. Otherwise, the layout, resistive touchscreen, joysticks, full size keyboard, and wallet-busting price is very similar.