Android News - Page 283 of 364 - CNX Software

August 10, 2013August 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Developers Are Working on Chromecast Functionality From Any Android Apps via Any Android Devices

If you don’t just come back from (too long) holidays, you should know Google has released the Chromecast, a $35 HDMI TV Stick that uses a protocol called DIAL to let users stream online videos on the TV via your mobile device or mirror your Chrome browser on the TV. However, there are currently quite a few limitations. It can only be used with apps specifically designed for Chromecast (e.g. YouTube, Netflix,…), and Chromecast is the only available receiver, and can only be purchased in the US. Luckily these may not be an issue soon… Koushik Dutta (Kouch) has taken care of the first issue by modifying Cyanogenmod to allow any video or audio app to stream the media files via the TV, using Android notifications. Perfect. Moving to the second issue. If you don’t live in the US, you’re still stuck, and if you do live in the US, […]

August 9, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Huawei MediaQ M310 Is Now Available For Purchase

Huawei MediaQ M310 is a media player based on Hisilicon K3V2 quad core SoC, the company unveiled at CES 2013. The company expected the product to be released in Q3 2013 (about now), and the good news is that it has started to pop-up on Aliexpress for $109 including shipping. The bad news is that the only seller has no feedback at all, so you take an extra risk if you buy right now, and I’m sure it will show up in more places in the days or weeks ahead. Let’s remind us of the specifications: SoC – Hisilicon K3V2 Quad-core Cortex A9 processor with Vivante GC4000 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB Flash + microSD card slot Video I/O – 1x HDMI In,1x HDMI Out Audio I/O – HDMI, SPDIF, 3.5mm stereo jack, Mic mono USB – 2x USB 2.0 (1 extension from Y cable) + […]

August 9, 2013August 9, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

$85 Jesurun K8 (Hi720) Android 4.2 STB Powered by Rockchip RK3188

It looks like MK888 (aka CS918 or K-R42-1), or more exactly MK888B (Includes Bluetooth support), is now getting some competition with Jesurun K8, another Rockchip RK3188 set-top box with 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, and Bluetooth support, that sells for as low as $80 on Aliexpress (called Hi720), and $85 on DealExtreme. Here are the specifications listed on DX: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB Flash + SD card slot (up to 32GB) Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth V2.1 10/100M Ethernet USB – 3x USB 2.0 port Video Output – HDMI 1.4 + AV Audio Formats – MP3 / WMA / WAV / OGG/OGA / FLAC / APE / AAC/M4A / RM Video Codecs – H.264 / VP8 / RV / WMV / AVS / H.263 / MPEG4 Power supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 14.9 cm x […]

August 9, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Intel Education Tablets Come with a Temperature Probe, a Magnification Lens

Intel has recently announced 2 educational Android 4.x tablets: The 10″ Intel Education Tablet powered by Intel Atom Z2460, and the 7″ Intel Education Tablet based on the newer Intel Atom Z2420. Beside standard features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, dual cameras, etc…, the tablets also come with items such as a temperature probe, and a snap-on magnification lenses for experimentation, as well as a educational software. The table below adapted from LinuxGizmos lists both tablets’ specifications side-by-side. 10.1″ model 7″ model Processor Intel single-core Atom Z2460 (“Medfield”) @ 1.6GHz Intel single-core Atom Z2420 (“Lexington”) @ 1.2GHz RAM 1G LPDDR2 Flash 16GB eMMC 8GB eMMC + microSD slot Display 1280 x 800 capacitive 5-point touch TFT LCD (16:10) with stylus 1024 x 600 multitouch TFT LCD (16:9) with optional stylus Wireless 802.11b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 EDR 802.11b/g/n; Bluetooth 3.0 (optional) Camera 2MP rear; 0.3MP front USB 1x micro USB 2.0 (Type B) […]

August 8, 2013August 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

NVIDIA Releases Source Code, Binaries, and Android Build Instructions for the SHIELD Gaming Console

This morning I’ve read bad news for the open source community. Jean-Baptiste Quéru, leader of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) has decided to quit the project because AOSP cannot run on the latest Nexus 7 as Qualcomm (lawyers) impeded the project, and Google is unable to released factory images or necessary binary drivers for the GPU. But there’s also good news, as Nvidia has just released source code and binaries to allow developers to fully build an Android image for its SHIELD gaming console. If you want to build an image for the latest image available, following the steps below. Get the code

mkdir ~/shield-open-source
cd ~/shield-open-source
repo init -u git://nv-tegra.nvidia.com/manifest/android/binary.git -b rel-roth-ota-1-partner -m secureos/jb_roth.xml
repo sync -j5

mkdir ~/shield-open-source

cd ~/shield-open-source

repo init -u git://nv-tegra.nvidia.com/manifest/android/binary.git -b rel-roth-ota-1-partner -m secureos/jb_roth.xml

repo sync -j5

Build the Android image (Provided you’ve already setup your Linux PC do build AOSP):

cd ~/shield-open-source
export TOP=`pwd`
cd vendor/nvidia/licensed-binaries
./extract-nv-bins.sh
cd $TOP
. build/envsetup.sh
setpaths
lunch thor-userdebug
mp dev

cd ~/shield-open-source

export TOP=`pwd`

cd vendor/nvidia/licensed-binaries

./extract-nv-bins.sh

cd $TOP

. build/envsetup.sh

setpaths

lunch thor-userdebug

mp dev

Done (mp dev took about one hour for my machine). You should now have the required binary images in out/target/product/roth/ directory. Enter fastboot mode before flashing the binaries by one […]

August 7, 2013August 8, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Miracast Adapters Coming Up with Mediatek MT8636 SoC

It’s already possible to use Android mini-PCs such as T428 as a Miracast adapters, and we’ve also seen low cost HDMI dongles based on Actions Semi ATV6003 and Rockchip RK2928 that should eventually work as Miracast adapters, and sell for less than $30 retail. But there’s now a new SoC targeting DLNA/Miracast adapter: Mediatek MT8636. I don’t have any details about the SoC itself, but I could find a few Chinese company working on the solutions, and the most common is the one shown below, which can be called W18, SH-18, or WFD-04 depending on the company. The device is said to have the following specifications: SoC – MT8636 highly integrated SOC System Memory – 128MB DDR3 (TBC) Storage – 128 MB Flash (TBC) Wi-Fi – MT7601 WiFi 802.11b/g/n with Wi-Fi direct Video Decode – 1080p H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) CBP, MP, HP at L1 to 4.1 Audio Decode – LPCM […]

August 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

MINIX NEO X7Mini vs NEO X7 Android Media Players Comparison

MINIX officially announced their first quad core Android media player, named NEO X7, in early July, and it’s now available for around $140 on sites such as Aliexpress and Geekbuying. More recently, MINIX posted pictures and specifications for MINIX NEO X7mini, a cost down version of MINIX NEO X7. Let’s compare the two. The first (very obvious) difference is the lack of external Wi-Fi antenna on the MINIX X7mini, but that’s not all as shown in the comparison table below. NEO X7 NEO X7mini Processor Quad-Core Cortex A9 Processor (RK3188) Quad-Core Cortex A9 Processor (RK3188) GPU Quad-Core Mali-400MP Quad-Core Mali-400MP System Memory 2GB DDR3 2GB DDR3 Storage 16GB NAND Flash + SD/MMC Card Reader 8GB NAND Flash + SD/MMC Card Reader Connectivity Bluetooth, Ethernet, Dual-Band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Bluetooth, Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi External Antenna Yes No USB 3 x USB Ports + 1 x OTG 2 x USB Ports […]

August 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MK809III Quad Core Android mini PC May Soon Be Available With 4GB RAM, 16GB Flash

The price of quad core Android mini PCs keeps dropping and MK809III (aka QC802) is now available for just over $60 with Rockchip RK3188 SoC, 2GB RAM, and 8GB flash. The recent price drop is not quite large enough to be newsworthy, but one reader (and commenter) noticed something interesting in one product description. So this seller is apparently able to sell MK809III with 4GB RAM and 16GB Flash. 4GB RAM is probably overkill for Android, but it could be useful for those who want to run Linux. The sellers told him MK809III with 4GB RAM (and 8GB Flash) is available for $75, but the minimum order quantity (MOQ) is 20 pieces. I’ve also contacted the seller myself, and initially was told about the “MOQ 20” requirement, and that both 4GB RAM/8GB flash and 4GB RAM/16GB Flash could be made available. But when I asked about the price and lead […]