zidoo News - Page 2 of 9 - CNX Software

December 26, 2019April 28, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Zidoo M9 Mini PC Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

Over the years, Zidoo has made TV boxes for the consumer market, and digital signage players for businesses. The recently announced Zidoo M9 aims at both markets, plus other applications such as IoT, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Zidoo M9 is either sold as a board or a complete TV box reference design with a case, as it exposes all the usual ports of a TV with HDMI, USB, and Ethernet. But you can do more with internal connectors for cameras, PCIe interfaces, SIM card slot, MPI DSI and eDP connectors, and so on. The company has sent me a review sample, so let’s first check out the accessories provided with the box, and have a look into the hardware design today, before testing the Android firmware in the second part of the review. Zidoo M9 Unboxing The package makes it clear Zidoo M9 “mini PC” looks like a TV box, […]

November 22, 2019November 23, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Zidoo M9 is a Rockchip RK3399 TV Box/Mini PC/SBC with Android 7.1 + SDK

Zidoo has launched several TV boxes running Android over the years, some of which we reviewed such as Zidoo X9 (2015), or Zidoo H6 Pro. They also have experience launched dual-OS systems with Android and OpenWrt running simultaneously for multimedia and router functions respectively through their Zidoo X9S media center. The company has now contacted CNX Software to review their latest model. Zidoo M9 is a higher-end Rockchip RK3399 powered Android 7.1 TV box or mini PC, and Zidoo will also sell it as a single board computer for custom projects in the field of robotics, automotive control, artificial intelligence and more. Zidoo M9 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores. and a Mali-T860MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, and Directx11 System Memory – Dual-channel 4GB DDR (2GB is optional) Storage – 32GB eMMC5.1 flash (8GB/16GB/64G/128G […]

September 14, 2018October 8, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ZIDOO Z9S / Z10 RTD1296 Android + OpenWrt Media Boxes Coming in October

Zidoo introduced their first Realtek RTD1296 media players earlier this year with Zidoo X20 / X20 Pro models, but with prices starting at almost $500 those are not for everyone. The company will soon launch cheaper and more compact models with ZIDOO Z9S and Z10, which are updated of RTD1295 models Zidoo X9S and X10 launched in previous years. Zidoo Z9S / Z10 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296DD quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Zidoo Z9S only – 2x SATA 3.0 external interfaces Zidoo Z10 only – 1x SATA 3.0 bay for 3.5″ drives Video I/O HDMI 2.0a output up to 4K @ 60 Hz, HDR10 support HDMI 2.0 input with HDCP 2.2 input (recording and streaming up to 1080p @ 60 Hz) Zidoo Z9S only – 3.5mm AV output […]

June 11, 2018June 11, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Zidoo X20 High-End 4K Media Player Launched for $486 and Up

Unveiled last January, Zidoo X20 Pro is a high-end Android + Linux (OpenWrt) media player powered by Realtek RTD1296 media processor, and equipped with three HDMI ports, two SATA bays, ES9038 professional DAC, and more. The only thing is that it was not available just yet, but Zidoo X20 Pro, or more exactly its little brother Zidoo X20, has now started to show up on Aliexpress and Futeko for $486 and up. Zidoo X20 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR4 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash, 2x SATA 3.0 bays for 2.5 or 3.5″ drives Video 1x HDMI 2.0a output up to 4K @ 60 Hz 1x HDMI 1.4 output up to 4K @ 30 Hz 1x HDMI 2.0 input supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite output Decode – HDR10, 10-bit […]

January 17, 2018January 17, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ZidooLab OPS Android Digital Signage Players are Powered by Rockchip RK3368 or Realtek RTD1295 SoC

Zidoo is known for their Arm based Android TV boxes targeting the consumer market, but the company also runs ZidooLab for the B2B market, and especially digital signage application, which may explain why they release a digital signage SDK a while ago. The company can customize hardware and software for their customer’s needs, but what caught my intention is that they have Arm based digital signage players that comply with OPS (Open Pluggable Specification) that was first released by Intel in 2010, and defines electrical, mechanical and thermal specifications of OPS compliant devices which are meant to be plugged into compliant monitors. ZidooLab has currently two Android OPS hosts: A1 & A2 that share most of the same specifications, except for the processor, and some I/Os: SoC A1 – Rockchip RK3368 octa-core Cortex A53 processor up to 1.5 GHz, PowerVR G6110 GPU A2 – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 […]

January 12, 2018January 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Zidoo Unveils Poster Wall 2.0 App, High-end Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Coming Soon

Zidoo has some news for their Realtek RTD1295/RTD1296 powered devices such as Zidoo X8, X9S, or X10. First, the company will soon release a firmware update that includes Poster Wall 2.0, an app that display movie posters and information in a concise and eye-pleasing way. The company is also working on a higher-end player called Zidoo X20 Pro powered by RTD1296 expected to launch in a few weeks, once beta testing is complete, and firmware looks stable enough. Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Zidoo X20 Pro specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 2x SATA 3.0 bays for 2.5 or 3.5″ drives Video 2x HDMI 2.0a output ports with HDCP 2.2, 4K 60 Hz 1x HDMI 2.0 input with HDCP 2.2 supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite […]

December 26, 2017June 26, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

What’s the Best Android TV Box (2017/2018 Edition)?

Since I was often asked which TV box to buy, I wrote a guide entitled “What’s the best Android TV box?” in April 2016. Time has passed, new products have launched, I tested more devices, and got further reader feedback, so it’s time for an update. There’s still no device that rules them all, and since everybody has different requirements and price points, what could the best Android TV box ever to one person, maybe be a piece of junk to another. Before purchasing a TV box, you should consider what you plan to do with it, and find the device with matches your needs and budget. So first, I’ll provide a list of things to look for – beside the SoC/RAM selection – before selecting three TV boxes that stand out (in no particular order), as well as alternatives worth looking at. Things to Look for The list is […]

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Sub $20 TV Box, and 14% Discount on TV Boxes and Mini PCs (Promo)

Black Friday is over, but companies still offer discounts for Cyber Monday, and GearBest has some specific deals for TV boxes and mini PCs. If you are after the cheapest TV box model around, Sunvell T95D based on Rockchip RK3229 with 1GB RAM and 8GB RAM is sold for $18.99 with coupon Bfriday303. But they also have other models sold at a discount: Zidoo X10 Media Center based on Realtek RTD1295 with 2GB/16GB configuration, HDMI input, and 3.5″ SATA bay – $164.99 shipped with coupon Bfriday289 Mecool M8S PRO W TV Box (S905W / 2GB / 16GB) – $25.99 shipped with coupon Bfriday284 Xiaomi Mi Box (International) – $66.99 shipped You can also use GBTBMP coupon on any TV box or (Intel) mini PC to get a 14% discount on any model, but bear in mind this is limited to China warehouse, and if the product is already discounted, the […]