marshmallow News - Page 7 of 14 - CNX Software

September 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

SCISHION V88 PRO TV Box Powered by Amlogic S905X SoC Sells for $22 (Promo)

Amlogic S905X was supposed to allow for cheaper TV boxes compared to Amlogic S905 ones thanks to more integration with built-in Ethernet and audio DAC, as well as support for 2-layer PCB. It also adds 4K VP9 support, but it’s mostly useful for YouTube 4K, a feature only available in devices running Android TV operating system, with Xiaomi Mi Box the only option that I’m aware of based on S905X. Amlogic S905X has also been found to be slower than Amlogic S905 processor, so unless you absolutely need Android 6.0 or/and VP9 support, there’s very little reason to buy an Amlogic S905X box if it’s more expensive, which was the case for most devices so far. SCISHION V88 PRO TV box changes that somewhat as the Amlogic S905X TV box is sold for just $21.99 on GearBest. SCISHION V88 Pro: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor […]

September 11, 2016November 14, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Vernee Apollo Lite Helio X20 Smartphone Review – Part 2: Android 6.0 Firmware

I’ve already taken pictures and shown Antutu benchmark in the first part of Vernee Apollo Lite review, an Android 6.0 smartphone powered by Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core processor. Now that I’ve had time to play with the phone for over 10 days, I’ve ready to report my experience and write the second part of the review about performance, features, and issues I encountered with the phone. General Impressions First, the build quality feel pretty good, the phone is light and slim. I’ve only called once or twice, and voice quality was good, but I mostly use my phone over WiFi to browse the web, check emails, watch YouTube, and access social networks. More rarely, I also use GPS while running and during trip, and play some games. To be honest, the first few days did not work as expected, as many apps would either be much slower than last year […]

September 5, 2016September 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

MINIX NEO U9-H 4K HDR Amlogic S912-H Android TV Box Coming in October

MINIX may have officially announced MINIX NEO Z83-4 Cherry trail mini PC at IFA 2016, but they also showcased NEO U9-H Android TV box based on an “Octa-core cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU”, which the company confirmed to be Amlogic S912-H processor with Dolby and DTS licenses. I also asked the company whether they had specs sheet for the new model, but the replied they did not have finalized specifications to share, nor exact pricing and release date. But we can still derive info from a video on HDBlog.it showcasing an early development model at IFA 2016. MINIX NEO U9-H preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912-H octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC, HDCP 2.2, […]

September 3, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

How Fix Apps Crashing at Launch in Android 6.0 (in Mediatek Phones) ?

I’ve recently received a new Android 6.0 Marshmallow smartphone powered by Mediatek Helio X20 processor, namely Vernee Apollo Lite, and one of the issues I encountered is that some applications such as Firefox and MAPS.ME would crash when I tried to launch them. The problem was reproducible 100% of the time, and occurred from the very first time I tried to start the app. I’d get a message like “Unfortunately MAPS.ME has stopped” with two buttons: REPORT or OK. So I asked on Vernee forums to report the issue, and see if other people had the same problem. One replied had the same problem, but a simple reboot would fix the issue, while the other proposed to clear the cache. I had not considered that option since the crash occurred from the very first time, but I tried anyway. Go to the App list, drag and drop the problematic app […]

September 2, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

T95Z Plus is an Hexagonal Amlogic S912 TV Box with a Front LCD Display

T95Z Plus is an Amlogic S912 TV box with the typical 2GB RAM and 16GB storage combination, but it differentiates itself with an hexagonal case, a front panel LCD display, and what looks like an RGB LED band around the case. T95Z Plus specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9 profile 2 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.265/HEVC MP-10@L5.1 up to 4K 60fps, H.264 AVC up to 4K @ 30 fps, H.264 MVC up to 1080p60, MPEG-4, WMV/VC-1 SP/MP/AP, AVS-P16(AVS+)/AVS-P2 JiZhun Profile, MPEG-2 MP/HL, MPEG-1 MP/HL, and RealVIDEO 8/9/10 all up to 1080p60 Audio codecs – MP3, WMA, AAC, RM, FLAC, Ogg, TrueHD, DTS, […]

September 1, 2016September 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

MK809IV PRO / Eachlink IX809 PRO Amlogic S905X Android TV Stick Sells for $32

Amlogic S905X Android TV boxes are now pretty common, but if you’re looking for a device in TV stick form factor that’s more difficult to find, and exactly what Eachlink IX809 PRO devices offers with Amlogic S905X processor combined with 1GB RAM and 8GB eMMC flash. Eachlink IX809 PRO specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 port Video Codec – 4K@60 Hz video decoding for 10-bit HEVC/H.265 and VP9; H.264 up to 4K@30 Hz Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; It’s unclear whether Bluetooth is implemented. USB – 1x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB port for power only Power Supply – 5V/2A via micro USB port Dimensions & Weight – N/A […]

August 31, 2016September 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Review of Vernee Apollo Lite Smartphone with Mediatek Helio X20 SoC – Part1: Unboxing, First Boot and Benchmarks

Vernee Apollo Lite is the little brother of Vernee Apollo, both based on Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core Cortex A72/A53 SoC, but with the Lite version having lower hardware specs otherwise, and being one of the few ARM Cortex A72 smartphones selling for less than $200 (at least in China). Tomtop, a Chinese online store, sent me a sample for review, and today, I’ll start by going through the tech specs, then check out the phone design and its accessories, and finally run a few benchmark, before posting a more detailed review in one or two weeks, where I’ll have more experience and feel about the phone. Vernee Apollo Lite Specifications I had posted some specs about the phone when it was first released, but they were incomplete at the time, and Vernee now released the full specs for their Apollo Lite: SoC – Meaitek Helio X20 (MT6797) deca-core processor with […]

August 31, 2016August 31, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

96Boards Compliant Mediatek X20 Development Board is Now up for Sale for $199

Mediatek Labs and Linaro introduced X20 development board based on 96Boards CE specs, and featuring Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core Cortex A72/A53 processor a couple of months ago. At the time, if you wanted to purchase the board, you’d have to fill a form explaining the details about your project, and the company, Alpha Star, would then decided whether would sell it to you. The good news here is that you don’t need to do any of that anymore, and you can buy the board directly on Seeed Studio for $199, or on Taobao for 1399 RMB. Mediatek X20 development board specifications have not changed much since the first announcement, but the CPU and GPU frequencies have been lowered somewhat, and we have some more details: SoC – Mediatek Helio X20 (MT6797) deca-core processor with two ARM Cortex A72 cores @ 2.1~2.3 GHz, four Cortex A53 @ 1.85 GHz, four Cortex […]