$86 ZAP-A10 Android 4.0 Set-Top Box Powered by AMLogic AML8726-M3

You may already know that XBMC has been working on the Pivox XIOS DS set-top box based on AMLogic AML8726-M3. Pivosgroup has sponsored the development of XBMC for Android and Linux on their new media player, and it costs about $115 on sites like Amazon, but it’s not available worldwide right now. If you’re looking for an alternative AMLogic AML8726-M3 device, and are a bit adventurous, you may have a look at the ZAP-A10, an Android 4.0 networked media player featuring AML8726-M3 Cortex A9 processor, with 1GB RAM and 4 GB Flash. Here are the specs of this set-top box: SoC – Single core Cortex A9 @ 1GHz (AML8726-M3) with Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1 GB RAM Storage – 4GB Flash & SD card slot Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n USB – 4x USB Host port Video Output – HDMI and component (YPbPr) Video Containers – M2TS / […]

How to Allow Apps To Write Files to USB Mass Storage Devices in Android

When you’ve got an Android media player or mini PC, you may want to connect an external USB drive and allow write access to this drive to some applications. However, this is disabled by default in Android, although file managers appear to allow copy/paste of files to those drives without issue. Some applications may even refuse to install if they can’t find writable SD card or USB mass storage  device. I’ve tried to install the latest version of aTorrent (version 1.7.6) in my Mele A1000, and it could not install at all and returned a message like: Can’t install on SD card or USB device The solution below is adapted from a solution on XDA Developers Forums. Some instructions tells you to use an app such as Root Explorer to edit the files in Android (ES File Manager will also do, after allowing “Up to Root” option), but I personally […]

More AMLogic AML8726-MX Source Code Released by Ainol

Last week, I found out that AMLogic released the kernel source code for AML8726-MX, its dual core Cortex A9 processor, but this code is only for the “common” platform, and some source code specific to tablets or media players is missing (e.g. some drivers). But today, Ainol released the source code for the Ainol Novo 7 Elf II and Aurora II tablet, both of which are based on on AML8726-M6 dual core processor: Ainol Novo 7 Elf II Source Code (2 GB) – http://dl.vmall.com/c0yqzpadah Ainol Novo 7 Aurora II source code (2 GB) – http://dl.vmall.com/c0imlixp7d The files are pretty big, and the download very slow on my side (“1 day, 16 hours remaining”), so I’ll probably have to give up. I assume “fards” will import the source code into a new repo in his github account. Anyway, this potentially makes AMLogic AML8726-MX a very interesting development platform, although we’ll have to […]

QuickEmbed UPuter Pi – $69 AllWinner A10 Development Board

I’ve been informed of a new AllWinner A10 development board which is marketed as some sort of Raspberry Pi “clone”, although the hardware is different. The UPuter Pi is a small board designed by QuickEmbed Technology, a Shanghai based company, that features AllWinner A10 processor @ 1.5 GHz, 512 to 1 GB RAM, and 4 to 8 GB Flash. Here are the specs as mentioned on the company website: CPU 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A8 multi-core Mali400 graphic engine Memory 512M/1GB DDR3 Flash 4G/8G DC 5V USB power working temperature -10 to 70C storage temperature -20 to 80C Android 4.0 WIFI/RJ45 network USB/Wireless keyboard/mouse 3G usb card TF card, U-disk, usb harddisk 720P/1080P/2160P I must have gone blind because I don’t see any RJ45 connector (for Ethernet). The board will support Android 4.0 and all the usual Linux distros supported by Allwinner A10 processor. QuickEmbed may have pushed the clone concept a […]

TCL and Tencent Launch iCE SCREEN 26″ Mobile Android Display

TCL and Tencent have jointly launched the iCE SCREEN, a “large screen mobile entertainment smart cloud product” featuring a 26″ screen with 1366×768 resolution. The companies expect this new type of smart TV to be used as  large portable screen, a video player, a music and photo album and an high-definition video communications device. You would have thought a device with such a name to use an operating system such as Android “iCE SCREEN” sandwich (sorry I had to),  but Engadget Chinese reports it  to feature a customized version of Android 2.2, and in the press release, the companies referred to it as “independent operating system” that enables internet access to all sort of cloud based applications such as video playback, audio streaming and gaming. Tencent will bring their QQ services to the display with apps such as QQ Video, QQ Album, QQ Music, QQ Messenger and QQ Game. iCE […]

Nikon Announces Coolpix S800c Android 2.3 Camera

Nikon announced the first Android camera to hit the market. The Coolpix S800c is a 16 MP Wi-Fi camera powered by an unnamed ARM Cortex A9 processor with 512 MB RAM running Android 2.3.3 that will sell for $349. The S800c is basically a smartphone without the voice network capabilities, but with a proper camera capable of shooting clear pictures and videos, and a 10x optical zoom. Nikon also included a GPS to add localization info to pictures. Nikon lists the primary features of their Android camera as follows: Android 2.3 and Wi-Fi Simple setup and connection Browse and post to social networking sites (SNS) such as Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Support for Google Play and built-in Google apps Simple image transfer to other smart devices via “Upload to Smart Device” app. Better shooting performance and images quality and definition (compared to a smartphone). 10x optical zoom, NIKKOR lens and […]

Archos Unveils 101 XS Tablet Powered by TI OMAP4470

After teasing us last March, Archos officially launched their new Gen10 XS tablet line, and specifically announced the Archos 101 XS, a 10.1-inch Android 4.0.3 tablet powered by Texas Instruments OMAP4470 (Dual core Cortex A9) @ 1.5 GHz that features a detachable magnetic keyboard called the CoverBoard which also serves as a protective cover when not in use. Here are the specs for this new tablet: Processor Texas Instruments OMAP4470 @ 1.5GHz with SGX544 GPU Storage 16 GB Flash Memory + microSD Slot (up to 128GB) System Memory 1GB RAM Video codecs and containers • H.264 HD (HP@L4.2, up to 1080p@30 fps and 1080i/720p@60 fps) • MPEG-42 HD (SP/ASP@L6, up to 1080p@30 fps) • With optional plug-in: MPEG2 HD (MP/HL, 1080p@30 fps) • With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, MKV, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF […]

How to Create a Custom Android Firmware for CX-01 mini PC

I’ve written a post about updating the firmware on CX-01 mini PC last week. But, this week I’ve been able to go further since I’ve learned some tools available for Telechips TCC8902/TCC8903 firmware files are also compatible with TCC892X firmware files, and it’s possible to extract the firmware, modify/add files in different partitions and repack all this to burn it with FWDN tool. I’ll explain the different steps in this post, and even if you don’t own CX-01 it could be interesting as some of the commands are common to all Android devices. But first: BIG FAT WARNING!!! Although I believe the steps mentioned in this post are safe, and errors can be recovered by using the CX-01 firmware, CX-01 mini PC is not unbrickable, and if I’m wrong your device will become useless and you won’t be able to fix it. I may also mention some tools (but not show […]

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