Database Users

[Q] Ouya or GBox Midnight MX2?

OUYA Console by Ouya
Permalink: http://amzn.com/B0050SZD18
VS
G-Box Midnight MX2 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Dual Core XBMC Streaming Mini HTPC TV Box Player by Matricom
Permalink: http://amzn.com/B00CH643A8
Which one should I go for guys, especially in terms of hardware. Tegra 3 vs A9+Mali400, apparently both have no issues with XBMC or 1080P playback. I do not plan to use either for games, mostly media and music and dowload box. If it doesn't matter, I might go for the MX2 as there are more connectivity options there.

I think that, in terms of brute force, Tegra 3 overhelms A9+Mali400. OUYA bears the last Tegra3 revision and, theoretically, NVIDIA works with OUYA Team to boost it up.
If you buy OUYA, you gain a Bluetooth controller for the same prize which can be used as remote.
At, the end, nobody knows if OUYA nor G-Box thing will have support from the scene, which, for me, is a key value.

I'd say if you're not interested in gaming, I'd go with the G-box. The ouya is marketed as a game console, and while they may add support for some media features in the future, for right now we're busting our tails trying to get better compatibility with the play store apps. the G-box is designed as a media player, and it already supports XBMC with some great reviews. It also includes the play store, so you can easily download the latest versions of netflix, hulu, etc.

Cool, I think that settles it for me, I wasn't aware that the regular playstore apps wouldn't work on the ouya. I will get an MX2 and post a review soon. Also it helps that I can connect a few spare portable hard drives and use this as a streaming box to other TVs in the house.

Didn't mean to mislead, because some play store apps will work. However, a lot don't, or are glitchy or crash occasionally, and they all have to be sideloaded because there is no play store access at all yet...

The gbox is pretty good. I have had it for a few days now and use my Logitech keyboard that also has a touch pad. It works great. Honestly, I would probably hate it if I didn't have the keyboard. The play store works perfectly. I haven't had a problem installing any apps. It is fully rooted. There has been a few times when it has restarted but it is android, it isn't perfect. Especially for 100 bucks. External hard drive works great but sometimes loses power. I don't think the gbox puts off enough juice. A powered hub would fix this issue. I wish there was development for the gbox but metronix or however you spell it won't release source.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

ouya vs mx2
plasmafire said:
OUYA Console by Ouya
Permalink: http://amzn.com/B0050SZD18
VS
G-Box Midnight MX2 Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Dual Core XBMC Streaming Mini HTPC TV Box Player by Matricom
Permalink: http://amzn.com/B00CH643A8
Which one should I go for guys, especially in terms of hardware. Tegra 3 vs A9+Mali400, apparently both have no issues with XBMC or 1080P playback. I do not plan to use either for games, mostly media and music and dowload box. If it doesn't matter, I might go for the MX2 as there are more connectivity options there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well i have the G-Box MX2 i love it but it died on me. Wont boot up, stuck on the Matricom Screen. I love all the usb it has, was even able to use my Logitech Revue K700 Kb and add a 2TB WD Passport to it with an SDcard. But i think it needs a Quadcore to be a lil more fluid for video. I will return it to get the ouya. Dont like the fact that the Ouya has only one USB port but you cant have everything i guess. i hope the Ouya gets the same XBMC support as the G-box. Only had it for 17 days died on day 14 . Tried the reset option but that didnt work. Maybe it was my box. But when it worked it was awsome.

I'm actually going to be doing a review on the MX2 today and uploading it tonight, I'll be comparing it's gaming features to the Ouya and stuff.
Spoiler alert, the Ouya is way ****ing better.
EDIT: Vid's up, see the Ouya destroy the MX2 for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miTst6QE-34

Interesting topic. I was also looking at the Gbox before I pre-ordered the Ouya. I think the Tegra 3 on the Ouya would do a better job on graphics than the dual core Gbox Midnight. It's not just processor speed and number of cores, but also graphics processor. Plus, the bluetooth on the Ouya means one less USB dongle to plug in.
I went with the Ouya, hoping the hard working people on XDA will get a pure Android ROM for the Ouya soon. If I'm stuck with the Ouya's Android skin, it'd probably be an even split which way I'd go.

I saw the "XIOS DS Media Play" and considered it against the Ouya. I think these box with out of the box rooted + Play Store compatibility is better for the majority, especially non-geeks who don't want to fiddle flashing/etc. Not having PlayStore is still a big flaw for the Ouya in term of satisfying a wider audience imo.
For me the Ouya is the clear choice, it have a dedicated XDA forum section for a reason, it will get more community development and for sure the Ouya will likely get CyanogenMod and other roms, while its less likely with these other Android boxes.
For hardware performance the Tegra3 will be faster than these dual core 1.5GHz A9 with Mali-400 gpu.
If you are looking for a lot of gaming then the Ouya is the way to go, otherwise get one of these Cortex A9 boxes if you only need video playback. There will be some of these boxes that will exceed the Ouya in term of performance in no time, but the Ouya have XDA community that's the key for me. This is the case for all Android devices that I buy.

