Xiaomi Mi Boxes have been available in China for a couple of years, and the only way to ship them to the rest of the world was to purchase via Chinese e-retailers. Xiaomi and Google have now worked together to bring Mi Box with Android TV 6.0, instead of the usual Chinese MIUI TV interface, to the US, and possibly to other countries. Xiaomi Mi Box (US) specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X-H quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDCP 2.2 and CEC support Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF and 3.5mm audio jack Video Codecs – VP9 Profile-2 & H.265 MP-10 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.264 AVC up to 4K @ 30 fps, H.264 MVC up to […]
Linux 4.6 Release – Main Changes, ARM and MIPS Architectures
Linus Torvalds released Linux Kernel 4.6 earlier today: It’s just as well I didn’t cut the rc cycle short, since the last week ended up getting a few more fixes than expected, but nothing in there feels all that odd or out of line. So 4.6 is out there at the normal schedule, and that obviously also means that I’ll start doing merge window pull requests for 4.7 starting tomorrow. Since rc7, there’s been small noise all over, with driver fixes being the bulk of it, but there is minor noise all over (perf tooling, networking, filesystems, documentation, some small arch fixes..) The appended shortlog will give you a feel for what’s been going on during the last week. The 4.6 kernel on the whole was a fairly big release – more commits than we’ve had in a while. But it all felt fairly calm despite that. Linux 4.5 added […]
AOC Mars is an ARM Based 24″ All-in-One PC Running Remix OS 2.0
AOC International and Jide Technology has partners to launch Mars, the first all-in-one (AIO) PC supporting Remix OS. The computer is powered by Amlogic S905 processor with 2GB RAM & up to 64GB storage, and features a 23.8″ display. AOC Mars “M1238B” preliminary specifications: Soc – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16 or 64 GB flash depending on model Display – 23.8″ display with 1920 x 1080 resolution Video – 2x HDMI ports Audio – Stereo speakers, 3.5mm jacks for headphone and microphone Connectivity – Ethernet, and probably WiFi and Bluetooth (TBC) USB – 4x USB 2.0 ports Misc – Power, volume, menu and back buttons Dimensions – 9.9mm thickness, 13.3 mm border width The computer will run Remix OS 2.0. It will first be showcased at CES Asia 2016 in Shanghai, launched in […]
VideoStrong VS-M9RD Development Board is a Raspberry Pi Lookalike with Amlogic S905 SoC
VideoStrong is better known for their Android TV boxes with or without digital TV tuners, such as K1 Plus T2/S2 TV box, but the company has also designed several Amlogic based single board computers and development boards, including the latest Raspberry Pi inspired VS-M9RD board powered by Amlogic S905 quad core 64-bit ARM processor. VS-M9RD board technical specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core cortex-A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with penta-core Mali-450 GPU up to 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – Optional 4 to 32 GB eMMC flash module, micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports + mini USB OTG port Expansion Header 30-pin header 28-pin header 7-pin header with CVBS and JTAG signals Debugging – 4-pin 2.54mm pitch serial console header Misc – IR receiver, power and update buttons. […]
LibreELEC (OpenELEC Fork) v7.0.0 Released with Kodi 16.1
It’s not always easy to get along in life, and recently this has been true in Kodi developer community and related project, with Koying leaving his role as the main Kodi Android developer, possibly meaning Kodi 17 won’t get an Android port, and more recently several OpenELEC developers, not satisfied with some of the current project developments, decided to fork it, and create LibreELEC. The team of 25 or so members has now released LibreELEC v7.0.0 based on Kodi 16.1 which had also been released a few days ago. The changelog only reads: The 7.0.0 release contains Kodi Jarvis 16.1 (final) and a fix for Verisign SSL certificate changes that impacted Pandora add-on users. It also addresses a bluez crash, a firmware update for Intel Skylake users, and a fix for an Amlogic CEC issue on WeTek Play/Core. Most importantly it also contains our new logo branding. The images are […]
MXQ Pro Amlogic S905 Android TV Box Sells for $30 (Promo)
MXQ Pro TV box based on Amlogic S905 64-bit processor was launched at the end of last year for about $48. The price has come down after a few months, and GearBest is now selling NEXBOX MXQ Pro for as low as $28.99 (price will show when you add it to the cart), and if it goes back to $35, you should be able to use GBNB coupon to get it for $30.50 shipped. NEXBOX MXQ Pro specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0, AV Video Codec – 10-bit H.265 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.264 up to 4K @ 30 fps Audio – HDMI, AV, coaxial S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (No Bluetooth) USB […]
MK808B Pro Android TV Stick Mini Review
MK808B PRO is the first Amlogic S905 TV stick readily available for sale, and GeekBuying sent me a sample for review. I’ve already checked out the hardware, and the lack of heatsink is a worry, so we’ll see how it performs in this mini review, where I’ll focus mainly on potential pitfalls, rather than do a throrough review as usual, since I’ve already tested so many Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S905 processor First Boot, Settings, and First Impressions I’ve connected MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse RF dongle to the USB port, and Tronsmart Mars G01 wireless gamepad dongle to the mini USB port via the provided USB OTG adapter, and the provided HDMI cable to the AUX port of my AV receiver and nothing else, except the power adapter to the other mini USB port. Boot time typically takes about one minute that it’s not a speed […]
What’s the Best Android TV Box?
[Update December 26, 2017: I’ve posted a new version of this post entitled “What’s the Best Android TV Box (2017/2018 Edition)?“. I’ll leave the post below to have an historical perspective] I often get asked which TV box to buy, or what the best Android TV box is, and the answer is the TV box that fits your needs for the lowest price point possible. Considering there are around 2 millions apps for Android, they are multitudes of use cases, and you can’t provide a single answer for everybody. So I’ll provide a list of things to look for beside the processor, and three TV boxes that I think are worth considering, before providing alternatives for people who want cheaper devices. Things to Look for There are still a few things you may want to specifically look for before purchasing an Android TV box: History of regular firmware updates – […]