Kimdecent Droid Stick A2 Review

At the beginning of December 2012, I wrote a post about Droid Stick A2 mini PC based on AMLogic AML-8726-MX to show some pictures of the device, but I could not really test as the firmware was not complete, and was promise a working firmware soon. Unfortunately, things did not really go according to plans for this hardware, so the firmware never showed up… Luckily, Kimdecent found another version of the device with basically the same specs, a slightly different casing, and more importantly a “working” firmware. The company was kind enough to send me another sample for review. Droid Stick A2 Unboxing Here’s what the new Droid Stick A2 and its accessories look like. Beside Droid Stick A2 mini PC, the package contains a power adapter (5V/2A), a mini USB to USB cable, a short HDMI cable and a user’s manual in English. A close up shows the device […]

$59.40 HD18M Android 4.0 Media Player Powered by AMLogic AML8726-M3

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 […]

PlayJam GameStick Console-On-a-Stick Powered by AMLogic AML8726-MX

OUYA is not the only Android device specifically targeting games anymore, as PlayJam has launched a kickstarter campaign for the GameStick, a combo Android 4.1 HDMI TV dongle + BlueTooth game controller that you should be able to get by April 2013 with a $79 pledge. The neat thing is that it’s highly portable as the dongle fits inside the controller for transport. However, I don’t find the design of the controller as beautiful as OUYA controller. The specs of the GameStick do not quite have the same oomph as the OUYA either, but it should still play most Android games smoothly: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual Cortex cortex A9 @ 1.5 GHz + dual core Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB FLASH Video Output – HDMI. Final product will also feature MHL, but current prototypes are powered via USB. Connectivity: WiFi – 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth […]

Tronsmart Prometheus: $99 Spaceship-like Android Media Player Based on AML8726-M6

Most media players just look like a boring black or white box, but Tronsmart Prometheus proves it does not have to be that way, as this model comes in the shape of a spaceship. This box running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean is based on AMLogic AML8726-M6 dual core Cortex A9 processor with 1GB RAM and 4GB Flash. Here are the specs of this spaceship media player: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M6 Dual Core up to 1.5GHz with Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + SD card slot Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n 10/100 Ethernet (RJ45) USB – 3x USB 2.0 Host ports. N.B: The specs mentions 3x USB outside, and 2x USB inside. But after a closer inspection of the casing and PCBA pictures, I can only shows 3 ports. Video output – HDMI and composite Video Codecs – MPEG-2, H.264,MPEG-4,VC-1… at 1080P Audio Codecs – […]

XBMCHUB to Give Away Jynxbox Android HD Media Players

XBMCHUB has announced the launch of a giveaway to promote XBMCHUB.com and expand this community that provides third party add-ons for XBMC, and the most active members of the community will get one of the 4 Jynxbox Android HD media players available. But before going into details about XBMCHUB “competition”, let’s have a look at the hardware. Specifications: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-M3 Cortex A9 CPU @ 1.2GHz with Mali 400 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM DDR3 Storage – 4GB Nand Flash + MicroSD slot (Up to 32GB) USB – 3x USB 2.0 Host ports Connectivity Wifi – 802.11b/g/n 10/100 Ethernet Video Output – HDMI 1.3 Misc – IR Sensor for remote Video container formats – AVI, MKV, TS, TP, TRP, M2TS, MPG, MP4, MOV, M4V, VOB, IFO, DAT, WMV, ASF, RM, RMVB, FLV, XVID, DIVX 3/4/5 up to 1080p resolution Audio formats – MP3/ OGG/ WMA/ WAV/ AAC/ FLAC […]

MyGica A11 Android Set-top Box Powered by AMLogic AML8726-M3 Processor

Full-sized set-top boxes based on AMLogic AML8726-M3 processor have the potential to support XBMC Linux & Android with proper hardware support, but are not always priced very aggressively. But today, I’ve stumbled upon MyGica A11 Android 4.0 media player powered by AML8726-M3, with 1GB RAM and 4GB flash that sells for $65.10 on DealExtreme including shipping, and just 339 RMB (~55 USD) in China. Mygica A10 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 1.3 (Up to 1080p) Video Formats – AVI, RM, RMVB, Ts, TP, TRP, Vob, Mkv, Mov, WMV, IOS, AFS, FLV, DAT, MPG, MPEG & SWF 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, AAC, AC-D, DTS & Real […]

Droid Stick A2 mini-PC Unboxing

Droid Stick A2 is an HDMI TV Stick based on AMLogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor, and together with HI-802 (aka GK802) mini-PC based on Freescale i.MX6Q, is the most likely platform to get proper Linux support, as AMLogic AML8726-MX source code is somewhat open, and video playback in Linux is supported in the older AML8726-M1 processor (Cf. XBMC Linux in Pivos STB). Kimdecent sent me a sample for evaluation, but as the Android firmware is not really ready for prime-time at this time, I’ll just show some pictures of the device, as well as the user interface, and will review the device once a firmware update is available. Since this is still a sample, I received the device in a white box with the Droid Stick A2, a mini USB to USB cable, a small 5.2V/1A power supply and a plug adapter. There are plenty of ventilation hole […]

AMLogic Releases U-Boot and Updated Linux Kernel Source Code

AMLogic released kernel 3.0.8 source code for AML8726-MX a few months ago, and yesterday they provided an updated tarballs with the kernel, and for the first time, AFAIK, released the source code for U-Boot. There are 4 new files apparently generated from the (internal) git repository in AMLogic: common-2012-11-20-git-b687495906.tar.gz  (108M) – This is the same kernel 3.0.8 release has last time, but with updated code. m1-kernel-android-2012-11-20-git-5d0f6b8e93.tar.gz (103M) – This looks like an older kernel 2.6 for AML8726-M1 only. uboot-master-2012-11-20-git-9b50e9a295.tar.gz (16M) – U-Boot 2010.06 possibly to use with the older 2.6 kernel. Only for M1 & M3 platforms. uboot-next-2012-11-20-git-b0e532795a.tar.gz (40M) – U-Boot 2011.03 for use with M3 and M6 platforms. I’ve already explained how to build the kernel in the previous post, so I’ll focus on U-Boot this time. Ubuntu 12.04 arm-linux-gnueabi- toolchain fails to build U-Boot (uboot-next), so you’ll have to install Sourcery toolchain instead: wget http://openlinux.amlogic.com/download/linux/ARM/gnutools/arm-2010q1-188-arm-none-eabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2 tar xjvf arm-2010q1-188-arm-none-eabi-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2 […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC