Mygica A11 ($65) was the cheapest AMLogic AML8726-M3 Android set-top box I was aware of, but today I’ve come across HD18M with very similar specs (e.g. 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash…) that sells for $59.40 on DealExtreme including shipping.
Here are HD18M Android STB Specifications:
- SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M3 (Cortex A9) processor @ 1.0GHz with Mali-400 GPU
- System Memory – 1GB DDR3
- Storage – 4GB Flash + microSD slot (Up to 32GB)
- Video Output – HDMI 1.4 (Up to 1080p)
- Video Formats – AVI, RM, RMVB, TS, VOB, MKV, MOV, WMV, ISO, ASF, FLV, DAT, MPG & MPEG
- Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, AVC/VC-1, Xvid ,DivX3/4/5/6, and Real Video 8/9/10
- Audio Formats – MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC, ALAC, APE, TrueHD, AAC, AC3, AC-D, DDP & DTS.
- Subtitle – srt, smi, ssa and ass
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 Host ports
- Connectivity – 10/100 Mbit Ethernet + Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
The only differences I could spot based on Dealextreme specifications (BIG FAT WARNING) are that HD18M is said to feature HDMI 1.4, instead of HDMI 1.3 used in A11, as well as built-in Wi-Fi, but HD18M has only 2 USB host ports vs 3 USB ports in Mygica A11.
This Android 4.0 media player ships with an IR remote control, a 100~220V power supply, and a user’s manual in English and Chinese. This type of box is mainly interesting to potentially run XBMC natively in Linux [Update: There’s now a (preliminary?) XBMC Linux ROM for the Mygica A11] or with proper XBMC UI integration in Android (i.e. not via external player), since you’ll soon (February) be able to get a Rockchip RK3066 set-top box for the same price.
One of the picture on DX.com shows the MAC address “c4:4e:ac:xx:xx:xx” on the device, and a MAC address lookup shows Shenzhen Shiningworth Tech owns this address range. The company sells what appears to be the same box, but called “U2M”, on Alibaba for $46 to $48 per unit for 100 pieces orders.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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You can already buy a Rockchip RK3066 set-top box for the same price:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-MK819-box-version-of-android-4-1-mini-pc-mk809-ii/738559303.html
Nice find, I will have a look.
BTW: The linux XBMC build released for the A11, is basically the GBox build with the install check removed. When I am back from my trip I will include the A11 into the build system
@Gabe
Thanks I did not know that one.
Hello,
i tried to change the Uboot settings of this device to boot from sdcard. I found the TX and RX pins.
In uboot I wanted to set the uboot parameters as described on openlinux.amlogic.com:
http://openlinux.amlogic.com/wiki/index.php/Arm/Android/Running_Android_from_an_SD_Card
First I couldn’t save the settings and I had to unlock the nand flash: nand write_protect off
Then It worked, it found the uImage on the mmc, but then it couldn’t load the kernel on 82000000
Is this because the uImage is to big? I know the 82000000 is the part where it writes the kernel to in memory. But I don’t find a explanation how You get to this value. On every tutorial it’s differen, mostly starting with 0x. I assume that writing 0x is the same as writing nothing (as in the tutorial from amlogic) and it only means starting from 0 to the value that follows?
Or ther some uboot experts or amlogic experts that can help me with this or send me a link with a easy to follow tutorial. I googled for it but don’t get decent results, but it could be it due to my search words.
Another thing. I think I made the big mistake to not check the original environment settings to boot from nand. I thought when it couldn’t boot from sd, it would boot back from nand, but that is not the case. Is there a way to determine the boot settings from nand?
Thanks.