Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Gemini PDA FAQ :
Nice to see Planet Computers is listening backers and communities about keyboards and Linux distributions.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Wow!
They not only met with Jolla, they have already been assimilated!

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

one of those sets of questions was mine. ;)

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

A commentary was posted right now at the indiegogo page that is very important imho. The answers are very important i think, please be careful about this project.

"I am very exited about this product, but my excitement is tempered by two things:
- Your CEO is affiliated with another Indiegogo project, the ZX Spectrum Vega Plus project, which has not been delivered to date, what is his role in that project? And
- You do not seem to have a working prototype and are being vague about Linux support. As I understand it, Linux support for the processor chosen is non-existent or very bad."

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

I just looked at the ZX Spectrum Vega Plus project, they planned delivery in September 16. As we all know, building custom hardware with a small team is very difficult, so they may be honest.
Their backers are very hostile, they would not motivate me to work faster.

Starting another campaign in this state does not increase my trust in them. They may plan to use the funds to finish the ZX Spectrum Vega and the revenue from that to fund the Gemini.

I would suggest waiting. The project is funded, so they will start and in the worst case one will get the device one or two months later then the backers.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Yea I've noticed how GPD Laptop developers keep answering like "sorry we won't implement this because we are afraid of delaying the release" on questions about GSM module / camera / keyboard backlight / et cetera, especially concerning the certifications required to add the GSM module, and how Gemini PDA developers keep answering like "yes of course we will implement this" on almost every question, implying they will get all required certifications in time.
Also worth mentioning that the first team has some experience and released several devices already, and the second team has no experience nor working prototypes yet.
Anyway I've backed the Gemini PDA and hope for the best.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

This confuses and interests me also. This goes a little bit offtopic, but I have been wondering nowadays' Android phones with 8-core processors etc.

I have no knowledge at processors/threads/strings/whatever, but I do remember when AMD published the first 6-cores for gaming. It was said that only some few programs really know what to do with those six cores. And I remember some performance tests where AMD 4-core processors performed better than otherwise identical 6-cores.

Many things may have changed from those times, but every time I read about a device having 8-core processor or even multiple processors, I start wondering. So the question is: Can an Android device really put all those processors and cores to good use? I guess it also depends on what you do with that device. For example do you get the benefits of multiple cores only when multitasking or heavy gaming, or does it also give energy savings and longer usage time?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Marketing...
It's hard to sell core type/performance when average user have zero idea what is that but even that uneducated user knows that 10 is bigger than 8 and that 12 is bigger than 10 and that 2.5GHz is more than 2.3Ghz.
While A53, A72, A...... that sound like type of vitamins to them.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Two thin shirts insulate better than one thick one. Likewise two slow CPUs might perform better than a single fast one ;)

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

For me, the question is whether the two OSs will be equals with respect to accessing the h-w devices: gps, camera etc.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Gemini: The Newest Thing In All Of Psion
By therefore founder, Martin Riddiford
So the battery is under the keyboard :
There is also a (smaller) supercap(acitor) under the display.
Keys are compressed when Gemini PDA is closed :

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

I am struggling to parse this sentence:
I consulted a colleague who, unlike me, is not a Bloody Foreigner™, and he was scratching his head too ;)

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Refunded my order. This device has more cons than pros.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

"therefore" is the name of the designer company.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Ha ha! In some academic conventions it would be italicised, and indeed there is a point to doing that....

Often, confusion is the result of "too clever by half" names.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

So this news article may be relevant:
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39191064

Essentially they summarize the bad state of the project.
Long overdue, lack of communication.

They add their correspondence with the company, which did not go well:
Golem rephrased this into
"With threat of legal action the company tried to prevent press releases about the project"
Which is kinda over the top and wrong in my eyes. But they certainly haven't got a thick skin.

Anyway it seems they either are totally overwhelmed with the scale of the project or they decided to run with the money or they tried, didn't hit their deadline and after the response from their backers decided "Na they don't deserve it anyway" ;)

I suggest again to stay away from funding the Gemini if this connection is there and wait for a final product.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

new update:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...phone#/updates

seem firmly committed to mediatek, and in talks with canononical and jolla.
committed to a flashable device.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

This is just yet another ARM device built for Android and built with planned obsolescence. The screenshot shows it's running Linux 3.18 which is the kernel used in Android 6 and is now EOL. If you're lucky they'll move to Linux 4.4 from Android 7 which is scheduled to be EOL'd in less than a year.

