'Android on a stick' (Raspberry Pi like devices)

Amalgam · 18-05-2012 3:54pm #1

Interesting item featured on The Verge today.

Tiny ARM powered Android dongle with HDMI\Wifi\MicroSD\Mini USB and a Mali 400 GPU. Under $75 shipped.

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/18/3028202/mk802-android-usb-hdmi-stick

Trader link on Aliexpress: http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/563764893-New-released-Android4-0-IPTV-google-tv-smart-android-box-allwinner-A10-Model-MK802--wholesalers.html

I love the idea of these. Great back up machine or just the perfect, 'Granny\Grampa\Doddery parents internet access' option. Also great as a low voltage option. No need to have a full PC on if just browsing.

ED E · 18-05-2012 4:08pm

At 3.5 inches x 1.4 inches x 0.5 inches, the MK802 really is tiny, and inside that case there's a single-core Allwinner A10 CPU (based on an ARM Cortex A8) running at 1.5GHz, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of storage. It runs Android 4.0, though Liliputing notes that you should also be able to install other operating systems like Ubuntu on it.

Noice. I'm planning on putting in a new IPS panel so I'll have a spare one(not IPS, terrible old 19")...terminal in the sitting room anyone?
Terminals_%2528Fallout_3%2529.jpg

MoodeRator · 18-05-2012 4:39pm

Thanks OP! Better value than the Cotton Candy I was waiting on!

Amalgam · 18-05-2012 4:43pm

Having said that, the Cotton Candy has the amazing ability to run windowed on any PC/Laptop, once you plug it into a USB port. Seriously neat feature. I assume the Cotton Candy still takes on the workload, just using the USB as a VNC style display.

MoodeRator · 18-05-2012 4:50pm

I was thinking of just using this with a display to make a jukebox. Instead of an old PC that I had originally planned.

dingdong1234567 · 18-05-2012 5:48pm

Very interesting this.

BopNiblets · 20-05-2012 1:42pm

Seems like they're sold out, IT'S RASBERRY PI ALL OVER AGAIN!

Hope to see some reviews for it soon.

Amalgam · 20-05-2012 7:37pm

BopNiblets wrote: »

Seems like they're sold out..

They might not be. Amusingly.. and to be expected, being China.. what was posted on The Verge was a clone of a device put out by another company.

What was posted up top was the MK802, whereas the first stick released was the Z802, by a different manufacturer.

-=Z802=-

Manufacturer site: www.zero-devices.com

Typical retailer of the Z802: http://www.asiapads.com/product_info.php?products_id=2246

Just a heads up.

Simi · 21-05-2012 1:51am

Amalgam wrote: »

They might not be. Amusingly.. and to be expected, being China.. what was posted on The Verge was a clone of a device put out by another company.

What was posted up top was the MK802, whereas the first stick released was the Z802, by a different manufacturer.

-=Z802=-

Manufacturer site: www.zero-devices.com

Typical retailer of the Z802: http://www.asiapads.com/product_info.php?products_id=2246

Just a heads up.

Cheers, just ordered one. Also out of stock, but at least you can still order them. I can wait a month... probably.

groom · 21-05-2012 2:46pm

Simi wrote: »

Cheers, just ordered one. Also out of stock, but at least you can still order them. I can wait a month... probably.

I'm very interested to find out how this turns out.

dingdong1234567 · 21-05-2012 4:15pm

Ordered mine. I'll be waiting by the looks of things. Any thoughts on setup in terms of htpc unit to NAS or home server?

groom · 23-05-2012 1:45pm

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/567946790-Free-Shipping-Black-Android-4-0-Mini-PC-IPTV-Google-TV-Smart-Android-Box-Allwinner-A10-wholesalers.html

A source with stock apparently

Kenno90 · 23-05-2012 2:14pm

This seems really cool, can imagine everybody walking around with their computers as little USB sticks and just plugging them into monitors and keyboards.

Though.......

:mad::mad:I lost my computer again:mad::mad:

ThunbergsAreGo · 23-05-2012 4:13pm

Does look really, cool and am tempted by it alright, might wait and see how others get on with theirs.

Whats the storage on it? is it SD Card only? cant find anywhere that specifies it

dingdong1234567 · 23-05-2012 5:32pm

Its micro sd i believe

Simi · 23-05-2012 9:29pm

4gb internal. Supports micro sd up to 32gb.

