Introducing Amiko A3

[T134]

I'll head off the 4:2:2 HD questions now with this....

A bit ago a new toy arrived. No, not an A3 unfortunately but almost as good. I got a new 9" tablet for my Budapest trip. I specifically picked this tablet because it has the identical Cortex A9 dual core 1.5GHz processor that is in the A3. If I can make things work on this thing they should also work on Amiko A3.

I installed the free version of MX Player from Google Play. Since we don't know specifically what GPU is in the A3 I disabled GPU on the tablet so the Cortex A9 had to brute the decoding all on its own. Plays CBS 4:2:2 HD full Transport Streams just fine. There are some horizontal lines with high motion but that is only because I don't have interlace settings or something set right in the tablet.

While this does not translate to Amiko A3 doing 4:2:2 HD out of the box it does show it will handle it. If it is not already enabled I'll be in Budapest for 2 weeks to work on things. I won't absolutely promise 4:2:2 yet but I think it is a safe bet that we'll get it working.

​

 

[Wayneb123]

Sounds like I have a new receiver to buy come summer.


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[Mr Tony]

looks nice..

 

[Jim S.]

Have they revealed whether it supports blind scan in hardware yet?

 

[T134]

Have they revealed whether it supports blind scan in hardware yet?

I keep forgetting to ask about the blindscan. My hopes/thoughts are for Software. The XBMC box running maybe 1000MHz ran 97W in 3m 18s as I recall. With no physical limitations like HW blindscan a software scan running on a 1.5GHz dual core could be lightning fast.

 

[Frozen]

TVheadend/XBMC is how the "old" XBMC box was setup. Works well but kind of messy by USA True FTA standards. Amiko A3 uses Spark2 to do the front/back for sateellite. XBMC can of course be ran on the box but is not a required component.

If you can run XBMC on it, how does it interact with the receiver? Normally XBMC requires one of its "supported" backends, such as TVHeadEnd or MythTV. Unless someone has written an XBMC PVR addon for Spark2, I don't understand how XBMC could utilize it.

Also, do you know if the "old" XBMC box will be available to purchase? A device running TVHeadEnd as the PVR backend might be more usable in my home's configuration. If the Amiko box isn't going to be using an XBMC-supported backend, then I hope that the other Android-based box will be made available here. But if there is a Spark2 PVR addon for XBMC that works well under all platforms e.g. Windows/Mac/Linux, then either receiver would probably work.

Just FYI on the Mac version of XBMC Gotham, the following PVR addons are supported:

Argus TV client *
DVBLink PVR client
DVB Viewer client *
MediaPortal PVR client *
MythTV cmyth PVR client *
NextPVR client *
NJOY N7 PVR client *
PVR Demo client
PVR IPTV Simple client
Tvheadend HTSP client *
VDR VNSI client *
VU+ / Enigma2 client *
Windows Media Center client - osx64 unknown edition

* These are also available for the Linux version of XBMC Frodo

 

[updatelee]

Honestly I see no improvement of blindscan speed from an Intel atom to an Intel i7. Processing power isn't a factor in blindscan. There isn't alot to process.

UDL

 

[T134]

If you can run XBMC on it, how does it interact with the receiver? Normally XBMC requires one of its "supported" backends, such as TVHeadEnd or MythTV. Unless someone has written an XBMC PVR addon for Spark2, I don't understand how XBMC could utilize it.

Amiko A3 isn't using XBMC for any part of the satellite as far as I can tell. XBMC would act as a media player, streamer, work with HDhomerun, basically everything you can do with it on a computer or tablet. I am also hoping that it and tvheadend or myth will detect the A3 tuner so we have the option to use it with XBMC and Spark2. I'll know more once I have a sample in hand to tamper with.

Also, do you know if the "old" XBMC box will be available to purchase? A device running TVHeadEnd as the PVR backend might be more usable in my home's configuration. If the Amiko box isn't going to be using an XBMC-supported backend, then I hope that the other Android-based box will be made available here. But if there is a Spark2 PVR addon for XBMC that works well under all platforms e.g. Windows/Mac/Linux, then either receiver would probably work.

No, the XBMC box won't come over to North America. Even if I was 100% happy with it for our market tomorrow it would still be more difficult for the average user and much less powerful for the same price. We'd also be stuck supporting a handful of them for years if we brought them here. If it were something simple to do like an ALi box that probably wouldn't be a big deal but trying to support 2 advanced receivers that are totally unrelated would just be too much to do for NA.

 

[neljtorres]

Looks nice

 

[Frozen]

Amiko A3 isn't using XBMC for any part of the satellite as far as I can tell. XBMC would act as a media player, streamer, work with HDhomerun, basically everything you can do with it on a computer or tablet. I am also hoping that it and tvheadend or myth will detect the A3 tuner so we have the option to use it with XBMC and Spark2. I'll know more once I have a sample in hand to tamper with.

Please let us know when you find out something, because right now whether it can work as a backend for XBMC could play a pivotal role in a purchase decision.

