{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
According to StatCounter, Android OS officially overtook Windows as the world’s most popular operating system in April, 2017. While Android’s dominance in the smartphone and tablet industries grows, its market share in the desktop PC world is still less than 1%. Jide Technology, a company which was founded by three ex-Google engineers in 2014, has been working on “unlocking the potential of Android and accelerating a new age of computing”, at least that’s what their slogan says. The key to that vision is the Remix OS, an Android-based operating system designed to work like a desktop OS.
Although Jide and its Remix OS have gained quite a number of fans with products such as the Ultra Tablet and Remix Mini, many are still confused about what kind of convenience the Remix OS can really bring to their daily life. While being the most versatile Android-based tablet, the Ultra Tablet is heavier and pricier than many more competent Core-M powered Windows convertibles. The Remix Mini is compact, affordable, but powered by a low-end SoC., the performance is somewhat disappointing.
The newly released Remix X1 is designed to replace the Remix Mini, a device that did not achieve the kind of market success Jide had strived for. Will the Remix X1 bring some game-changing features that will finally make it a hit? Or is it just a regular upgrade of its predecessor? I will try to answer these questions in this review.
Package
Inside the box you will find a Mini PC, a charger with three different plugs, a remote, and a pair of dry cells.
Design and Build
Compared to the Remix Mini, the X1 looks much more like a Mini PC. It is larger, heavier, offers more ports. For some, the X1 may be less aesthetically pleasing than the Mini because it has sharper edges and more abrupt lines.
There are a slew of ports and slots on the device. The left side plays host to two full USB 2.0 ports, while the right side hosts a VGA port.
On the back side you will find a charging port, an HDMI port, a MicroSD card slot, two full USB 2.0 ports as well as a 3.5mm audio jack. 4 USB outputs are definitely a nice improvement over the Mini’s 2, but unfortunately they are still USB 2.0 standard, and cannot deliver the USB 3.0 speed many of us are used to nowadays.
On the top side of the device you will find a Jide Logo and, finally, a physical power button. I have been a user of the Mini for more than a year now, and I was constantly driven mad by the invisible capacitive power button on it. It gives no feedback, the only way to know whether your touch gets registered is by looking at the screen.
Although the plastic shell does give the device a plasticky feel, the build quality is still good. It doesn’t have any ugly mold lines on its surface, and feels like it could survive some pressure and even occasional drops. Unlike the fanless design of the Remix Mini and other Android-based TV boxes, the X1 actually has a fan inside to control the temperature of the internals.
Setting it up
Like all PCs, the Remix X1 needs to be paired with a screen and input devices. You can connect the X1 with a monitor or an HDTV with a VGA or an HDMI cable, with a mouse and a keyboard in place and you are good to go.
The X1 will automatically boot itself when you plug the wall charger into a socket. Quite odd given that it already has a physical power button now. Jide claims that the auto-boot is a result of the settings of the Rockchip SoC. and is a shared by many other TV boxes running on Rockchip processors. Unlike the Mini, the X1 can support 4K resolution (3840*2160), and will offer better visuals on UHD displays.
Remix OS 3.0
At the heart of this X1 is Jide’s all new Remix OS. Just like we mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Remix OS is an Android-based operating system designed to work like a desktop OS. The version X1 ships with is the Remix 3.0, which is based on Android M (Android 6.0). Compared to the Android 5.1-based Remix 2.0, this is definitely an upgrade. However, it still lags behind the smartphone industry, as most phones are now running Android 7.0 Nougat.
For those who have never used or even heard of the Remix OS, it is definitely not your average Android experience. In fact, it looks so different that you cannot even relate it to Android until you run Android applications on it. The Remix OS 3.0 comes with 2 modes: PC mode and TV mode. In TV mode, you will get a TV BOX UI which works perfectly with the stock remote. In PC mode, you will get a UI that is designed to be worked with a mouse and a keyboard.
All apps installed from the TV Appstore will automatically show up on the TV mode UI. You can handily use the remote to open and control these applications. You can watch the latest videos on YouTube, or your favorite TV shows on Netflix and Hulu.
In PC mode, you will get a taskbar similar to the one on Windows 10. On the left side of the taskbar you will also get an icon to open the application drawer. All apps (except those exclusive to the TV mode) will show up in the app drawer and you can rank them by name, time of installation and usage. You can also click the search icon to search for the applications you have in mind.
Besides the icon of the application drawer are the three classic Android keys: Back, Home and Multi-tasking, you can use them to control the running applications. Clicking on “Back” and the OS will return to the last screen, clicking on “Home” and all running applications will be minimized (while the icons stay in the taskbar), clicking on multi-tasking and you will get the shortcuts for all running applications and the two modes which Remix OS 3.0 offers.
On the right side of the taskbar you will get many settings, including Memory-cleanup, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Input, Time and Date and Notification Center. The Memory-Cleanup shortcut will help you to close all applications running in the background (only the one app running on top will stay once you click the “Memory Cleanup” button).
The Notification Center looks like the one on Windows 10, all notifications and alerts will show up here, and applications normally shown in the pull-down menu of your smartphone UI will also be found here. Besides, you also get 5 icons, including DND mode, positioning switch, autohide the taskbar, Screenshot and Settings.
What really makes Remix OS special is its ability to run multiple apps in windows. You can browse through Emails, chat on Skype and watch a movie simultaneously. You will feel like you are using Windows 10 instead of Android.
Thanks to the keyboard shortcuts and right-click menus the Remix OS offers, the X1 feels much more productive than your average smartphones and tablets. You can copy texts from the webpages and instantly paste them into the input boxes of your Email app or social networking apps. All apps running in windows can be resized according to the user’s personal preferences.
The X1 is preinstalled with Kodi, which works as the media center. Not only does it take care of local media contents (browsing pics, playing music and videos), you can also enable add-ons to stream music and videos online.
Remix OS 3.0 also allows users to clone apps, you just need to enable it in the experimental features inside the settings. If you have multiple accounts on one social network, this feature will be extremely useful.
When it comes to real productivity tasks such as editing documents and photos, the X1 is still no match for its Windows counterparts. You can do some simple editing with applications such as WPS Office as well as Android versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but it is by no means as efficient as working on a real PC. There are far fewer things that you can do as the Android versions of Office Suites only offer some of the basic functions, and performing the same task may take much more time on the X1 than on your average Windows PCs. I tried to edit my presentation with WPS Office on the X1 once, the awkwardness and low efficiency made me dying to switch to my desktop PC.
During my 1-month of reviewing the X1, I found that I was doing media-consuming most of the time, thanks to the countless music and video streaming apps Android offers. But I did occasionally post stuff on my social media accounts. Whenever I finished watching a movie, I instantly gave my rating on IMDB. Then I took a screenshot of the IMDB page and shared it on Facebook, Wechat and Twitter. The multi-windows function of the Remix OS makes it possible for me to update all social media accounts at the exact same time.
Although Remix OS 3.0 is based on a new version of Android (Android 6.0), I didn’t really see any significant improvement from Remix 2.0. Yes, I have noticed that there is now a full-screen icon on the application running in windows mode, and that the notification center has a white background. I have also noticed some more experimental features in the settings. But none of these changes is cool enough to make my life much easier. Jide has two years to bring some game-changing features to the Remix OS, unfortunately that just didn’t happen.
Performance
The Remix X1 is powered by a Rockchip RK3368 processor, which has octa-core Cortex A53 CPU clocked at 1.2Ghz and a PowerVR G6112 GPU. Released in 2015, this SoC. is by no means one of the most powerful ARM-based processors. There is also 2GB DDR3 RAM on board to take care of multi-tasking.
