Some hope that the release of the Pandora may bring about a revitalization of the declining portable console gaming market.

While the decline in the release of new portable gaming consoles such as the Game Boy, Nintendo DS or Sony PSP has had some industry observers questioning whether this particular style of portable gaming is becoming a thing of the past, a new portable console from OpenPandora—named Pandora—could potentially provide a mix of answers.

The Pandora—slated for release in the third quarter of 2010—holds similarities to portable gaming platforms of the past in that it is designed with its particular purpose as a game console made explicit by the inclusion of a traditional console control pad design with four main buttons, a left side directional control pad and dual analog controls.  At the same time, the Pandora will differ from the traditional portable gaming console in that it additionally functions as a portable computer—running on a Linux operating system with a CPU engine format of a standard PC—albeit not at the same speed as many of today’s latest PCs.

It is claimed by designers of the Pandora project that the portable gaming system’s hardware will surpass that of all current portable gaming consoles on the market, including the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.  The Pandora is expected to retail at an MSRP of $330.00 USD at the time of its initial launch.