Went for the gbox for now as a no hassle xbmc box. What you mentioned is absolutely right that the ouya will overtake all these boxes as soon as a rom gets out. I will just wait for that to happen and maybe a tegra 4 device will happen too by then.
Thanks for all the insight guys.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Axelben said:
Well i have the G-Box MX2 i love it but it died on me. Wont boot up, stuck on the Matricom Screen. I love all the usb it has, was even able to use my Logitech Revue K700 Kb and add a 2TB WD Passport to it with an SDcard. But i think it needs a Quadcore to be a lil more fluid for video. I will return it to get the ouya. Dont like the fact that the Ouya has only one USB port but you cant have everything i guess. i hope the Ouya gets the same XBMC support as the G-box. Only had it for 17 days died on day 14 . Tried the reset option but that didnt work. Maybe it was my box. But when it worked it was awsome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just ordered the Gbox MX 2 and have a Logitech Revue KB - how do I get the two to talk?

plasmafire said:
Went for the gbox for now as a no hassle xbmc box. What you mentioned is absolutely right that the ouya will overtake all these boxes as soon as a rom gets out. I will just wait for that to happen and maybe a tegra 4 device will happen too by then.
Thanks for all the insight guys.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting direct comparison between Ouya and the G-box Midnight MX2.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R35SEI3ONB5SCK/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R35SEI3ONB5SCK
It didn't make the Midnight look very good. The Ouya emulator games seem to work really well in the video. The Midnight had issues with games and 1080P videos, and the emulator games on the Midnight ran slow. The reviewer also couldn't get bluetooth adapters to work, so could use a PS2 wireless controller. Granted, this is just one person's attempt to use the Midnight box, maybe other people have overcome these issues with some setting changes.

Yep the guy is playing games and using plex..both of which the mx2 doesn't do well. I am just going to have it boot into xbmc launcher. Run utorrent with rss feeds from showrss in the background. And maybe run droidnas on it. I have seen logitech mini keyboards work so that is what I'll get.

coachclass said:
This is an interesting direct comparison between Ouya and the G-box Midnight MX2.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R35SEI3ONB5SCK/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R35SEI3ONB5SCK
It didn't make the Midnight look very good. The Ouya emulator games seem to work really well in the video. The Midnight had issues with games and 1080P videos, and the emulator games on the Midnight ran slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, I keep getting torn one way or the other every day when I see a review that is posted.
My primary use for either device will not be for games at all. 100% streaming media playback from either my local nas or sites like youtube, amazon vod, etc...
I also won't be using Plex and instead be going with XBMC.
As for Plex... the above video review showed some really bad stuttering while playing 1080p video. On Android, is Plex using its own decoder for playback or does it offload it to MX Player? I ask because when streaming any of my local 1080i content (wirelessly) to my Xoom tablet, it plays back in MX Player flawlessly.
So is the MX2 video stuttering in the video review a fault of the hardware or Plex software?

SamsungBlue said:
Just ordered the Gbox MX 2 and have a Logitech Revue KB - how do I get the two to talk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can use the Revue KB. Just buy the Unity USB. You will be able to use it anywhere.

mkhopper said:
Yea, I keep getting torn one way or the other every day when I see a review that is posted.
My primary use for either device will not be for games at all. 100% streaming media playback from either my local nas or sites like youtube, amazon vod, etc...
I also won't be using Plex and instead be going with XBMC.
As for Plex... the above video review showed some really bad stuttering while playing 1080p video. On Android, is Plex using its own decoder for playback or does it offload it to MX Player? I ask because when streaming any of my local 1080i content (wirelessly) to my Xoom tablet, it plays back in MX Player flawlessly.
So is the MX2 video stuttering in the video review a fault of the hardware or Plex software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was my video. The settings I was using in Plex on both devices was to use the hardware to decode and playback the videos. The MX2's hardware just simply isnt nearly good enough to rely on for high resolution video playback, and on top of that there's some really annoying kinks with it like no bluetooth support at all and a very fussy keyboard input system that really sucks compared to stock android and what the Ouya uses.There's also a higher res version of the review on youtube, I linked to it on the first page of this thread towards the bottom.

Just got my MX2 today. I was quite apprehensive after reading some of the comments, but I must say that after using it for a while.. it is exactly what I needed. I am not saying it is better than ouya, but I have XBMC setup with all my local media and video plugins. It works like a charm. I will not play any games on it so I don't really care about the gaming performance.
All programs installed from Play store work
Full 1080p videos play no issues on xbmc.
Torrents are download via showrss to my xbmc monitored directory.
USB hard drive 1TB western digital is powered via the usb ports and shared via droid nas
Quick video 1080p: http://youtu.be/vQ6FvGtKbEw

mkhopper said:
Yea, I keep getting torn one way or the other every day when I see a review that is posted.
My primary use for either device will not be for games at all. 100% streaming media playback from either my local nas or sites like youtube, amazon vod, etc...
I also won't be using Plex and instead be going with XBMC.
As for Plex... the above video review showed some really bad stuttering while playing 1080p video. On Android, is Plex using its own decoder for playback or does it offload it to MX Player? I ask because when streaming any of my local 1080i content (wirelessly) to my Xoom tablet, it plays back in MX Player flawlessly.
So is the MX2 video stuttering in the video review a fault of the hardware or Plex software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not sure if plex has the issue xbmc for ouya has at the moment but after the new firmware update last week most of my videos have stuttering seems like a framerate issue I reported it to ouya and they got back to me saying they are aware of the issue and are working on it. Before that update my videos were playing smooth.

