Android set top boxes
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 4:00 pm
Does anybody have any experience of Android set top boxes running TV / audio apps?
The Joggler was the device that introduced me to XBMC (thanks BuZz) and I bought an Apple TV 2 specifically to jailbreak and run XBMC on. With iPlayer, iTVPlayer, 4oD, Demand 5 - and the fantastic TVCatchup addon showing what XBMC is capable of with official dev support - I couldn't be happier. Especially now it has Netflix too. Sadly though, it is getting harder to obtain the easily hackable ATV2, now that the ATV3 is out. The new iteration of Apple's 'hockey puck' is proving a harder nut to crack and it may be some time before XBMC appears on the new model. If ever.
The good news is that XBMC devs have announced that an Android version of full XBMC (not an XBMC remote app) will be released shortly - after it has been tested for compatibility with various 'droid devices. This means that it will be available officially on Android, no jailbreak necessary. It also means that it will soon be available on cheap Android set top boxes. It has been sponsored by Pivos to run on their XIOS DS box, which runs Gingerbread 2.3, but will run on other Android hardware.
It would be great if the average Joe or Jane could buy a STB and install XBMC officially, along with hundreds of other Android apps, without resorting to telnet/SSH or jailbreaks that could be disabled with a firmware update. It could push XBMC into the mainstream and could possibly kill off the Apple TV, which has very few official apps and needs a jailbreak to be useful. These Android boxes are also £30 (or more) cheaper than the Apple TV.
Now the only question that remains is - are these Android STBs any good? Does anybody on the forum have any experience with them?
The Joggler was the device that introduced me to XBMC (thanks BuZz) and I bought an Apple TV 2 specifically to jailbreak and run XBMC on. With iPlayer, iTVPlayer, 4oD, Demand 5 - and the fantastic TVCatchup addon showing what XBMC is capable of with official dev support - I couldn't be happier. Especially now it has Netflix too. Sadly though, it is getting harder to obtain the easily hackable ATV2, now that the ATV3 is out. The new iteration of Apple's 'hockey puck' is proving a harder nut to crack and it may be some time before XBMC appears on the new model. If ever.
The good news is that XBMC devs have announced that an Android version of full XBMC (not an XBMC remote app) will be released shortly - after it has been tested for compatibility with various 'droid devices. This means that it will be available officially on Android, no jailbreak necessary. It also means that it will soon be available on cheap Android set top boxes. It has been sponsored by Pivos to run on their XIOS DS box, which runs Gingerbread 2.3, but will run on other Android hardware.
It would be great if the average Joe or Jane could buy a STB and install XBMC officially, along with hundreds of other Android apps, without resorting to telnet/SSH or jailbreaks that could be disabled with a firmware update. It could push XBMC into the mainstream and could possibly kill off the Apple TV, which has very few official apps and needs a jailbreak to be useful. These Android boxes are also £30 (or more) cheaper than the Apple TV.
Now the only question that remains is - are these Android STBs any good? Does anybody on the forum have any experience with them?
