The Pandora is a soon to be released rival to open source handhelds like the GP2X and its successor, the Wiz, and is intended to function as a full-fledged handheld computer. Oddly, the official UK distributor of the GP2X is also one of the producers behind the Pandora. Craig Rothwell is his name and he had a sitdown with Pocket Gamer just now, which covers misadventures with Koreans and the Chinese, self-funding, partnerships, and of course, how powerful the thing is (very, he says).

In terms of specs, it certainly does seem to be a little beast. Rothwell boasts it could run games like Quake III and even Doom III (if the latter game's engine goes open source soon). Here's the rundown:

• openGL 2.0 3D hardware
• 600-900Mhz CPU
• media coprocessors
• 800x480 LCD
• 128MB of RAM
• ARM Cortex A8 CPU
• ten hours battery life
• £199.99 / $358 USD (inc VAT)

True to the heart of the open source community, the project was started with its people in mind:

"Late year we started asking them what they would like in their dream handheld and to give us their designs. We got thousands of replies – the original thread on the GP32x.com forum is hundreds of pages long and a very nice bit of history. Using these suggestions we tweaked our original design and added various internal things such as Bluetooth, analogue joysticks, microphone, extra solder pads for hackers and a bigger battery."

Ubuntu is already up and running on the system - he says "this really is a PC the size of a Nintendo DS." According to Rothwell, open source and the internet are the future, and "[they do] not need Microsoft." What do you think? Will the Pandora and devices like it succeed?