Android Set-top Boxes With Digital Satellite TV Receiver (DVB-S2)

There are now plenty of Android set-top boxes or HDMI TV sticks, but if you want to watch digital satellite or terrestrial TV, the options are limited. If you already have a satellite receiver at home, you could buy an Android set-top box with an HDMI input such as Huawei MediaQ M310, or use a DVB-S2 USB adapter, but you may need to acquire both the kernel source and DVB driver to compile it for your device. So for now, the last option is currently reserved for ODM/OEM as mentioned on Geniatech store. But today, I’m going to write about an Android set-top boxes that comes with a satellite receiver (DVB-S2). They are all based on AMLogic AML8726-M1/M3, and models include: Geniatech ATV1100B Hybrid DVB Box – Multiple standards STV-502 – DVB-S2 Monolithelec MINGLE – DVB-S2 Geniatech ATV1100B Key Features: SoC – AmLogic AML8726-M1 ARM Cortex A9 @ 800MHz System […]

MINIX To Launch Four New NEO Set-Top Boxes: X5+, X5 Mini, X3 & X7

MINIX is a company relatively well know for its Neo G4 mini PC and Neo X5 Android set-top box based on Rockchip RK3066. They’ve now announced 4 new devices for HKTDC Electronic Fair in Hong Kong: Neo X5+ – RK3066 Set-top box based on Neo X5, but with 2GB RAM instead of 1GB RAM. Neo X5 Mini – Low cost version of the Neo X5 with 8GB NAND Flash instead of 16GB, and missing Bluetooth support. Neo X3 – Android 4.1/4.2 Set-top box powered by AMLogic AML8726-M3 with 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. No word about Ethernet support. Neo X7 – Android Media Player based on Rockchip RK3188 with 2GB RAM, 16 GB RAM, HDMI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth support. The full specifications are not available yet, but the design of the box is nice, although it might not be to the taste of everybody, and I […]

WonderMedia Announces 7″ and 10.1″ Reference Tablets Powered by WM8980 SoC

WonerMedia has unveiled 2 turnkey tablet solutions for manufacturers powered by their WM8980 SoC combining a dual Cortex A9 processor, and an ARM Mali 400MP2 GPU. One design is based on a 10.1″ display, and the other on a 7″ display. The key features of WonderMedia tablet reference designs are as follows: Up to 1.4GHz WM8980 ARM Cortex- A9 Dual-Core processor ARM Mali-400 Dual-Processor GPU Up to 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB NAND Flash Thin design of only 4.5mm on top edge and 3mm on side edge Weight –  650g for 10.1” and 370g for 7” designs Support for up to 8M rear camera and 2M front camera WiFi and 3G cellular networks support I/O – 1x Mini HDMI port, 1x Micro SD port (up to 32GB), 1x USB and Micro-USB OTG port, and 1x 3.5mm stereo headphone jack Battery – Up to 8000mAh battery for 10.1″ and up to […]

Mele A1000G Quad Set-Top Box Features AllWinner A31 SoC

Mele A1000 Android set-top box based on AllWinner A10 is one the best platform to play with Linux on ARM, thanks to its low cost, numerous features, hackability, and the work of the developers’ community on arm-netbook mailing list, and now in sunxi-linux. I like it so much it’s the first item in my short list of hackable gadgets. However, the hardware specifications of the original Mele A1000 may be too weak for some of today’s applications. So I’m pleased the announce that Mele A1000G Quad is now available (for pre-order) with AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 SoC, 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash. Here are the specifications for Mele A1000 Quad STB: SoC – AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage 8GB Flash SD card slot SATA connector (most probably via a USB to SATA chipset) Video […]

Open Source Time Machine #2 – Build A Complete Watch Yourself

There are already some watches such as Texas Instruments ez430-Crhonos and MetaWatch that are used as development platform and let you develop software yourself. Some hardware documentation is usually provided as well, but Energy Micro forums’ member hairykiwi is trying to go a bit further. He created a watch based on EFM32 Cortex M3 MCU and already released the KiCad schematics and gerber files, with 3D printer files and firmware source code to be released once they are ready. The project is called “Open source Time Machine #2” (OTM2). The project makes use of the following components and features: EFM32LG332F256 – Energy Micro Cortex M3 Leopard Gecko MCU with 256KB flash and 32KB SRAM A 128×128 pixel (23.2 x23.2mm visible area) ultra low power Memory LCD from Sharp Microelectronics, Recharge and programming via Micro USB connector. JTAG programming is also available. 150mAh Li-Po Battery + on-board battery fuel gauge IC. […]

Kontron Unveils SMARC Starterkit for ARM Systems-on-Module

You may have previously heard about ULP-COM (Ultra Low Power CoM), a standard for systems and computers on module. The standard has been ratified by the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies (SGET) in February 2013, and renamed to SMARC (Smart Mobility ARChitecture). This standard is specifically designed for low power designed, and is currently only used with ARM SoC. Kontron was involved in the design of this standard, released several ULP-COM, now SMARC, compatible CoM based on TI, Freescale and Nvidia SoC, and yesterday the company just announced SMARC Starterkit will all hardware and software components needed to get started with evaluation and development. This starter kit comes in a carrying case with the following items: SMARC Evaluation Carrier Board 7″ Display PM070W4 (WVGA – 800×480) Touch USB Kit ETP04USBR Mounting Kit Adapter and Cables: 1x Kontron LVDS Jili30 Adapter incl. cable 1x DSUB9 1x micro USB USB A Storage […]

$55 AX-14 DLNA, WiDi & Miracast Dongle Works with Android / iOS Devices, and Windows 7/8 PC

Miracast is a new standard allowing you to play videos or mirror your Android device display on a TV via Wi-Fi direct. All you need is a Wi-Fi device that can be connected to the HDMI and USB (for power) ports of your TV, and decode common video codecs. There are not many devices available on the market, but I’ve just found out about AX-14, a Wi-Di and Miracast HDMI adapter that lets you connect your Windows 7 or 8 to your TV via Wi-Di, or your Android / iOS via Miracast. The device also supports DLNA. The hardware specs are said to be as follows: Processor – MIPS24Kc processor (RTD1185PA) @ 500MHz System Memory – 256 MB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video and Audio engine with HW acceleration Video Codecs & Formats – MPEG-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 SP/ASP( Xvid), MPEG-4 AVC(H.264), AVS, VP6, Motion JPEG, H.263 , H.264, […]

CloudnetGo CR9 RK3188 mini PC Review

The folks at AndroidPC.es have received a preliminary sample of CloudnetGo CR9 HDMI TV dongle powered by Rockchrip RK3188 quad core processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB flash, and posted an unboxing video and a review of the device. That’s the first review of a RK3188 mini PC I’ve ever seen. It’s in Spanish, so let’s provide a summary of their findings in English. Please note that it’s an early sample, so minor hardware changes may occur, and Android 4.1 will be upgraded to 4.2 once it ships later this month. CloudnetGO CR9 Unboxing The package contains the device itself, a 5V/2Apower supply, an extra short HDMI cable, a micro USB to USB cable, a micro USB to USB adapter and a user manual. If you prefer unboxing videos, they uploaded one with background music, no commentary. First Boot and First Impressions Let’s connect the device to the TV HDMI […]

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