Unboxing of Amlogic S812 based Sunchip CX-S806 Android Media Player

Sunchip CX-S806 is my third Android media player based on Amlogic S812 processor, after Eny Technology EM8S (which I haven’t received yet, because the firmware is not really ready yet), and MINIX NEO X8-H Plus with a stable firmware, but some disappointment with regards to peripherals performance (eMMC, Ethernet,…), and poor support for H.265 / 4K videos in XBMC/Kodi, at least for now, since I’m sure they’ll work out the video issue with subsequent firmware / Kodi releases. CX-S806 has lower specs compared to NEO X8-H Plus, and does not come with an air mouse, but it costs about half of the MINIX box, so we’ll have to see how it performs. For now, I simply post pictures of the device and the internal board, since I’ve already posted CX-S806 specifications previously. CX-S806 Unboxing Sunchip sent me the box via DHL, and I received it in the black and gold […]

U-Boot and Linux Source Code for ODROID-C1 Board Has Been Released

Hardkernel ODROID-C1 board, a more powerful $35 alternative to the Raspberry Pi, garnered a lot of attention when it was announced last week. At the time source code was not available, but as scheduled, U-boot and Linux source code is now available, and the full Android SDL should be released on February 2015. Instructions to get the code, and build both Linux and U-boot are available on ODROID-C1 Wiki, and I’ve just given a try to Linux instructions myself to see if I would encounter any issues in Ubuntu 14.04. Download Linaro GCC 4.7 toolchain from Linaro or Odroid website. Install the toolchain. They install it on /opt/toolchain, but instead I’ve installed in ~/opt/toochain, so I don’t need superuser permissions: mkdir -p ~/opt/toolchains tar xvf gcc-linaro-arm-linux-gnueabihf-4.7-2013.04-20130415_linux.tar.bz2 -C ~/opt/toolchains/ Add the following lines to ~/.bashrc export ARCH=arm export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-linux-gnueabihf- export PATH=~/opt/toolchains/gcc-linaro-arm-linux-gnueabihf-4.7-2013.04-20130415_linux/bin:$PATH To apply change, log out and log in, or run: […]

WeTek Play Android & Linux DVB-S2 / DVB-C/T/T2 Receivers are Now Available for 109 Euros

I reviewed Wetek Play Android media player with a DVB-S2 tuner this summer, and although I found it pretty good for a dual core media player, and liked its PVR functions, more work was needed to fix several bugs, and improve “WeTek Theater Live TV” app. Several months later, they must consider their devices ready, as they’ve now launched their online store selling the DVB-S2 and DVB-C/T/T2 versions for 109 Euros, and a version without DVB tuner for 99 Euros, all including free shipping worldwide. Let’s remind us of the specifications: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with a dual core Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4 GB NAND flash + 1x micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI, AV (CVBS + R/L audio) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Tuners – DVB-S2, or DVB-C/DVB-T/DVB-T2 depending on model with two […]

MINIX NEO X8-H Plus Review

I posted pictures of MINIX NEO X8-H Plus media player a few days ago, and in this post I will report my impressions and testing results for the box, the first Amlogic S812 device I’ve fully reviewed so far, which adds H.265 video decoding up to 2160p, Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi to the original MINIX NEO X8-H. You can check my previous post for the full specifications of MINIX NEO X8-H Plus. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The package includes both MINIX IR remote, and MINIX NEO M1 RF air mouse. I did not use the infrared remote at all, and instead I mostly used the provided air mouse, together with Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse when I needed to input text, or for comparison. NEO M1 comes with a built-in battery, and Off/On button, and can be used as a standard remote control, or as a wireless […]

Linux 3.18 Released

Linus Torvalds released Linux Kernel 3.18 last Sunday: It’s been a quiet week, and the patch from rc7 is tiny, so 3.18 is out. I’d love to say that we’ve figured out the problem that plagues 3.17 for a couple of people, but we haven’t. At the same time, there’s absolutely no point in having everybody else twiddling their thumbs when a couple of people are actively trying to bisect an older issue, so holding up the release just didn’t make sense. Especially since that would just have then held things up entirely over the holiday break. So the merge window for 3.19 is open, and DaveJ will hopefully get his bisection done (or at least narrow things down sufficiently that we have that “Ahaa” moment) over the next week. But in solidarity with Dave (and to make my life easier too 😉 let’s try to avoid introducing any _new_ […]

Hardkernel ODROID-C1 is a $35 Development Board Powered by Amlogic S805 Quad Core Processor

Amlogic S805 is a quad core Cortex A5 processor which has found it way into low cost devices such as MK808B Plus TV Stick which can be purchased for as low as $30, or full-sized TV box such as MXQ S85 or MINIX NEO X6. All this low cost devices are nice, but the full source code is not available in your want to adapt them to your need. Luckily, Amlogic releases both an Android SDK, and a buildroot for Linux with GPU and Video Processing Unit (VPU) support, so Hardkernel decided to go ahead, designed a board, and has just launched ODROID-C1 quad core development board for just $35, or the exact price of a Raspberry Pi Model B+, but with much greater specs. ODROID-C1 specifications: SoC- Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex-A5 processor with a Mali-450MP2 GPU (2x fragment cores + 2x vertex shader cores) System Memory – 1GB […]

Unboxing of MINIX NEO X8-H Plus Quad Core Android Media Hub

MINIX NEO X8-H Plus is an update to the popular NEO X8-H, replacing Amlogic S802 by Amlogic S812 processor, which adds HEVC/H.265 hardware video decoding up to 4K UHD (2160p),  as well as Gigabit Ethernet. The new version also supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi. GearBest agreed to send me one sample for review. First. I’ll post picture of the device, and the board, before writing a full review in a few days. MINIX NEO X-8H Plus Unboxing Pictures and Video The company sent me the box by DHL, and which I got within a few days together with a document reading “Inbound Charges Invoice” in order to pay import taxes to my local government, and the courier’s service charge. Th device comes in the usual black, gray and green package from MINIX, customize with NEO X8-H Plus module, and highlighting support for H.265/HEVC 2160p, and Dolby Digital Plus. The media player, or […]

CX-S806 Android Media Player with 4K UHD, H.265 Codec Support Goes for $63 and Up

CX-S806 is one of the first Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S812, providing both 4K UHD video output, and H.265 codec support. It started selling for about $80 with 2GB RAM at the end of October, but now you can get the 1GB RAM version for $62.90, and the 2GB version for $73.10, both prices including shipping from an Aliexpress seller with excellent feedback, albeit from only 22 sales. As a reminder, I’ll list the full specs again: SoC – Amlogic S812 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2.0 GHz with octa-core Mali-450MP6 GPU up to 600+ MHz System Memory – 1 to 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash. No SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6330 wireless module) Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 2160p @ 30 Hz (Summary says HDMI 2.0, specs 1.4b), 3.5mm AV jack (composite + […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case