Compared to the Remix Mini, the X1 is significantly faster, but it still lags behind your average Android smartphones and tablets.
Like usual, we ran some benchmarks on the X1. The Antutu benchmark returned a score of 33,992, which ranks below most entry-level smartphones.
In the Geekbench test, the X1 scored 1241, which is also nowhere near the average of mainstream smartphones and tablets.
We always say that benchmarks are one thing, real-world performance is another. Fortunately for the X1, the benchmark scores did not entirely translate into real-life usage. The X1 remained sloppy and responsive most of the time, although I did notice that installing an app took significantly longer than on my flagship smartphones. It also took more time for bigger applications and games to load on the X1. When there were too many applications running on the desktop, the system became less responsive. Personally, I think Jide should have put more RAM into the X1 to make it more capable of handling multi-tasking, since that is what Remix OS is all about.
Connectivity
The X1 offers many connectivity options. It supports 2.4GHz/5GHz dual band Wi-Fi, and the Wireless connection is very solid, as well. There’s also Bluetooth 4.0 on board to take care of local data transfer and connecting audio and input devices. Bluetooth connection is so much more stable on the X1 than on the Remix Mini. While Mini was unable to connect with some of my Bluetooth speakers placed more about 5 meters away, the X1 had no such problems.
The X1 only has 16GB internal storage, but it offers a Micro SD card slot and as many as 4 full USB 2.0 Type-A ports, making it easier for users to connect to multiple external storages. I have my 64GB Transcend Micro SD card inserted and it works like a charm. Although the USB 2.0 ports could not offer the same level of speed the USB3.X ports are able to offer, it isn’t really that noticeable when you just play videos or music from the external storages.
A VGA port and an HDMI output make it possible for users to connect the X1 with a wide range of monitors, projectors and HDTVs. But unfortunately you can't output the X1 graphics to a monitor and a TV at the same time.
Verdict
Despite its issues and imperfections, the Remix X1 is still arguably the best Android Mini PC out there. Fairly speaking, it doesn’t really have many competitions.
Although it is cool to see an Android-based device working like a desktop PC, I am still having a hard time trying to figure out which type of customers the X1 is marketing towards. According to Jide, the Remix OS will be mainly targeting business users from now on. But unfortunately, the X1 is still no match for an average Windows desktop PC or laptop when it comes to business tasks, and the number of applications which really work ideally with a mouse and a keyboard is still relatively small. For the majority of users, Android is more used for media consumption and entertainment purposes, no matter how much you make it look and feel like Windows.
The X1 is a very competent and affordable HTPC which can handily replace all Android-based TV boxes. But if you want a device that can replace your PC for productivity tasks, you won’t be satisfied with the X1.
Jide has nearly two years to make an amazing product out of the X1, but somehow they ended up releasing only a regular upgrade of the Remix Mini. There were indeed some improvements, both on the hardware and software fronts, but with only 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, a dated processor and the still relatively small Remix ecosystem, the X1 just is less promising than we expected it to be.
mod edit - http://cngadget.info/2017/5930/
Good android TV but poor company reliability. They used up all the backer funds in kickstarter and never delivered product nor they have started refunding a successful campaign only to cancel it after 10 months of using the backers money to venture to a different business. Its a good product but do expect a lot of hate comments from your disgrunted backers.
They have been very unresponsive about refunds on their canceled Kickstarter. I hope someone from the industry and the tech media could reach out and ask some hard questions, because they are now uncommunicative to the people who had backed and funded their initiative. Even their superbackers ('collaborators') are left in the dark, embarrassed with eggs on their faces.
I'm one of the IO/IO+ backers and I am really sad that it had to come to this - if I understand correctly this is the IO re branded to X1 that will be available to purchase to business users. Now I really don't understand if they were going to keep the design why they couldn't honor their backers...
Yeah Jide are scammers, just look at their Kickstarter page, I will never deal them again and advise people to avoid them
Remix X1 (Remix IO)
R.I.P Jide...
BuPe said:
I'm one of the IO/IO+ backers and I am really sad that it had to come to this - if I understand correctly this is the IO re branded to X1 that will be available to purchase to business users. Now I really don't understand if they were going to keep the design why they couldn't honor their backers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more. I backed them for the Remix Mini which is doing what I wanted. Picked up a cheap Remix Ultra Tablet on eBay which kids have fun with.
Kickstarter's reputation suffers badly when something like this happens. Had to do a a bit of chasing to eventually get my Dokicam, still waiting for my Android Da Vinci game and t-shirt. Very reluctant to back any more projects with what is being reported on line.
I still want my IO+ or X1 or whatever it is being called. If Jide are not forthcoming with refunds or the IO/IO+, the company should be blacklisted internationally.
I am not a disgruntled Jide backer; I am a ripped-off backer. After backing Jide's Kickstarter Campaigns through its Remix Tablet and Remix Mini projects, I had no idea Jide would turn around and stiff all its backers with its IO/IO+ scam. After waiting for a year for the product, being fed postponement after postponement, promised new shipping dates (and even being shown pictures of the shipping boxes...whoopee!), Jide announced that it was abandoning the project and moving to the enterprise market. Refunds would be forthcoming, they promised. But now more delays, posponements and empty promises but no refunds. And, to add insult to injury, Jide is now independently marketing a re-branded IO (look at the photo of the bottom of the x1), essentially reselling the unit I paid for and never received. This appears to be a breach of (Kickstarter) contract and criminal activity, and Jeremy Chau, David Ko, and Ben Luk are complicit. These three and Jide are sleaze, at the very least.
I'm still so salty about this. Especially after looking at these images haha, man. I'm honestly really upset because it looks awesome and this was going to be my multimedia set up in my living room, to replace the HTPC I currently use for streaming and more. I took all their surveys, provided additional feedback and opinions, and even ended up paying a bit more for the upgraded model after my initial backing. Words cannot explain how much anger I have towards Jive now. I will actively avoid all future products by them. It may sound petty, but what they did is honestly unforgivable. They've lost all respect in my eyes. And I'm still waiting for my refund of ~$120 that at this point they stole from me.
I think everything that could be said about the JIDE fiasco has been said by the other posters! This X1 Box is really the Kickstarter IO device offered to backers over a year ago. Why XDA did not mention this in the article is beyond me! XDA should mention the fact that this company has now left former backers and buyers of their previous builds behind with no support nor updates to the devices they previously bought! Surprised really, XDA should be forthcoming about this as well in their write-up!
Oh my god, I wasn't really aware that Jide had made so many people mad in their Kickstarter campaigns, which I had very little knowledge about. I bought this device in their recent tester recruitment in China. To be honest, I really had fun with the device, it is probably the best TV box I have ever used. But as a Remix Mini owner, I am also disappointed with how little progress they have made since the Mini.
