Antik Technology, a Slovakia based company, has developed a Android set-top-box powered by STMicro StiH416 SoC. I wrote about the StiH416 development platform previously, and although it’s just a dual core Cortex A9 SoC, its video capabilities are impressive as it supports multiple simultaneous video decoding streams. The set-top box called Juice Extreme 2 leverages those capabilities with 4 DVB tuners (DVB-T or DVB-S2) that provide four different streams, and transcode them, to all video playback devices around your home such as TV, PC, tablet and smartphones, or record them to an internal SATA drive. JUICE EXTREME 2 key features: SoC – STMicro STiH416 (Orly) dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.2 GHz + ARM Mali 400MP4 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 1 GB Flash + internal SATA connector + SD card slot Video: Quadruple DVB Tunner CVBS/Y Pb Pr (3.5mm jack) Tuner board connector RF IN/OUT […]
MINIX NEO X7 Quad Core Set-top Box Redesigned, Available Soon
When MINIX unveiled their RK3188 based MINIX NEO X7 at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair in April, they showcased a new enclosure design. Many people seemed to dislike the new “Lamborghini” casing, but the company listened to complains, and redesigned it to a more traditional casing, very similar to the one used for NEO X5. The company also disclosed the official specifications. SoC- Quad core Cortex A9 processor with quad core Mali-400 GPU (Rockchip RK3188) System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB NAND Flash + SD/MMC card reader (SD 3.0, MMC V4.41) Connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 / 5GHz) with external antenna 3G support via external USB dongle (not provided) 10/100M Ethernet (Supports hotspot sharing via Wi-Fi) Bluetooth V4.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.4a, full HD 1080p, 3D movie file format supported Audio Output/Input – HDMI 1.4a two channels, optical S/PDIF AC3 multi-channel, headphone and microphone jacks USB – […]
Cloud Media FreeOTT Player Review
Syabas was a company designing set-top boxes such as Popcorn Hour Media Tank that were relatively popular before the Android media player invasion. The company is now called Cloud Media, and they offer a tiny media player called FreeOTT that connects to their Apps Market and bring online video, Internet radio, social media and other streaming media to your television. The device is free (as in free beer), as it’s not actually available for sale to the general public, and the only ways to get it is to have your ISP or telecom provider set it to you, or win one from the regular giveaways organized by the company. I won one via a giveaway announced on their Facebook page, and I had just to pay $5 (via Paypal) for shipping. The company does not provide detailed specifications for their device but we do know it’s a Linux based media […]
JW-11 Android or Linux Media Player Supports Internal 2.5″ Hard Drive
If you’re not simply watching movie streamed from the Internet, one way to store your media files is in a NAS, and another way is to store directly into your media player with an Hard drive. Unless you run a SAMBA or NFS server within your media player, you may lose the ability to access your files from several devices, but by playing directly from the hard drive, you are sure any video will be played smoothly. There are few low cost set-top box that support SATA, and the ones that do, such as Mele A1000 and its successors, simply offer an external SATA connector leaving your hard drive without protection from dust. I’ve just noticed there’s a low cost solution with an internal HDD enclosure thanks to an Android set-top box powered by Amlogic AML8726-M3 called either JW-11 or Slav, and maybe some other names I’ve missed. Here are […]
Kaiboer F4 Rockchip RK3188 Powered Set-top Box with Two External Wi-Fi Antennas
We’ve got a another full-sized Android set-top box featuring Rockchip RK3188 quad core processor, this time with not one, but two external Wi-Fi antennas, as well as the usual 2GB RAM, and Android 4.2 operating system. Here are the specifications of the device: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 up to 1. 8 GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8 to 16GB Flash + 1x SD card Video Output – HDMI, and AV Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with 2 external Wi-Fi antennae USB – Micro USB OTG + 4x (or is it 2x?) USB host ports Power & reset buttons The device should be available within 20 days in China, but the product looks very similar to another Kaiboer STB based on RK3066 and selling for 519 RMB ($84), so it’s unlikely it will […]
Mele M9 Android Set-top Box Powered by AllWinner A31
After Mele A1000G Quad, Mele has just launched another model called M9, still based on AllWinner A31 quad core processor, with an external Wi-Fi antenna, but no SATA support. Mele M9 specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage 16GB NAND Flash SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 Audio I/O – HDMI + S/PDIF optical out + Audio jack output Video Playback – Up to 2160p @ 60 Mbps USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x mini USB 2.0 OTG port Connectivity Ethernet – 10/100Mbps Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n Power Supply – 5V/2A The device runs Android 4.1 with a customized “Windows 8” user interface, and comes with a 5V/2A power adapter, an IR remote control (show below), an HDMI cable, a user’s manual, and a warranty card. The remote above as a […]
iPazzPort SY-20-19VC Android STB is also a Remote Control Charging Dock
iPazzPort SY-20-19VC, aka iPazzPort Pearl, is an Android 4.1.1 set-top box powered by Rockchip RK3066 that comes bundled with with a dual sided RF remote with a QWERTY keyboard, touch pad, and voice support. That’s pretty common these days. The design however, is somewhat original, as once you’re done watching videos or playing games, you can put back the remote into an opening in the set-top box to store it and recharge it, and it may prevent you from losing the remote under the pillows, and the remote will be fully charged most of the time. Here are the specifications of this media player: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 @ 1.6GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB, or is it 16GB?) Connectivity 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi 10/100M Ethernet 3G via external USB 3G dongle Video Output – HDMI 1.4 […]
Rockchip RK3188 Based Giayee TVB103 Android TV STB Features VGA and HDMI Video Output
Although there are now many Rockchip RK3188 mini PCs, full sized quad core Android STB are not so common, especially with VGA output, and Giayee TVB103 is the only quad core media player providing both HDMI and VGA output that I know of. Here are Giayee TVB103 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 ARM Cortex A9 28nm Quad core 1.8GHz CPU + Quad-core GPU Mali400 System Memory – 1 to 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8/16/32GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (up to 64GB) Connectivity: Built-in WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n module supporting dual band (2.4GHz & 5GHz) 10/100 Base-T Ethernet Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Video Output – HDMI, VGA, and AV (Note the latter can’t be seen on any pictures) Audio – L and R Output (RCA), S/PDIF, earphone jack & MIC input USB – 2x USB Host ports, and 1x Mini USB OTG port Dimensions – 155 x 90 […]