RaspberryPi Portable as RaspberryPi Model C???

[tinctu]

I have suggestions for the future. What about after Model A and Model B
make Model C (same as model A - but with Wifi or Bluetooh for network and 2 x webcamera - front and bottom side - for Skype for example) as portable game handheld for education. Kids loves portable game handhelds, iPADs or ANDROID mobile phones - simply small portable devices.
Plus they will need have no keyboard and LCD in their classroom. So it will save workplace for students notebooks, sketchbooks, coursebooks etc etc... And teacher can have Model B with keyboard and LCD as server for online educational software or online test/exam program...
And you can use displays from mobile phone industry in that handheld version (very cheap and mass production) and still keep HDMI as TV-Out (watching family photos on TV for example).
I can imagine kids or even college students using R-Pi Portable for learning
or watching movies or learning music with cheap MIDI USB keyboard....
And I am sure that handheld version will be very popular in electronic musician scene (Music Composers, DJs, VJs, Video Artists etc etc).
Maybe 70 - 130 USD for 700Mhz game/learning handheld will be super cool price...



I mean something like this:
Here is never realised game multimedia handheld (vaporware) by Korean company Gamepark...



What you think about this idea for future R-Pi´s???

[asb]

See also the Dingoo, GP2x Wiz, Caanoo, OpenPandora.

[tinctu]

I know Caanoo, Dingoo, GP2X and OpenPandora, GPH Wiz, GP32...
OpenPandora rocks, but cost 445Euro. Kids can have super cool laptop for 445Euro...

[nullstring]

Honestly, you can get a quite a few prepaid cellphones running android for under $100.
Why not use those for the same goal?

I don't believe the RPI foundation has any intentions to release a finished product like the one you list.
It's suppose to be an educational device.. not a gaming device..

[tinctu]

OK OK You are right... But what is more powerful for learning like learning video game (learning as game)??? Hmm...

[The Pi]

I really don't get all the "Model C" ideas pretty much all of them go against the actual point of the boards.

It's meant to be cheap as hell, more USBs mean no need for a USB hub (less cost to set up)
WiFi just makes it much more useful though rarely comes cheap.
More RAM would be nice but again at a relatively high cost.
I highly doubt screens or cameras will ever come with them though may be sold as an "extra" thing likes the cases.
It's all a balance of price, features and quality.

As for learning to make games there's a number of ways really, the most simple way is using BASIC on a normal computer, a better way (though more complex and requires buying stuff from china) is to use a DS and a flashcard. I've also heard good things about "Scratch" though I've never tried it myself.

[reallynotnick]

A handheld doesn't exactly lend itself well to typing out code without having a full sized keyboard. I see it fragmenting the market too much, if anything a cheap laptop would make more sense but then that will add tons to the cost.
I think the RaspberryPi team has done a very good job at focusing on one niche and doing it very well maybe as they start to expand in a few years they could make a new Pi 2 which would include a line of small cheap desktops, laptops, and handhelds/tablets. But I think what they have done right now is great.

[ProDigit]

I agree, however a handheld could still have a USB port for a 'fullsized' keyboard (fullsized in brackets, because Android does not support the numeric clavier of a full sized keyboard).

[cmduarte]

Personally, the original model that was posted on Hack A Day and others was what appealed to me for projects that I had in mind. Even smaller than a business card and camera interface readily available.  I thought cost effective distributed processing in an automobile environment.  Maybe adapted to use POF* to communicate between modules.  Some modules would be  monitors for various functions, some A/V processors, alarm system, wireless entry/engine start, etc...

* - POF - Plastic Optical fibre

[RichardN]

If RaspberryPi is as successful as it deserves to be, I can see quite a lot of the things mentioned in this thread becoming available as third-party aftermarket accessories that the bare board becomes part of... remember the whole ecosystem that grew up around the ZX-81 and how cool some of the stuff was?

Small enterprises have a huge advantage now, in that there was no 3d printing available then... it may be some of the best case ideas would find their way out through sites like Hack-A-Day as a downloadable file... there's a huge and healthy hardware-hacking and building community out there and they will do wonderful things.

[Benedict White]

nullstring said:


It"s suppose to be an educational device.. not a gaming device..


And the best way to drive the educational side is to get the kids exchanging games with each other. Think of the possibilities.

Think also of the marketing for Broadcom. They would have loads of programmers who cut their teeth on Broadcom chips, a bit like undergraduates learning MS Word at UNI rather than the better WordPerfect, and look now. Anyone still use WordPerfect?