One month later still no refund for my IO - just a scam called X1.
jupiter2012 said:
Oh my god, I wasn't really aware that Jide had made so many people mad in their Kickstarter campaigns, which I had very little knowledge about. I bought this device in their recent tester recruitment in China. To be honest, I really had fun with the device, it is probably the best TV box I have ever used. But as a Remix Mini owner, I am also disappointed with how little progress they have made since the Mini.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much did you pay for it? I also backed this device on Kickstarter, and have yet to receive a refund. I'm trying to find a TV Box that runs Remix OS 3.0, but no luck. I hate the company because of their shady practices, but I really like the OS itself, having also previously backing and receiving a Remix Mini. It's a shame that a company with such a great product, can do this to their loyal customers, and get away with it. I personally hope that they go out of business and learn a lesson...after us backers receive our refunds, of course, haha.
guy4jesuschrist said:
How much did you pay for it? I also backed this device on Kickstarter, and have yet to receive a refund. I'm trying to find a TV Box that runs Remix OS 3.0, but no luck. I hate the company because of their shady practices, but I really like the OS itself, having also previously backing and receiving a Remix Mini. It's a shame that a company with such a great product, can do this to their loyal customers, and get away with it. I personally hope that they go out of business and learn a lesson...after us backers receive our refunds, of course, haha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I paid RMB500 for it.
jupiter2012 said:
I paid RMB500 for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, not sure what currency that is, but I'll let Google help me convert it to USD, haha.
So, $74.80...and they charged us backers $99+ for one. Such pathetic crooks!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Related
It just hit me after today's HP WebOS event that Microsoft is the last big competitor without a real tablet OS (that isn't a thrown-together Windows 7).
Apple has the iPad with iOS.
RIM has the Playbook with QNX.
Google has the Xoom/G-Slate and more with Android 3.0
HP (formerly Palm) has the Touchpad with WebOS 3.0
I know everyone has been on Microsoft's case for tablets, but now they should be really panicking. I'm not sure it's enough to just have WP7 on smartphones anymore if it wants to build a competing ecosystem. The most frustrating part of all of this is that Microsoft really has nailed it better than the rest of these with really deep multimedia features from Zune, Xbox Live services, and a genuinely unique UI.
A couple of months ago, people kept saying Microsoft needs to make WP7 for tablets right that moment. I didn't believe them back then but now I think Microsoft is seriously in trouble. Tablets are going to cannibalize laptop/netbook sales soon and one of the top PC manufacturers, HP, is even pushing WebOS on to laptops later this year. Unless they have an ace up their sleeve with Windows 8 and cross-compatibility with WP7, I am beginning to worry about the long term plan here.
Wait... WebOS is a major OS?
and, Windows has tablets, just because their phone OS isnt tablet based doesnt mean they don't have tablets. Windows xp on my tablet is much more enjoyable.
z33dev33l said:
Wait... WebOS is a major OS?
and, Windows has tablets, just because their phone OS isnt tablet based doesnt mean they don't have tablets. Windows xp on my tablet is much more enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well since Palm got bought out by the colossal HP and since WebOS has managed to survive these past few months and still somehow stay relevant, I'd say that yeah they can be considered one of the major OS' now. HP is being pretty damn aggressive with WebOS (the Pre 3 and Touchpad look fantastic) and has finally made the hardware to match the software.
That's what I mean though. The average consumer has proved that time and again they do not want normal bloated desktop Windows on a tablet. It's not nearly as intuitive as iOS or even Android, and since Microsoft has to compete with those desktop Windows is not enough anymore.
Makes sense, I guess it's kinda the old WP7 vs iOS, mass market versus us tech geeks who like to play. The question is will they follow the money on this as they have with their phones. As for the new WebOS I can't really act impressed, I mean if they used a rigged poll as their keynote they can't have much to offer. I've played with the OS and it felt a lot like a dolled up blackberry to me and blackberry was just unenjoyable.
the thing that doesn't impress me about the hardware for webOS is how they still use such a low resolution. that would of been the first thing i would have improved on those devices...
z33dev33l said:
Makes sense, I guess it's kinda the old WP7 vs iOS, mass market versus us tech geeks who like to play. The question is will they follow the money on this as they have with their phones. As for the new WebOS I can't really act impressed, I mean if they used a rigged poll as their keynote they can't have much to offer. I've played with the OS and it felt a lot like a dolled up blackberry to me and blackberry was just unenjoyable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I was always pretty impressed by WebOS and thought it was far and away better looking and easier to use than Android or Blackberry. I always considered it "the grown up version of iOS" because the gestures and dynamic UI elements are just so much more advanced yet Palm kept things so simple and intuitive.
But I still drool every time I turn on my Focus
The Gate Keeper said:
the thing that doesn't impress me about the hardware for webOS is how they still use such a low resolution. that would of been the first thing i would have improved on those devices...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not true after today. The only phone that has the old low resolution is the Veer but since it's on such a small screen it actually increases the overall ppi. The new Pre 3 has a 800x480 screen and the new Touchpad has 1024x768.
If CES 2011 didn't give you enough hints, here it is:
MS Tablet = Windows 8 running on Arm-based SoC demonstrated at CES.
My expectation is we'll see Windows Phone, tablets running Windows 8 on ARM, and Xbox all running Silverlight and a metro-like interface. You can already begin to see some synergy between Windows Phone and Windows tablets by looking at recent applications like Flickr and Mosaic.
There is a good chance that as the tablet matures, they will be less gadget and more laptop/desktop replacement. I honestly don't know if something like iOS is going to do a good job with that.
foxbat121 said:
If CES 2011 didn't give you enough hints, here it is:
MS Tablet = Windows 8 running on Arm-based SoC demonstrated at CES.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm hoping for and it seems pretty obvious that's where MS is headed.
But I'm still worried about the touch experience of the major competing tablets versus Windows. I'm really praying that MS introduces a Windows 8 that scales to whatever platform its on--for example you'd see a complex and traditional looking Windows on your desktop PC but if you had Windows 8 on your tablet it would have a Metro-based UI like WP7.
PG2G said:
My expectation is we'll see Windows Phone, tablets running Windows 8 on ARM, and Xbox all running Silverlight and a metro-like interface. You can already begin to see some synergy between Windows Phone and Windows tablets by looking at recent applications like Flickr and Mosaic.
There is a good chance that as the tablet matures, they will be less gadget and more laptop/desktop replacement. I honestly don't know if something like iOS is going to do a good job with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with your first point completely and that is definitely the direction MS needs to go.
You're also right about iOS. I own an iPad and despite being pretty powerful it also looks downright primitive compared to Android 3.0, Rim's QNX, and WebOS 3.0. But tablets honestly make a lot of sense as a laptop or at least a netbook replacement--it's easier to use, almost instant-on, and an overall more entertaining experience.
OGCF said:
It just hit me after today's HP WebOS event that Microsoft is the last big competitor without a real tablet OS (that isn't a thrown-together Windows 7).
....
A couple of months ago, people kept saying Microsoft needs to make WP7 for tablets right that moment. I didn't believe them back then but now I think Microsoft is seriously in trouble. Tablets are going to cannibalize laptop/netbook sales soon and one of the top PC manufacturers, HP, is even pushing WebOS on to laptops later this year. Unless they have an ace up their sleeve with Windows 8 and cross-compatibility with WP7, I am beginning to worry about the long term plan here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS may be doing the right thing in using their desktop OS as the tablet platform instead of WP7. This will inherently make their tablets more powerful with the largest ecosystem (Windows). I think we'll have to wait and see what's in store for Windows 8 to see how it works out. MS has been doing tablets far longer than the other's. They just never got the UE together in the way Apple did. Push come to shove, they can make an emulator to run WP7 apps on the Windows 8 tablet
WhyBe said:
MS may be doing the right thing in using their desktop OS as the tablet platform instead of WP7. This will inherently make their tablets more powerful with the largest ecosystem (Windows). I think we'll have to wait and see what's in store for Windows 8 to see how it works out. MS has been doing tablets far longer than the other's. They just never got the UE together in the way Apple did. Push come to shove, they can make an emulator to run WP7 apps on the Windows 8 tablet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, their tablets should theoretically be more powerful. But I don't want my shiny new Windows-powered tablet to only last 4 hours on a charge and I especially don't want to deal with all of the Windows programs that all look and function differently. The result is a completely inconsistent experience. I love Windows 7 as a desktop OS, but I don't think I could stand it on a tablet.
