Allwinner H3 Android TV Boxes Are Now Selling

Allwinner H3 SoC was announced last month, promoted as a quad core processor for low cost ($35 to $50) media players with HEC/H.265 codec support up to 2160p. At least one box – model TVPP0030 – has shown up on Aliexpress for $83.79 including shipping, so either the price initially announced was the BoM cost, or the first sellers offer the box at a premium. TVPP0030 specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Video Output – HDMI 1.3? up to 4K2K, AV output Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR sensor, recovery pinhole Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – N/A Weight – N/A The […]

Rockchip RK3036 Android 4.4 TV Boxes with H.265 Codec Support To Sell for $10

Rockchip announced RK3368 64-bit processor yesterday for mid-range tablets and 4K media player, but the company also have some new ultra low cost TV box and HDMI TV stick solution with Rockchip RK3036 dual core Cortex A7 processor that will go into $9.9 TV boxes running Android 4.4. The price is most probably factory price, but that means $20 H.265/HEC capable Android media players are probably around the corner. You can already get an RK3066 TV dongle (MK808 and similar) for less than $30 in Aliexpress, so the new solution will likely decrease the price by $5 to $10. Technical specifications of RK3036 reference design: SoC – Rockchip RK3036 dual core Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 256MB DDR3 or DDR3L Storage – 2GB flash. RK3036 supports MLC NAND, eMMC 4.5. Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4a. The chip also supports […]

Rockchip Introduces RK3368 Octa Core Cortex A53 SoC for Tablets and 4K TV Box

Rockchip is also at CES 2015, and they’ve announced and are showcasing a new octa-core processor called RK3368 with eight 64-bit ARM Cortex A53 cores that will go into tablets and 4K UHD media players in the coming year. Most news outlet and blogs at CES only cover big brand, so all I got are a few tweets from Rockchip twitter account. The eight cores will be clocked up to 1.5 GHz, and the SoC includes an unnamed GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1, OpneCL 1.2 and DirectX 9.3. 4Kx2K H.265 and H.264 video decoding will be handled by the chip too, as will out HDMI 2.0 for up to 2160p @ 60 Hz video output. RK3368 tablets and media players will run Android 5.0 Lollipop. RK3368 is probably the official name for MayBach processor. I’m now fully relying on Charbax to get more details about Rockchip new processor… […]

Unboxing of Zidoo X9 Android HDMI Video Recorder and Media Player

Zidoo X9 Android media player is powered by Mstar MSO9180 quad core Cortex A9 processor, supports 4K video output and decoding, H.265 codec, a USB 3.0 port for (hopefully) fast external storage, and in HDMI input port that allows you to record video from another HDMI input device to a USB mass storage device, or micro SD card. GearBest sent me one of the first sample, so let’s have a look at the device itself, and its boards, because getting to the full review next week. Zidoo X9 Pictures I received the parcel the exact same day, GearBest provided the tracking number, together with some invoice for custom duty, DHL duty handling fee, and VAT. The large black package has a few scratches, and makes it clear the device is called X9. Some of the main features are also mentioned on the package: 4K, 3D video, quad core, Bluetooth 4.0, […]

Xunity Aurora is an XBMC Linux TV Box Powered by Amlogic S802 Processor

There are plenty of Android media players on the market, and Linux only TV boxes with recent processors have become a rarity. One of them is Armada Mach 8 Pure Linux based on Shenzhen Tomato / Eny M8 hardware, and a new device called Xunity Aurora,  also powered by Amlogic S802 quad core processor, will run Linux based on an hardware platform that looks very much like Zoomtak T8. Xunity Aurora specifications: SoC – Amlogic S802 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU @ 700 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.4a up to 4K30, composite output (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, stereo RCA, and optical S/PDIF Video Containers – DAT, MPEG, MPE, MPG, TS/TP, VOB, ISO, AVI, MP4, MOV, […]

Crowdfunding Report for 2014 on CNX Software Blog

Following up on my 2013 Crowdfunding Report, I’ve gone through all 55 Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdunding projects featured on CNX Software between December 2013 and November 2014 (inclusive) to see how well they fared. The table below sort projects chronologically as they were published on this very blog. Date Project Crowdfunding Site Funded? Pledged amount / Goal Expected Delivery Actual Delivery Comments 2. Dec. 2013 Micro Python Kickstarter Yes 97,803 GBP / 15,000 GBP 03/2014 04/2014 Available @ https://micropython.org/store/#/store 5. Dec. 2013 Plugaway Kickstarter Yes $162,835 AUD / $50,000 AUD 04/2014 – People upset because of lack of updates. Project might be dead, and backers lost their money 6. Dec. 2013 AIRTAME Indiegogo Yes $1,268,332 / $160,000 05/2014 12/2014 People have started received the beta versions, after a massive 8-month delay 7. Dec. 2013 Crystal Board Kickstarter No $14,574 / $200,000 04/2014 – The project appears to be dead 10. […]

Xtreamer Prodigy 4K Android Media Streamer & Recorder Comes with a 3.5″ SATA Bay

Last month, we discovered Zidoo X9 Android TV box powered by Mstar MSO9810 quad core processor, and featuring an HDMI input for PVR function. There’s now an alternative with Xtreamer Prodigy 4K based on the same Mstar processor, but adding an internal SATA bay for 3.5″ Hard drives. Xtreamer Prodigy 4K specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with octa-core ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + 3.5″ SATA bay up to 3TB + multicard slot Video Output / Input – HDMI output up to 4K @ 30HZ, HDMI input with PVR and Time Shifting support up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio I/O – HDMI Out and In, and optical S/PDIF Video Codecs & Containers – H.264, H.265, MPG/MPEG/MP4, TS, M2ts, AVI, BD-ISO, 3D-MVC, DVD-ISO, WMV, FLV, F4V, MKV, Xvid, DAT, VOB, AVS, 3GP, WebM, OGM, […]

Top 10 Posts of 2014 and Stats on CNX Software

Wow! After a slow start of the year, 2014 has been a busy year as new devices based on newer processor from Amlogic started to flood the market in Q2, soon followed by even more Rockchip RK3288 based media players, and then some more Amlogic S805 and Allwinner A80 boards and devices. It’s now the last day of the year, so just like in 2013, it’s time to look back on the main trends of the year, and based on the list of the top 10 most visited posts below, the new generation of ARM Android media players were the most important story of the year on CNX Software, but we also saw more IoT devices and board like Vidonn X5 or LinkIT One, lots of new Wi-Fi modules, and by the end of the year ESP8266 seemed to have won that fight, but being found in $3 Wi-Fi modules. […]