[Thunder__X]

reallynotnick said:


A handheld doesn"t exactly lend itself well to typing out code without having a full sized keyboard. I see it fragmenting the market too much, if anything a cheap laptop would make more sense but then that will add tons to the cost.
I think the RaspberryPi team has done a very good job at focusing on one niche and doing it very well maybe as they start to expand in a few years they could make a new Pi 2 which would include a line of small cheap desktops, laptops, and handhelds/tablets. But I think what they have done right now is great.



"

Steps to Follow

In order to qualify for obtaining Wi-Fi certification for products, a company must become a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance and agree to do the following:


Pay a $25,000 membership fee every year.
Publicly display a legitimate business interest in wireless LANs conforming to the 802.11 standard.
Publicly show support of the 802.11 standard by enabling 802.11 technologies, shipping 802.11 products, and issuing press releases showing support of the 802.11 standard.

The Wi-Fi Alliance follows an established testing program to certify that products are interoperable with other Wi-Fi certified products. Testing usually takes two to four days per product to complete, consisting of independent testing in one of three labs located in North America, Europe, and Asia. After a product successfully passes every test, the manufacturer is granted the right to use the Wi-Fi Certified logo on that particular product and its corresponding support material (packaging, manuals, etc.)."

"Wi-Fi certification is not cheap. In addition to paying the annual membership fee, the manufacturer must pay $15,000 for every product they certify product. This one-time fee, though, is good for the life of the product. When updating products already having Wi-Fi certification, such as ones with new drivers or firmware, the manufacturer of the product can receive new certification for no extra charge. This process ensures ongoing interoperability of Wi-Fi certified products."

Just a thought to why they don't want to add wifi, A $5 dongle should suffice..

[Piw32]

There is already tablets with game controlers and you can program  them using various Basic for Androïd :

http://micdigi.com/2011/12/the.....g-s7100/ 

[thewimreaper]

(p)I think it would be cool to try and build raspberry C yourself.

I can't wait to get my hands on one and try to link my old mobile screen and a duracell recharge pack to it.

Not because its so convenient but just to see if it works (and see if i can fix it )

so my conclusion is that this not something raspberry should have make.

partly because of the cost but mainly because of the educational value.

create your own portable device and make yourself look uber cool (nerdy) in front of your friends.

[StealthLava]

I have been thinking of a portable project if I am ever able to get a Model B. (It has more RAM than the Model A.)

I want the Model C to have a 1GHz CPU, and an extra RAM chip to give it 1,024MB(1GB) of RAM. I don't know how much that one will be.

The best idea is to sell/link to the stuff needed for a DYI portable.
(Portable Pi? Parts sold separate. Keeps the price down on the board. And not everyone wants it portable. Some want more power.)

[mahjongg]

I want the Model C to have a 1GHz CPU, and an extra RAM chip to give it 1,024MB(1GB) of RAM. I don't know how much that one will be.

It won't exist, so what does something cost that doesn't exist.
As most posters here, you don't get it. If there will ever be a new PI, (in the near or not so near future) then it will use THE SAME SoC! Which makes all the above things simply impossible!
If its not based on the same SoC, it won't be a PI, and you are better off buying something else altogether!

The best idea is to sell/link to the stuff needed for a DYI portable.
(Portable Pi? Parts sold separate. Keeps the price down on the board. And not everyone wants it portable. )

A portable PI with a real digital LCD interface (instead of using an LCD solution that uses the existing video signals of a PI) is already here, as your existing PI already has a connector, (similar to the camera connector) that will enable connecting simple (raw) LCD panels directly to the PI, all that is missing is a small board that the Raspbrry PI foundation is working on, but it wont't be ready for several (read at least six) months. Then it will be easy to create a portable PI, with a standard cheap LCD panel.

[W. H. Heydt]

I want the Model C to have a 1GHz CPU, and an extra RAM chip to give it 1,024MB(1GB) of RAM. I don't know how much that one will be.

It won't exist, so what does something cost that doesn't exist.
As most posters here, you don't get it. If there will ever be a new PI, (in the near or not so near future) then it will use THE SAME SoC! Which makes all the above things simply impossible!
If its not based on the same SoC, it won't be a PI, and you are better off buying something else altogether!

Of course it wouldn't be a Pi. It'd be a Raspberry Rho.

[mahjongg]

It would be a PI because it wouldn't be essentially different to the current one.
At least, not for the next several years. I don't see them switching to another SoC anytime soon, but there are still improvements possible even within that constraint.

A current PI that comes with its own LCD panel, for example, is a very real possibility.

[Ravenous]

Of course it wouldn't be a Pi. It'd be a Raspberry Rho.

Quick! Somebody register that trademark!

[mahjongg]

Of course it wouldn't be a Pi. It'd be a Raspberry Rho.

Quick! Somebody register that trademark!

Then register everything from Raspberry alpha to Raspberry omega!
But I bet that Rho wont taste as good as PI.