$35 MK808B PRO 4K HDMI TV Stick is Powered by Amlogic S905 Processor

MK808 family of Android TV sticks has been relatively popular starting with MK808 & MK808B based on Rockchip RK3066 dual core processor, followed by MK808B Plus with Amlogic S805 quad core processor, and now MK808B PRO has been launched with the same form factor but featuring an Amlogic S905 64-bit processor combined with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. MK808B PRO specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with quad core Mali-450MP GPU up to 750MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND + micro SD card slot up to 32 GB Video & Audio Output – mini HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz Video Codecs – 4K H.265 @ 60 fps, H..264 @ 30 fps Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 2x mini USB port (one OTG, one for power only) Power […]

Ugoos AM2 is a Tiny Amlogic S905 Android TV Box with HDMI & AV Ports, an IR Extension Jack

Ugoos UM3, a compact Rockchip RK3288 Android & Ubuntu TV Box that would fit in your hand, has now a little brother with Ugoos AM2 in the same form factor but featuring Amlogic S905 processor instead, but still with an AV jack (composite + stereo audio) and an HDMI 2.0 port, as well as an IR extension jack allowing you to place the box behind the TV. Ugoos AM2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 @ 2.0 GHz with penta-core ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash (Hynix) + micro SD card slot (up to 32 GB) Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4k @ 60 fps, 3.5mm AV output with composite and stereo audio Connectivity – dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 (Ampak AP6330 module) + external antenna USB – 2x USB ports including one USB […]

Telechips TCC898x (Alligator) 64-bit ARM SoC is Designed for High-end 4K Set-Top Boxes

Telechips processors were often found in consumer devices such as Android tablets, mini PCs and TV Sticks a few years ago, but it’s been a while since I have seen a devices based on Telechips. So after seeing an automotive SoC from the company, I decided to visit the company website to check if they were still designing processors for the consumer market, and found TCC898x quad core Cortex A53 processor for “Smart Stick, IP-Client and STB with 4K 60fps decoding” with some interesting features. Telechips TCC898x SoC specifications: CPU- Quad core Cortex A53 processor with NEON, TrustZone, 32KB/32KB L1 cache and 512KB L2 cache MCU – Cortex-M4 micro-controller GPU 2D – Vivante GC420 composition processing core for 4K user interfaces 3D – ARM Mali-400MP2 VPU – Multi-format VPU and 4K VPU with HEVC and VP9 support Memory I/F – DDR3/4 Storage I/F – NAND controller (60-bit ECC), SD/eMMC controller […]

Lattice and Mediatek Announce superMHL Smartphone Reference Designs Supporting 4K over USB-C

Two standards are competing to bring 4K video output @ 60 Hz and 8K over USB type C connectors: DisplayPort 1.4 and superMHL. Lattice, who purchased Silicon Image last year, and Mediatek have collaborated to provide reference designs supporting superMHL and based on Helio X20 deca-core processor combined with Lattice components. Lattice SiI8348 MHL transmitter would handle 4K 60 fps video and MHL power, while Sil7033 USB type-C port controller would also handle USB 3.1 data transfer up to 10 Gbps, USB-C power delivery (PD), MHL Alt-mode on USB-C. Lattice also leverage their SiI7013 mobile USB Typer-C port controller, SiI9396 mobile superMHL/MHL to HDMI bridge, and other chips to offer accessories such as USB-C to HDMI adapters, MHL cables, USB-C charger, and USB-C dock with multiple USB ports and HDMI output. Anandtech notes that one the main problem with USB type C connector is likely to be the cable, as many […]

SPMC 16.1.1 (Kodi 16.1 Android’s Fork) Adds Bluray 3D ISO Playback, HD Audio Pass-through, and Other Improvements

You may remember SPMC (Semper Media Center), a fork of Kodi/XBMC, was released a few years ago to fix some issues with Rockchip processors that would not make it to Kodi mainline code. Koying, the project’s developer, has now forked Kodi 16.1 to add some bug fixes and experimental features, and released SPMC 16.1.1. Changelog compared to Kodi 16.1: Based on Kodi 16.1 HD Audio pass-through (Nvidia Shield AndroidTV + some Amlogic devices such as Minix U1 & Wetek Core at least) Autostart at boot (xbmc.autostart=true in xbmc_env.properties) GUI size setting (Allows 4K GUI on Nvidia Shield) Only give codec priority to Mediacodec (Surface) for 4K Only stop video on minimize for Mediacodec (Surface) “System” screensaver to enable daydream; all other screensavers disable daydream Get removable storage names from system Basic Bluray 3D iso playback (experimental; amlogic) Android TV recommendations and voice search (experimental) SSL enabled MySql Stop video playback […]

K3 Wintel Windows 10 Keyboard PC Review

GeekBuying sent me K3 Wintel keyboard computer since I was interesting in testing a device in this form factor, and at the time I listed the specifications, and took a few pictures of the device and its internals. I’ve now completed the review, and found it to perform very well for a Bay Trail computer. K3 Wintel Key Computer Setup & System Info But the initial part of the review did not start so well, as I was asked for a license key for the device as went through the initial setup right after selecting my languages and regional settings. GeekBuying clearly states the mini computer comes with a “Licensed Windows 10”, and I could not find any on the device or the user’s guide, which appears to be a near-exact copy of a Windows 10 Lenovo tablet PC user’s guide… So I contacted GeekBuying, and after a few days, […]

Amlogic 2016 Roadmap Reveals Upcoming S905D Processor, Android 6.0 for Amlogic S905 and S912 SoCs

A new Amlogic roadmap reveals the company will release at least three new processors this year: Amlogic S905X, Amlogic S912 and Amlogic S905D all based on four to eight ARM Cortex A53 cores, and that Android 6.0 support is coming to Amlogic S905 X/D and S912 processors. Since the processors are in development, there are always some tweaks and new information about the specifications, as now Amlogic S905X and S912 quad and octa core processors will be clocked at 2.0 GHz (instead of just 1.5GHz as previously reported), and S905X will support 2-layer PCB, while all other recent Amlogic processors require 4-layer, which promises some very cheap 4K TV boxes with H.265 and VP9 support. Amlogic S912 will apparently not support USB 3.x since the new document only shows 3x USB 2.0 interfaces for the SoC. Amlogic S905D is similar to S905X except it supports Gigabit Ethernet (RGMII), TS video […]

WeTek Hub Android & OpenELEC TV Box Features Amlogic S905-H Revision C Processor

WeTek has been working not on one, but two four new devices recently. I’ve already covered WeTek Play 2S (previously known as WeTek Play+) based on Amlogic S905 Rev. C , running Android 5.1 or OpenELEC, and featuring digital TV tuners (ATSC, DVB-S2, DVB-T2/C), which should become available in Q2 2016. The company has unveiled another model called WeTek Hub with features closer to the ones found in other Amlogic S905 TV boxes I’ve reviewed so far, except it is based on Amlogic S905-H revision C,  comes with Widewine and Microsoft PlayReady DRM, and supports both Android 5.1.1 and OpenELEC. WeTek Hub specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905-H revision C quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 up to […]