plasmafire said:
Yes you can use the Revue KB. Just buy the Unity USB. You will be able to use it anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. There seems to be quite a few "Unity" USB recovers from Logitech. I couldn't find one that listed the Revue KB as a compatible device. Would any of those Unity receivers that work with other Logitech KBs or mice work? Seems like there are several in the $10-15 range. I appreciate your help.

Android tv box strictly for XBMC

Hello everyone,
I want to buy an android TV box and am planning to use it strictly for XBMC.
I have been reading quite a lot on these devices over the past weeks, but I would still like to get some advice.
The CS968 seems like a nice solution, but I think it does not support hardware acceleration at the moment (RK chipset).
Is it better to take a quad core without h/a to run xbmc or a dual core with supported h/a.
Which one would you recommend me? 720p streaming, maybe 1080 in the future and I just want a smooth XBMC experience and a good wifi signal offcourse.

This is the 1.000.000 USD question, which one to buy for media streaming and use of XBMC.
This is mostly due to 2 things, first is that these boxes are still not 1080p approved (you will need to experiment with several kernels that claim to have this output), and second is related to their power. They cannot play 1080p content, not even 720p content without the H/W acceleration.
What does this mean in practice? Well first is that even if you have a flawless version of Android (stable and 1080p content on it), you still need XBMC (in this case) to be able to H/W decode the content, or else you are unable to use it properly for any HD content.
The good news is that XBMC is about to release a stable version with the promised H/W acceleration, however its not out yet.
Now for the options: If you want good streaming, you need a reliable network connection, and unless your router is just next to the Android TV stick, you'll need a wired connection. This is not normally a problem, just be sure to get a true 100Mbit USB adapter (if it is not already built in), as some of them are only 10Mbit which is a bit slow for HD.
I myself bought a Tronsmart T428, as it has both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz wifi module. However the available ROM's are not that many and I still can't use it as a daily driver for my media needs.
Another thing that you might consider is how to control it. A good remote will make or break the deal, as it's not easy to navigate android without the touch input. I sometimes us a mouse and keyboard (and it works quite well), but for HTPC purposes it's not the best. I also have a Mele F10 which is not bad, but the new version is well worth the extra (Mele F10 pro).
Good luck with your quest. If I were you I would wait a little bit until the new XBMC stable version gets out (12.3) and then see what others are using.
Hope it was helpful.

Lewy20041 is doing great work on these relatively cheap devices.
Take a look at the link below and if you haven't already head over to the FreakTab forums.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2494284

rayill said:
Hello everyone,
I want to buy an android TV box and am planning to use it strictly for XBMC.
I have been reading quite a lot on these devices over the past weeks, but I would still like to get some advice.
The CS968 seems like a nice solution, but I think it does not support hardware acceleration at the moment (RK chipset).
Is it better to take a quad core without h/a to run xbmc or a dual core with supported h/a.
Which one would you recommend me? 720p streaming, maybe 1080 in the future and I just want a smooth XBMC experience and a good wifi signal offcourse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are talking about XBMC and let alone other things, the Matricom GBox MX2 is a fantastic Android TV Box, at least for me. It has HWA out of the box and I am able to play 1080p very smoothly.
There is a review online you can watch:
hxxp://liliputing.com/2013/05/g-box-midnight-mx2-tv-dual-core-tv-box-is-made-for-android-xbmc.html
Having said that, the GBox MX2 doesn't have the best specs in comparison with other Android TV Boxes out there but if you are looking for a smooth XBMC experience, this is the box for you (IMO). (Or... look for a MX2 clone).

dookie23 said:
If you are talking about XBMC and let alone other things, the Matricom GBox MX2 is a fantastic Android TV Box, at least for me. It has HWA out of the box and I am able to play 1080p very smoothly.
There is a review online you can watch:
hxxp://liliputing.com/2013/05/g-box-midnight-mx2-tv-dual-core-tv-box-is-made-for-android-xbmc.html
Having said that, the GBox MX2 doesn't have the best specs in comparison with other Android TV Boxes out there but if you are looking for a smooth XBMC experience, this is the box for you (IMO). (Or... look for a MX2 clone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a couple of Android boxes. The ones based on rockchips are not the best in XBMC as there is no hardware decoding. There are some builds out there that that have been hacked to make a callout to play media in MX player. My rockchip box sit in the cupboard. I have a couple that have the Amlogic M3(single core ATV510b) that can run Android XBMC but there is also a linux-xbmc distro for it. Great for a pure XBMC experiance. It will run 1080p no prob. Ive also got a ATV520(M6 dual core) but only runs android. Both can do hardware decoding in XBMC and play 1080p. Both are great little boxs.
I would rather a dual or even a single that has h/a than a quad that cant do h/a. A friend got a quad rockchip and it cant play 1080p. he hates it. Cant play crap in XBMC. It needs hardware
the gBox uses the same chip as the ATV520. There is also the ATV1200 has the same hardware as the ATV520 but more connections and external aerial. imports if you going to wifi.
hope this helps.
cheers

