Category: AMLogic

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments on Smartvote SmartCandy is a Tiny RK3066 mini PC with an External Wi-Fi/USB Cable

Smartvote SmartCandy is a Tiny RK3066 mini PC with an External Wi-Fi/USB Cable

To date, the smallest mini PC I’ve even seen is probably CX-01 powered by Telechips TCC8925 Cortex A5 processor, but Smartvote, a Hong Kong based company, has designed an even smaller device based on Rockchip RK3066 called SmartCandy, a feat achieved by locating the Wi-Fi module and full USB ports in an external cable. SmartCandy specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + microSD slot USB – 1x USB OTG Video Output – HDMI 1.4a Dimensions – 68 x 29 x 12mm That’s it, no Wi-Fi, no full USB ports. Luckily, it’s sold with an external cable / box that you can connect to the microUSB port to add: Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n USB – 1x or 3x USB port, depending on model Ethernet – With 3x USB port model only The device runs Android 4.1 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on Wi-Fi Performance Comparison for Android Media Players and HDMI Sticks

Wi-Fi Performance Comparison for Android Media Players and HDMI Sticks

If you’re mainly using your Android mini PC or STB to stream videos over the web or your local network, Wi-Fi performance is actually more important than CPU performance, and I’ve recently had quite a few issues with Wi-Fi with both T428 (RK3188 / Broadcom Wi-Fi module) and CS868 (AllWinner A31 / Realtek Wi-Fi module), which were only fixed after upgrading my router firmware. So I’ve decided to re-test most of the mini PCs I own with the upgraded router firmware, and the number are highly confusing, and I found out there’s probably be no easy to way to estimate the overall Wi-Fi performance of any device, and it’s most probably highly dependent on the router used, and its firmware version. My router is TP-LINK WR940N, a 300 Mbps Wireless N router with three antennas. Since I bought it, I had never upgraded the firmware (3.9.18 Build 100104 Rel.36350n) from […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on New Tronmart Prometheus Firmware Fixes XBMC Audio/Video Sync, Adds DLNA and Smartphone Control App

New Tronmart Prometheus Firmware Fixes XBMC Audio/Video Sync, Adds DLNA and Smartphone Control App

A new firmware is now available for Tronsmart Prometheus with the following key changes: New Android 4.2 XBMC audio/video sync bug fix DLNA support Smartphone control function Internal storage for apps increased to 2GB In order to use the smartphone control function, you need to download and install RC_Client.apk into your Android smartphone or tablet, and run this app to control your Prometheus. I haven’t tried myself, and they did not provide detail, so I don’t know whether functionalities are similar to DroidMote. To update your device if It’s already running the previous Android 4.2 beta firmware: Download and extract Tronsmart Prometheus new stock firmware.zip.  It would be really nice if they could just provide version numbers for firmware releases. Open the download folder, copy the 5 files in the root folder of an SD card, and insert it into your device. Use a paper clip to press and hold […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Review of Bluetimes MX5 Android 4.2.2 Set-top Box

Review of Bluetimes MX5 Android 4.2.2 Set-top Box

Bluetimes MX5 is an Android 4.2.2 set-top box powered by AMLogic AML8726-MX that costs around $70, or about $30 less than devices with similar hardware such as G-Box Midnight MX2 or Tronsmart Prometheus. AndroidPC.es got hold of one sample, also called 10moons D6, took some pictures and reviewed the devices for us. Bluetimes MX5 Unboxing The package contains the media player, an RF remote control and a power adapter, but no cables, which is one way to save on costs. Looking at the rear panel of the device front left to right, we can see an external Wi-Fi antenna, the 5V power jack, one USB port,  a composite RCA connector and stereo RCA output, an Ethernet RJ45 port, HDMI output, and SPDIF output. An SD card slot and another USB host port are located on the front panel. So Bluetimes MX5 just has 2 USB ports, which is a bit […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Vivante GC4000 is The Best Mobile GPU… When It Comes to Accuracy

Vivante GC4000 is The Best Mobile GPU… When It Comes to Accuracy

Most of the time, mobile GPU comparisons involve benchmarks such as Antutu, Nenamark 2, etc…, or people may consider which games will be able to run smoothly with a particular device, but we seldom compare image quality, for the simple reason it’s usually more difficult to achieve. YOUi Labs has just done that, however, by running the shader code below on several hardware platforms, mainly Android tablets, with the most common mobile GPUs, and used the results obtained with a  Desktop PC GPU, Nvidia Geforce GT 630M, has a reference.

Here are the results: The worst GPUs are Mali-400 MP4 in Exynos 4412 and Geforce ULP in Tegra 3, which can respectively only show 5 and 8 lines before degradation, and the top two GPUs are Qualcomm Adreno 225 in MSM8660A, and Vivante GC4000 in HiSilicon K3V2 processor. Imagination Technologies SGX544 and ARM Mali-T604 also provide decent results, but […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 157 Comments on Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 Android TV Box Review

Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 Android TV Box Review

Matricom sent me one of their latest G-Box Midnight MX2 media player based on AMLogic AML8726-M6, with 1GB RAM, 8 GB flash, running Android 4.2, and with full support for XBMC. This is an update of the G-Box Midnight based on AML8726-M3 which supports XBMC in Android, as well as XBMC Linux thanks to community builds. Specifications: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX Dual Core Cortex A9 CPU + dual core Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB Flash + SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI v1.4, composite (CVBS) and component (YUV) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and SPDIF Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n internal Wifi + 10/100 Ethernet Port USB – 4x USB 2.0 Ports (1 might be OTG) IR sensor Power Supply – 5V/2A The hardware and software is very similar to Tronsmart Prometheus (See review), as both are based on AML8726-MX, run Android […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments on AMLogic To Unveil 4 Core Cortex A9 AML8726-M8 SoC with 8 Core Mali GPU

AMLogic To Unveil 4 Core Cortex A9 AML8726-M8 SoC with 8 Core Mali GPU

Last Thursday, Geniatech announced an upcoming Android Set-Top Box called ATV1800 featuring a quad core AMLogic processor, more memory, and running Android 4.2, and that will support XBMC. They also expect the device to be available in May for 20 to 24 USD more than the dual core version. There are not enough details about the device itself, so I won’t cover it now, but I had never heard about quad core processor from AMLogic. I’ve finally been told it was AML8726-M8 without much details, except it should be available in Q3 2013, which does not seem match May target for Geniatech’s STB. Luckily, a Google search helped a lot, so we already know some of the key features for this new SoC: Quad Core Cortex A9 @ 2.0 GHz (20,000 DMIPS) Eight Core “Next-Gen” Mali GPU with 3,000 MPixel/s fill rate, 110MT/s, and 45GFLOPS. The GPU is said to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on 100 Euros “Little Black Box” Runs XBMC Linux

100 Euros “Little Black Box” Runs XBMC Linux

Most set-top boxes running XBMC, are actually Android devices running XBMC as an app, and I don’t know of other media players that are sold with XBMC Linux pre-installed. Until today, as an XBMC Linux STB called The Little Black Box has been officially announced today. This XBMC device is powered by AMLogic AML8726-M3 @ 1 GHz, and comes with 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, HDMI and AV output and more. Little Black Box hardware specifications: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M3 ARM Cortex A9 @ 1GHz + Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash Video Output – HDMI (1080p) and composite Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi USB – 2x USB host ports Weight – 500 g Dimensions – 10 x 10 x 3 cm The package will come with the box, a dual sided RF remote  with a qwerty keyboard and standard remote buttons […]