And just because Microsoft has been making tablets for longer than anyone else doesn't exactly mean they did a good job. Apple showed them that and now everyone is scrambling to come out with a competitor and--surprise surprise--they're not running Windows 7.
I have high hopes pinned to the inevitable release of Windows 8 and if they can make the Metro UI a universal design theme that developers should stick to only then will a Windows-powered tablet be able to provide an experience as consistent as iOS.
OGCF said:
I have high hopes pinned to the inevitable release of Windows 8 and if they can make the Metro UI a universal design theme that developers should stick to only then will a Windows-powered tablet be able to provide an experience as consistent as iOS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A windows 8 tablet that could run WP7 apps would be the best solution and not at all impossible.
But if MS delivers on the UE and UI enhancements purported for Windows 8, there probably will be little need for WP7 apps. I'm guessing power consumption would improve with the newer mobile chipsets and OS enhancements.
OGCF said:
It just hit me after today's HP WebOS event that Microsoft is the last big competitor without a real tablet OS (that isn't a thrown-together Windows 7).
Apple has the iPad with iOS.
RIM has the Playbook with QNX.
Google has the Xoom/G-Slate and more with Android 3.0
HP (formerly Palm) has the Touchpad with WebOS 3.0
I know everyone has been on Microsoft's case for tablets, but now they should be really panicking. I'm not sure it's enough to just have WP7 on smartphones anymore if it wants to build a competing ecosystem. The most frustrating part of all of this is that Microsoft really has nailed it better than the rest of these with really deep multimedia features from Zune, Xbox Live services, and a genuinely unique UI.
A couple of months ago, people kept saying Microsoft needs to make WP7 for tablets right that moment. I didn't believe them back then but now I think Microsoft is seriously in trouble. Tablets are going to cannibalize laptop/netbook sales soon and one of the top PC manufacturers, HP, is even pushing WebOS on to laptops later this year. Unless they have an ace up their sleeve with Windows 8 and cross-compatibility with WP7, I am beginning to worry about the long term plan here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I consider Win7 to be the perfect tablet OS. I would rather use Win7 on any tablet than any of the tablet-specific OS currently available, even the iPad's iOS. In fact, it is one reason I'm considering a netbook, because of Win7. The way I look at it, a netbook, to me, is a supercharged tablet with a physical keyboard....lack of touchscreen, no consequence.
put on a physical keyboard and Win7 becomes usable. For a proper touchscreen tablet I think Win7 (or any Win for that matter) really blows. Not touch friendly at all.
I have 2 Android tablets and 1 Win7 tablet. The Win7 tablet is a 10.2" capacitive. If I need to do something Win specific then I use the Win tablet, otherwise Android is first choice. If MS could give Win7 a touch friendly UI they would have a winner IMO.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using Tapatalk
I've got an HP TM2 which is basically is a laptop with a touchscreen. The screen turns through 180 degrees and folds flat over the keyboard and turns the machine into a Windows 7 tablet.
I bought it to see how much I would use it as a tablet, compared to how much I'd use it as a normal laptop.
My conclusion after several months is that I use it as a laptop 90% of the time. The main reasons for this are;
1) As a tablet you have to hold it, or rest it against something. In laptop mode I just place it on a table or my lap and I have both hands free for typing, and I can still use the touchscreen.
2) Typing anything on a touchscreen is a pain - you have to grasp the machine with one hand and type with the other, or find a way to prop it up on something if you want to use two fingers. Frankly it's a pain and I always ended up swapping back to laptop mode and using the hardware keyboard
In conclusion I don't personally rate tablets at all - like netbooks I think they're a fad that we will eventually get over and go back to laptops.
I for one will stick with my TM2 - I do like being able to use the touchscreen aspects of Windows 7 and occasionally flip it into tablet mode if the whim takes me, but tablet mode in no way replaces the laptop mode. Just no way.
An iPad would drive me mad!
I've been using WP7 on my HD7 since October.
On an almost daily basis, I think to myself that this OS would be magnificent on a larger (7 or 10 inch screen), with panaramas expanded out to a widescreen format.
With WP7, the lines are so clean and the text so large and clear that it seems ideal for a tablet. App developers would not need to dramatically re-engineer their apps for the different resolution. WP7, as a platform, does not require dual processors, TEGRA and all of that, so they could easily build a light and long-battery-life tablet with WP7 as the platform.
I would imagine there is major friction at MS regarding the future of MS tablets; the Windows team want to see Windows 7 (or some flavour of it) running on a tablet, whereas I'm sure the WP7 team can see the immediate advantages of upscaling WP7 to a tablet OS (finger-friendly out of the box, app store already established etc.
To be perfectly honest, I couldn't see myself enjoying Windows 7 on a tablet. Installing apps, arsing around with disk cleanup every few months, constantly installing Windows Updates, dealing with legacy apps specifically designed for a mouse and definitely not a finger... would totally take the fun out of a tablet. WP7 is fun! Put that on a tablet! Think of the following apps, modified slightly to take advantage of the widescreen format, running on a WP7 tablet:
Netflix
Cocktail Flow
Amazon Kindle Reader
IMDB app
Twitter
Facebook
Flickr from Yahoo
Pictures app
Messaging
Microsoft seriously seem to be missing a trick here.
the actual reason windows phone apps would work so well on tablets is because it is silverlight. and silverlight was initially designed for a desktop, meaning it was designed with varied resolution in mind. then it was ported to the phone, so really silverlight is the ideal solution for any screen size, big or small.
Microsoft has been doing tablets for 10 years. They just never really tweaked it for touch friendliness. Plus they've been expensive as hell.
This stuff is old to Microsoft , but somehow they seem to be playing catch up as usual.
Windows running on ARM sounds interesting in theory, but what about applications? Adobe will have to release Photoshop for ARM as well if you want to use it there.
And if it will be limited to managed code (Silverlight/XNA/whatever/.Net) then there's no point in having the "big" version there.
There are enough tablets on this planet already. We don't need more, it's not a big deal if MS does not have a tablet. MS has a lot of things most of its competitors don't have and they are not crying about it. God
Windows Phone 7 has been a fresh change from the millions of rows and columns of icons we have seen in smartphones in the recent past. Although the operating system is super fast and effective, it does lack in a few areas, when compared to Android and iOS. Here’s what we would love to see in the next Windows Phone 7 handset.
Guest Mode
Everybody has personal stuff on their phone. From stored passwords, to ‘logged-in’ social networks, to credit card details, to personal images and documents. There’s a constant fear of spilling out ‘classified information’ when somebody wants to view your new smartphone. What do you do then? Enter guest mode.
I’ll quickly explain this once, if you’ve not understood it already. Guest mode allows you to hide your personal data like e-mail, social networking updates, files and login info. You have two passwords on your smartphone. Password A enables guest mode, while password B enables your normal phone functionality. It’s an extremely simple to implement feature, but somehow hasn’t been included. No longer do you have to stay worried about showing your latest WP7 handset to your friends, as you’ll have guest mode! C’mon Microsoft, please do this for us and everybody else.
