Android News - Page 183 of 364 - CNX Software

November 23, 2015January 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

MINI MX 4K Android Media Player Unboxing and Teardown

I received my first Amlogic S905 TV box last week with K1 Plus, and although I have not reviewed it yet due to some issues with Google Play, I’ve run some benchmarks on the Amlogic S905 platform, which some people mentioning that results could have been impacted by the small heatsink leading to CPU throttling. The good news is that I know have a new Amlogic SD905 TV Box to play with as GearBest sent me Beelink MINI MX TV box. Today, I’ll take a few photos of the device and the board, before hopefully publishing the full review early next week. Beelink MINI MX Unboxing I received the package via DHL, and thanks to its low price I did not have to pay custom duties or VAT. The package does not show any specific brand, only Mini MX 4K Movies products, as well as the specifications on the back. […]

November 21, 2015May 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

DragonBoard 410c Development Board Quick Start Guide and Android Benchmarks

Linaro’s 96Boards initiative was announced in February with the introduction of Hikey board, and while progress has been rather slow, there are now two boards available for sale: Lemaker Hikey and Qualcomm Dragonboard 410c. The main advantage of these board is that 96Boards is not only an hardware specification, but also a software specifications that mandate most code to be open source, with recent versions of Linux and U-boot, and in the case of Dragonboard 410c work is being done with Freedreno open source GPU drivers. Now that I’ve got a board I’ll explain my experience with the purchasing process, take a few pictures, and show how to get started with Android, and install the latest version, before running a few benchmarks. Ordering DragonBoard 410c Development Board I normally don’t like purchasing from North American and European distributors, because of the potential documentation involved to comply with silly laws, high […]

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

GeekBox is a Hackable Android and Linux TV Box Powered by Rockchip RK3368 SoC

There are many Android TV boxes on the market based on Rockchip RK3368 processor, while I’m not aware of any development board based on the latest Rockchip octa-core processor, and Linux support is basically inexistent. One device may fill both gaps: GeekBox. This TV box can run both Android and Ubuntu Linux, while it’s easily disassembled to access expansion headers. The hardware specifications are a little higher-end than most Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes we’ve seen so far: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3@1600Mbps Storage – 16GB Samsung eMMC v5.0 flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Display I/F HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC support Display + touchscreen headers Audio Output – HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n + 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO @ 867 Mbps (AP6354 module), Bluetooth 4.1 USB […]

November 18, 2015December 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

MX HD23 Allwinner H3 Android Mini PC Includes an HD Camera

When Android TV boxes started to take off around 2013, a few model would include a camera and sit on top of the TV such as MK818. However I’ve seen less model in that form factor since then, until I came across MX HD23 Android TV Box powered by Allwinner H3 quad core processor and featuring a HD webcam for videoconferencing. Beside the camera, MX HD23 specifications are pretty standard: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 @ 600 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 32GB Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Video Output – HDMI up to 4K2K @ 30Hz, 3.5mm AV jack Audio Output – HDMI, and 3.5mm stereo audio jack Camera – 2.0 MP front-facing camera with two microphones (up to 5 meter range) and swivel arm. […]

November 17, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 38 Comments

Videostrong K1 Plus Amlogic S905 Android TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Many Amlogic S905 TV boxes have been announced, and thanks to Videostrong, I’ve received my first Amlogic S905 device for review with their K1 Plus media player (aka KI Plus). Today, I’ll start by listing the specifications, before taking a few pictures of the device and its board. with the full review following up in a few days. Videostrong K1 Plus Specifications K1 Plus is one of the entry level models with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage by default: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash (4 to 32GB optional) + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with HDCP 2.2 support, and 3.5mm AV jack Audio – HDMI, AV (stereo), optical S/PDIF Video Codecs – 10-bit H.265 up to 4K60, […]

November 16, 2015July 19, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

DRM Info Android App Reports Widevine and Playready DRM Information

I test a fair amount of features in my Android TV boxes review, but I usually don’t test Netflix and other premium online video services since I don’t have any such accounts. These kind of applications appear to be limited by the DRM features enabled in Android. For example, Full HD and 4K video streaming in Netflix requires Google Widevine Level 1, and most devices only come with Level 3 which only supports standard definition, due to cost reasons. So I decided to look whether I could find an app that would list DRM features, and DRM info appears to be it. The app will report both Google Widewine and Microsoft Playready DRM information. The screenshots above show Google Nexus 5 and 6 firmwares include Widevine Security Level 1, but no Microsoft Playready support. So it looks like a neat and easy way to test DRM features of Android device, […]

November 13, 2015November 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 101 Comments

List of Amlogic S905 TV Boxes and Sticks

Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes looked promising at the end of the summer, but ended up being disappointing, not because of their expected lower performance compared to RK3288, but simply because they could not deliver on their main selling point: 4K H.265 / H.264 video playback, and the sheer number of issues with the first devices selling for nearly the same price as equivalent Rockchip RK3288 devices. Rockchip RK3368 will soon have a worthy competitor with Amlogic S905, which won’t deliver amazing benchmark scores, but looks promising for its 4K 10-bit HEVC video playback, HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2, and historically Amlogic delivers better video playback than Rockchip. The first Amlogic S905 TV boxes should start shipping by the end of the month, and prices are starting very low, just over $40, thanks to competition between the many manufacturers launching devices based on the new Amlogic SoC. That’s why I’ve decided […]

November 11, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Giveaway Week Winners (November 2015)

The third giveaway week, and the second in 2015, on CNX Software is now complete. I’ve just sent the packages this morning, including 4 Android TV boxes, 2 Linux media players, and a development board to the winners from Europe, North America, and for the first time, Oceania. The winners were selected randomly from the list of people who comments, and without any further due, here are the results: let’s go through the winners and their country of residence, with links to the original individual winner announcements: Zidoo X6 Pro – Marko, Slovenia ARNU Box Mach Q Pure Linux – Xavier, Belgium M-195 TV box – Fran, Spain A80 OptimusBoard development board – Gil, Portugal M8S TV box – Roel, Belgium Tronfy Telos MXIV – Treb “winners are grinners”, Australia Popcorn Hour VTEN – ax, USA While last time, people living in Canadians were the luckiest, this giveaway was kind to people […]