The Pandora open-source project is something Pocket Gamer has been following closely for quite some time, so we're delighted to finally hear a release date is coming for this intriguing little British-made beauty. The pre-order date has been set at September 30th, and with an initial production run of only 3000 units, it's likely to be quite a mad rush.

Despite being developed on a shoestring budget, the Pandora boasts the most powerful handheld processing power currently available - without the source code restrictions the other systems shackle themselves with. This is a machine that's designed to be supported by the open source development community, and being Linux-based, that's a broad spectrum of developers already lining up to get their hands on it.

Take a look at the tech specs, then edge toward the front of your seat in slavering anticipation:

• ARM Cortex-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux


• 430-MHz TMS320C64x+ DSP Core


• PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware


• 800x480 4.3inch 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD


• Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host


• Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output


• Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls


• 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad


• Around 10+ Hours battery life


• GUI: gMenu, various X based desktops, Ubuntu etc. or make your own.

If you haven't already, hit 'Track It!' for more Pandora news the moment the box finally opens.