Five or six years ago we started to see Android TV boxes with a built-in camera meant to be placed on the top of TVs, and used with Skype to Google Hangout for video calls, besides the usual video streaming features of TV boxes.
The concept never really took off, as few people were interested in making video calls via a big screen TV. But with the lockdowns in the last year, there may be renewed demand as more people are stuck at home, and MECOOL Now, a Google certified video calling & media streaming device aims to fill that void, and it can also be used for business needs, for example in a conference room when connected to a video projector.
MECOOL Now specifications:
- SoC – Amlogic S905X4 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU
- System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4
- Storage – 16GB eMMC flash
- Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60 with HDCP 2.2 support
- Video Input
- HDMI 2.0 input up to 4Kp60
- Camera – 1080p HD camera with privacy cover, 100° Field of View (FoV)
- Video decoding – AV1 up to 4Kp120, 10-bit H.265, VP9, AVS2 up to 4Kp75, H.264 4Kp30
- Audio – 2x MEMS microphones, 5W RMS mono speaker
- Connectivity
- 10/100M Ethernet
- 2.4/5GHz 2T2R WiFi 5 (802.11 b/g/n/ac)
- Bluetooth 4.2
- USB – 1x USB3.0/USB 2.0 OTG port
- Misc – 4x tri-color LED for Google Assistance and other functions, 1x red & green LED for camera status, power/standby button, dial/answer button, camera on/off switch, microphone on/off switch
- Power Supply – DC 5V/2A
- Dimensions – 200 x 68.2 x 25.4 mm
MECOOL Now runs the official Android 10 on Android TV meaning it’s certified by Google and will be able to work with Google Assistant as well as most streaming services including Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, and Google Play Movies & TV. But it also adds the ability to make video calls on the big screen using the Google Duo app, or create short videos for Tiktok thanks to the built-in camera.
The Android TV box is not only designed to be placed on top of a TV, as the company added a thread for tripod installing as well. It’s possible to control the device with the built-in buttons, the provided Bluetooth voice remote control or a remote mobile app.
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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