rayill said:
Hello everyone, I want to buy an android TV box and am planning to use it strictly for XBMC.
I have been reading quite a lot on these devices over the past weeks, but I would still like to get some advice.
The CS968 seems like a nice solution, but I think it does not support hardware acceleration at the moment (RK chipset).
Is it better to take a quad core without h/a to run xbmc or a dual core with supported h/a.
Which one would you recommend me? 720p streaming, maybe 1080 in the future and I just want a smooth XBMC experience and a good wifi signal offcourse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at these, and possibly go for the device with the highest # cores, highest android version (4.2.2+), highest RAM (2GB+), and one or two external antennae. The devices with Android 4.2.x + can be setup for multiple users {see this post}. Analog video/audio out is a plus, especially for direct hookup to speakers or old television. Some have quad-core Rockchip, which xbmc should support as of version 13 (Gotham) as mentioned in xbmc wiki, but not necessarily. NOTE: Some do not have bluetooth whatsoever (and probably no support for USB bluetooth dongle) such as the Ugoos UT1 box :
Ugoos boxes and sticks:
UM2 stick and UM1 box look good.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2424451
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2373469
http://blog.geekbuying.com/?s=ugoos
http://www.apad.tv/apadforum/forumdisplay.php?64-Ugoos-Android-Mini-PC-and-TV-Box-Tech-Support
I think most Ugoos' are around $100 USD or less with stock parts/accessories on Amazon.com as of this writing.
MINIX boxes:
NEO X7 looks good. Quad core CPU and GPU!
http://www.minix.com.hk/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2440708
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2439433
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2494284
MINIX X7 should be $120 USD or more, but the other models might be okay too.
Satechi tv box seems good too.
on Amazon
Matricom Gbox .
Midnight MX2 looks good. These can do OTA update.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2002758
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1835588
http://matricom.net/
Mele boxes
Some can do OTA updates.
http://en.mele.cn/ (English)
http://mele.cn/products/3.htm (Chinese)
http://forum.mele.cn:81/viewforum.php?f=14
MyGica (Geniatech) boxes and sticks.
Their latest ATV1800 is awesome! All should do OTA update.
http://www.geniatech.com/pa/android-tv.asp
http://www.mygica.com/products.asp
... and the list goes on and on wow
- Measy
- Unuiga
- Jesurun
- ...
Also: native Linux on these boxes:
RK3188 based: link to thread
AML8726 based: link to thread
but you gotta do loads of research to make'em work!
I tested XBMC "gotham 13 alpha 10" monthly release {see post here} on my phone and it works quite well, even playing 1080p movies with 2 or 3 gigs file sizes.
*I say all that above, but honestly, I am just listing devices for others to see. Since you may want to connect a wired/wireless USB-based mouse and/or keyboard and want to play tons of 1080p videos and do many different things over time, then I think a small laptop or netbook with HDMI and hardware-acceleration running linux or windowz and XBMC desktop version will be much much better. Albeit the higher price, this kind of laptop can handle more and do more, thus more usable & valuable, especially under constant/heavy usage. Note that the $99 devices may be like $0.99 food = looks good, but tastes bad and is unhealthy for you.

rayill said:
Hello everyone,
I want to buy an android TV box and am planning to use it strictly for XBMC.
I have been reading quite a lot on these devices over the past weeks, but I would still like to get some advice.
The CS968 seems like a nice solution, but I think it does not support hardware acceleration at the moment (RK chipset).
Is it better to take a quad core without h/a to run xbmc or a dual core with supported h/a.
Which one would you recommend me? 720p streaming, maybe 1080 in the future and I just want a smooth XBMC experience and a good wifi signal offcourse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The team ATV xbmchub are recommending ouya
Everything I have read indicates a very capable device, if you want arm
It uses a modified version of xbmc (stock version still a bit iffy on android) that's apparently very good

I used a MyGica ATV120 and found that works nicely for XBMC and video was super smooth.
Sent from my CM11 Samsung Galaxy S4

