The Long Wait is Almost Over
The DragonBox Pyra open source mobile game console has been announced all the way back in 2014. Now, four years later, and after evolving into a handheld gaming PC, it is finally almost available. According to Liliputing, the team working on its development have now finalized the design. So now it is going to go through testing, and for CE and FCC certification before mass production. Which is great news for those who backed the project and paid for the pre-order back in 2016.
In between the wait times, Chinese company GPD has developed, crowd funded and shipped their own versions of the device. Specifically, the GPD Win, GPD Win2 and GPD Pocket. In fact, they are going for a fourth attempt and now crowdfunding the GPD Pocket 2.
What Features Does The DragonBox Pyra Handheld PC Have?
In its current incarnation, the DragonBox Pyra still offers some unique features which are not on GPD’s products. For example, the Pyra is aimed at open source hardware and software enthusiasts. It even runs on GNU/Linux software.
Unlike the GPD products, the Pyra is also hacker-friendly and has upgradeable components. That means there are no glues, or solders preventing users from modifying it to suit their needs.
Due to the long wait times, the unfortunate news however is that the DragonBox is shipping with less impressive specs. It has a 5-inch 720p display screen, a TI OMAP 5 dual-core ARM Cortex A15 processor, 32GB of eMMC storage and 2 or 4GB of RAM. Further storage expansion options are available via dual SDXC card slots.
It also has USB ports, HDMI, headset jacks, plus stereo speakers and dual-band 802.11 WiFi + BT 4.0 support. The device also features built-in gaming controls with four shoulder buttons, six face buttons, a D-pad, and an analog stick. Furthermore, it has a backlit keyboard for typing.
For more information and price, visit the DragonBox shop website.
