Pandora pre-orders go live

The Pandora, the open-source handheld gaming platform, has just become available for pre-order and is selling out fast according to figures posted on the official site which show that the rush of pre-orders has claimed more than two thirds of the planned first batch in under six hours.

The Pandora itself is a completely open-source system that aims to become the king of the emulator and homebrew community. The design showcases a whole load of connectivity options ranging from WiFi to USB and SD slots, plus a miniature keyboard - yet all of it fits within a clamshell design just a little larger than a DS Lite.

The first batch of 3000 units is set to ship by the end of November, though the company is currently trying to respond to demand and make more units available. The entire system is to be priced at £199 / $329 too, which should make the Pandora a tasty stocking filler for any enthusiast this year. Check out the system specs below.

• ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
  
• 430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
  
• PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
  
• 800x480 4.3" 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

With the Pandora selling out faster than an ageing rock band, it's definitely worth grabbing one now if you can as you may otherwise have to wait until next year to get your hands on one.

Planning on picking one up, or has the new Nintendo DSi got your attention instead? Let us know in the forums.