Any boxes that have a linux build.
Sumvision Cyclone Nano
Gbox MX2
pivos xios
generic MX G18REF based boxes - these can be found on ebay for under £50
These boxes are all... pretty much the same thing, the use AML8726 and the same gpu, and under their linux builds have hardware decoding.
The build I use on my generic MX box is MX Linux from croniccorey
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2418029
The ui closely matches the desktop experience and video does match it.
I've tested it with 55Mbps mkvs and it's played them fine.
Ofcourse the problem with linux builds is... bugs, the builds for all these mx devies, even from sumvision and pivos, have some bugs but they run XBMC much better than it will run under ever the most powerful android device

And all Geniatech ATV400/ATV520/ATV1200/ATV3200
wason92 said:
Any boxes that have a linux build.
Sumvision Cyclone Nano
Gbox MX2
pivos xios
generic MX G18REF based boxes - these can be found on ebay for under £50
These boxes are all... pretty much the same thing, the use AML8726 and the same gpu, and under their linux builds have hardware decoding.
The build I use on my generic MX box is MX Linux from croniccorey
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2418029
The ui closely matches the desktop experience and video does match it.
I've tested it with 55Mbps mkvs and it's played them fine.
Ofcourse the problem with linux builds is... bugs, the builds for all these mx devies, even from sumvision and pivos, have some bugs but they run XBMC much better than it will run under ever the most powerful android device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are all based on Aml8726-MX

Android and XBMX
Tried a lot out and found this OTT TV Box to work great with hardware decoding and XBMC. It comes rooted based on the Amlogic 8726 chip. Has integrated camera and mic for video chat. The XBMC version comes fully loaded so you just plug and play, even 2 skins are pre-set. Believe me I've spent nights with boxes and sticks and always something did not work. Audio and video out of sync and so on. I think everybody went through those issue. Give it a try it has great Wifi connectivity due to the external antenna and comes with a simple remote, looks pretty cool as well. I think it's fairly priced and the support is great. This is my personal experience.
wwwdotamazondotcom/gp/aw/d/B00IXQTFDQ

Ive just bought the Justop K10A and it is amazing. You can control it as well with a proprietry rockchip app using your android phone or tablet.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

How does those TV box go with the newest version XBMC 14.1 ?

Tronfy said:
How does those TV box go with the newest version XBMC 14.1 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
14.2

Best Android Tv Box
Got this as a Christmas gift from my aunt. I can watch movies in Full HD now. This android TV box is awesome. This is fast and runs full hd without any issues. I am very happy to have it. A must need device if you love to watch movies.

What is the name of your android box?
Sam787 said:
Got this as a Christmas gift from my aunt. I can watch movies in Full HD now. This android TV box is awesome. This is fast and runs full hd without any issues. I am very happy to have it. A must need device if you love to watch movies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did not mention any name or brand for your android tv box??

Really satisfied from my new Android box TV
I recently bought My Matrix TV and if you are interested in anything ask me. I have been using it intensively for the last two months and I can answer any questions related to it. It is the first Android Box TV that I own and after I bought it it my only source of streaming media.

NVIDIA SHIELD CONSOLE? Android TV SuperComputer Cloud Gaming? WOW

EDIT: Can everyone who visits this thread please take the time to do a official request for adding the SHIELD Console forums? Just visit the below thread and put in your request please. Thanks
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1660354
ORIGINAL POST:
Is this a new device coming out this Summer? I don't even see a section at XDA for it, or any mention of it here in these Shield threads, yet its based on Android TV and the Tegra X1, with the below specs. I'm in the market for a Android TV, so this interests me.
http://shield.nvidia.com/
http://shield.nvidia.com/console
Specifications:
Processor NVIDIA® Tegra® X1 processor
256-core Maxwell™ GPU with 3GB RAM
Video Features 4K Ultra-HD ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60 fps (VP9, H265, H264)
Audio 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Storage* 16 GB
Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.1/BLE
Interfaces Gigabit Ethernet
HDMI 2.0
Two USB 3.0 (Type A)
Micro-USB 2.0
MicroSD slot
IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)
Software Updates SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA
Gaming Features NVIDIA GRID™ game streaming service
NVIDIA Share
NVIDIA GameStream™
Power 40 W power adapter
Weight and Size Weight: 23 oz / 654 g
Height: 5.1 in / 130 mm
Width: 8.3 in / 210 mm
Depth: 1.0 in / 25 mm
Operating System Android TV™, Google Cast™ Ready
Included Apps = PLEX

It is a new android TV console made by Nvidia. The Cpu/GPU is the latest tegra X1 that is insanely fast! Much faster than Snapdragon 810 and Exynos 7.
Release date is in may and will cost 199$

Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines

RollWii said:
Just saw some games that will be released like Metal Gear rising? will those be on the cloud or it will run natively on the shield it self? if its only on the cloud the this is not a console its just a streaming device that requires very fast internet which not all countries have specially here in the Philippines
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Games like Crysis 3 will run natively on it (not in the cloud).
(Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)

Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.