Media formats and Zune
The single most irritating feature in Windows right now is Zune and how it greatly limits media formats for your smartphone. Why do all videos have to be transcoded by Zune? It’s similar to iTunes for iOS devices, but we’d have loved a free approach by Microsoft. Anyway, all is still not over and removing Zune dependency would definitely be a ‘feature’ we’d all love to have. And while we’re at it, more media format support out of the box would definitely be a brilliant addition. After all, they’re all ‘smart’phones, aren’t they?
No more Zune!
To think of it, everything in their user interface is slick and fast. From sending emails to updating your Facebook status, to clicking pictures, to accessing music - the whole experience is a breeze. Why doesn’t the same outlook have to be carried over to connectivity to the PC, data transfer and playback? Playing any video format is definitely on our priority list and transferring music files using mass storage is an easier task to accomplish as well. Even phone updates currently require you to connect your phone via Zune, whereas OTA it's quicker, faster and sexier!
More UI customization
Not particularly happy with the look of the user interface? Too bad, you can’t do a thing about it. Like iOS, WP7 is a closed system and while i ain't particularly complaining out here, how you feel about the interface from the word go, will clearly decide your overall experience and satisfaction with the phone. WP7 is as rigid as iOS. The best you can do at the moment is change tiles, add or remove them or simply change the background and tile colour.
I’ll reiterate this again, we aren’t complaining about the user interface. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the UI, but sometimes you might want that slight amount of customization that might alter the look and feel of your phone. A desktop wallpaper, an alternate launcher, or simply minor tweaks in the layout mean that you’ll never get tired of the tile interface and you’ll have one more option to choose from.
1080p recording support
So, the UI is fluid, the phone can do all your basic tasks efficiently without too much of a hassle. But, for WP7 to stay in the hunt for the top spot, it’s the ‘small’ things that need to be maxed out, starting with 1080p video recording. Take, for example, the Nokia Lumia 800. It’s one of the top smartphone offerings, it competes with the likes of the HTC Sensation and the Atrix 2, two relatively older phones. The 800 can do ‘only’ 720p, while the other two are capable of ‘1080p’. True, this isn't a major deal, because on a screen that small, there’s absolutely no visible difference. but hey if you’re paying big bucks for your smartphone, you might as well get the best of everything!
This could also be due to the fact that Microsoft has been extremely restrictive with OEMs so far. Single core CPUs, max 480 x 800 pixel resolutions are frustratingly low-end specs. That may change however, but we’re hoping the transition is quicker than their updates!
External memory card support
Another simple addition that we definitely would want in the next Windows Phone 7 device is support for an external memory card. Depending upon your phone, you may either get 8 or 16 gigs of storage, and that is definitely enough for a lot of people, but as of now, most of the handsets don’t have a microSD card slot, with a few exceptions like the Samsung Focus.
How difficult is it?
There’s a certain trend with the increasing use of cloud services and the elimination of memory card slots, and there are chances that more and more devices in the near future would come with ‘just’ the internal memory. For personal reasons, ease of use and poor operation of cloud services in the country at the moment, we’d definitely want the next-gen devices to have an external memory card. It’s just - convenient and easy! For the record, even the Nokia Lumia 900 isn’t going to have an external memory card slot, just like the Galaxy Nexus and the Sony Xperia S. With cloud becoming more and more popular, can you see the trend? Give us back our ‘microSD card support up to 32GB’ spec!
NFC support
In the year 2012, 100 million NFC-enabled smart-phones are going to be sold, according to a study. We can bet that most of them won’t be Windows Phone 7 devices. Why? Because NFC hasn’t still come to Windows Phone 7 devices. According to a Microsoft spokesman, “While NFC is not currently supported on Windows Phone 7.5, it is coming. We expect NFC-enabled Windows Phone devices to ship within the next year.” This statement was recorded in 2011, so hopefully we will get to see NFC this year.
100m in 2012, none will be WP7??
Though NFC is still in its nascent stages here, it’s quite the future of a lot of mobile related services. So, for the love of those of us who don’t change our devices for a long, long time, could you please have that option in your next WP7 phone, Microsoft ? At the moment, it’s not up to the OEMs to include or exclude this feature, so we know who’s got to buck up.
TV Out
Want to show your videos and photos from your WP7 device on your swanky new HDTV? Well, it’s not easy as 1 - 2 - 3. You’ll have to get them onto your laptop or another device and then showcase it to your friends and family. TV out via HDMI or MHL is definitely an option we would love to have. Nokia Play To is coming soon, so that limitation might have a workaround in the future, but not all HDTVs are equipped with Wi-Fi or an Ethernet port.
Well I would say more freedom to devs so better apps can be made possible.
Thanks A Lot Sir For Your Opinion
lamborg said:
Well I would say more freedom to devs so better apps can be made possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Sir,
Agree
I think they should improve the software of the camera. Lumia Nokia 800 has a great sensor, but the picture quality leaves much to be desired
davidwar said:
I think they should improve the software of the camera. Lumia Nokia 800 has a great sensor, but the picture quality leaves much to be desired
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but, it's been claimed by WPcentral the Titan 2 has a much better sensor than ever the Lumina 900 and pictures have been great (read into the reviews on WPcentral)
As with the OP.
UI customisations- YES !! No question, the option for simple but, advanced features.
1080p recording- No brainer, everyone else is doing it but, a 1080p camera that actually looks like a 1080p recording (a good quality lens and sensor standard)
NFC and TV out, sure that would be nice.
I would also like
1. New battery tech so devices can last a TRUE 4-5 days with out a charge (I'm dreaming)
2. Better graphics upgrade TO take gaming to the level of Android and the iPhone. Just compare the videos of Spinter Cell for WP7 and look at Rage for the iphone (and that's not a new game), you'll see what I mean. They are not even in the same class. To take the Xbox Live brand serious...
I know this is my second but I thought it would be nice to see some variety.
This OS looks a lot like MIUI but has some different looking features and abilities. I think it would be worth looking into.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6oLUmc2iOQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Here is a downloadable simulator, if you know how to install it, to get an idea of the look and feel. Or you can simply install it in your version of Firefox web browser under "add-ons".
http://people.mozilla.org/~myk/r2d2b2g/
This is Mozilla's webpage talking about their idea on mobile OS. I think the articles actually kind of weak.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefoxos/
Hope you guys like this.
--------------------UPDATE-------------
Here's an article about the specs of the Firefox OS.
94
Mozilla reveals Firefox OS Developer Preview Phone
By Jamie Rigg posted Jan 22nd, 2013 at 6:33 AM
Mozilla said it won't be launching its own hardware to run the in-development Firefox OS when it's finished, but the company has just announced a "Developer Preview Phone" for putting the OS through its paces. It's not quite the same as the mystery device we saw sporting Firefox OS at CES, but its specs seem almost as basic. The handset will feature a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen and 3-megapixel camera on the outside, with a 1GHz Snapdragon S1 CPU, half a gig of RAM, 4GB of microSD-expandable storage and WiFi, 2G and 3G antennae inside. Sure, that processor isn't a beast, but an 800MHz S1 does just fine in the Lumia 610. A 1580mAh battery will keep the carrier-unlocked phone running, and Mozilla is promising OTA updates to Firefox OS to keep devs, well, up to date. At the moment, we have no idea how much the phone will cost, but the first units are expected to be available next month.
The developer handset is called the Keon, according to creator Geekphone's website, and while not mentioned in the Mozilla Hacks blog post, it appears to have a more powerful cousin called the Peak. It's got a 4.3-inch qHD screen, 8-megapixel back-facing camera (with flash) and 2-megapixel shooter round the front. A 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU and larger 1800mAh battery are within, but storage, RAM and connectivity specs are the same as the smaller Keon. Mozilla may not be formally promoting this as its own dev handset, but it was still included in the picture which accompanied the announcement (see above: the Keon is in orange, the Peak in white). We're getting in contact with Mozilla to clarify, and will update you when we hear back.
