DragonBox Pyra

File:Pyra-Proto-Full-4 crop.jpg

The Dragonbox Pyra is the spiritual successor of the OpenPandora device, and shares some of the original Pandora team members. The Pyra is designed and developed in close connection with the OpenPandora community, taking their feedback and experience with the Pandora into account. The OpenPandora GmbH, residing in Germany, organizes design, prototyping and the production in Europe (Greece and Germany).

The Pyra was presented officially at the FOSDEM 2014 in Brussels.[http://pandoralive.info/?p=2789 Pandoralive post about the FOSDEM news] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602123134/http://pandoralive.info/?p=2789 |date=2 June 2016 }} In 2015 several working developer prototypes of the Pyra have been produced and were given to software developers for evaluation and software creation. Development and fine tuning of the final specifications is still ongoing.[http://www.open-consoles-news.com/2015/09/dragonbox-pyra-les-news.html DragonBox Pyra : les news] on open-consoles-news.com (2015) Pre-orders of six Pyra variants (4 GB RAM and 3/4G mobile options) became possible on 1 May 2016.

File:Pya-Render-Explosion small.png of the Pyra]]

Like the predecessor OpenPandora, the Pyra includes features from several architectures making it a cross between a handheld game console, a subnotebook, a PDA, and a smartphone.

The Pyra design aims for modularity and openness in software and hardware alike. For instance the PCB is separated in three parts: CPU board (CPU, RAM and storage), mainboard (ports, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and the display board. The replaceable CPU board allows future upgrades of CPU and RAM. The Pyra is assembled with screws (not glued) and is therefore repair and modification friendly.

It was announced that the hardware schematics will be available (final license undecided), which make the Pyra a kind of Open source hardware.[https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/ Pyra] on pyra-handheld.com "Full schematics will be available: You could. i.e. design your own custom mainboard and use Pyras CPU board to run it." (1 May 2016) For compliance with the Free Software Foundation's "Respects Your Freedom" certificate the closed source SGX GPU driver was identified as the only remaining software roadblock ("would be good to have free drivers, but we can't achieve this for the GPU" but the device may or may not run without a 3D driver, possibly free 2D driver is available or either could be made).[https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/respects-your-freedom-certification.72124/page-32 respects-your-freedom-certification] on pyra-handheld.com{{Cite web|url=https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/how-free-is-the-openpandora.65536/|title=How free is the OpenPandora?}} The certification is not only about bundled software, using proprietary software, or recommending it, such as non-free (including emulated) games, but also about naming, e.g. Linux vs. GNU/Linux. In November 2016 a pre-release version of the Pyra schematics was made available under a CC BY-NC-SA license.{{cite web|url=https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/power-memory-and-schematics.78631/ |title=Power, Memory and Schematics |publisher=pyra-handheld.com by |author=Michael Mrozek |quote=As promised, the Pyra will be more open than the Pandora and Nikolaus had some time to clean up the schematics! Attached to this post are the schematics for the current revision (5.1.3) of the Pyra. Unless a bug is found, these won't change anymore.[...] License is CC-BY-NC-SA |date=2016-11-20}}

The operating system will be based on the common open source Linux distribution Debian which allows the use of already available desktop open-source applications from the Debian ARM repository, for instance Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, GIMP, etc. The around 1,500 applications, created for the mostly open source OpenPandora software ecosystem,[https://repo.openpandora.org/ repo.openpandora.org] "Apps: 1583, Dl's: 1225287" (6 May 2016) are expected to be available for the Pyra in short time by source ports.

The various model specifications are summarized as follows:[https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyratech/ Technical Specifications]

In 2017, Salon noted the Pyra in an article about the comeback of the netbook.[http://www.salon.com/2017/03/12/remember-the-netbook-crowdfunding-is-bringing-it-back-at-least-in-a-few-limited-engagements/ Remember the netbook? Crowdfunding is bringing it back] by Matthew Sheffield on salon.com (March 2017)

File:Pyra-Proto-Full.jpg|Pyra prototype with Debian, running a terminal, GIMP, and LibreOffice

File:Pyra-Proto-Comparison-MicroSD.jpg|Pyra prototype size comparison with MicroSD

File:Pyra-Proto-BacklightClose2.jpg|Pyra prototype with backlit keyboard and controls

File:Pyra-Proto-Bottom-with-battery.jpg|Pyra prototype backside with battery

File:Pyra-Mainboard-Nubs.jpg|Pyra prototype mainboard frontside with nubs

File:Pyra-Mainboard-Backside-without-CPU-Board.jpg|Pyra prototype mainboard backside without CPU mezzanine board

File:Pyra-CPU-Board-Prototype.JPG|Pyra prototype CPU mezzanine board

File:Pyra-Render-Backside-with-Ports-new.png|Back of a red variant with ports (rendered)

{{Portal|Linux|Video games}}

• Comparison of handheld game consoles
• Comparison of open-source mobile phones
• Linux for gaming
• Pandora (console)
• GCW Zero
• Caanoo
• Dingoo
• Steam Deck
• Vaporware

{{Commons category|Pyra (console)}}

• {{Official website|http://dragonbox-pyra.org/}}
• [https://archive.today/20140514014640/http://pandoralive.info/?page_id=2828 Pyra Info Page on PandoraLive]
• [https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/ Discussion forum]

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{{Linux devices}}

{{Handheld game consoles}}

Category:Handheld gaming computers

Category:Linux-based devices