ryocoon said:
Correct, there are a few big-name games being modded/re-written to run natively on the platform. Of them, "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel" , "Doom 3: BFG Edition" , and "Crysis 3". They demoed all of these. Doom3 and Crysis looked like they ran pretty well. Borderlands ran like a slug and obviously needed a lot more optimization.
That being said, they were really pushing the GRID services heavily, and a number of the announced launch titles were actually GRID games (AKA, PC games virtualized in a server center and streamed to your natively like OnLive or Gaikai/PS-Now, but with the improvements that nVidia has learned from the virtualization and distributed/parallel computing sectors). Anybody who has a current SHIELD device (portable or Tablet) and is within the USA should try it on their current devices at least a few times before it goes subscription model. It is currently in beta and free for all Shield devices, but the servers are in the USA, and the lag times may be unacceptable for some games if you are overseas or just have a laggy connection in general. It will officially come out of beta at the time when the Shield Console goes on sale, which will end the year-plus free ride so far.
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I'm more interested what it will eventually do for media myself. And it MUST be rootable for me to even consider it as an option. The specs, at least for the Android world are nothing short of brilliant. However, again I want media apps mainly, such as Kodi, Plex, Netflix playback and casting to be flawless. For now the Nexus Player still turns me on more even with it being wifi only. However, If the NVIDIA Console becomes rootable with FULL custom Android ROM's I am going to change my mind in a heartbeat though, haha.

Considering that all of the nVidia devices to date have been extremely easy to unlock and root, I'm going to say that, yeah, it is mostly likely going to be root-able. Whether it can handle Kodi/Plex/Netflix/Etc at 4K is up to those developers. I know NetFlix has 4K content, but I'm not sure how they differentiate and enable it to be honest.
I have the Nexus Player, and I honestly feel a bit like a chump for getting it and so soon this device is announced. I can always use it in another room or something though.
The big rub with Android TV so far is that the default UI, the LeanBack Launcher, will not display some apps unless they declare themselves as leanback capable (which includes some XML, an art asset or two for different shape/size icons, navigation by controller/keys, and search-ability in some cases). This is a problem I've run into on my Nexus Player. Now, nVidia may snub the LeanBack launcher and may integrate some LeanBack function into their nVidia Hub (like on the Shield Tablet and Shield Portable) which recognizes dozens of media apps, games, and some other things and has a launcher in its own UI. However, if apps make themselves noted for LeanBack, they show up fine on the normal AndroidTV interface. What is better, if they include search, then you can voice search for titles in media apps, and if it includes some sort of rating or recommendation feature (like Hulu or YouTube) they can integrate that and you can get recommendations of what to watch directly in your launcher UI on the top row. Less important for games, maybe important for Game discovery, but definitely an interesting thing for the media watchers amongst us. I doubt recommendation would work on something like Plex, and KODI is its own UI entirely, skipping LeanBack or even nVidia hub (to be honest, I've never been a fan of XBMC's UI, and Kodi hasn't won me over yet either... too fidgety and I can't trust a 'normal' person to be able to understand and operate it). Like I stated above, the machine has the horsepower, but it will be up to app developers to show up with a "flawless" app that will work on it well.
Casting works pretty damn well on my Nexus Player, so I bet with MIMO capable AC spec WiFi, and also ethernet inclusion, you will get pretty damn good casting from Chromecast apps, as that is built into AndroidTV's OS.
Mind you a lot of this is based upon speculation on specs, existing hardware, and my knowledge of the AndroidTV OS and how it functions. Your mileage may vary, terms and conditions subject to actual reality upon device launch.

Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.

SkOrPn said:
Yeah chances are my mileage will most likely vary, unless for some odd reason I am forced to run the stock Android TV experience. Since 2010 I have not ran anything stock, so not even sure what that is like, and pretty sure I don't want to know, lol. I was thinking about a full rom flashed on it immediately out of the box, installing Nova Launcher, my Planets live wallpaper, throwing up all the streaming apps onto the home screen, and hoping it just works like it did for the Nexus Player user on Youtube. I want to setup my own media streamer home page and experience. 4K would be future proof, but I have no plans to get rid of the 1080p TV that this device will be attached to, not before it naturally dies on me. I still like the Nexus Player as it will fit right in with all my other Nexus devices. I just need to see more development work taking place on it.
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I'm still waiting for this device. Hopefully it's better than the garbage that the Razer Forge TV was. The mods and such at the nVidia forums still say it's coming out in may. The Forge didn't release with Netflix, and there might be a chance the same will happen with the Nvidia Shield Android TV, but I'd be ok with Nvidia as they're going to have 4k display support for netflix.
https://forums.geforce.com/default/...blet/nvidia-shield-tv-console-release-date/2/

I just got an email from NVIDIA saying its almost here. It starts out saying the wait is over, but then goes on to say its still not available and that they are giving away one Shield Console everyday until it is available to the public. I hate emails that start off telling you the wait is over but then asks you to wait some more, lol...