A mix of IOS and MIUI iiii liiiikkkee it
I'm trying to learn java I've made a basic plugin for bukkit ( a minecraft server thing lol don't judge me ) and if anyone can help me while I take on this task like guide me through some stuff like git hub and other stuff, I will take the challenge.
Buut if some doubt me and think they can do it....go ahead.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Hi,
My name is Dragos and I'm the founder and senior designer of Viiwok, a startup which builds VR adapters and controllers.
More specifically we're currently in the final testing rounds of the first mobile HMD in the world. It's basically a hybrid tablet adapter with integrated, discrete headtracking sensors (as in not using the tablet's gyro/accelerometer sensors).
What it does is letting you slide in any 7" tablet and wirelessly displaying stereographic 3D video feed from the computer. It's basically a mobile Oculus Rift and a future proof product as well, since we're not constrained of resolution and hardware issues - because you can always use the latest and most powerful tablet at your disposal. The headtracking has basically zero latency and the FOV is about 120 degrees, using specially designed aspheric lenses with a 2" diameter for each eye. Besides native 3D support in certain titles (Crytek titles made with Cryengine, DOOM 3 BFG, etc.), we can also use TriDef for realtime side-by-side 3D rendering of currently unsupported games.
While gaming is our main scope, the HMD could be also used for virtual tourism and landscaping, in medicine (disabled or severely handicapped persons) or CAD design. Our next project to be launched is an omnidirectional treadmill which detects your body movements in real time (walking, jumping, crouching), much like a Kinnect, but without the back-facing and latency constraints.
Right now we're using Gamepad THD and Kainy for the video feed, but also Limelight for native Shield streaming ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...505510&page=15 ) while also developing our own video streaming solution in house.
REMOVED
Here are a couple of pictures with the 3D printed prototype. Of course, the final design will be much more streamlined and ergonomic.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
What is this?
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 utilizzando Tapatalk
marco9797 said:
What is this?
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 utilizzando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a head mounted, 3D display. You can stream games to it from the PC and see them in 3D. For virtual reality applications and games.
Attreyu said:
It's a head mounted, 3D display. You can stream games to it from the PC and see them in 3D. For virtual reality applications and games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do i need a great powered PC for this? Can i find It on Amazon?
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 utilizzando Tapatalk
marco9797 said:
Do i need a great powered PC for this? Can i find It on Amazon?
Inviato dal mio GT-N7100 utilizzando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need a good wifi connection (802.11n) and a medium-to-high computer. An Nvidia Kepler GPU is fine.
Basically, if you can play your games now, you don't need a new computer for the Deva HMD.
The HMD only receives the video-feed from the computer. You need a 7" tablet with 802.11n Wifi and a nice GPU (Tegra 3, Qualcomm 600/800, etc.).
No offense friend but I wouldnt want to put that scary thing on my head.
haha :laugh: fair enough. Would you put an Oculus Rift to your head ?
Attreyu said:
You need a good wifi connection (802.11n) and a medium-to-high computer. An Nvidia Kepler GPU is fine.
Basically, if you can play your games now, you don't need a new computer for the Deva HMD.
The HMD only receives the video-feed from the computer. You need a 7" tablet with 802.11n Wifi and a nice GPU (Tegra 3, Qualcomm 600/800, etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i haven't enough money for an nvidia kepler in my notebook there is a gt 520m ;so can i try also with a tablet or smartphone?
i have a note 2 but it has mali 400 mp and i don't know if is enough great powered for this...
i and my family are going to buy an ipad air for christmas... Can i try with that?Is there any app? For the power i think that the ipad has the best gpu for the mobile,i believe also now is faster than xbox 360 and play 3.
Attreyu said:
haha :laugh: fair enough. Would you put an Oculus Rift to your head ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hell no ))) I wouldnt want to put anything on my head even Google Glass which is overrated for that price tag I think. I mean if it would look like regular Sun Glasses without some thingy that looks like Universal Soldier ))) Maybe I would put it on. And as for is it Enough to have Decent Tablet? Well depends if you want to play Chilidish Android games, which have bad graphics compared to PS3 or XBOX or PC, due to the Lack of DX and OpenGL then you are all set ) but I think its better to wait till TEGRA5 Devices DX11 support full OpenGL and 6 times faster than PS3 GPU... But you have to wait till Summer 2014 and for some games that will be made for that Architecture ( So I wouldnt rush to any new Tablet right now, unless of course your budget is big enough to afford buying a newest tablet every 6 month )
I can certainly say this won't be "the first" HMD using a mobile device. I know VRase has demoed units at various conventions/conferences and has some (supposed) VR industry connections. It had a successful kickstarter, but now we are waiting on the actual commercial units. They are promising they will look better than their 3D printed prototypes (which weren't that bad).
Still, more competition in this market is good. The problem is getting content to render in SbS format (Side by Side). Especially for pre-existing mobile games, less difficult for streamed desktop stuff (easy to tell GPU how to do special render cases through injection or driver manipulation).
Funding links removed
ryocoon said:
I can certainly say this won't be "the first" HMD using a mobile device. I know VRase has demoed units at various conventions/conferences and has some (supposed) VR industry connections. It had a successful kickstarter, but now we are waiting on the actual commercial units. They are promising they will look better than their 3D printed prototypes (which weren't that bad).
Still, more competition in this market is good. The problem is getting content to render in SbS format (Side by Side). Especially for pre-existing mobile games, less difficult for streamed desktop stuff (easy to tell GPU how to do special render cases through injection or driver manipulation).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't call Vrase a HMD, they're in a totally different ballpark. Vrase is just an adapter for smartphones. They aren't intended for VR and gaming, the smartphones have screens too small for the needed FOV, and they don't have integrated sensors, meaning you must use FreePie or other 3rd party 6DOF solution. You could use Vrase for basic SBS movie watching and AR (to some extent).
I know because they're spanish, like us. They're our colleagues but they aren't aiming in the same direction. They're more orrientated towards the casual user (movies, leisure), we're going for the gaming part.
Which leads me to your second preocupations, SBS mobile gaming. AFAIK there aren't many mobile shooters worth their salt at the moment, because the cappabilities are not here. Mobile GPUs are weak still, and untill this summer when Logan makes its appearance, we're going to stick to PC streaming.
Things will change, and will change fast in this VR/mobile gaming sector, and our belief is that our product is prepared to help you fill the gap.
Attreyu said:
I wouldn't call Vrase a HMD, they're in a totally different ballpark. Vrase is just an adapter for smartphones. They aren't intended for VR and gaming, the smartphones have screens too small for the needed FOV, and they don't have integrated sensors, meaning you must use FreePie or other 3rd party 6DOF solution. You could use Vrase for basic SBS movie watching and AR (to some extent).
I know because they're spanish, like us. They're our colleagues but they aren't aiming in the same direction. They're more orrientated towards the casual user (movies, leisure), we're going for the gaming part.
Which leads me to your second preocupations, SBS mobile gaming. AFAIK there aren't many mobile shooters worth their salt at the moment, because the cappabilities are not here. Mobile GPUs are weak still, and untill this summer when Logan makes its appearance, we're going to stick to PC streaming.