No, the XBMC box won't come over to North America. Even if I was 100% happy with it for our market tomorrow it would still be more difficult for the average user and much less powerful for the same price. We'd also be stuck supporting a handful of them for years if we brought them here. If it were something simple to do like an ALi box that probably wouldn't be a big deal but trying to support 2 advanced receivers that are totally unrelated would just be too much to do for NA.

If there is a way for the A3 to work as a backend to XBMC, or as a tuner for MythTV or TVHeadEnd or maybe another XBMC-supported PVR client then it won't matter. If there isn't, then my hope is that the manufacturer of that other receiver will find some other distributor to sell them in the USA so that those might prefer that receiver can still buy it. No offense to you, Joe, it's understandable that you don't want to support multiple receivers, but there is no single product that will ever satisfy everyone.

While the A3 definitely sounds like a better receiver for many, if this can't be addressed then it may not be the best choice for all, particularly for those that might want to use it to watch recordings at multiple TV's around the house. Remember that people can install XBMC on a Raspberry Pi using RaspBMC or OpenElec which provides an inexpensive way to add XBMC to every TV in your home.

The A3 does look fantastic in all other respects so I hope you are able to get this worked out.

Also on a slightly different topic, did I read that the A3 is still running Jelly Bean? If it is then you might want to make sure that the manufacturer gets the "heartbleed" fix installed before they ship these out, or upgrades to a newer version of Android that's already had the fix. See http://news.asiaone.com/news/digital1/android-users-risk-getting-heartbleed-bug

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Yup to clarify there is only a built in DVB-S2 tuner. XBMC includes support for HDhomerun ATSC/DVB-T/C and USA cable. Personally I love HDhomerun on the "old" XBMC box and wouldn't trade it for a dedicated tuner but if we can pick a low cost but good ATSC USB device I have no objection to bringing a couple to Amiko with me in May and trying to get it supported. Will do a different thread for this topic soon.

I use a Hauppauge WinTV 950Q USB tv tuner (NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM). It retails for around US$70, but apparently there's a cheapo US$29 that uses the same chipset: http://www.meritline.com/mygica-usb-atsc-tuner-for-pc-with-antenna---p-38513.aspx

I'm not sure how common that chipset is, but apparently it works with some form of XBMC.

 

[madmadworld]

can't wait

 

[Titanium]

Here are the specifications just released by Amiko Americas. Looking Impressive!

[h=2]Amiko A3 Technical Information & Specifications[/h]
Chipset
Processor: AmLogic Cortex A9 dual core 1.5GHz
GPU: Mali-400 MP, OpenGL ES 2.0
Memory: 1Gb RAM, 8Gb ROM

Operating System & Software

Android 4.2.2 “Jelly Bean”, Spark2
eMMC/ext4 filesystem
Satellite/PVR Front/Back: Spark2
XBMC: Tested with 12.2 “Frodo”, 13 “Gotham” BETA

RCU
RF, rechargeable
Voice recognition
3.5mm headphone jack
Air Mouse & Wheel
Android, IOS, PC control supported

Power
12VDC, 2A. AC adapter included.

Tuner & Satellite
Tuner type: DVB-S2 single, 400mA max
LNB voltages: 13, 18, 13/18, 13.5/18.5 selectable per satellite
Satellite Slots: 70+
Switch support: 1.0; 1.1 independent ; 22kHz
Motor support: DiSEqC 1.2, 1/3/USALS

I/O
HDMI Ports: 1
USB 2.0 full size: 1 (supports USB hub)
Ethernet: RJ45
WiFi: Internal, B/G/N
MicroSD slot: 1
MicroUSB port: 1
S/PDIF: Optical
CA: ISO7816 card reader
Hard Drive: USB, internal 2.5? SATA (HDD not included)

Physical
Weight: 1# 7.3 oz (661g)
Case Dimensions: 6 5/8? W x 5 7/16? D x 2.5? H (168mm x 138mm x 63.5mm)
Aluminum shell: .125? thick (3.18mm)

* Specifications subject to change without notice.

 

[toucan-man]

Not making hay, but am wondering why USB 2.0 instead of 3.0 ?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Not making hay, but am wondering why USB 2.0 instead of 3.0 ?

This may be your answer.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1atlju/how_come_there_are_no_androids_with_usb_30_even/

 

[KE4EST]

Yep that summed it up Scott.

 

[T134]

Thanks Scott, learned something new today. My answer to why it has 2.0 would be "because it does".

Frankly for this box the way to go is slapping a 2.5" SATA in the drive bay. No USB, or connectors or external power to deal with. Much less record issues with internal SATA vs USB HDD's too.

 

[KE4EST]

Frankly for this box the way to go is slapping a 2.5" SATA in the drive bay. No USB, or connectors or external power to deal with. Much less record issues with internal SATA vs USB HDD's too.

Well said!! And I've got one waiting to be put in!

 

[wallyhts]

Well said!! And I've got one waiting to be put in!

What you got?

I'm thinking SSD drive

 

[KE4EST]

I think it is a seagate non SSD, 750GB. SSD with at least 1TB(what I would want) is too rich for my blood right now, perhaps a hybrid.