This made me LOL, particularly the Mediatek part. That statement alone tells me they have little experience in this area. Ubuntu and Sailfish ports will likely use the Android kernel with libhybris like all of their other ports to mobile devices. You can forget a truly open Linux environment.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

New Gemini PDA updates on April 7th :
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/g...phone#/updates
- LCD screen changed, now 5.99” FHD, 18:9 ratio; 2160x1080, so it is larger than 5.7", but less resolution (like it because less power drain);
- about mobile OS :
12 hours left to close the Gemini PDA Indiegogo campaign funding.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

My opinion :
- Gemini PDA hardware will be released, with a great (made in UK) mechanical keyboard;
- Android 7 will work;
- Linux release is the great risk, as developing drivers is not cheap and fast, so I expect delays and not 100% ready Linux release (lacking some drivers).

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Many updates (28/08/2017) on Gemini PDA/smartphone : Report from the China Factory Visit and General Update - Part #1, #2, #3, #4.
Wow !
Comments :

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

welly well well.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

This is very very tempting. Looks nice, has keyboard, will make calls. But will it do in Linux everything it can on Android? And how will the binary blobs be managed with respect to kernel upgrades?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

i love the hardware/format, just give me somehing other than android...

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

How about 3D acceleration on X11?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

That sounds like an excuse for not getting one. "Quick, think of some arcane feature that is unlikely to be supported. Oh, found one. Phewww!"

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Tend to agree.

If 2D acceleration is missing that'd be a drag when dragging stuff on da screen but what's 3D acceleration anyway except the stuff measured by an acceleratiometer sensor?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

It is a GPU feature to accelerate the rendering of 3D scenes on a 2D screen. I am not aware of any use case other than in some action games. I am not a gamer, can anyone who is tell us how many such games exist in Linux? And how important it is to be able to play them on a phone/PDA?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Thousands, on steam alone. But your point stands about the validity of the gaming argument on an arm based handheld device.

Presumably 3D acceleration is valuable for desktop compositors, but anyone advocating for that effort to put put into X rather than Wayland in late 207 can reasonably be considered a malicious saboteur of any ambitions for Linux on handheld...

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Scientific computing applications sometimes benefit from technology developed to support games. One example that I am familiar with is the crystallographic structure visualisation package Coot:. Here are some screenshots:

http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/person...b/screenshots/

This package definitely benefits from 3D rendering. Having said that, few people would try to do serious work with a package like this on a PDA-format machine :)

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Or any Qt application using QtQuick (so most touch enabled apps, like on SailfishOS). Some information can be found on their blog, for example : https://blog.qt.io/blog/2017/01/18/o...p-using-today/

The GPU is a very complex beast containing a lot of different subsystems, some dedicated to 2D, 3D, video decoding, etc... but as Qt expects OpenGL(ES), I understand that it is the 3D subsystem that is needed. (A new software renderer is now available, but is not related to the question, so I won't go further on it).

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Cool. I am learning something new every day.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Running Debian.
Upgraded to Helio X27.
Downgraded battery to 42mAH

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/0...otype_handson/

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

It would be helpful to know if the battery is still supposed to be removable (that's a big thing for me...).

Hoping someone who can comment on the Indigogo page asks the question. If you're a backer, feel free to take that as a hint ;)

Edit: also, seems like a sketchy proposition charging 100 USD more for the sim version if all versions can run esims. Could that be a misunderstanding?

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

I was wondering about the esim too,

$299 for the wifi version is still the early bird price, long gone for the cellular version.

Update - Dave potter has joined as honorary chairman.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

Sep 12, 2017 • 3:01PM update:

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

For this prototype they have reused the Psion Series 5/5mx Keyboard. Its visible very clear on the Fn-Key. But they also modified some keys and printed new icons on it...
cool

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

That is one helluva battery downgrade. Yikes.

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

In absolute terms, you are right - but in the end, what matters is how many hours of average intensity use is given by the installed battery. It needs to be 8 hours minimum IMO, ideally 12. Or what?

HA

Re: Gemini PDA (the return of the Psion Series 5MX)
 

For me, I think the number of hours it can remain in 'instant on' standby would be a more useful figure of merit. I don't imagine frequently using one for hours on end, but being able to use it for 10 mins at a time several times a day, and not needing to charge daily - that would be attractive (weekly maybe?)

A keyboard as good as a Psion5 would be a very big draw for me. It's very tempting, but between the GPD Pocket and Chens promised 'Lauta' homage, I don't think Gemini are going to get my money.