xbmc News - Page 2 of 18 - CNX Software

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 48 Comments

Review of CX-S806 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S812 Processor

I’ve already reviewed one Android media player based on Amlogic S812 processor with MINIX NEO X8-H Plus. Today, I’m going to have a look at another S812 TV box, namely CX-S806, with lower specs, and less support, but that sells for half price compared to the MINIX device. I’ve already published pictures of CX-S806 media player and board, so today I’ll focus on testing the performance and features of the device. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The package include a simple IR remote control, so I inserted two AAA batteries to give it a try, and it seemed to work OK, but as usual I switched to use Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse for the rest of the review. Since I’ve connected Ethernet and HDMI cables, a USB hard drive, a USB webcam, and a USB hub with two RF dongles for the air mouse and wireless gamepad, and […]

December 29, 2014December 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

WeTek Play Review with Android 4.2.2 Firmware v1.1.1

I had already reviewed WeTek Play Android DVB-S2 STB this summer, but at the time it was still an early sample, so the company asked me to review it again with the latest firmware that includes bug fixes and new features such as WeCloud Antenna IPTV service with over 180 Live TV channels, now that they’ve officially launched WeTek Play with either a DVB-S2 tuner as in my sample, a DVB-T/T2/C tuner, or no tuner at all. You can find pictures of WeTek Play in my unboxing post. As usual the review will include my first impressions, video testing, and various benchmark, but I’ll also have sections for WeCloud Antenna Live TV over IP service, and WeTek Theater for live TV from my satellite dish. OTA Firmware Update But first of all, I’ll test OTA firmware update, as many companies claim to support OTA updates, but you often end up […]

December 24, 2014December 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Kodi 14.0 Helix Release

XBMC (name) is definitely dead, as developers of the popular open source “entertainment center” project have announced the first stable Kodi release – the new name of XBMC – with XBMC 14.0 Helix. Key changes and new features include: Update to FFmpeg 2.4.4 – Adds H.265 / HEVC and VP9 video codecs support. Software decode only. Library Improvements – Scanning speed greatly improved, better UPnP support including with PlanOn and MediaBrowser servers. New Configuration features – Add-on update controls, choice of virtual keyboard layouts for tablets and remote control users in order to support multiple languages. Android, iOS and Embedded – 4K support for Amlogic S802, more ARM SoCs are now supported in Android, fast forward/rewind improvements. Airplay support fixed, except for Android. Freescale i.MX6 support for Kodi Linux. Windows, OSX, and Linux – Audio playback improvements. DXVA video playback has been improved for Windows too. A critical Kodi Linux […]

December 23, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

VidOn Box Android XBMC TV Box Unboxing

Vidon.me has sent me one of their Vidon Box (without asking). The box features an Allwinner A31s processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, and more. You can check my previous post for Vidon Box specifications. The company is also providing a membership for extra services such as HDMI / SPDIF pass-through, and Blu-ray menu navigation, among others, as you can see from the table below. The item with ** are upcoming features. VidOn Box Features Subscriber Non Subscriber Blu-ray Menu Navigation Y N Access to VidOn XBMC Pro Y N Access to VidOn Media Center Beta* Y Y Access to VidOn XBMC* Y Y Free XBMC Add-ons Y Y Media Library Info Collection Y Y Access Home Sharing Server Y Y 1080p Hardware Acceleration Y Y Blu-ray ISO Playback Y Y 3D Blu-ray Playback Y Y Firmware/Software Update Support Y Y SPDIF/HDMI Passthrough Y N Mobile Transfer** Y N Photo Backup** […]

December 18, 2014December 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 63 Comments

OpenELEC For Amlogic Media Players – MXIII, Tronsmart Vega S89, TV110 and CX-S806 (S812)

XBMC / Kodi is now working pretty well on Android devices, and even automatic frame rate switching is available on some Android platforms such as MINIX NEO X6. But if you want a pure XBMC experience, you may consider XBMC/Kodi Linux distributions such as OpenELEC also providing support for some USB DVB tuner dongles and PVR function, both of which are currently unavailable in Kodi for Android. We’ve also seen OpenELEC released for M8 TV Box, but Kerber, a Russian developer (or at least a Russian speaking developer) has also released OpenELEC 4.97.x for MXIII (Amlogic S802), Tronsmart Vega S89 (Amlogic S802), TV110 (Amlogic S805) , and CX-S806 (Amlogic S812) media players. The forum post is dated on August 2014, but it has been updated on December 12 with more up-to-date images: OpenELEC-Amlogic.MX3.arm-4.97.2.zip for MXIII (1GB) OpenELEC-Amlogic.S82.arm-4.97.2.zip for Tronsmart Vega S89 (2GB) OpenELEC-Amlogic.TV110.arm-4.97.2.zip for TV110 OpenELEC-Amlogic.S806.arm-4.97.2.zip for CX-S806 (Amlogic S812 […]

December 14, 2014April 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

ODROID-XU3 Lite Board Ubuntu Review – Setup, Usability, and Performance

After testing ODROID-XU3 Lite with Android 4.4, and finding a workaround to some HDMI issues, I could finally try out Ubuntu, or rather Lubuntu with LXDE instead of Unity, in Hardkernel low cost octa-core development board. I’ll start this review by explaining how to install and setup Lubuntu on the board, followed by running various program to test the system usability as a desktop computer with LibreOffice, Chromium, XBMC, and 3D graphics, and finally run some performance tests with Phoronix Test Suit, build the Linux kernel natively, and transcode a video with avconf. Setting Up Ubuntu on ODROID-XU3 Lite All firmware images for ODROID development boards, can be found on odroid.in website, and if you want Ubuntu 14.04 image, go to ubuntu_14.04lts folder, to select the latest firmware file for your board. The latest image for ODROID-XU3 (Lite) is currently ubuntu-14.04.1lts-lubuntu-odroid-xu3-20141105.img.xz, it’s the same for micro SD card or eMMC […]

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Hisilicon Hi3798M Quad Core Android TV Box with USB 3.0, and 4K / HEVC Support Sells for $53

I’ve been informed about a quad core Cortex A7 TV box supporting 2160p output, H.265 codec and featuring a USB 3.0 port, that’s currently selling for just $52.99 on Aliexpress including shipping, as well as Ebay for $62 from the same seller. Only “quad core ARM cortex A7” was listed in the specs, and the exact processor was not mentioned, but I could see marketing material about “Q3 quad core” used, and a quick search redirected me to Himedia Q3 Quad Core also powered by an Hisilicon processor, but a different device. So I decided to contact the seller (“Buyforsure”) who quickly replied it was indeed powered by Hisilicon Hi3798M processor. The model is called BFS 4KH on Aliexpress/Ebay, but that name has probably been made up by the seller, so it will also be found under other name. Nevertheless here are the specifications of this low cost 4K TV […]

December 5, 2014February 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 69 Comments

Zidoo X9 Android Media Player Features an HDMI Input Port with PVR & Time Shifting Functions

I’ve recently tested two Android TV boxes with an HDMI input, namely HPH NT-V6 and M-195, and with the firmware they had at the time of review, the HDMI input just acts as a dumb HDMI input port, and there was nothing much I could do with it. Now comes Zidoo X9, another Android TV box powered nby Mstar MSO9810 that also comes with an HDMI input port, but this time, they’ve implemented a PVR function, so if you have a low end satellite, cable, or terrestrial receiver, you can connect it to Zidoo X9 and record programs, which makes it much more useful. Zidoo X9 specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with octa-core ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU Mali-450MP (2 or 4) GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Input – HDMI output […]