Its out!
Although only can see USA and Canada
$199.99 for 16GB
$299.99 for 500GB
http://shield.nvidia.com/android-tv

I'm not personally too interested in the gaming aspects but that amount of GPU power will prove very, very interesting. My main hope is that somebody can produce a minimal linux install for HTPC with Kodi and mpv builds, or perhaps just a release of Debian.
This device is the perfect low-cost HTPC. It should have more than sufficient CPU power for 10-bit h.264 and h.265 decode as well as sufficient compute power on the GPU side for EWA-type resamplers for chroma and image. I'm given to understand the X1 has full desktop opengl compatibility so it ought to be fully compatible with mpv (though I'm unsure of the state of the ARM builds).
The denver CPU should be more than enough to handle metadata crawling and the likes via Kodi in a non-sluggish fashion too. Christ, this device needs more videophile attention...

Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.

Just ordered mine from Amazon US to be delivered to the UK next week by expedited delivery. What an absolute beast of a machine.

skrowl said:
Just ordered mine on Amazon. It'll be here Sunday.
XDA needs a forum for it. This old shield handheld forum is for a completely different device.
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me too!
returning my fire tv to them for a full refund, and getting this
this will be great to stream my pc to the tv so i can play games like witcher 3 in full 4k 50" vs 1080p 24"
and all the other stuff it does

Full review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9289/the-nvidia-shield-android-tv-review

Shield Console Rooting Experience Thus Far...
Got mine this afternoon and after futzing a bit, tried to root it. It came with developer mode already enabled, one hassle for me is that rebooting to fastboot makes the screen blank so I had to fly blind to oem unlock. So, I've got an unlocked system at the moment, but Super SU is still not working because their is no su on the device. Anyone make it any further than me? I also went ahead and cracked it open to see if there were obvious serial port connection points. Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
I'm going to look into building my own kernel + ramdisk to try and get the necessary tools in place so SuperSU can work, but I'm a bit worried that the screen isn't going to work and so I'll essentially be flying blind through the whole process.

ericvh said:
Looks like there's a nice spot for a laptop hard drive that is probably populated in the Pro model.
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Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Yeah no SATA connector but there is an option in the settings to install all apps to an external hdd or micro sd card anyways
PS. Anyone know if this will be getting a dedicated XDA Forum? I'll probably be picking one up soon

A.N.Droid said:
Does that that mean there is an internal SATA connector or not?
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Hard to tell for sure, looks like there might be solder points for it, but no header. I've got the 500GB on order, will post the diffs when it arrives.

worth the buy?

so its time for me to upgrade, i owned a g box and it was cool at the time year or 2 later it starts to give me problems its slow most things dont work ect so iv been using my pc to watch movies via xbmc, now i want to stop and look for a new xbmc media player and seen the nexus player and looks promising, and been looking around a bit about xbmc for it, is this recommended buy? id like a box that is fast able to use xbmc and more less problems lol

DayDaysTech said:
so its time for me to upgrade, i owned a g box and it was cool at the time year or 2 later it starts to give me problems its slow most things dont work ect so iv been using my pc to watch movies via xbmc, now i want to stop and look for a new xbmc media player and seen the nexus player and looks promising, and been looking around a bit about xbmc for it, is this recommended buy? id like a box that is fast able to use xbmc and more less problems lol
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At this time I would wait just a few weeks as both Razer Forge and Nvidia are releasing new boxes which have better specs.The Nvidia is a little more pricey at $199 the forge will be $99 according to the options you choose. Both will be better boxes if I had to choose. Roku is also due with the Roku 4 anytime now. There will be allot of choices by June.

Im currently using my nexus player solely for xbmc, ive unlocked and rooted it. And ive installed xbmc launcher. Actually im technically using the alpha nightly of kodi. Its amazing. Ive installed genesis, and aeon nox skin. I use the nexus player remote to control kodi. Unles you plan on using the nexus player for kodi, it's useless. But running kodi its damn near perfect.

i love my nexus player. it is not great for everyone though.
first of all you need a mouse and keyboard. and a gamepad.
second and most important you must have a thirst for tinkering to appreciate what you have.
if you just want to consume media stick with chromecast or a cheaper roku.

Kodi runs great on the Nexus Player...the only 2 things for me is the frame rate is locked to 60fps and the inability to play VC-1 (it plays but its pretty unwatchable as I believe it uses software instead of hardware).

What about if you want to play emulators?

if a tablet will run it you can most likely get it to run on the nexus player with some hackery.(lollirock rom will run most tablet apps without much fighting).
my bluetooth controllers work great with the emulators ive tried.

I still think for gamers there are better options coming up. I have the adt1 its a great box guess I am just waiting for the Android Tv box with strong specs. Nvidia Shield?

Don't buy it, I've had mine since 1/22/2015 and I have been having issues with it.
Netflix crashes when I try to choose a show/movie.
Slow at times, including having to fully reset it due to extreme slowdowns.
Remote feels very fragile, buttons feel bad.
Unresponsive when using the remote sometimes.
Voice search is terrible, it's laggy and unreliable. Not to mention it doesn't work with many of the apps.
Wifi connection only, unless you get Micro USB to Ethernet adapter.
No normal sized USB connector, meaning you absolutely need a Micro to Normal USB adapter.
Rooted apps require a mouse and keyboard, the remote most of the time does not work on them. (and remember to hook up a mouse and keyboard you need micro to normal usb adapter)
I feel bad for this Asus/Google product, and wish I could take back my purchase of this item.
Edit:
Most of these issues weren't noticeable when I first got it, but after a while all these things become a big issue.

