The Abominable Snowman
Member
This would not be able to run any x86 steam games.
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The Pyra (handheld linux pc with gaming controls) detailed at FOSDEM today
- Thread starter Sir_Crocodile
- Start date
Dictator93
Member
why not? Did I miss something about the specs. THought this was x86.
It's ARM based
Dictator93
Member
Wellllll. THere you go.
Dual core A15 and a 4200mAh battery sounds sexy. The Vita has 2200 and the 3DS XL 1750 for comparison. The A15 is very beefy, but too powerhungry as a quad core.
Great to see more and more open handhelds especially when they have specs like this. X86 sounds great, but it may be too underpowered in a form factor like this for it to matter. Hopefully we get both and are able to find out what works best.
Great to see more and more open handhelds especially when they have specs like this. X86 sounds great, but it may be too underpowered in a form factor like this for it to matter. Hopefully we get both and are able to find out what works best.
The Abominable Snowman
Member
I wonder if there's some kind of licensing reason they didn't just aim for Android from jump. The community for Linux has steadily bled and dried up over the last 5 years to the point where popular projects that started on Linux have begun to fall behind their counterparts on other OS offerings. In addition, the hardware's spec is probably high enough to mitigate much of the Android HW performance qualms.
calc84maniac
Member
I've heard that Android will be able to run on the hardware; however, that won't be the default OS due to the developers' and community's vision for the device. And I'd rather not have to deal with performance qualms at all if I can help it. (Plus, there's not much you can do in Android that you can't do better in Linux, especially given there's a possibility for an Android compatibility layer in the default OS.)
As far as the community goes, there's a really good one around the Pandora, though of course it only numbers in the thousands.
tensuke
Member
They prefer using a full OS in a small form factor. That's also why they prefer a resistive screen to capacitive--it lets you use a stylus (it'd be much more expensive/difficult to use a capacitive digitizer stylus) which is crucial for navigating the OS. Well, you can also use the analog nubs to move/click the mouse which also works really well, but sometimes you just want to tap the screen. They've said there'll be fake multitouch, so I don't know how that will turn out. As for Android, someone ported it to Pandora so I imagine someone will make a build for it on the Pyra (probably very soon after release if not before). It works really well, and you can set it up to use the gaming controls in games. Imagine playing GTA San Andreas with the awful touchscreen controls, then imagine using the full controls on a device like this with a 5" 1080p screen connected or through HDMI out. That's the idea.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Wiktor
Member
We're talking gaming devices here. 1080p is a huge disadvantage, not a plus. Surface will never be able to run anything advanced at that res and lowering to non-native makes the visuals look like crap
Anyway..Acer Iconias are in similiar price as Surface.
That said, I don't get your argument. Sure, if you work hard enough you can stack up criterias precisely in such way that Surface will come on top, but what's the point? It's neither the most portable nor most powerful tablet. I guess if you're looking for "semi powerul, semi portablet, not cheap, but not very expensive tablet that either already stopped being produced or soon will" then yeah..Surface Pro is indeed the very best choice
We're talking gaming devices here. 1080p is a huge disadvantage, not a plus. Surface will never be able to run anything advanced at that res and lowering to non-native makes the visuals look like crap
Anyway..Acer Iconias are in similiar price as Surface.
That said, I don't get your argument. Sure, if you work hard enough you can stack up criterias precisely in such way that Surface will come on top, but what's the point? It's neither the most portable nor most powerful tablet. I guess if you're looking for "semi powerul, semi portablet, not cheap, but not very expensive tablet that either already stopped being produced or soon will" then yeah..Surface Pro is indeed the very best choice
You claimed to be able to find a cheaper and more powerfull tablet than a Surface Pro.
You just can't. Hell you can't even get a more powerfull ultrabook for that price.
Also it's pretty obvious you haven't used a Surface Pro, its gaming abilities are prety good for its form/portability factor.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
ED's talked about why they went with the OMAP5 for the pyra:
http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/15560-soc-back-and-forth/
Specifically on x86:
So perhaps next time.
http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/15560-soc-back-and-forth/
Specifically on x86:
Evildragon said:
So perhaps next time.
Wiktor
Member
No, I didn't. Where the hell did you read that?
Sorry, you said "Gaming laptop" which is an even more ridiculous claim.
GhostTrick
Banned
Bluestacks is a propietary solution that runs on propietary operating systems (not linux), i don't know what you can expect them to do with something like that or genymotion, they would have to strike licensing deals and go through a bunch of hurdles, technical, cost and performance wise that you can easily mitigate by just going ARM.
I don't see the problem this thing being x86, the debian ARM repositories are quite enough for a portable computer of this kind. Plus there is plenty of software that runs on ARM or you can compile it yourself and experiment a little, this is not a mass market device.
tensuke
Member
Well, by using ARM over x86 you can just run Android, or use an Android-app-in-Linux solution, I believe ED mentioned he's gonna try to talk to the Alien Dalvik people to see about using their software for that. Bluestacks only runs on Windows/OS X iirc and so they'd have to work out a deal to make a Linux version, not to mention compatibility wouldn't be as good. Plus, besides Android app compatibility, there's already a huge amount of well optimized software for Pandora so this way they can re-use that huge library with little problems, this is good because that software is all much more optimized for a mobile device than your typical x86 software, which will be more power-hungry.
Since the original Steamboy thread was locked (people thought it was fake me included but maybe quite not so) and I can't make threads so maybe I'll just post it here since this is kind of related:
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/246596/SMACH_Zero_Technical_Specifications.php
Pyra making good progress too. Put out a blog post titled "Finish up the hardware" just today. Really interested in something like this. Hopefully someone will put out something decent.
PRESS RELEASE
18th June 2015
SMACH Zero will be the first handheld console that runs Steam OS, offering a new way of playing Steam games everywhere. The final specs of SMACH Zero are the following:
- AMD embedded G-Series SoC "Steppe Eagle" with Jaguar-based CPU and GCN-based Radeon graphics.
- 4 GB RAM memory
- 32GB internal memory and SD Card Slot
- USB OTG
- 5-inch Touch screen with 720p resolution
- Configurable tactile gamepads
- HDMI video output connection
- Wi-Fi conectivity
- Bluetooth connectivity
- 4G mobile network connectivity (PRO model only)
The hardware specification offers a balance between performance and cost, that will permit to play more than 1,000 games in Steam from the day one.
The console keys scheme will be similar to the latest version of the official Steam Controller, making use of two touch pads, a control stick, 7 buttons on the front face and 6 in the rear.
SMACH Zero is expected to be launched in 2016. More information about price and availability will be given during the next Gamescom, in August 2015.
Note: SMACH is a third party, not developed by Valve Corporation. SMACH Zero is officially the new name for Steamboy Project.
Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/246596/SMACH_Zero_Technical_Specifications.php
Pyra making good progress too. Put out a blog post titled "Finish up the hardware" just today. Really interested in something like this. Hopefully someone will put out something decent.
rottendevice
Member
Has anyone seen the Pyra lately? The hardware has been finalized and pre-orders are up.
More information on the official site:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/
More information on the official site:
https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/
rottendevice
Member
Putting this all together has been entirely the work of one person.
calc84maniac
Member
EvilDragon is a great guy and all, but he's certainly been working with a few more people on this. That said, they're definitely not anything close to a big company. And this seems to be going much more smoothly than the Pandora, thanks in no small part to past mistakes.
I won't be in for preorders this time, as I'm more than busy enough with actual gaming handhelds these days, but I'll be keeping an eye on it for the future.