Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#11

Post by duked » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:14 PM UTC

kelvin0 wrote: post #7

Osiris wrote: post #4

I've been looking around for a device that can run Netflix + Pandora + XBMC but so far each device I've found has some compromise or another.

I am one of the early backers of the OUYA, and I can confirm XBMC and Netflix work great (don't know for Pandora). The only issue I have with the OUYA is the weak Wifi support in XBMC, which forces you to: A) link the device via ethernet B) Copy files via a USB connection to OUYA

I also was an early backer of the OUYA and couldn't run a decent netflix version. I side loaded a netflix apk from a tablet version and the result was really poor (low res and impossible navigation). Do they finally have an "official" version of netflix ?

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#12

Post by x0054 » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:16 PM UTC

I think MK808 is a much better deal at the same price.

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#13

Post by ollybee » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:17 PM UTC

dlhavema wrote: post #10

a new one of these little computer in a box things seem to be popping up every couple weeks, are they selling that well to warrant so many companies making so many varieties?

Is there a good website for keeping track of these ARM SoC PC's ? I'd like to see at a glance what is currently available and detailed spec of the chipsets.

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#14

Post by zapt02 » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:21 PM UTC

cs02rm0 wrote: post #8

bdcravens wrote: post #6

Operating system — ships with optional Android 4.2.2 microSD card; supports Android and Linux Pedantic, I know, but title sounds like you get a device that dual-boots into Android and Linux. By "optional", I presume that means at added cost. By "supports", I think that means you're on your own as to distro (though I suspect a device-specific distro would come out in short order). The $45 version only ships with 512mb…

The Raspberry Pi copes with XBMC even on the 256MB model, 512 should be fine if the GPU is at least roughly equivalent. Video acceleration I gather is the usual issue, I've no idea what the software support is like on this.

Can vouch for this. My 512MB pi never utilizes more than 80MB RAM when running Raspbmc (XBMC).

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#15

Post by X-Istence » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:22 PM UTC

The downside is that the ethernet controller is run over USB. This is what kills performance drastically on the raspberry pi as well. USB is simply not a good protocol to run high speed network traffic over with low latency. The protocol is extremely chatty!

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#16

Post by ytjohn » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:28 PM UTC

ollybee wrote: post #13

dlhavema wrote: post #10

a new one of these little computer in a box things seem to be popping up every couple weeks, are they selling that well to warrant so many companies making so many varieties?

Is there a good website for keeping track of these ARM SoC PC's ? I'd like to see at a glance what is currently available and detailed spec of the chipsets.

I haven't seen such a site, but the two sites I follow for these type of devices are:

http://www.cnx-software.com/ http://liliputing.com/tag/mini-pc

They do reviews on most of these devices. I have two mk802s that I'm trying to setup as a sort of custom monitoring devices. This probably sounds like a form of pen testing (and it is similar) but I'm working on having one of these power up, search out open wifi networks, connect, then vpn into my server and start posting stats.

Among other things I do managed wifi. In the past, I've had to setup some sort of pre-configured desktop or laptop on site to do something like this. I'd like to improve on that (and a < $50 price point is nice) by dropping one of these off and letting it do the work automatically. I can do some access point monitoring remotely (ping, ssh, https, number of clients), but doing a speedtest and signal strength pretty much needs a device on premise.

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#17

Post by friism » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:33 PM UTC

x0054 wrote: post #12

I think MK808 is a much better deal at the same price.

No SATA though...

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#18

Post by joezydeco » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:34 PM UTC

bdcravens wrote: post #6

Operating system — ships with optional Android 4.2.2 microSD card; supports Android and Linux Pedantic, I know, but title sounds like you get a device that dual-boots into Android and Linux. By "optional", I presume that means at added cost. By "supports", I think that means you're on your own as to distro (though I suspect a device-specific distro would come out in short order). The $45 version only ships with 512mb…

I've run Android on an i.MX6 with 512MB of SDRAM. It's tight but you get a little more headroom with a lot of stuff disabled (phone, email, mms, calendar) and only a single app running at a time.

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#19

Post by fragsworth » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:38 PM UTC

Extremely off-topic, but did the missing advertisement on the right really catch your eye? More than an actual advertisement would?

"Companies serving the Embedded Linux Market are invited to advertise here"

It was the first thing I read on the page. Am I the only one?

Re: Tiny $45 cubic mini-PC runs Android and Linux

#20

Post by Pxtl » Tue, Sep 03, 2013, 8:40 PM UTC

The market of these kinds of devices is booming... I'm constantly surprised that no major Android company (or Google itself) has invested in this kind of device.