Things will change, and will change fast in this VR/mobile gaming sector, and our belief is that our product is prepared to help you fill the gap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay... wait. You say that this is an HMD, but VRase isn't due to the fact you need to use a phone screen. When clearly the difference for yours appears to be (at first glance) that you use a 7" tablet. I get that you have some integrated high-precision sensors, which obviously you wouldn't have if you were using VRase. Even using a simple solution like VRase you can do similar things with that. Yes, you can watch SBS formatted movies. You could also use software to request a GPU to render 3D in SBS and then connect using Splashtop, Kainy, LimeLight, etc. You would be correct in that it wouldn't have head-tracking though (at least not without extra 3rd party sensors or using some software to forward the laggy/innaccurate sensors from the phone/tablet gyros or accelerometers). Still, both end up being Head Mounted Displays, whether they have frills or not.
I truly do wish for you to prove me wrong. If information is available for public consumption, what differentiates your product from others existing in the market? Is it basically just similar to Occulus Rift, but with a wirelessly connected screen powered by a 7 inch tablet (and thereby... upgradeable)? Do you plan to push for public availability prior to commercial release of the Rift?
I get you and agree that mobile gaming horsepower really isn't quite there yet, and the content _REALLY_ isn't there. There are maybe six or so competent shooters out there that were originally programmed for mobile (IE: not counting Quake recodes). As an aside, I do wonder if there a way to runtime modify OpenGL ES calls to force SBS rendering in such apps. I know ChainFire managed to have a Root-required piece of software that allowed for platform specific (Tegra-only, Adreno-only, etc) optimized games to run pretty well on other chipsets. However, that is neither here nor there.
ryocoon said:
Okay... wait. You say that this is an HMD, but VRase isn't due to the fact you need to use a phone screen. When clearly the difference for yours appears to be (at first glance) that you use a 7" tablet. I get that you have some integrated high-precision sensors, which obviously you wouldn't have if you were using VRase. Even using a simple solution like VRase you can do similar things with that. Yes, you can watch SBS formatted movies. You could also use software to request a GPU to render 3D in SBS and then connect using Splashtop, Kainy, LimeLight, etc. You would be correct in that it wouldn't have head-tracking though (at least not without extra 3rd party sensors or using some software to forward the laggy/innaccurate sensors from the phone/tablet gyros or accelerometers). Still, both end up being Head Mounted Displays, whether they have frills or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I'm not trying to enter an argumente here with you man If you consider the two similar enough, fair play. They are, in more ways than one. The differences are subtle enough for the average user - size, scope, sensors, etc. As I said before, Vrase is for the casual user, our product would be more towards gaiming.
ryocoon said:
I truly do wish for you to prove me wrong. If information is available for public consumption, what differentiates your product from others existing in the market? Is it basically just similar to Occulus Rift, but with a wirelessly connected screen powered by a 7 inch tablet (and thereby... upgradeable)? Do you plan to push for public availability prior to commercial release of the Rift?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to take into consideration that the "market" for these products is very much in its infancy. You have the Oculus Rift and then you have the others (Vrase, Durovis Dive, InfiniteEye, Viiwok Deva) which are adapters by all means. Our goal is to achieve full mobility, without that tangled mess. So there are about 4-5 products, out of which only the Rift is out (even though there isn't a commercial version yet) and the Vrase just finished its Kickstarter a couple of months ago. So there isn't much of a competetion between ourselfes. We're all just trying to push VR out in the open.
Yes, we are going to start a crowdfunding campaign this weekend, with delivery starting in April.
ryocoon said:
I get you and agree that mobile gaming horsepower really isn't quite there yet, and the content _REALLY_ isn't there. There are maybe six or so competent shooters out there that were originally programmed for mobile (IE: not counting Quake recodes). As an aside, I do wonder if there a way to runtime modify OpenGL ES calls to force SBS rendering in such apps. I know ChainFire managed to have a Root-required piece of software that allowed for platform specific (Tegra-only, Adreno-only, etc) optimized games to run pretty well on other chipsets. However, that is neither here nor there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. Mobile SBS gaming isn't here now, and one can only hope for things to change this year. Maybe products like ours will help push things in that direction. Android exclusive content is made of movies and a number of tech-demos here and there (most from Durovis, using Unity engine). So we're focusing to PC titles for the moment, going the streaming way.
If you want to discuss your project, that is fine. But links to funding projects are not allowed.
Thank you for your cooperation
Friendly Neighborhood Senior Moderator
And as this section is for the Nvidia shield it does not belong here.
Best fit will probably be Accessories
Thread moved
Only some years ago we saw the first Android USB sticks, they were just a way to put the same hardware that most of mobile phones had but without including screen or camera...
Summary? Quite cheap gadgets with lots of possibilities. The mini PCs had been created!
The best of them was that they directly came with hundreds of thousands of applications (from GooglePlay) and almost everybody knew how to use them since it was the same Android platform they were using on their smartphones.
Beelink was one of the companies from the Shenzhen area (created on 2010) who specialized their activity on home entertainment equipment. And once again, as well as many other companies started manufacturing components until the moment they had cumulated enough knowledge to be able to design and manufacture their own (full products).
But then, on the traditional path of development, Beelink has chosen one interesting partnership: Intel.
Yes, with the huge development of Android devices, some chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, or more recently Mediatek, have experimented a great growth. So in 2013 Intel presented a new strategy focused on recovering this big part of the market they were loosing. And so we started to see a very small (but growing number) of devices equipped with Intel processors.
Of course most of the manufacturers are still presenting Android-based devices, because of 2 reasons: licence price and mobile oriented platform with already a great ecosystem of apps.
However, with the arrival of Intel to the playground, it opened the gate to other operating systems like Windows. And needless to say that Microsoft was also really interested on taking some part of the mobile market.
Putting together the acquired knowledge on MiniPCs and the possibilities of an Intel processor, Beelink bring to us the Intel Pocket P2, a powerful device within the smallest possible place, just a little bigger than an USB flash drive.
Just plugging it into our TV and we will have a full PC with big screen, offering a resolution of FullHD (1920x1080) perfect not only for work since we will have available Microsoft Office and all other Windows software, but a perfect gaming station.
We all know that Windows has the biggest catalog of games.
To make all that possible this small stick has inside a Quad-core Intel Z3735F processor inside and 2GB of DDR3 RAM memory, and all the rest we may need is already included: dual WiFi b/g/n antenna, BT 4.0, 32GB of flash drive for storage and of course the infrared sensor for a remote controller. On the side we will find SD card reader, micro USB for OTG purposes, jack output for audio and HDMI for plugging the screen.
The OS included is Windows 8.1 that will surely be updated to Windows 10 as Microsoft announced recently.
So, we have a very interesting device, I never imagined such an easy way to have a real Windows PC with tiny power consumption that we can bring to anyway for less than 100€.
I leave you here some pictures and the full table of specs
CPU Intel® Bay Trail CR,Z3735F
Graphics lntel® HD Graphics
Bluetooth BT 4.0
RAM DDR3 2GB
ROM Onboard eMMC Flash 32GB
Connectivity WIFI IEEE 802.11b/g/n ; Dual 2.400 GHz ~ 2.497 GHz (2.4 GHz ISM Band) ; IR Sensor ; BT 4.0; USB2.0; OTG Port
OS Support Windows 8.1
Power LED
Power Button
DC in Jack
SD Card Slot
Power management Adapter 5V 2A
Multi -language
Keyboard Qwerty keyboard
Support original ecology and AZW custom UI
Work Environment 5°C--35°C，30%--90% Humidity
Storage Environment -20°C--60°C，10%--90% Humidity
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Thanks OP. Do you have troubles when activated Windows 8.1?
