I am currently thinking about building a small streaming device for my home theater.
One idea I am having is to build a lightweight NAS out of a raspberry pi b board and add a second device running xbmc or plex for streaming from the nas.
As there are currently hundreds of android sticks (and no one really seems to know which one is best) it got me wondering if I could not just use my old Galaxy S?
Is there a way to stripe all phone related stuff from it and just have some kind of custom rom that uses the hardware like a regular android tv stick?
It really only needs wifi, hdmi out and enough power to run xbmc + stream in 1080p.
Does anyone know if this is possible at all?
AFAIK the HDMI out of the Galaxy S does not work in custom roms because it uses proprietary Samsung code. So it is probably impossible. I also seriously doubt that the hardware of the Galaxy S is capable of displaying HD media in full resolution.
Related
I am looking to possibly go on an extended business trip (two months for a particular project), and was contemplating taking one of my desktops or possibly buying a laptop. But it occurred to me that I might be overlooking an obvious answer.
While I obviously won't be doing Photoshop work on my Xoom, it occurs to me that if I get the dock that I should be able to playback to the HDMI that is likely to be on the TV in my room. Already have a Bluetooth keyboard so doing some work even on documents and presentations isn't likely to be THAT difficult. So the remaining question is can I get the Xoom to talk to my 4TB external USB 2.0 drive for saving files and playing back video? Or is that taking things too far?
Thanks in advance!
From what I have seen, you will need to wait to install a custom kernel to get USB mass storage to work because HC 3.1 doesnt yet support that. So that means you will need root. But once you have done that it is doable
Now if your still using 3.0.1 then install timat 1.4.1 using kernel manager and check out this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1020174
Also you have to consider the limitations on the Tegra2 video playback, to put it in a simple way, won't play your hi quality mkv's without the need of re-encoding the video. And that you can't do on the xoom
For the other things its awesome, I also have a BT keyboard with pointer and was really nice sitting somewhat far from the xoom and browse the internet or watch youtube on the LCD. Also played some PSX games and some Game Cube to test for lag or anything, not bad at all.
as stated above if you get the 3.1 update you would be able to use your HDD
Hi guys,
Maybe it's weird but do you think i can use an Android Stick in replacement for the Mac Mini?
Currently, the Mac mini is connected directly to Sony Bravia HDTV via HDMI and acting as HTPC.
And the only thing that we are doing mostly on the current connection is streaming videos from net Browsers (Chrome or Firefox).
We seldom use the XBMC or Plex apps on the mac mini since the TV Shows and Movies that we would like to watch are cannot
be found.
I've read a lot of items regarding Android Stick and based from them I've learned that most of the things that I can do on an android
phone can also be done to the Android Stick. (especially installing apps, playing games, etc.)
But I don't remember anyone mentioning about the Browser apps on the Android Stick.
Are they performing good? Can they play all videos including Flash videos?
Can I browse the internet without any problem just like in an Android phone?
Or should I consider other devices instead of Android Stick?
Hey folks,
TLDR at the end
I'm wondering if you can help me please, however I'm not sure if what I want is available. I'm new to this area of Android and I'm finding all the options a bit daunting as I'm not familiar with what is reputable and what is not. For example, I read the thread about the Gearbest MXiii, but when looking in the UK, I found the same box on Amazon, released under 2 different Manufacturer names... Much like if you try to buy a Media PC keyboard.
Anyway, here are the things I hope to do / run:
I want to replace my Windows Desktop that acts as my Media Centre. I use Kodi (Formerly XBMC) 14. I also use Chrome to play Netflix (would replace this with the android app), Spotify - and that's pretty much it. All my Storage is networked so I don't need anything there.
I am hoping to get a powerful machine (Quad core perhaps) with the ability to run lollipop (through AOSP if necessary) that will run Kodi, spotify and the Netflix app. BUT what I am also hoping to do, is run a 5.1 audio setup. I'm under no illusions that this support will be unlikely to be built-in (Although that would definitely be preferable) but will happily buy a USB DAC if we know of a stick that will support it and is not extortionately priced... What complicates things further, is I don't really want to run 5.1. I actually want to run 3.0 ( I don't imaging that makes much difference here, but again - it's not a familiar area to me). The reason being that on my Desktop, I run a centre speaker with the volume controlled separately, because whenever any of my media supports 5.1, when it mixes down to dual channel, I often end up with loud sound effects and low dialogue, which can be trouble when I have both an upstairs and downstairs neighbour....
