RetrOrangePi 3.0 Retro Gaming & Media Center Firmware Released for Orange Pi H3 Boards and Beelink X2 TV Box

RetrOrangePi is a Linux distribution based on armbian transforming Allwinner H3 boards – mostly Orange Pi boards, but also Banana Pi M2+ and NanoPi boards – into entertainment centers to play retro games, and watch/listen media files (videos/music) using Kodi. If you don’t have a development board, or would prefer a complete solution with casing and power supply, Beelink X2 TV box is also supported. The developers had been recently working on rectifying some GPL issues, and they have released RetrOrangePi 3.0 images right before Christmas. RetrOrangePi 3.0 changelog and key features: Full Armbian 5.23 Jessie Desktop version with kernel 3.4.113 (backdoors fixed) Slim version 1st release (less than 2 GB) coming soon OpenELEC (Kodi Jarvis 16.1) with CEC support by Jernej Škrabec RetroPie-Setup version 4.1 New Kodi Krypton beta6 version New emulationstation-ROPI branch forked from jacobfk20 with gridview, on screen keyboard with easy wifi config and storage check with […]

Beelink GT1 TV Box Review – Part 2: Android Marshmallow Firmware

I’ve previously reviewed other Amlogic S912 TV boxes such as M12N MXQ Plus or Qintaix Q912, but Beelink GT1 has the advantage of being quite cheaper at $56 and up, but still come with many of the same features as more expensive devices. I’ve already posted pictures, and checked out the hardware design in the first part of Beelink GT1 review, so in the second part I’ll report my experience with Android, including video and audio capabilities, hardware features testing, and some benchmarks. First Boot, OTA Firmware Update, Settings, and First Impressions The device comes with two USB ports only, so I connected a USB hard drive to one of the port, and a USB hub to the other with the RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as a USB keyboard to take screenshots. I completed the setup by adding […]

Test Widevine & PlayReady DRM, HDCP 1.x/2.x, 4K VP9 and H.265 in Android with Exoplayer App

I first heard about ExoPlayer in an Android TV Overview presentation at Linaro Connect 2014, but I never really looked into it. The source code is available on Github, and I’ve been given ExoPlayer.apk [Update April 2020: Exoplayer binary is now available on Apkpure] as it can be used to test UHD H265 support, HDCP 1.x, HDCP 2.x compatibility, PlayReady & Widevine DRM using different format and so on. So I installed it on Beelink GT1 Android TV box which I’m currently reviewing, and only include basic Widewine Level 3 DRM, and certainly does not support HDCP features. There are 9 sections in the app to test various videos and DRM schemes: YouTube Dash Widevine Dash Policy Tests (GTS) – Widewine with or without HDCP, with or without secure video path Widevine HDCP Capabilities Tests – NoHDCP, HDCP 1.0, HDCP 1.1, HDCP 2.0, HDCP 2.1, HDCP 2.2, and HDCP no […]

Beelink GT1 4K TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Beelink GT1 is among the cheapest Amlogic S912 TV boxes available today, selling for around $56, but despite the inexpensive price tag, its specifications are not too bad with Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, and 4K H.265 & VP9 video capabilities. The company sent me a sample for review, and as usual, I’ll start by posting photos, and having a look at the hardware design, before reviewing the firmware in more details in a the second part of the review. Beelink GT1 Unboxing My package appears to have had a rough trip, but apart from the edges of the black retail package nothing was damaged. The main specifications are shown on the bottom of the package together with CE and FCC certifications, and the type of power adapter inside the package. GT1 ships with a simple IR remote control, a shortish HDMI cable (~1 meter), a small […]

Hardware Requirements for Discounted Windows 10 Licenses for Entry Level mini PCs, TV Sticks, Tablets, Notebooks, and AiO

Even since the first low cost mini PCs and TV sticks started to come to market there was lots of confusion about Windows 8.1/10 licenses, because while small tablets could be shipped with Windows 8.1 with Bing/Windows 10 with a free license, mini PCs required  a different discounted NTE license costing between $15 and $30. Price differs depending who your ask… So while the cheapest devices normally shipped unactivated, some companies like PiPo decided to install Windows with the latest version to cut costs… Microsoft eventually noticed, and PiPo had to stopped the practise, instead making mini PCs with small displays… The exact hardware requirements were also unclear so far for either the free or discount tablet, but the following table dropped in my email Inbox recently… It explains which hardware is accepted for an Entry level license. OST means Online Service Terms, and the devices matching the hardware requirements […]

Beelink GT1 Android TV Box Powered by Amlogic S912 Sells for $56 (Promo)

In a recent list of Amlogic S912 TV boxes we found out that factory prices ranged between $47 to $54 for typical devices with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage, but you can only get those price by buying in quantities, and they don’t include shipping. However, GearBest has just informed me they lowered Beelink GT1 prices to $55.99 shipped with GBGT1 coupon,  which – provided the box works well – looks like a good bargain. Beelink GT1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0a Audio Output – HDMI and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR receiver Power Supply – […]

Amlogic S912 Android TV Boxes List So Far

Following up on the tradition to create list of TV boxes with popular processor, such as my Amlogic S905 TV boxes and sticks list, I’ve decided to generate a comparison table for the first ten Amlogic S912 Android TV boxes announced so far. There won’t be any S912 TV sticks, as the processor probably dissipate a little too much heat to be useful in that form factor. All TV boxes in the table below share the same Amlogic S912 octa-core Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with an ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU, support for HDMI 2.0a output, HDR, 4K video playback for  VP9, H.265 and H.264 codecs, and run Android 6.0, so I only included columns for items that differ between products. Remarks: AV means 3.5mm AV jack with composite and stereo audio, and prices are usually retail prices with shipping by registered airmail from China, except for the ones followed […]

QINTAIX Q912 Android TV Box is Powered by Amlogic S912 Octa-core SoC

I published pictures of Amlogic S912 TV box boards just over a month ago, and it appears companies have started to take orders from resellers for Amlogic S912 TV boxes with products such Videostrong KM8 Pro, or the one I’m going to cover in this post: QINTAIX Q912. QINTAIX Q912 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 @ up to 750MHz System Memory – 2GB  DDR3 Storage – 8GB or 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9 profile 2 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.265 MP-10@L5.1 up to 4K 60fps, H.264 AVC up to 4K @ 30 fps, H.264 MVC up to 1080p60, MPEG-4, WMV/VC-1 SP/MP/AP,  AVS-P16(AVS+)/AVS-P2 JiZhun Profile, MPEG-2 MP/HL, MPEG-1 MP/HL, and  RealVIDEO 8/9/10 all up to […]

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