Category: AMLogic

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on What to Expect from AllWinner, Rockchip, Mediatek, and Other Silicon Vendors at CES 2014

What to Expect from AllWinner, Rockchip, Mediatek, and Other Silicon Vendors at CES 2014

CES 2014 is coming soon, and it will take place on 7 – 10 January, 2014, and we can expect some interesting SoC news. Samsung suggested they will unveil their 64-bit ARM SoC (Exynos 6?) at CES 2014, Nvidia will hold a press conference to “showcase new NVIDIA Tegra mobile technologies, gaming innovations, and advanced automotive display technologies”, and Qualcomm has been quiet for now. However, several Chinese SoC vendors, namely AllWinner, Rockchip, and Mediatek, have already announced what they will showcase at CES 2014, albeit with few details. AllWinner at CES 2014 Allwinner announced will showcase their OptimusBoard based on their Ultra Octa-Core A80 SoC, as well as 4G tablets powered by Allwinner A31/A31s, and dual-SIM phablets sporting A23 dual-core. Allwinner A80 is an Octacore processor featuring four ARM Cortex A7 cores, and four Cortex A15 cores @ 2.0GHz together with an unnamed GPU offering 2x more performance over previous […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Jynxbox M6 Android TV Box Review

Jynxbox M6 Android TV Box Review

I’ve shown some unboxing pictures and video of Jynxbox Android M6 earlier this week, and today I’ll write a review of this AMLogic AML8726-M6 dual core Android media player. I’ll start with my first impressions, go through the different settings, test video playback, wi-fi performance, and reports about different miscalleous tests: Bluetooth, USB mass storage, USB webcam, etc… First Boot, Settings and First Impressions First, you’ll need to insert the provided AAA batteries in to the remote control. Opening the remote is a bit tricker than I would like as the cover does not come off that easily. Before powering up the device, I’ve connected the provided HDMI cable between the device and my HDTV, and an Ethernet cable to my hub. The first Ethernet cable would not click with in the device RJ45 connector, although it works with my laptop and other devices, but using another one worked just fine. Connecting […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Jynxbox Android M6 and Jynxbox Live Android TV Players Unboxing Pictures and Videos

Jynxbox Android M6 and Jynxbox Live Android TV Players Unboxing Pictures and Videos

I’ve just received two new devices from theatertvbox.tv, namely Jynxbox Android M6 and Jynxbox Live. Both are Android media player, with the former being a more traditional AMLogic AML8726-MX based Android TV Box with XBMC, and the later being an Internet media streamer based on Rockchip RK3066 that focuses on playing online content from services such as Hulu or Netflix. Today, I’ll start with listing specifications, and showing some unboxing pictures and videos for both players, and write a complete detailed review, at least for the M6, in a few days. Jynxbox Android M6 The device’s specifications are somewhat similar to other AML8627-MX boxes such as Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 or Tronsmart Prometheus: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-MX dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND flash + microSD/SDHC slot (up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.3 and CVBS […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on Geniatech Releases XBMC Linux Image for AML8726-MX based Media Players

Geniatech Releases XBMC Linux Image for AML8726-MX based Media Players

A couple of week ago Geniatech released the source for XBMC for Android, and today I’ve been informed they’ve released an XBMC Linux image for their media players based on AMLogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 SoC, just a few days after the release of MX Linux v1.00 RC1 working for MX2REF, G18REF and g02refDongle (These are not product names, but board codes that can also be found in ro.product.device or ro.product.board in build.prop of Android firmware). You can download MX_BOX-Linux_XBMC20131205.zip which is said to contain the XBMC Linux image for ATV1200, ATV520, ATV400, ATV360, etc… However, it’s said not to work for HDMI dongles such as ATV120, contrary to MX Linux. I haven’t been able to download the file within a reasonable amount of time, so I haven’t been able to check the content, and installation instructions. An anonymous source told me it was likely Geniatech just took the community […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on AMLogic Processor Roadmap: Quad core Cortex A9 (M8), and 64-bit ARM processors (M9)