Amalgam · 26-05-2012 7:58pm

The big brands are stepping in with minimal, 'naked', Android motherboards.

The BBC has posted a report on more competition to the Raspberry Pi, looming on the horizon.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18163419

Via bringing out an Android motherboard with VGA out, which I'd love to mod to be 'inside', or in the moulded foot base, of a Dell CRT, for instance.

The Via offering, below.

PrzemoF · 30-05-2012 10:06am

Good for us. I think RPi will be better for mobile projects - power usage 2.5-3.5W for RPi or 13.5W for that new competition from BBC web page.

dingdong1234567 · 30-05-2012 3:18pm

Has anyone found any decent forums on this product in terms of modding or general application of the device itself? Struggling to find anything out ther at the minute.

PrzemoF · 30-05-2012 4:46pm

http://raspberrymod.com/

seems to be the best, but if you hit something better please post the link

[they got spam flooded, so the forum is useless now - 30th May 2012]

seanin4711 · 30-05-2012 5:45pm

Amalgam wrote: »

Interesting item featured on The Verge today.

Tiny ARM powered Android dongle with HDMI\Wifi\MicroSD\Mini USB and a Mali 400 GPU. Under $75 shipped.

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/18/3028202/mk802-android-usb-hdmi-stick

Trader link on Aliexpress: http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/563764893-New-released-Android4-0-IPTV-google-tv-smart-android-box-allwinner-A10-Model-MK802--wholesalers.html

I love the idea of these. Great back up machine or just the perfect, 'Granny\Grampa\Doddery parents internet access' option. Also great as a low voltage option. No need to have a full PC on if just browsing.

i really like the idea of this!
wireless keyboard and big telly and away you go(32gb micro sd would be nice also!)
i think I will purchase!
wondering about media centre on this .
XBMC for example???

dingdong1234567 · 30-05-2012 8:16pm

seanin4711 wrote: »

i really like the idea of this!
wireless keyboard and big telly and away you go(32gb micro sd would be nice also!)
i think I will purchase!
wondering about media centre on this .
XBMC for example???

+1. Ordered mine some tine ago. Waiting for it to be dispatched. Cant wait to see where thus can go. Possible network shares would be massive addition for media playback.

Simi · 31-05-2012 12:08am

Been researching network streaming in anticipation of my sticks arrival (a man can dream). This is the best free app I've found so far.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cx.hoohol.silanoid&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImN4Lmhvb2hvbC5zaWxhbm9pZCJd

Works in a similar fashion to Samsung's Allshare DLNA player. Managed to get it to stream a few videos from my Win XP laptop so far, still working on getting my Win 7 desktop to work.

Edit: Should probably mention, i've been testing it out on a SGS i9000 with CM9 installed, so it works fine with ICS.

dingdong1234567 · 31-05-2012 9:15pm

Found a possible set up for 'hard wiring' netwrok shares to the Z802.

LINKY

Could be useful along with PcAutowaker to wake home server or your network share device automatically.

Could be the start of something awesome..........and awesome is good.

ldr · 12-06-2012 12:03pm

has anyone got one of this yet?

reganovich · 12-06-2012 1:09pm

Is there a huge opportunity to bring these into the commercial world..

I work in a multinational..our dublin office alone has over 600 dell desktops which are getting fairly rickety.

I assume they cost ~5 to 600 minumum at the time..
Using one of these dongles at a cost of 50euro per computer could enable us to update that entire fleet for a fraction of the cost!

Wonder if anyone would try this with windows?

ED E · 12-06-2012 1:15pm

You're overestimating the power of the things. They're fine for a light linux distro, they wouldnt really hack XP nvm Win7.

reganovich · 12-06-2012 1:21pm

ED E wrote: »

You're overestimating the power of the things. They're fine for a light linux distro, they wouldnt really hack XP nvm Win7.

true dat,
for the most part most people use their computers here for word processing and email..some browsing and database use.

Generally things I'd imagine this device could handle..

If you were starting from scratch and developed a full on business solution, that maybe beefs ups the processor on the device and optimises the standard services then it could be a real cost saver.

People may be left with under powered computers perhaps but thats true today of machines we use which cost ~10 times what this thing cost.

Just a thought

The future for individual office/business PCs is bound to evolve..something like this could become part of an eventual solution

Simi · 12-06-2012 7:07pm

ldr wrote: »

has anyone got one of this yet?

