A friend told me about this insanely cool Linux-based open source handheld game system and I bought it instantly online. It connects to your computer via USB and lets you copy ROMs and emulators to it's SD card. How slick is that. This little device can store hundreds of games for nearly any game console imaginable!
Caanoo - Technical Specifications
The Caanoo is an open-source, Linux-based handheld video game console and media player created by GamePark Holdings of South Korea. It is the successor to the GP2X Wiz, and was showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010. The device's price is about US $150 (Aug. 2010).
The Caanoo isn't a direct competitor of handheld consoles like Nintendo DS or PSP, but an alternative open source device.
NB: the CPU embedded on Pollux has got a good tolerance to overclocking (until 750 MHz the system shouldn't have problems, just a shorter battery autonomy.)
Not all CPU/SoC are created equal and these results are theoretical. Some may not be able to push much past stock frequency. Overclocking will vary between each Caanoo.
Games/Applications
The Caanoo can run many emulators (e.g. GnGEO "SNK Neo Geo AES/MVS", Hu-Go "NEC PC-Engine", MAME4all "Arcade Coin-ops" and Picodrive "SEGA Master System / Megadrive / Mega CD / 32X"), freeware homebrew games/applications, flash games/applications (through an additional software), java games/applications (through an additional software) and commercial games/applications.
For software see the official FunGP website and the community supported OpenHandhelds website.
Note that Caanoo is not compatible[2] with software built for previous GPH devices* (such as the GP2X Wiz). Nonetheless, many ports of popular games and emulators for the Caanoo already exist at OpenHandhelds, and more are on the way.
The GP2X/Wiz applications need some changes on code to operate on Caanoo.
Multimedia Capability
The Caanoo is a video player, an audio player and a photo viewer.
Video
Container files: AVI
Video formats: DivX, XviD, MPEG4
Audio formats: MP3, WAV
Maximum Resolution: 640×480 pixel
Maximum Frame Rate: 30 frame/s
Maximum Video Bitrate: 2500kbit/s
Maximum Audio Bitrate: 384kbit/s
Captions: SMI
Audio
Audio formats: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV
Channels: Stereo
Frequency Range: 20Hz - 20kHz
Power output: ?
Sample Resolution/Rate: 16bit/8-48 kHz, in 8bit/22kHz
Photos
Supports JPG, PNG, GIF, Bitmap File Formats
External TV output
The SoC Pollux embeds (besides to the primary LCD controller) an NTSC/PAL encoder with internal DAC to manage an external analog video signal (CVBS output: 720×480 or 720×576 pixel interlaced, respectively 60/50 Hz vertical sync and 15 kHz horizontal sync).
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