Asus Qube and Netgear NeoTV Prime surface as new Google TV hardware
Google TV hasn’t taken the world by storm yet, but it looks as though the company and its many partners are about to kick the Android-style global domination machine into high gear. At least two more Google TV devices are on the way soon: the Asus Qube and Netgear NeoTV Prime. They’ll join the second-generation roster that already includes Sony, Vizio, and LG.
The NeoTV Prime is very reminiscent of the Vizio Co-Star. It’s a small, fairly nondescript black box with only three ports on the back: HDMI input and output, and RJ45 Ethernet. The remote, too, is similar to Vizio’s. There’s a trackpad on the top half and requisite volume, channel, and playback controls underneath. On the back is a full QWERTY keyboard for easier searching and browsing. The only significant design difference is the lack of a number pad on the front and the fact that streaming app shortcuts are located at the very bottom. Netgear also offers twice as many quick access buttons, including Netflix, Amazon, Youtube, Vudu, HBO Go, and Crackle.
Ubuntu Port for Rockchip RK3066
Couple of developers are working hard to port Ubuntu to the new Rockchip CPU, the RK3066. Right now, the port is kind of in closed alpha stage and is not meant for public release. That said, they were able to get the WiFi working along with bluetooth and USB. HDMI works and they were able to output full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution via HDMI.
Unfortunately, there are still bucketful of bugs to sort out such as slow USB rate; CPU running at top clock speed all the time; unreliable WiFi and so on. We reviewed Rockchip RK3066 few days back and were quite happy with its performance. Once the port is done, users will have the choice to run a desktop OS on their tablets and TV dongles (UG802 and MK802 III)that come with this very CPU.
ViewSonic working on a 22-inch Android tablet monstrosity
It is far more than fifty inches smaller than the Windows 8 slab hanging on Steve Ballmer’s office wall, but the 22-inch “tablet” ViewSonic is dropping hints about is still twice as massive as anything offered by their competitors appropriate now.
The organization will officially take the wraps off the new device at Computex 2012 in a couple of weeks. At that point, it will virtually definitely become clear that this is far more of a touchscreen monitor with an Android pc built into its chassis than a gigantic tablet aimed at folks the size of the Knights Who Say Ni.
Beyond the device’s screen size, no other specifics have been revealed however. Nevertheless, given ViewSonic’s past history of making dual-boot devices running Android and Windows — and Windows tablets with Android emulation via BlueStacks — it appears most likely that this device would resemble the touch-enabled VX2258wm. The 22-inch LED display is part of ViewSonic’s current product range, and it’s straightforward sufficient to imagine them cramming in something like the MK802 Android Computer-on-a-stick.
$74 MK802 Android micro-PC comes to rival FXI’s Cotton Candy
Of late we have witnessed the arrival of a set of micro-PCs. Apart from the significantly-touted and cheaper Raspberry Pi, an Android-based FXI Cotton Candy has also been announced. With the $ 200 Cotton Candy is set for an instant release, the Android Pc-on-a-stick has received a essential rival in MK802. The new Android-based micro-Computer challenges Cotton Candy with its low cost factor ($ 74) rather than anything else. The extremely related Allwinner A10-featured MK802 will possibly be a stiff threat to Cotton Candy Computer.
$74 MK802 Android micro-PC beats Cotton Candy to the punch
A pair of inexpensive micro-PCs have generated fairly a bit of buzz this year. The dirt-cheap Raspberry Pi began shipping in mid-April, but the FXI Cotton Candy has but to make it out the door. The $ 200 Android Computer-on-a-stick will also have some competition when it ultimately arrives: a extremely equivalent $ 74 AllWinner A10-based system has already popped up on on the internet shopping web sites.
Meet the MK802, which (like the Cotton Candy) attributes an ARM processor, Android four., and WiFi connectivity. It is not really as effective, with a single-core 1.5GHz AllWinner A10 processor and 512MB memory compared to a dual-core 1.2GHz Exynos chip and 1GB. The MK802 does offer you two USB ports — 1 full-sized and 1 micro — and it utilizes the exact same Mali 400 GPU as the Cotton Candy.