Because i heard people said they have troubles on activating the system on their Axgio mini-pc.
Got a hot deal on fatwallet: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1444331/?newest=1#last
Someone's talking about Windows 8.1 activation problem on it
Nice review. Been wondering about getting one myself.
Is it running Windows 8.1 with Bing?
I know some of these have some issues with the windows license (windows license is free for tablets <8" but this is no tablet), like the Pipo X7 (hence the more expensive Pipo X7S)
Good product though, still have some concerns about the operating experience and overheating problem caused by long time working. Is it easy to connect to the screen?
I also read a lot of user reviews that Windows wasnt activated and they also couldnt. The problem is that Windows 8.1 Bing editions is just free for tablets <8" I think. And this device is actually a desktop because having a HDMI. So youd need a normal Windows 8.1 license for it. I would buy one too but I cant find any information about the pirated Windows license or which ones have activated version on them.
mkdr said:
I also read a lot of user reviews that Windows wasnt activated and they also couldnt. The problem is that Windows 8.1 Bing editions is just free for tablets <8" I think. And this device is actually a desktop because having a HDMI. So youd need a normal Windows 8.1 license for it. I would buy one too but I cant find any information about the pirated Windows license or which ones have activated version on them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Iv got the Ainol,pipo x7 & the beelink pocket p1 all of them came with windows 8.1 bing fully activated NOT pirated..The pipo also comes with office 365 which alone is worth £50 but the pipo does over heat a lot
blinkone said:
Iv got the Ainol,pipo x7 & the beelink pocket p1 all of them came with windows 8.1 bing fully activated NOT pirated..The pipo also comes with office 365 which alone is worth £50 but the pipo does over heat a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive read all kind of other reviews, people got a 30days trial and it was activated. Also, even if the Bing edition is installed and activated, it's pirated, because like I said, Bing Edition is just allowed by MS on <8" devices, and this one has not even a display, it's a desktop PC.
Have the P1
Seems pretty good. Windows 8.1 activated no problem.
Reasonably snappy, haven't got past luke warm so far.
Have it running as media server for a Squeezbox & running well.
Managed to delete or corrupt the Bluetooth driver & struggling to fine a copy online...let me know if you can help!
No support online anywhere that I can fine... no response from Beelink.
Anyone know where might find appropriate driver?
I have the beelink p1 and the p2 both came activated even after a system refresh.
But I'm not seeing the windows 10 upgrade pop up on both. I also have a linx 8 tablet also running 8.1 with bing and that's not seeing it either. Hopefully win10 will be coming to these devices.
The P1 does get a little hot after a shot time of use but runs amazingly well.
The P2 runs cool no heat cooking. But it doesn't say in the specs but comes with a built in battery.
I think i'm going to try the P2... Nice price right now.
Thanks for the info
mdabar said:
Only some years ago we saw the first Android USB sticks, they were just a way to put the same hardware that most of mobile phones had but without including screen or camera...
Summary? Quite cheap gadgets with lots of possibilities. The mini PCs had been created!
The best of them was that they directly came with hundreds of thousands of applications (from GooglePlay) and almost everybody knew how to use them since it was the same Android platform they were using on their smartphones.
Beelink was one of the companies from the Shenzhen area (created on 2010) who specialized their activity on home entertainment equipment. And once again, as well as many other companies started manufacturing components until the moment they had cumulated enough knowledge to be able to design and manufacture their own (full products).
But then, on the traditional path of development, Beelink has chosen one interesting partnership: Intel.
Yes, with the huge development of Android devices, some chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, or more recently Mediatek, have experimented a great growth. So in 2013 Intel presented a new strategy focused on recovering this big part of the market they were loosing. And so we started to see a very small (but growing number) of devices equipped with Intel processors.
Of course most of the manufacturers are still presenting Android-based devices, because of 2 reasons: licence price and mobile oriented platform with already a great ecosystem of apps.
However, with the arrival of Intel to the playground, it opened the gate to other operating systems like Windows. And needless to say that Microsoft was also really interested on taking some part of the mobile market.
Putting together the acquired knowledge on MiniPCs and the possibilities of an Intel processor, Beelink bring to us the Intel Pocket P2, a powerful device within the smallest possible place, just a little bigger than an USB flash drive.
Just plugging it into our TV and we will have a full PC with big screen, offering a resolution of FullHD (1920x1080) perfect not only for work since we will have available Microsoft Office and all other Windows software, but a perfect gaming station.
We all know that Windows has the biggest catalog of games.
To make all that possible this small stick has inside a Quad-core Intel Z3735F processor inside and 2GB of DDR3 RAM memory, and all the rest we may need is already included: dual WiFi b/g/n antenna, BT 4.0, 32GB of flash drive for storage and of course the infrared sensor for a remote controller. On the side we will find SD card reader, micro USB for OTG purposes, jack output for audio and HDMI for plugging the screen.
The OS included is Windows 8.1 that will surely be updated to Windows 10 as Microsoft announced recently.
So, we have a very interesting device, I never imagined such an easy way to have a real Windows PC with tiny power consumption that we can bring to anyway for less than 100€.
I leave you here some pictures and the full table of specs
CPU Intel® Bay Trail CR,Z3735F
Graphics lntel® HD Graphics
Bluetooth BT 4.0
RAM DDR3 2GB
ROM Onboard eMMC Flash 32GB
Connectivity WIFI IEEE 802.11b/g/n ; Dual 2.400 GHz ~ 2.497 GHz (2.4 GHz ISM Band) ; IR Sensor ; BT 4.0; USB2.0; OTG Port
OS Support Windows 8.1
Power LED
Power Button
DC in Jack
SD Card Slot
Power management Adapter 5V 2A
Multi -language
Keyboard Qwerty keyboard
Support original ecology and AZW custom UI
Work Environment 5°C--35°C，30%--90% Humidity
Storage Environment -20°C--60°C，10%--90% Humidity
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got this unit about 2 months ago, installed Windows 10 as soon it was available and it works perfectly
Unlike the original Intel compute stick, no problems with BT devices and no noise from fan.
Using it as a HTPC with Kodi (now on 15.2) and could not be more pleased.
It also runs Asphalt 8 with zero problems (and Xbox One gamepad support), so its ideal for a simple but usable Windows PC, either for entertainment or simple workstation.
One thing that i can't found is a method to access the firmware to unlock the CPU speed (its locked at max 1.33Ghz, so turbo mode is never activated if needed), anyone got suggestions?
Mirror please,software is unreachable
Now price of stick is amazing i got one already. But i do have problems with activation and downloading stuffs from baidu ,drivers etc. Please some one to make mirrors for latest firmware ,drivers-old ways to download from baidu didn't work .This is support page i try to write to this guys ,but more than a month zero answer.This is link of there download page,if someone know how to download without Chinese applications ,please do share
armagani said:
Now price of stick is amazing i got one already. But i do have problems with activation and downloading stuffs from baidu ,drivers etc. Please some one to make mirrors for latest firmware ,drivers-old ways to download from baidu didn't work .This is support page i try to write to this guys ,but more than a month zero answer.This is link of there download page,if someone know how to download without Chinese applications ,please do share
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you talking about? The P2 comes with Win8.1 in English and ZERO software from 3rd parties.
You can stick a USB bootable storage device on one of the USB ports and install any OS you want from scratch...
If you choose windows 10 or even 8 the hardware is all detected and supported out of the box, plus windows update will install the latest ones. As for firmware, as far as i know there aren't any updates/backups/images... you are stuck with the UEFI that came from factory.