Attention all you hardcore gamers: the Pandora gaming handheld is available for pre-order through their website. If you’re not a gaming geek you probably thought this had something to do with the streaming music service (congrats to Pandora on the Webcaster Settlement Act, btw). This device does in fact play music and it can definitely play Pandora streams, but where this unit absolutely shines is in it’s ability to play games.

Armed to the teeth with a blazing 600Mhz TI processor and a powerful 3D video chip, this baby can play just about anything you can throw at it. This includes emulated gaming systems such as SNES, Genesis, NES, Master System, Mame, and possibly DS.

Full technical specifications after the ‘leap’

• Texas Instruments OMAP3530 processor at 600MHz (Manufacturer reports that it can be overclocked to 900MHz^[7])
• 128MB DDR-333 SDRAM
• 256MB NAND FLASH memory
• IVA2+ audio and video processor (based on the TMS320C64x+ DSP Core at 430MHz) using TI’s DaVinci technology
• ARM Cortex-A8 superscalar microprocessor core
• PowerVR SGX 530 (110 MHz) OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D hardware
• Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (3Mbit/s) (Class 2, +4dBm)^[4]
• 800×480 resolution touchscreen LCD, 4.3″ widescreen, 16.7 million colors (300 cd/m2 brightness, 450:1 contrast ratio)
• Dual analog nubs; 15mm diameter, concave, 2mm travel from centre
• Full gamepad controls plus shoulder buttons
• Dual SDHC card slots (currently up to 64GB of storage)
• Headphone output up to 150mW/channel into 16 ohms, 99dB SNR
• TV output (composite and S-Video)
• Internal microphone plus ability to connect external microphone through headset
• 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
• USB 2.0 OTG port (480Mb/s) with capability to charge the Pandora
• USB 2.0 HOST port (480Mb/s) capable of providing standard 500mA current to attached devices
• Externally accessible UART for hardware hacking and debugging
• Brick prevention with integrated bootloader for safe code experimentation
• Runs the Linux kernel (2.6.x)
• 4000mAH rechargeable lithium ion battery
• Approximately 10 hours of runtime for video / general applications and 100 hours for music playback
• Dimensions: 140x83x27mm^[4]

[Boingboing]