[capnhack]

Well, i couldnt sleep and then i got bored so i thought id spend the morning building a mock-up of what id like Pandora to look like. Please note that im in no way affiliated with the developers and that making the console look anything like this would most likely push costs through the roof, so the following images are just for fun and please dont bug the devs to change the design theyve decided on based upon these pics

My brain seems to be obsessed with a sliding keyboard despite extra costs and weight, so i put one of those in. It also has a reversible cover which protects the screen while youre not using it, stays out of the way while you have the keyboard closed, and stops that annoying step from messing with your fingers when you have the keyboard open. Oh yea, and the cover locks to its various positions using magic hidden magnets, ooh!
On the top its got 2 buttons per shoulder, the power switch (led inside it to keep things compact), 2 mini usb ports, audio out via minijack, video out via composite, and dc power in.
The front sports the screen, 4 buttons, a pluspad, the 2 analogue sticks, and start and select (press together for menu), and stereo speakers with the microphone hidden behind one of them.
On the bottom of the screen half of the unit youll find the volume control (again with an led, this time it fades to show volume level), and 2 sd card slots on the bottom of the keyboard half of the unit. The battery sits in the back of the keyboard to save the space required to strengthen the case anyway.
I didnt bother creating a dock/bob for it or adding a space for a stylus, but that could also fit within the keyboard half of the device. Just about the only shortcoming of the design that i can think of is that you cant adjust the cover with things plugged into the ports, but commonly used things like audio out and dc in could be shifted down to the lower corners.

I spewed out a few quicktime vr renders of the model so you can have a look all around it in its various 'modes'. Theyll probably take a little while to load, but be patient cos quicktime vr is just great for stuff like this:
http://capnhack.com/...ndoraclosed.mov
http://capnhack.com/...ndoragaming.mov
http://capnhack.com/...pandoraopen.mov
http://capnhack.com/...ndorakbopen.mov

And here are a few pics that show some more detail:

This post has been edited by capnhack: 24 December 2007 - 04:54 PM

[imec]

Wow, that's cool. But the slide out keyboard would result in dry-humping lawyers from every electronics organization from here to Japan. Anyways, extremely good job.

Edit:
I personally think this is the best design yet, but that slide out keyboard would be playing with fire. It looks supah crazy cool.

This post has been edited by imec: 24 December 2007 - 05:00 PM

[gavie]

Of course this would be awesome and it's probably close to what everyone wants, but the guts would be very complex and making everything fit in there as it should would be nearly impossible..

I like the slide out keyboard, but i think it's not good for the durability of any device..

Nice job btw!! These renders are fantastic!

This post has been edited by gavie: 24 December 2007 - 05:12 PM

[zaffercharles]

I love it, if only the slide out wasn't patented and the innards would fit also. Fantastic work, even though it's just for show

[capnhack]

Wow, that's cool. But the slide out keyboard would result in dry-humping lawyers from every electronics organization from here to Japan. Anyways, extremely good job.

Edit:
I personally think this is the best design yet, but that slide out keyboard would be playing with fire. It looks supah crazy cool.

thanks very much (all of you)
the keyboard is a total pipe dream, hence the thread title, but maybe in several years time itll be more of a mainstream thing and the problems with weight will be solved. I just realised that this design wouldnt allow for easy access to the guts inside either, unless the whole top of the unit could be removed in one go.

This post has been edited by capnhack: 24 December 2007 - 05:13 PM

[b_o_b]

This looks great, nice job! I was hoping Pandora would look like this, but I can understand why they went another direction.

[Sphinxter]

Wow, that's cool. But the slide out keyboard would result in dry-humping lawyers from every electronics organization from here to Japan. Anyways, extremely good job.

Edit:
I personally think this is the best design yet, but that slide out keyboard would be playing with fire. It looks supah crazy cool.

I have to doubt a mere dry humping would even cover that one.

[zacaj]

Cool!
THe shoulder button shouldnt be on the side I think...

[JoP!]

Wow , i realy like this design , so much, so sad, the final version wont b like that, at the beginig i saw the real deisgn, and i didnt like it, now more or less.. but this other deisgn, its at least, so much pretty.
I dunno, but i prefer to have only the screen in front of me while playing, and if i need the keyboard, i can open it. but well, Lets wait for the Pandora final deisng and product, lets see.