AMLogic Processor Roadmap: Quad core Cortex A9 (M8), and 64-bit ARM processors (M9)

We already knew AMLogic is about to release a quad core Cortex A9 SoC, previously codenamed AML8726-M8, but recently renamed to M80X family with 4 different SoCs, but the company has now officially announced the new M8 family, as well as M9 that will feature 64-bit ARM Cortex A5X cores with Mali T7XX GPU. Onda V975m, the first tablet based on M802 processor, was also part of the announcement. Price: 999 CNY (~$164). The new products line is divided as follows: M801/M802 Quad core Cortex A9r4 @ 2GHz with Octo-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 600MHz 4K2K video decoding, Full 1080p decoding (multi-codec), and 1080p H.264 encoding Dual channel DDR3/LPDDR3 up to 4GB 64-bit SDRAM bandwidth HDMI 1.4 up to 4K2K OS – Android 4.4 Kit Kat (Dec. 2013), Google TV version 4 BGA package, 28nm HPM M803/M805 Quad core CPU with Quad core GPU 1080p H.265 decoding, and 1080p HW encoding […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments on XBMC MX Linux v1.00 RC1 for AMLogic AML8726-MX Devices

XBMC MX Linux v1.00 RC1 for AMLogic AML8726-MX Devices

Developer “croniccorey” has recently announced the release of MX Linux v1.00 RC1, an XBMC Linux image for media players based on AMLogic AML8726-MX, on XDA Developers’ Forums. This release supports G18REF and MX2REF devices (See build.prop in Android) such as Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2, and a test image has also been released for g02refDongle devices such as Droid Stick A2. Checking the MTD layout Before starting the installation, you may want to check your flash partitions in order to avoid bricking your device: Install and run Terminal Emulator Run the command below to make sure your partition table is compatible with the image:

If your partition table is different, do not install the default image for MX2REF / G18REF. However, If you’ve got Matricom Android firmware version 1.1.6 or greater or WJB’s Linux builds from November 21 2013 onwards, the MTD layout will be different, and you’ll need to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on $90 JynxBox M1 Pure Linux XBMC Network Media Streamer

$90 JynxBox M1 Pure Linux XBMC Network Media Streamer

After The Little Black Box (TLBB), there’s now another ARM based media player that comes pre-installed with XBMC Linux: Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux. The device is based on AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 processor @ 800MHz, and comes with 2GB flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, HDMI output, and more. Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux specifications: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 @ 800MHz with ARM Mali-400 GPU System Memory – N/A (but likely 512 MB) Storage – 2 GB Nand Flash + micro SD/SDHC memory slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.3 Audio Output – HDMI Video container formats – AVI, RM/RMVB, MKV, WMV, MOV, MP4, WEBM, DAT(VCD format), VOB(DVD format), MPEG, MPG, FLV, ASF, TS, TP, 3GP Audio formats – MP3, WMA, WMV, APE, OGG, FLAC, AAC, etc… Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments on XBMC on ARM News: Updated XBMC Image for i.MX6 Boards, Geniatech Releases XBMC for Android Source Code

XBMC on ARM News: Updated XBMC Image for i.MX6 Boards, Geniatech Releases XBMC for Android Source Code

Stephan Rafin has recently released a new XBMC image for Freescale i.MX6 based Wandboard development boards (dual and quad only) and Utilite computers. The images have been built with Yocto 1.5 (Dora) released last month, and are based on XBMC Gotham Alpha 9, the latest alpha before feature freezes. That means this is not a stable image just yet, but features won’t change, and this version of XBMC is now going though bug fixes. Stephan’s XBMC image includes the following: iMX6 hw accelerated decoding (VPU) for most standard formats iMX CEC support (for utilite only as wandboards are not properly wired) WIFI configuration thanks to network manager addon Support for HDMI/SPDIF/Analog sound outputs (including pass-through for HDMI and SPDIF) SMB/NFS/uPNP network shares and other standard XBMC features Bug fixes against previous version – No more transient black screens, trick modes (ffwd, frwd, ..) are now working, and smoother video playback. […]

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