Still waiting for mine to ship from asipads. Suppose i should email them.

ED E · 12-06-2012 8:33pm

reganovich wrote: »

true dat,
for the most part most people use their computers here for word processing and email..some browsing and database use.

Generally things I'd imagine this device could handle..

If you were starting from scratch and developed a full on business solution, that maybe beefs ups the processor on the device and optimises the standard services then it could be a real cost saver.

People may be left with under powered computers perhaps but thats true today of machines we use which cost ~10 times what this thing cost.

Just a thought

The future for individual office/business PCs is bound to evolve..something like this could become part of an eventual solution

Personally if I was an IT manager I'd look to using them purely to dial into VMs, then put all the workload on the company servers, and invest the savings in great hardware there.

Amalgam · 12-06-2012 8:37pm

ED E wrote: »

Personally if I was an IT manager I'd look to using them purely to dial into VMs, then put all the workload on the company servers, and invest the savings in great hardware there.

Is that what's known as a, 'thin client'?

ED E · 12-06-2012 8:41pm

Amalgam wrote: »

Is that what's known as a, 'thin client'?

Actually knew the term, but didnt think to use it, as this is much more compact than the typical thins I woulda used, say 1/50th the size.

What'll be really interesting when we get smart tv like monitors with Pi like hardware built in(may exist already?).

Amalgam · 19-06-2012 2:34pm

Another device.

CX-01 Mini Android PC Android TV Box Android 4.0 Cortex A5 HDMI USB 4GB

http://www.pandawill.com/cx01-mini-android-tv-box-android-40-cortex-a5-hdmi-usb-4gb-p63620.html

I'm not endorsing the above link in any way, except to show the device exists. I've had dealings with P-ndawill, enough said.. :mad:

What is interesting, the price is heading south.. under $55 delivered. So.. if that's the case for the likes of P-ndawill, you can bet it will be the same,or cheaper, at Aliexpress and similar.

CPU and build of the device isn't up to the same standard as the mk802 \ Z802.

I can see these plummeting in price, considering dodgy tablets are the same price, there's no reason the smaller hardware footprint will shrink the base cost and retail price at some point.

groom · 19-06-2012 4:31pm

Amalgam wrote: »

Another device.

CPU and build of the device isn't up to the same standard as the mk802 \ Z802.

You mean 1Ghz v 1.5Ghz or something more. On the upside I like how you can just plug this straight into a TV without any cable

Amalgam · 19-06-2012 5:40pm

Not just the clock speed, the others are more or less bog standard 'A10' chipsets, working in tandem with the Mali400 GPU, which does a good job of cutting through HD content like a knife through butter. It is very predictable performance, on a par with the Elf/Aurora/Onda/Hyundai etc..

Dothehustle · 26-06-2012 11:45pm

Ordered one off the link on post #8
Only posted out on Monday tracking number says its still in hong kong
. Has any got one of these if so what they like??? ..looks like I,ll be waiting for a few weeks any way

mik_da_man · 12-07-2012 10:48pm

Got my Z802 a few days back.
Set it up tonight and am impressed.
Comes with all the cables u need, in a nice box and looks well made (compared to some chinese stuff I have purchased)

Does come with a 2 pin plug so u need an adaptor.
If anyone is waiting for theirs from Asispads I'd say drop them a mail on the contact page, I was waiting a while but as soon as I did that mine was shipped!

I really like it so far, angry birds on a 50" screen is good fun.
One thing I would like is to be able to access my network shares on wi-fi
I know it's not standard android functionality, but my Archos 101 can do it.
Anyone any ideas on that?

Ste- · 13-07-2012 11:41am

mik_da_man wrote: »

One thing I would like is to be able to access my network shares on wi-fi
I know it's not standard android functionality, but my Archos 101 can do it.
Anyone any ideas on that?

Check ES File Explorer.
Or if this thing is rooted. Cifs manager and any file manager.
But ES File Explorer is the easiest way I've found.

mik_da_man · 13-07-2012 2:20pm

Ste- wrote: »

mik_da_man wrote: »

One thing I would like is to be able to access my network shares on wi-fi
I know it's not standard android functionality, but my Archos 101 can do it.
Anyone any ideas on that?

Check ES File Explorer.
Or if this thing is rooted. Cifs manager and any file manager.
But ES File Explorer is the easiest way I've found.

Cheers
Looks like it will do the job

'Android on a stick' (Raspberry Pi like devices)

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