Android News - Page 128 of 375 - CNX Software

May 24, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

MinnowBoard Turbot Quad Core Open Source Hardware Board is now Shipping for $190

MinnowBoard Turbot Quad Core board was announced last autumn, with shipping expected in December 2016, but there may have been delays as the MinnowBoard foundation has just announced that the Intel open source hardware board is now shipping. MinnowBoard Turbot Quad “MBT-4220” board specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3845 quad core Bay Trail-I processor @ up to 1.92 GHz with Intel HD graphics @ 542 / 792 MHz (10W TDP) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L 1067 MT/s (Soldered) Storage – 1x SATA2 3Gbps, 1x micro SD card slot, 8 MB SPI Flash for firmware (Tianocore UEFI, Coreboot, SeaBIOS) Video & Audio Output – 1x micro HDMI connector Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet RJ-45 connector (with Intel i211 instead of Realtek NIC on dual core MinnowBoard) USB – 1x USB 3.0 host, 1x USB 2.0 host Debugging – Serial debug header Expansion headers Low-speed expansion (LSE) port – 2×13 (26-pin) male 0.1″ […]

May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Foxconn Bandott STB is an Amlogic S905D TV Box with Dual HDMI Input, Netflix 4K Support

So far, we’ve seen two dual tuner set-top boxes powered by Amlogic S905D processor with Sen5 Android STB and Mecool KI Pro, but earlier this year, Foxconn launched Bandott set-top box based on the processor, with any tuner, but two HDMI inputs, and Widevine L1 and PlayReady 3.0 support allowing for 4K video playback for premium services like Netflix (see Bandott page), CatchPlay, iqiyi, and myVideo. BANDOTT BA101 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905D quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with penta core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 8GB flash Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0b (HDCP) Video Input – 2x HDMI 1.4 Audio Output – HDMI, and 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11ac/b/g/n (2×2), Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1 x USB 2.0 DRM – Widevine L1 and PlayReady 3.0 The box runs Android TV 6.0, and was unveiled in […]

May 20, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Android Play Store Tidbits – Blocking Unlocked/Uncertified/Rooted Devices, Graphics Drivers as an App

There’s been at least two or three notable stories about the Play Store this week. It started with Netflix not installing from the Google Play Store anymore on rooted device, with unclocked bootloader, or uncertified devices, and showing as “incompatible”. AndroidPolice contacted Netflix which answered: With our latest 5.0 release, we now fully rely on the Widevine DRM provided by Google; therefore, many devices that are not Google-certified or have been altered will no longer work with our latest app and those users will no longer see the Netflix app in the Play Store. So that means you need to Google Widevine DRM in your device, which mean many Android TV boxes may stop to work with Netflix. You can check whether you device is certified by opening Google Play and click on settings, Scroll to the bottom and check Device Certification to see if it is Certified or Uncertified […]

May 19, 2017June 14, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

HiMedia Q30 TV Box is Powered by HiSilicon Hi3798M V200 Processor

HiSilicon Hi3798M V200 processor is a cost-down version of Hi3798C V200 processor with a cheaper Mali-450MP GPU, a single Gigabit Ethernet MAC, a single USB 3.0 port shared with SATA and PCIe interface. One of the first devices with the processor will be Himedia Q30 TV box based on Himedia Q3 design. HiMedia Q30 specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Hi3798M V200 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor with an ARM Mali-450MP GPU supporting OpenGL ES2.0/1.1, OpenVG1.1, EGL, and System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, SD card slot Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz, 1x composite video (RCA); Imprex 2.0 PQ engine with support for HDR/HLG/SLF/HDR to SDR, BT.709, and BT.2020 Audio Output – HDMI, stereo audio (RCA), optical S/PDIF port Video Engine – HiVXE 2.0 with support for HEVC 10-bit 4Kx2K @ 60 fps, H.264 4K2K @ 30 fps Connectivity […]

May 19, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Sen5 Amlogic S905D TV Box Review – Part 2: Android Firmware, Kodi 17, and DVB-T2 & S2 App

Sen5 is one of the first Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S905D processor, and comes with two tuners (DVB-C/T/T2 and DVB-T/T2) with two demodulators that should allow for recording on one tuner, while watching the other, or recording two channels at the same time. We’ve already check out the hardware in the first part of the review, and seen a glimpse of the neat user interface, so today I’ll report about my experience with the device. Sen5 Android Set-Top Box First Boot, Setup Wizard, & First Impressions The STB comes with two USB ports so I used one for the hard drive, a necessity if you plan to use the PVR function, and connected a USB hub to the other with RF dongles for an air mouse and a gamepad, as well as a USB keyboard to take screenshots. I also connected Ethernet and HDMI cables, as well as […]

May 18, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Android Studio 3.0 Preview Release with Support for Kotlin Programming Language, Android O Preview Images

Most Android apps used to be programmed in Java with the Eclipse IDE, then Google introduced Android Studio in 2013 which has now replaced the latter, and with the release of Android Studio 3.0 Canary 1 preview, the company is now offering developers to program apps using Kotlin language instead of Java. Kotlin programming language is 100% compatible with Java language, and you can even mix Kotlin and Java in your code. Kotlin can make your code much more simple while declaring classes, and it has a few other improvements over Java. Android Studio also include a Java to Kotlin converter. The language has already been used by Expedia, Flipboard, Pinterest, Square, and others. Android Studio 3.0 also brings many other improvement, such as performance profiling tools for the CPU, memory, and networks showing your app performance in real-time, and faster Gradle builds for large sized app projects. Android Studio […]

May 18, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Google Releases Android O Developer Preview 2, Announces Android Go for Low-End Devices, TensorFlow Lite

After the first Android O developer preview released in March, Google has just released the second developer preview during Google I/O 2017, which on top of features like PiP (picture-in-picture), notifications channels, autofill, and others found in the first preview, adds notifications dots, a new Android TV home screen, smart text selection, and soon TensorFlow Lite. Google also introduced Android Go project optimized for devices with 512 to 1GB RAM. Notifications dots (aka Notification Badges) are small dots that show on the top right of app icons – in supported launchers – in case a notification is available. You can then long press the icon to check out the notifications for the app, and dismiss or act on notifications. The feature can be disabled in the settings. Android TV “O” also gets a new launcher that allegedly “makes it easy to find, preview, and watch content provided by apps”. The […]

May 16, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

HTC U11 Android Smartphone Adds “Edge Sense” Squeeze Input, Ranks Best at DxOMark Mobile Camera Benchmark

We’ve come so far in the smartphone market that most hardware releases are rather boring with a processor a little faster, maybe a higher resolution screen and so on, without real exciting innovations. HTC U11 does change that somewhat as the smartphone allows to interaction by squeezing the edges for example to quickly take a picture. The company calls that “Edge Sense” technology. HTC U11 specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor @ up to 2.45 GHz System Memory – 4GB / 6GB RAM Storage – 64GB / 128GB flash, micro SD slot up to 2TB (shared with SIM2 slot), flex storage (aka adoptable) supported Display – 5.5″ Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) Super LCD; 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Cellular Connectivity Dual nano SIM 2G/2.5G – GSM/GPRS/EDGE @ 850/900/1800/1900 MHz 3G – UMTS @ 800/900/1900/2100 (B5/B8/B2/B1), HSDPA 42, HSUPA 5.76 4G LTE – Cat 15 LTE up […]