PS: Im new, i was following Craiginators/Pandora evolution coz i decided not to buy a gp2x f200 and buy this new one, i have to say that when i saw the deisgn i thought about buying directly and f200.. and not this one, well no its not so bad for me, but when i saw this other nonoficial design, i needed to register and write my opionion.

Reaaly i like it a lot. Great job.

This post has been edited by JoP!: 24 December 2007 - 10:37 PM

[DeadlyDad]

I...I...I...I'm stunned! That is the best design that I've seen yet. I suddenly want to buy it again. <GBEG> The only things that are missing are a couple more USB port on the keyboard, and a microphone port.

BTW, I think that I've found a way around the sliding keyboard problem: Have a swinging hinge design, like this:

closed


open

If you make the rear hinge rod telescopic, you gain two more positions:

'laptop' mode


'stand' mode

As for the pins that hold the rods in place, they are the same physical shape as headphone jacks. (i.e. good friction fit, removable for when you don't want to have the keyboard attached, won't wear out.) The keyboard needs electrical connections as well as physical, which is one of the reasons I chose to go with the headphone jack setup. The jacks in the two front (non-telescopic) hinge rods are for VCC, Data −, Data +, & GND. (i.e. USB)

So there you go: your keyboard how ever you want it or not at all, without needing to worry about patents broken/stressed wires, broken hinges, etc., Heh. It just occurred to me that you could use a couple of headphone extension cables to have a semi-detached keyboard.

This post has been edited by DeadlyDad: 25 December 2007 - 10:41 AM

[capnhack]

dual shoulder buttons are a problem for a slider or split design unless you have a kinda overhang on the top to extend the depth of the unit, so i went for sticking one set on top and one on the edge to avoid having extremely thin shoulder buttons (imagine a psp with 2 of those on each shoulder, youd get plenty of wrong presses). its actually surprisingly easy to hit buttons on the edges of the device as long as you use the middle part of your finger rather than your fingertip, which leaves the fingertips free for the buttons up top. there must be a more elegant way of doing it, but the only other thing i could come up with is to have just one button per shoulder with a tilt mechanism in it and it seems like thatd be harder to use than the edge buttons.

that minijack connected keyboard idea is great and definitely has potential if you can make the hinges both removable and sturdy enough to survive heavy use without going lax. itd look more swish if the hinges were mostly internal, but being able to remove the keyboard when you dont need it (without losing its integration when you do need it) would be a big plus. i cant think of any other way to get that advantage without either using a cable and simple slide-lock to hold the kb in place when you wanna take it with you, which is messy, or having the keyboard dock with the unit, which would mean extra bulk even with it disconnected.

[Blah]

This might've been his inspiration? (designed by me).

[kingbuzzo]

I"m very impressed. Maybe a couple tiny buttons for verts, but otherwise it would be perfect to me

[Avik]

I love it. It's everything I could possibly want. I agree about the shoulder buttons (I would have preferred them elsewhere), and I would prefer a monochromatic color scheme (like the GP2X), but other than that, I would buy a Pandora if it came in that package.

[Mr B]

Speakers, should have the barred grill, and not holes, to let the sound out better.
The keyboard, lose one of the Fn keys (the left one?) and put in a "unnamed special" key there. You know, to assign the Amiga, Commodore, Apple, Windows specific odd buttons.
And i have to agree, the shoulder button on the side wont be really really comfortable. Might even get in the way for people with smaller hands going for the rear shoulder buttons.

Best I've seen so far tho. To bad it ain't happening. This one i would definitely buy.
B!

Come to think of it. Add a USB cable, and make the keyboard a "slide away" instead of a stuck slide out, and the patent issues should go away. The cable should be easy to hide in the upper end of the keyboard, and need to be about 15-20 cm long to reach a rear mounted mini USB port dedicated to the USB keyboard. And it wouldn't be hard to make the keyboard slide out, put the cable through the space where it was and slide it back partly in. With a low profile countersunk angled connector, it could probably be attached 24/7 for those wanting that. The cable would stick out, but its a cable.
B!

This post has been edited by Mr B: 25 December 2007 - 10:47 AM