Psion Returns!

[zaurusrex]

The Psion 5 computer returns as Gemini

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[img]http://i66.tinypic.com/16ibo20.jpg\" border=\"0\" class=\"linked-image\" /]

Meet Psion Gemini
Psion Gemini up close

Dual boot for Android and Linux too, neat stuff!

[Varti]

What a surprise!  

A quick sizes comparison:
GPD Win: 155 x 97 mm
GPD Pocket: 173 mm x 104 mm
Gemini: 171 mm x 80 mm

The Gemini is a bit wider than the Win but narrower than the Pocket, and less deep than both. It has some clear advantages over the Win, too:
- it looks more polished and cleaner than the Win
- it has a more powerful, 10 core CPU
- it seems to be fanless
- a higher resolution screen, stereo speakers, 4G option, front camera
- it supports Linux from start

It has half of the memory and internal storage capability of the Pocket, however.

BTW, it was a surprise to me to read that mr. Janko Mršić-Flogel is behind the venture backing it. I remember him from the days when he was a C64 first, and later an Atari ST and Amiga games developer: http://retrospec.sgn.net/users/tomcat/yu/m...p;all=MMS_85_10

All in all, an interesting device; the GPD devices have finally some competition, which can be only a good thing.

Welcome back, Psion!

Varti

[Varti]

Some interesting background tidbits from the Gemini's designer, therefore:

https://medium.com/@thereforedesign/gemini-...ee4e#.ln8gaychd

Varti

[TheWalt]

I was just going to post about this.  Form factor seems nicer than the GPD pocket, little less too.  Not sure about giving up intel CPU though, my GPD WIN performs so well compared to any ARM device I've owned.

[Varti]

I was just going to post about this.  Form factor seems nicer than the GPD pocket, little less too.  Not sure about giving up intel CPU though, my GPD WIN performs so well compared to any ARM device I've owned.

I guess we'll have to wait for benchmarks once the device will be out. It will be anyway difficult to compare them (4 core vs. 10 core CPU), so IMHO the only meaningful comparison will be using real-world applications that exist for both Android and Windows. A per-core benchmark won't help, too, since the Gemini has 3 types of cores, running at different speeds.

Varti

[koan]

I think it looks very good. I don't usually care about radio for mobile networks but if you could use this as a phone under Linux then I can see it as being very desirable.

In the IndieGoGo video they say that "PDAs bizarrely disappeared" but I think the reality was that PDAs didn't sell well enough to make enough profit and that the companies making PDAs switched to making phones as that was a much more active market with better profitability. I hope they understand that, otherwise they will lose out to competitors who have a better grasp of the situation and better control over the numbers. For example, Blackberry might be considered a strong competitor after this years MWC.

[HoloVector]

This isn't a Psion.  What was left of Psion was consumed by Motorola solutions.  Sir David Potter isn't even involved.  Psion  means Potter Scientific Instruments Or Nothing.  What they have is the industrial designer that Psion used to use. He is infamous for creative hinges that can't stand the test of time or wear out the display cable as one my Psion series 3as can attest to and great keyboards in tight spots.  I was Psioneer before I went Zaurus.

It does look like a hybrid of Psion inspired design with Zaurus OS versatility. I wonder if they will go with Ubuntu or SailFish?

By the way, I'm back!  Took the 3200, 1000 and 860 out of storage.  The 860 is rocking a Star Wars theme on Cacko and I have Picsel Browser running on.  The 3200 is e17 on pdaxii13 5.49 with with socket Bluetooth card to tether of my iPhone and the 1000 is loaded is cacko and kernel tweaks.

[Varti]

Welcome back HoloVector, glad to see Zaurusers from the old days back here

This isn't a Psion. What was left of Psion was consumed by Motorola solutions. Sir David Potter isn't even involved. Psion means Potter Scientific Instruments Or Nothing. What they have is the industrial designer that Psion used to use. He is infamous for creative hinges that can't stand the test of time or wear out the display cable as one my Psion series 3as can attest to and great keyboards in tight spots. I was Psioneer before I went Zaurus.

Hinges are the holy grail of any clamshell it seems. I have read somewhere that the guys designing the Pyra have studied the hinge of a broken Zaurus, so that they might eventually implement it on their product. They abandoned the idea since the hinge was too difficult to copy.

It does look like a hybrid of Psion inspired design with Zaurus OS versatility. I wonder if they will go with Ubuntu or SailFish?

AFAIR in their kickstarter page they mentioned SailFish as a possibility.

By the way, I'm back! Took the 3200, 1000 and 860 out of storage. The 860 is rocking a Star Wars theme on Cacko and I have Picsel Browser running on. The 3200 is e17 on pdaxii13 5.49 with with socket Bluetooth card to tether of my iPhone and the 1000 is loaded is cacko and kernel tweaks.

You have a nice setup there. Is Picsel still able to render all the current web pages, or it only works on selected sites?
I have only an SL-C1000, I'm testing the latest kexecboot on it, currently it is refusing to boot so I'm trying to find out why. After that I'll give Arch Linux a go, have you tried it yet?

Varti

[Varti]

Some interesting info I found on the Pyra's forum regarding the difficulty of designing a sturdy and durable hinge:

https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/py...9/#post-1363017

The problem is that we can't do many experiments here.
Even the simple Pandora nubs did cost over 100,000 EUR in development and still the first 800 failed completely and we still had a 30% failure rate of the ones after. If I did that, then there won't be a Pyra, as I don't have 100,000 EUR lying around somewhere...

If you have enough fundings and time, you can design your own parts - but doing that without having a REAL good knowledge in that area is suicide. Especially when it comes to mechanical parts which need to be durable and mass produced. There's a huge difference tweaking ONE of them manually for a prototype and having them reliably produced with mass production. I tried with multiple companies specialized on fraction hinges to get a better hinge. They couldn't offer one with the size we need.

So the only thing we can do is use off-the-shelf ones - if you find one that fits, let me know and I'll gladly use it.

Varti

[koan]

Well at least the guy has experience in designing and testing hinges so hopefully might make a better design this time.

Welcome back HoloVector. Thanks for the insights.

[Varti]

In the meantime, Planet Computers have reached and surpassed by a long shot their goal ($451,867 of the required $200,000), one month before the end of the campaign.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gemini-p...-device-phone#/

Varti

[ArchiMark]

GPD Pocket Specs:

CPU:Atom Z8750
OS:Windows 10 home edition or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
RAM:8GB
ROM:128GB
Screen: 7inch 1920*1080IPS,One glass solution, gorilla glass 3, support multi-touch
Battery:7000mAH
Network:Wireless 802.11 A/Ac/ B/G/N WLAN, Bluetooth 4.1
Port: USB Type-C, USB- A (USB3.0), mini HDMI, microSD card slot,audio jack.
Weight: 480g
Size: 180mm*106mm*18.5mm
Shell material: aviation aluminum
Cooling: air cooling


- Similar size to Gemini, but larger 7" display

- 128GB storage instead of 64GB on Gemini

- Win 10 or Linux......Instead of Android or Linux

[TheWalt]

GPD Pocket Specs:

RAM:8GB

They upped the ram to 8GB also FYI

[ArchiMark]

GPD Pocket Specs:

RAM:8GB

They upped the ram to 8GB also FYI

Thanks for the updated info.

Edited my post to be accurate.

[Varti]

Compared to the Pocket, the Gemini has LTE support and a front camera which are missing in the Pocket. Too bad none of them have a rear camera though, so you basically can't take photos with them.

Varti