stb News - Page 22 of 33 - CNX Software

June 3, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

$60 MK805 II Android STB Features AllWinner A20 SoC, HDMI and AV Outputs

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote about MINI X (aka MINI XPlus H24, or MK805), an Android 2.3 media player powered by AllWinner A10 with 4GB flash and 512MB Flash, and it sold for $77.50. Today, I’ve come across an updated version, called MK805 II or MINI XPlus H34, with AllWinner A20 dual core SoC, 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, and running Android 4.2.2. Here are the specifications of the device: SoC- AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2GHz + Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity – Built-in WiFi 802.11b/g/n, and firmware is said to support external USB Ethernet and 3G dongles. Video Output – HDMI 1.3 (1080p) + AV Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, HD AVC, VC-1, Divx, Xvid, RealVideo8/9/10, VP6 Video Container Formats – MKV, TS, TP, M2TS, RM/RMVB, AVI, MPG, VOB, […]

June 3, 2013June 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 72 Comments

G-Box Midnight MX2 Giveaway

I reviewed Matricom G-Box Midnight MX2 Android set-top box about a month ago, and I was pretty happy with the device with regards to performance, stability, and XBMC support. During my initial review, Wi-Fi was really excellent, the best, by far, I had seen in the dozen of devices I had tested, although an upgrade to my router firmware somehow changed that. This is also one the rare device that will support OTA firmware update. There were still some problems in the firmware I tested: some videos could not play, composite output did not work…, but overall I find it’s a pretty good device. The company also seems committed to fix issues, as they even have a public bug tracking system for the MX2. If you plan to use Android app, and not only XBMC, the IR remote provided may not be the ideal input device, and you’ll probably need […]

June 2, 2013June 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 51 Comments

$96 Kingnovel K-R42-1 (MK888) Android Set-top Box Powered by RK3188 Processor

I’ve now got several RK3188 mini PCs, but I hadn’t found full sized set-top boxes based on Rockchip RK3188 quad core processor with Ethernet, and multiple USB ports. Thanks to a post in mini PC G+ community, we have now a nice looking quad core STB called K-R42-1 by Kingnovel, which might be the manufacturer design house behind the device, and sold for $96 including shipping in one Aliexpress store under the model name MK888. K-R42-1 / MK888 Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad Cortex-A9 CPU @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU @ 500 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 8GB Nand Flash + MicroSD slot (Up to 32GB) Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with external antenna Bluetooth EDR 2.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.3 + AV output jack Audio Output – HDMI + S/PDIF Video Codecs (Decode) – MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264 (up […]

May 29, 2013May 29, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

XBMC Linux Coming to AMLogic AML8726-MX Based Media Players

XBMC now works pretty well on several Android set-top boxes, but if XBMC is the only application you’re going to run on your device, you may prefer running XBMC in Linux to gain a bit in terms of performance. The only catch is that it’s not available yet, but J1nx posted a teaser video showing XBMC running in Geniatech ATV1200 set-top box. The demo above outputs at 720p, hardware video decoding appears to be working, the user interface is rendered at 30fps with a video played in the background, and CPU usage is about 10 to 20%. Under the hood, the box is running Linux 3.0.50, with Linaro 2013.02 armhf rootfs and BusyBox 1.21. An image is not available yet, and there’s no ETA. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily […]

May 22, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

Wi-Fi Performance Comparison for Android Media Players and HDMI Sticks

If you’re mainly using your Android mini PC or STB to stream videos over the web or your local network, Wi-Fi performance is actually more important than CPU performance, and I’ve recently had quite a few issues with Wi-Fi with both T428 (RK3188 / Broadcom Wi-Fi module) and CS868 (AllWinner A31 / Realtek Wi-Fi module), which were only fixed after upgrading my router firmware. So I’ve decided to re-test most of the mini PCs I own with the upgraded router firmware, and the number are highly confusing, and I found out there’s probably be no easy to way to estimate the overall Wi-Fi performance of any device, and it’s most probably highly dependent on the router used, and its firmware version. My router is TP-LINK WR940N, a 300 Mbps Wireless N router with three antennas. Since I bought it, I had never upgraded the firmware (3.9.18 Build 100104 Rel.36350n) from […]

May 17, 2013May 17, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

New Tronmart Prometheus Firmware Fixes XBMC Audio/Video Sync, Adds DLNA and Smartphone Control App

A new firmware is now available for Tronsmart Prometheus with the following key changes: New Android 4.2 XBMC audio/video sync bug fix DLNA support Smartphone control function Internal storage for apps increased to 2GB In order to use the smartphone control function, you need to download and install RC_Client.apk into your Android smartphone or tablet, and run this app to control your Prometheus. I haven’t tried myself, and they did not provide detail, so I don’t know whether functionalities are similar to DroidMote. To update your device if It’s already running the previous Android 4.2 beta firmware: Download and extract Tronsmart Prometheus new stock firmware.zip. It would be really nice if they could just provide version numbers for firmware releases. Open the download folder, copy the 5 files in the root folder of an SD card, and insert it into your device. Use a paper clip to press and hold […]

May 10, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Jesurun A19 and Mele M5 Android STBs Powered by AllWinner A20

After Cloudsto A20 Media PC, and GV-17, we’ve now got more choices for AllWinner A20 based Android set-top boxes with Jesurun A19 and Mele M5, both featuring 1GB RAM, and running Android 4.2, with the former fitted with 4GB NAND flash and the latter 8GB. Those are ones of the few devices featuring SATA support, and optical SPDIF. Jerusun A19 also comes with VGA output. Jesurun A19 Specifications: SoC – Allwinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 up to 1.2 GHz + Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + SD card slot (up to 128GB) + SATA interface Video Output – HDMI up to 3840 X 2160 (UHD), VGA and AV Video Decoding – Up to 1080P@60fps Audio Output – HDMI + SPDIF (Optical) Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n USB – 4x USB ports IR sensor Power Adapter – 5V/2A Weight […]

May 9, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

AllWinner A31 Mele Media Player Pictures, Screenshots and Antutu Benchmark

Mele A1000G Quad is an Android set-top box featuring AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash. You can check the full specifications in my previous post. Eddy Lab got hold of an engineering sample with a similar model but without SATA that looks like A3700 [Update: Model name is apparently G39A04], and he, or they, took a few pictures, and tested the device (Link in Korean). I’ll re-post some of their unboxing pictures, and share some of their screenshots and benchmarks in this post. The device comes with a 5V/2.4A power adapter, an HDMI cable, and an IR remote. The device features an Audio out jack, a micro USB socket, a power jack, and HDMI connector, an RJ45 Ethernet connectors, 3x USB host ports, SPDIF output (Optical), and an SD card slot. It’s very similar to the original Mele A1000 except VGA and AV […]