So.... does anyone have any recommendations based on that?
TLDR;
I'm looking for a Powerful android stick that will support Lollipop through any means and 3.0 Audio as a minimum, even if through a USB Dac
danarama said:
Hey folks,
TLDR at the end
I'm wondering if you can help me please, however I'm not sure if what I want is available. I'm new to this area of Android and I'm finding all the options a bit daunting as I'm not familiar with what is reputable and what is not. For example, I read the thread about the Gearbest MXiii, but when looking in the UK, I found the same box on Amazon, released under 2 different Manufacturer names... Much like if you try to buy a Media PC keyboard.
Anyway, here are the things I hope to do / run:
I want to replace my Windows Desktop that acts as my Media Centre. I use Kodi (Formerly XBMC) 14. I also use Chrome to play Netflix (would replace this with the android app), Spotify - and that's pretty much it. All my Storage is networked so I don't need anything there.
I am hoping to get a powerful machine (Quad core perhaps) with the ability to run lollipop (through AOSP if necessary) that will run Kodi, spotify and the Netflix app. BUT what I am also hoping to do, is run a 5.1 audio setup. I'm under no illusions that this support will be unlikely to be built-in (Although that would definitely be preferable) but will happily buy a USB DAC if we know of a stick that will support it and is not extortionately priced... What complicates things further, is I don't really want to run 5.1. I actually want to run 3.0 ( I don't imaging that makes much difference here, but again - it's not a familiar area to me). The reason being that on my Desktop, I run a centre speaker with the volume controlled separately, because whenever any of my media supports 5.1, when it mixes down to dual channel, I often end up with loud sound effects and low dialogue, which can be trouble when I have both an upstairs and downstairs neighbour....
So.... does anyone have any recommendations based on that?
TLDR;
I'm looking for a Powerful android stick that will support Lollipop through any means and 3.0 Audio as a minimum, even if through a USB Dac
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what a crap question
Similar to how you can run OpenELEC or Raspbmc on a Raspberry Pi, and have an OS completely dedicated to XBMC, is there a ROM out there that anyone knows of that I can install on my old GS3 that would perform the same functions? Or if not a dedicated ROM, maybe a bare-minimum ROM that I can run XBMC on and leave it running?
I use a Raspberry Pi as a home media center and while it works just fine, it's a bit under-powered and lags when browsing through some of the XBMC addons. Since XBMC and some of the custom builds (including addons) run just fine on Android, I'd like to use my old GS3 as a dedicated media center.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
bobgodd said:
Similar to how you can run OpenELEC or Raspbmc on a Raspberry Pi, and have an OS completely dedicated to XBMC, is there a ROM out there that anyone knows of that I can install on my old GS3 that would perform the same functions? Or if not a dedicated ROM, maybe a bare-minimum ROM that I can run XBMC on and leave it running?
I use a Raspberry Pi as a home media center and while it works just fine, it's a bit under-powered and lags when browsing through some of the XBMC addons. Since XBMC and some of the custom builds (including addons) run just fine on Android, I'd like to use my old GS3 as a dedicated media center.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever have any luck finding anything? I'm planning on doing exactly the same thing.
I'm thinking maybe even just rooting and flashing Cyanogen will offer a decent starting point for a compromise of sorts. I can handle not having a dedicated system like OSMC but being able to boot straight into kodi would be good, as would having all other unnecessary processes disabled.
I don't think CEC -> HDMI remote control would work from what I've read but Kore app works ok.
Has anybody started a thread with their 'best' or 'favorite' Android Stick & Console Computer hardware? I currently have a Google ADT-1 (w/ PureNexus), but I'm looking to sell this and upgrade in favor of something newer.
I guess I'm looking for suggestions based upon cost, performance, support for newer android versions, ease of use, root access, etc. I recently was helping a friend who had a 'Minix' device, and was impressed with the UI and how easy it was to add shortcuts to the 'desktop' for apps (no need to rely on Leanback Launcher apps, etc). I don't necessarily need support for 4k, but was seeing what people are buying.
Ultimately the goal is that this device will replace my TV set top box, so I will have Xfinity Stream TV, Netflix, Kodi, and other streaming platforms on my television screen.
Thanks in advance!
Since there hasn't been any traction on this thread, I thought I would add an update. After a little research, it seems I should definitely look toward Android TV 'box' with the s905x processor. Then the next step would be to find one of these devices that can rooted and / or one the supports a custom ROM. BTW, this would be for use in the USA.