When XBMC Android development was announced in 2012, the main development platform was Pivos XIOS DS, a TV Box based on Amlogic AML8726-M1 that can run either XBMC Linux or Android, and the company (Pivos Group) was the main sponsor and contributor for XBMC on ARM. Contrary to many other companies that push faster and faster hardware, Pivos Group focuses on software and user’s experience, and they’ve just announced he successor of the Pivos XIOS DS, called the Pivos XIOS XS powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor and feature their own heavily custom version of Android called ToFu Media OS. Let’s go through the hardware specifications first: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.5 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4b with CEC support […]
Toshiba Excite Go 7″ Android Tablet Powered by Intel Atom Quad Core Processor Sells for $110
If you still think that only products based on ARM can be inexpensive, Toshiba Excite Go might change your mind. The latest Toshiba tablet is somewhat similar to HP 7 Plus with a quad core AllWinner A31 SoC and a 7″ display with a resolution of 1024×600, but instead it features an Intel Atom quad core processor, and sells for just $10 more at $110 (MSRP), but CNET reports it might even sell for just $99. The complete specs have not been released, but here’s what we do know, and/or can speculate with educated guesses and pictures from Engadget: SoC – Intel Atom “Bay Trail” Quad core SoC. Probably one of the cheapest Bay Trail-T, so either Atom Z3735F or Z3735G both listed for $17 (Tray price). Z3735F supports up to 1Gb RAM, Z3735G up to 2GB RAM. Both are clocked at 1.33 GHz, and up to 1.83 GHz (Burst […]
Ugoos UT3 and UM3 Android TV Boxes With Rockchip RK3288 Available Soon
We’ve already seen a few RK3288 boards for upcoming Android TV boxes such as Zero Devices Z6C,Sunchip TV Box and HDMI Sticks, and Ugoos UT3. Most companies did not show off their complete products however, but Ugoos has now unveiled some pictures of their UT3 and UM3 Android TV boxes, and announced availability for next week. This is probably availability to resellers, but it should still mean RK3288 based TV devices should be available within a few weeks, especially since tablets such as Pipo P8 are already up to sale, and should start shipping within a few days. The specifications are very similar for both Ugoos UT3 and UM3: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core CortexA17 @ 2.0 GHz + Mali-T764 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 (1GB optional) Storage – UT3 – 16GB NAND Flash (Options: 8, 32 or […]
Prpl Non-Profit Organization to Work on Linux, Android, and OpenWRT for MIPS based Processors
In what looks like an answer, albeit fairly late, to Linaro, the non-profit organization working on open source software for ARM based SoCs, a consortium of companies composed of Imagination Technologies, Broadcom, Cavium, Lantiq, Qualcomm, Ingenic, and a few others, has funded Prpl (pronounced Purple), “an open-source, community-driven, collaborative, non-profit foundation targeting and supporting the MIPS architecture—and open to others—with a focus on enabling next-generation datacenter-to-device portable software and virtualized architectures”. The Prpl foundation will focus on three key objectives: Portability – To create ISA agnostic software for rapid deployment across multiple architecture Virtualization & security – To enable multi-tenant, secure, software, environments in datacenter, networking & storage, home, mobile and embedded Heterogeneous Computing – To leverage compute resources enabling next generation big data analytics and mining Initially there will PEG (Prpl Engineering Group) to take of the following projects for 4 market segments (datacenter, network & storage, connected consumers, […]
Rockchip to Design Intel x86 “SoFIA” SoCs for Android Tablets
Intel has just announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Rockchip to design Intel-branded SoC platform for entry-level Android tablets. The Chinese SoC vendor will design two quad core tablet SoC one with 3G and one with LTE, which will part of Intel’s SoFIA mobile SoC platforms for Android mobile devices. Intel will bring Intel Atom and 3G/LTE modem IP, and Rockchip will work in the integration and overall design. The 3G model should become available in the first half of 2015 and target entry-level and value tablets, and the LTE version is also scheduled for H1 2015. That’s about all that’s been disclosed for now, and we don’t know for example which GPU will be part of these SoCs. Here’s what Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, had to say about the agreement: The strategic agreement with Rockchip is an example of Intel’s commitment to take pragmatic and different […]
Hewlett Packard Unveils $100 HP 7 Plus Tablet Powered by AllWinner A31 Quad Core SoC
Hewlett Packard has just launched HP 7 Plus Android 4.2 tablet with an AllWinner A31, or possibly AllWinner A31s considering the screen resolution, that sells for $99.99, but you may also be able to get it for $85 with SLICK15HP coupon. This price includes shipping, but unfortunately this is only available in the US. I’ll also check out alternatives of the rest of us. HP 7 Plus specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 (A31s?) quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Display – 7″ diagonal WVA IPS multitouch-enabled (1024 x 600) Camera – 0.3 MP fixed focus (front-facing); 2 MP fixed focus (rear-facing) Audio – Mono speaker, 1x integrated microphone, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n (Miracast compatible) USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 Sensors – Accelerometer Battery […]
Kaiboer announces F5, Q6 and Q9 UHD Android TV Boxes Powered by Mstar MSO9180D1R SoC
Kaiboer (开博尔) has hosted an event in Shenzhen on May 21 to unveil three new 4K Android media player powered by Mstar MSO9180D1R SoC namely Kaiboer F5, Kaiboer Q6 and Kaiboer Q9. Mstar MSO9180D1R processor appears to be similar but less powerful than Amlogic S802 with four ARM Cortex A9 cores @ 1.5 GHz and a quad core Mali-450 GPU. However, details about this SoC are not available, and Mstar Semi did not reply to my information request. Here are the specifications for the new Kaiboer Android media players: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R Quad core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with a quad-core ARM Mali-450 MP2 GPU. System Memory F5 – 1GB to 2GB DDR3 Q6 & Q9 – 2 GB DDR3 Storage F5 – 8GB or 16GB eMMC + microSD card slot Q6 – 16 GB eMMC + microSD card slot Q9 – 16 GB eMMC + microSD card slot […]
Android 4.4 Kitkat Beta Firmware for Ugoos UG802 mini PC (Rockchip RK3066)
When you purchase a Chinese Android gadget, or most Android gadgets for that matter, you expect to have a few firmware updates within a year or so at best. But to my surprise, Ugoos has released an Android 4.4 Kitkat (Beta) firmware for their UG802 mini PC / TV stick that started selling in summer 2012 with Android 4.0. That means your “old” device(s) could get a performance boost, as well as some neat new features, thanks to Android Kitkat. The firmware is beta however, so be aware that there may still be a few bugs. The firmware file (Allminipc_ug802_RT8188_4.4_720p.img) is packaged together with RKBatchTool and the Windows drivers in Allminipc_ug802_RT8188_4.4_720p.rar. You can follow RK3188 firmware update instructions, skipping the downloads since everything you need is included, to perform the upgrade. If you’d rather use Linux, you might be able use upgrade_tool, enter recovery mode, and run:
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sudo ./upgrade_tool lf sudo ./upgrade_tool uf Allminipc_ug802_RT8188_4.4_720p.img |
One of […]