TV box News - Page 74 of 107 - CNX Software

December 4, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

CX-S806 Android Media Player with 4K UHD, H.265 Codec Support Goes for $63 and Up

CX-S806 is one of the first Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S812, providing both 4K UHD video output, and H.265 codec support. It started selling for about $80 with 2GB RAM at the end of October, but now you can get the 1GB RAM version for $62.90, and the 2GB version for $73.10, both prices including shipping from an Aliexpress seller with excellent feedback, albeit from only 22 sales. As a reminder, I’ll list the full specs again: SoC – Amlogic S812 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2.0 GHz with octa-core Mali-450MP6 GPU up to 600+ MHz System Memory – 1 to 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash. No SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6330 wireless module) Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 2160p @ 30 Hz (Summary says HDMI 2.0, specs 1.4b), 3.5mm AV jack (composite + […]

December 3, 2014December 18, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Unboxing of Ugoos UM3 Android and Ubuntu ARM mini PC

Ugoos UM3 is another minic PC powered by Rockchip RK3288 SoC with 8GB storage, 2GB RAM. It has Wi-Fi, but no Ethernet, so it looks like the offspring between a full-sized TV box and an HDMI stick. The company sent me a sample for evaluation pre-loaded with a dual boot image with Android 4.4 & Ubuntu 14.10. I’ll start by unboxing, and opening the device, before testing the dual boot image another day. Ugoos UM3 Unboxing The company sent me the device via DHL in a package for RK3066 / RK3188 devices, but I guess end-users will get an update package that will probably look similar. I was surprised how tiny the device was when I first took it out of the box, and with a black body and red cover, it’s probably the cutest too. It comes with a 5V/2A power supply and corresponding USB to micro USB cable, […]

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Antutu Video Tester Automatically Tests Video and Audio Codecs & Playback Quality in Android

When I read a review about MK808B Plus this morning, I noticed the reviewer used Antutu Video Tester to evaluate video/audio performance of the device. Somehow I had never noticed it, and Antutu developers claim it can not only check whether video or audio codec are supported, but the tool can also give an appraisal of video quality: AnTuTu Video Test is a professional tool for testing video playback capability of Android Smart TV, set-top boxes and other devices. It integrates a few featured videos and testing algorithms that can help users judge the playback performance of the devices clearly. AnTuTu video test can not only detect the video playback formats devices support, but also can test the playback quality of devices. So I decided to try it out on Open Hour Chameleon Android media player based on Rockchip RK3288 processor. The first test you click on Video Test will […]

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Matricom G-Box Q Media Player Features Amlogic S802 SoC, HyperStream P2P Video Streaming

Last year, I reviewed Matricom GBox Midnight MX2, and at the time It was the best Android media player I had tested. The company has now launched a new Android media player called G-Box Q with an Amlogic S802 processor, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC, Ethernet and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. The box will also feature HyperStream, a P2P video streaming technology providing a “more reliable and faster transmission of on-demand and streaming video data”. Matricom G-Box Q specifications: SoC – Amlogic S802 quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 at 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory – 2G DDR3 Storage – 16 GB internal storage + micro SD card slot up to 64GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K30, AV port Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – […]

November 29, 2014November 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 34 Comments

Review of Realtek RTD1195 Based M-195 Android Media Player

M-195 is one of the new low cost Android media players based on Realtek RTD1195 processor featuring two Cortex A7 cores, and a Mali-400MP2 GPU, but providing high speed interface like USB 3.0, and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as 4K video decoding and output, including the latest H.265 / HEVC video codec. So before testing, I was expecting the box to be mainly interesting as a media player, and even maybe NAS, as Android performance for other tasks would be similar to Allwinner A20. I’ll already taken pictures of M-195 and its “902” board, so today we’ll find out how the device performs. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve used both the provided IR remote control, and Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse in this review, simply because I needed to press the Home button to come back to the Launcher from time to time, and the Home button on […]

November 27, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Rikomagic MK80, MK12, MK05, V5 Android TV Boxes and Sticks Are Now Available for Purchase

Rikomagic unveiled their MK80, MK12 and MK05 Android media players a few week ago, and somehow I missed (or ignored) their Rikomagic V5 TV stick, which looks very similar to Jesurun T034 / MK802 V powered with Rockchip RK3288 processor, and features an Ethernet port, but differs as full-sized USB ports are used instead of mix of micro and full-sized USB ports. All four devices, even five with MK80 Plus, are now available on Rikomagic’s Aliexpress store. MK80 and MK80 Plus are Android mini PCs powered by Allwinner A80 SoC, and are probably using the same Sunchip board as Tronsmart Draco AW80 Meta and Telos, The standard version comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, and the “Plus” version with 4GB RAM, and 32GB eMMC, and can be purchased respectively for $155.90 and $199.99 including shipping. MK12 is based on the new Amlogic S812 processor which adds HEVC/H.265 hardware video decoding […]

November 24, 2014November 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Unboxing of M-195 TV Box Powered by Realtek RTD1195 Processor

Realtek RTD1195 is a dual core Cortex A7 processor with a Mali-400 GPU, supporting fast interfaces such as USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and SATA, as well 4K video decoding (including H.265) and output, and HDMI input. Despite all these features, it can be found in ultra low cost Android media players, so I was eager to find out if it’s as good as it looks on paper. Thanks to GeekBuying which sent me M-195 TV box, I’ll soon be able to find out. Today, I’ll list the technical specifications of the device, and take pictures of the device and the board, before doing a full test early next month. M-195 specifications Hardware specifications as listed in the user’s manual and GeekBuying: SoC – Realtek RTD1195 dual core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.3 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + SD […]

November 24, 2014November 25, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Unboxing of Cloud Media Open Hour Chameleon Android Media Player

Cloud Media (previously Syabas) recently announced Open Hour Chameleon Android media player powered by Rockchip RK3288 processor. Compared to the many competing solutions based on Rockchip’s quad core Cortex A12/A17 processor, Open Hour comes with a metallic case to provide better casing, and instead of coming with internal NAND or eMMC flash, they provide a bootable SD card (Class 10) pre-loaded with Android 4.4.2, and they also have a preliminary Lubuntu image. They also recommend to use SPMC for video playback as “going forward, Rockchip will fully support SPMC instead of their custom Kodi”. Before writing the full review, I’ll show some pictures of the device, and take it apart to check out the hardware and their thermal dissipation solution. Open Hour Chameleon Unboxing I’ve received the box by Fedex in the following package. They list the key features on the top of the box namely RK3288, XBMC, Android Kitkat, […]