Snail Games OBox is an Upcoming High End Android Game Console Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 Processor

Snail Games is a gaming company based in Suzhou, China, with a branch in the US, specializing online games with over 85 million account on sites like woniu.com for the Chinese market, and playsnail.com for the North American market. Snail is now planning to launch an Android 4.4 console called OBox Online at CES 2015. Internally, the gaming console is comprised of a motherboard, a processor board, an HDD board, and an optional multi-media board. Two processor board are currently available with variants of Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core 32-bit processor, and I assume it should be possible to upgrade the console with a more powerful processor and more memory in the future.

Technical specifications listed in a leaked/released PDF:

Processor Board
- SoC
  - Option 1 – Nvidia Tegra K1 TD570D quad-core ARM Cortex A15 CPU @ 2.0 GHz, and Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA cores
  - Option 2 – Nvidia Tegra K1 TD575D quad-core ARM Cortex A15 CPU @ 2.2 GHz, and Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA cores
- System Memory – 4GB RAM
- Storage – 4GB internal storage
Storage Options
- 500GB / 5400rpm 2.5″ SATA drive
- 1TB / 5400 rpm 2.5″ SATA drive
- 1TB / 7200 rpm 3.5″ SATA drive
- 4TB / 7200 rpm 3.5″ SATA drive
Video & Audio Output
- HDMI port up to 4K
- MHL 2.0 Output
- S/PDIF output
- Optional multi-media flashboard with 3x HDMI out (and in?), 5.1 multi-channel output
(Main) Video Codecs – Decoding – 4K2K @ 30 fps for H.265/H.264; Encoding – 4K2K @ 30 fps for H.265.
Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n and ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
USB – 2x USB 2.0 OTG port, 1x USB 3.0 port
Security – Anti-root, CPU security lock
Misc – Buzzer, power LED, front panel pulse lighting effect DIY, power key
Power Supply – AC100-240V 50/60Hz input, 19V / 45W DC output
Dimensions – N/A

The console will run Android 4.4 Kitkat. A wireless gamepad called OBox controller will be included. It feature a using a 9-axis sensor with gyro and magnetometer, and can be used as an air mouse. The device is air cooled with a fan. The specs list the multi-mediaboard adds three HDMI output ports, but the document also mention support for “multi-channel on-screen video compatibility and recording function”, so at least one of these extra HDMI ports, if not all, could be HDMI In.

Pricing and availability have not been disclosed, but based on the specifications it won’t be a low cost device, probably between $350 to $500+ depending on options. More information should be released at CES 2015.

Thanks to Rafael for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

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.