Guru Meditation

This short interview was done at the Pianeta Amiga show held in Italy (September 2006) where Andreas Loong (from Guru Meditation) introduced the "Panda" project to the public.

Andreas Loong (Guru Meditation)

AmiKit: Can you tell me what a Panda is?

Guru Meditation: Panda is a motherboard equipped with PPC processor. The board itself came from Asia and it's primary targeted at Home Media Centres. This is something that is connected to a TV and allows you to play movies, record them etc. in a comfortable way. This is a reason why the board's input and output connectors are extended (on the picture).

AmiKit: Ok, what is the benefit for Amiga?

Guru Meditation: For a long time we were looking for a suitable board with a PowerPC G4 processor capable of running OS4. It seems the Panda is the most suitable hardware for us. We plan to modify the board a little because it was not designed for Amiga. For example, due to its size it won't fit to classic tower case so we plan to make it smaller. To achieve this goal we have to get rid of some unimportant components like the receiver and mini-PCI slot. This will save us a lot of space on the board. We also plan to move the connectors to suitable positions for ATX. If there is any space left, we may add one or two more PCI slots so there could be four PCI slots all together.

AmiKit: But is the board functional even in this state?

Guru Meditation: Yes, the board is able to boot Linux without any problems. However it has to be emphasized that the hardware specifications will change. Maybe we change the name of the board as well.

AmiKit: What is the next plan?

Guru Meditation: First, we want to change the size of the board and re-design it. But even this "big size" version will be sent to Hyperion in order that the work on programming the kernel, u-boot and drivers can be started. Our next step is to manufacture a few prototypes. We assume we'll make 5 to 20 pieces. If the board passes the tests, it's finished actually!

AmiKit: When can we expect the final product?

Guru Meditation: This is very hard to say. Anyway, it won't happen this year (2006).

AmiKit: And what about the license?

Guru Meditation: Our negotiations with Amiga Inc. started in 2005 but we had no hardware at that time. Today the situation is much better. The board is functional so let's see.

AmiKit: Thank you for the information.

Guru Meditation: Thank you.

Our speculation: A few years ago, the Eyetech company were producing the AmigaOne computers under the license from Amiga Inc. Eyetech does not produce any Amiga computers any more, however they still have the license. We know that Guru Meditation is in contact with Eyetech so it might happen that they will acquire the license from them. It would mean that Guru Meditation does not necessarily need to negotiate with Amiga Inc. which could save a lot of time. Another advantage of this solution would be that Guru Meditation will be allowed to produce their board under the same name as Eyetech did. If this happens, prepare yourself for a new AmigaOne v2 :-)