Wouldn’t it be nice to have all your emulators and homebrew indie games in one place? And how about on a beautiful piece of hardware designed just for that purpose? The idea is similar to the GP2X, but the feature set is a bit more next-generation: 800×480 touchscreen, dual analog sticks and an SNES-style D-pad and buttons, plus a QWERTY keyboard. It’s got nice guts, too: its processor is about Gamecube speed, and it has a separate GPU as well as Wi-Fi and SD slots for expandability. It’s supposed to be about as big as a DS.
As with the GP2X, the problem is that the software is not as easy as pie to install (I had trouble with mine) and early adopters will also find themselves out in the cold. If nobody buys, no one will develop. But if no one develops, no one will buy. It’s an ugly cycle usually broken by brand name, but in this case I think the gadget itself is cool enough to warrant a purchase. At ~$330 it’s a bit expensive, but since it basically works as a UMPC too, that’s not bad. Looks like an excellent venue for playing a little Super Metroid (or Final Fantasy 8 – yeah, you heard me). More info here.