Here is my take on the Nexus Player:
I've rooted, and installed Droidmote. This allows for controlling sideloaded apps. I have entered custom DNS values to allow for region restricted apps. I transfer apps using the SendAnywhere app. There is much more flexibility with this box than with ones that are locked down. It is more what it can do, than what it does out of the box. There are weaknesses with all streaming media players, but this does everything I need in one box. I haven't had any problems with the Netflix app. For those that like to tinker with android, the Nexus Player is ideal. For those that want an out of the box solution, time will tell.

I regret buying the Nexus Player. It freezes,Bluetooth controller/remote disconnect all the time,lack of apps even with side loading, various app crashes (Netflix mostly),voice search sucks and it just feels like a beta product at best.

DayDaysTech said:
so its time for me to upgrade, i owned a g box and it was cool at the time year or 2 later it starts to give me problems its slow most things dont work ect so iv been using my pc to watch movies via xbmc, now i want to stop and look for a new xbmc media player and seen the nexus player and looks promising, and been looking around a bit about xbmc for it, is this recommended buy? id like a box that is fast able to use xbmc and more less problems lol
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I think the Android TV platform is great. But the nexus player doesn't seems as good as what is coming soon hardware wise. I'd wait for the Razer forge tv or nvidia shield console.

cheeto said:
I think the Android TV platform is great. But the nexus player doesn't seems as good as what is coming soon hardware wise. I'd wait for the Razer forge tv or nvidia shield console.
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Yeah the nvidia looks pretty sweet.

I love it!!
I have had many devices including ATV1,2,3 and the WD TV. The Applee 3 is still used for mirroring from Idevices. The WD was second device as it had and external HDD port but it was constantly rebooting. With my Nexus player I enabled devleoper mode and enabled the USB support. I bought an USB to go cable and installed file explorer. Now it's my favourite device. It can do HDD movies, netflix and Kodi.
Well worth it in my mind. Also had custom roms available if you don't like android TV and want to go to lollipop.

If you can find an Android ADT-1 (the developer's Android TV box), then you'd be better off with that. Much better specs - I've been using mine for nearly 2 months now and since the 5.0.1 update about 7 weeks ago it's been running flawlessly.

Lokke9191 said:
Im currently using my nexus player solely for xbmc, ive unlocked and rooted it. And ive installed xbmc launcher. Actually im technically using the alpha nightly of kodi. Its amazing. Ive installed genesis, and aeon nox skin. I use the nexus player remote to control kodi. Unles you plan on using the nexus player for kodi, it's useless. But running kodi its damn near perfect.
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Hi there,
Were you able to get Navi-X up and running?
This is my main reason for wanting to buy the nexus player. This way, I'd not need to hook my laptop up to the TV and could just access Navi-X from the Nexus Player.
Please advise if you (or anyone else) has been able to get Navi-X running on the nexus player.
Thanks!!

I think the biggest plus for the nexus player would be regular android updates directly from google for a long time.

Nexus Player UK owners

I own both a nexus Player and a Fire TV and it seems that there is very little in the way of apps on the Nexus Player. It is great for Kodi and netflix but that seems about it, there is TV Player but the quality of the picture is not great and I notice that on the Nexus Player and Fire TV it can be a bit buggy to start sometimes. None of the national broadcasters have any apps and things in general for video are slim pickings.
Are there any worth while apps to get? I like the way Pluto TV integrates with the Live Channels app so was thinking of getting a TV tuner for my PC to rig up all the OTA channels. Its a great little box with a reasonably nice interface but app support is sorely lacking. I would have thought that with it being a TV platform that other manufactures are using it would have had a massive catalogue by now.

I own an Nvidia Shield Android TV which like many non-Nexus Android TV devices has a device-specific iPlayer app. You could try side-loading it, though I doubt that would work. Here's a link to the forum where you can find the .apk anyway:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/shield-tv/general/nvidia-shield-android-tv-uk-t3214570/page4
I have no idea exactly why the BBC is making its service only partially available on the platform. Amazon are doing the same by only making Prime Video available on Sony Android TVs, but they obviously have their commercial reasons as they run the competing Fire TV platform.
On a side note I recently heard that there was a new Prime Video add-on for Kodi, though you'll have to try this for yourself as I haven't had a chance yet.
It seems that Channel 4 and ITV have no interest in the platform, however the Fire TV is itself a running a fork of Android. Maybe you could try ripping some of the .apks (such as iPlayer and 4OD) from the Fire TV and side-loading onto the Nexus Player. Again I doubt this will work smoothly but maybe it's worth a shot.
Other than that though, let's just cross our fingers and hope that we haven't invested in Google TV 2.0.