Reviews - Page 98 of 127 - CNX Software

January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Review of EzeeCube Media Hub and Private Cloud Server

EzeeCube is a Linux Kodi based media hub powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor that includes a 1 or 2 TB hard drive by default and is expandable with extra 2TB hard drive modules that you simply stack on top of each other to get up to 10TB storage. I had a look at EzeeCube hardware last October, but due to one issue with the Android app that prevents syncing pictures between my phone and the hard drive on the device, one of the key selling point of the system, I decided to postpone the review. EzeeCube developers finally found a workaround in early December, but as I was busy with other tasks and the end of year holidays, I only managed to finally review the device in the last few days. Initial Setup The first thing that you go through after connecting all cables, and powering up the media […]

January 8, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

F68 Smart Watch Review

After No.1 D3 and SMA-Q smartwatches, Makibes F68, or just F68, is my third attempt at reviewing a smartwatch, and on paper it matches all of my main requirements namely always-on display, fitness tracking with heart rate monitor, one week of battery life, and IP67 ingress protection rating to have some waterproofness. I’ve already taken pictures of the device, so today I’ll go through the user interface on the watch, and Android app, and report my experience after using the watch for over 10 days. The watch has an e-Paper display with decent viewing angles, and very good readability during the day, however at night, you’ll need to find the light switch or use a torchlight, as the watch does not have backlight at all, and it’s unreadable. There’s actually no buttons at all and everything is controlled via the touchscreen, and/or the app available for Android or iOS. The […]

January 8, 2016August 10, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 138 Comments

Specs, Unboxing and Teardown of KI Plus Android TV Box with DVB-T2/S2 Combo Tuner

If you’ve been following this blog, you must now that I reviewed K1 Plus Android TV box based on Amlogic S905 processor a little while ago. Videostrong has sent me yet another K1 Plus device, except this time it is an Android receiver with a tuner card supporting both satellite (DVB-S/S2) and terrestrial (DVB-T/T2) reception. Today, I’ll list the specs, take a few pictures of the device, before checking out the tuner board. K1 Plus Android DTV receiver specifications The specifications are exactly the same as the TV box, except for the added tuner: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash (4 to 32GB optional) + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with HDCP 2.2 support, and 3.5mm AV jack […]

January 4, 2016January 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 53 Comments

Faster H.265/HEVC Video Encoding with Nvidia GTX960 GPU and ffmpeg

H.265 promises the same video quality as H.264 when using half the bitrate, so you may have thought about converting your H.264 videos to H.265/HEVC in order to reduce the space used by your videos. However, if you’ve ever tried to transcoding videos with tools such as HandBrake, you’ll know the process can be painfully slow, and a single movie may take several hours even with a machine with a power processor. However, there’s a better and fster solution thanks to hardware accelerated encoding available in some Intel and Nvidia graphics cards. For this purpose, GearBest sent me Maxsun MS-GTX960 graphics card, a second generation Maxwell GPU, that supports H.265 accelerated video encoding and promised up to 500 fps video encoding. So I’ve put the graphics card to the test in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04, and reports some of my findings here. Similar instructions can also be followed in […]

December 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Review and Teardown of Simplelink Self-Powered Power Switch

After I wrote about SimpleLink Batteryless power switch and receiver, the company decided to sent me a kit to try out by myself. So in this review, I’ll checkout the kit, install a demo to show how it works, and finally have a look at the internals. The kit include a power cord with a US plug and a holder and corresponding light bulb that you need to connect to the corresponding red and blue wire of the receiver (white cylinder), and you can control with the green power battery-less switch. Two 3M double face stickers are also included for the receiver and switch, as well as a strap for the switch, a screw set for either the light holder or receiver, and a user’s manual shown below. Installation is pretty self-explanatory, and you just need to connect the blue and red cables to the input (mains) and output (light) […]

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

F68 Sports Smartwatch Unboxing

Makibes F68 is a smartwatch with fitness features (HRM, pedometer…) and smartphone notification support, that is supposed to last around one week on a charge, and certified with an IP67 ingress protection rating. GearBest asked me if I wanted to review that model since SMA-Q watch was a disappointment, and I accepted so I have yet another smartwatch to try out. Today. I’ll take a few pictures of the watch and accessories, better writing a full review in one or two weeks. The package looks quite nice, but one detail is quite revealing: there’s no Makibes brand, nor F68 model name anywhere, and it looks exactly like FlyShark BW410 reported a few days ago by Charbax, so it must be an OEM design that will show up under multiple brand names, not only Makibes. The watch is not fully assembled, and instead the watch face comes with two watch bands, […]

December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

Mini Review of HD23 Android Mini PC with Skype and Google Hangouts

HD23 is an Android TV box based on Allwinner H3 quad core processor that includes a 2.0MP camera and a microphone that should allow you to make and receive video calls. I’ve already taken some pictures of the device, and opened it to have a look at the hardware including the camera and microphone in HD23 unboxing and teardown post, so today I’ll specifically test the device’s camera and mic with Skype and Google Hangouts. HD23 Installation The device is made to connect to the top of your TV, so you’ll probably want to limit the weight on the back of the device, and I only connected the HDMI cable, the RF dongle for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse, and the power supply cable. For the purpose of the review, I also connected a USB keyboard via the USB OTG adapter in order to take screenshots. If you wonder […]

December 28, 2015February 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ugoos AM1 4K Android TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Together with Ugoos UT4 octa-core Android mini PC, Ugoos sent me Ugoos AM1 TV box based on Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor. There are basically two category of products with S905: entry level with 1GB RAM, and 8GB flash, which represents the majority of devices on the market, and mid range with 2GB RAM, 16 GB eMMC flash, 802.11ac WiFi and Gigabit Ethernet with devices such as MINIX NEO U1 or Tronsmart Vega S95 Telos. Ugoos AM1 is part of the second category so it will be interesting to compare its performance to the other two. But in the meantime, I’ve taken some pictures of the media player and its board to find out more about the hardware design. Ugoos AM1 Unboxing Pictures and Video All new Ugoos devices look alike, and even the retail package follows the same theme across their new devices. I got a blue […]