[OT for uk.d-i-y] Android version of Apple TV

[Tim Watts]

Is there a really decent one that people would recommend?

My WII is getting a bit long in the tooth playing Netflix content and it's Youtube and iPlayer apps are a bit rubbish.

Given how well my phone works, I'd like to replace the WII with an Android set-top unit.

However there are *many* and I find it impossible to decide if any of them are actually decent and reliable.

I could be persuaded to go AppleTV if that is truly better?

What I'm after is Netflix (running through unblock-us, but I handle that in my local DNS server so should not be a problem), Youtube, iPlayer, ideally some other channels' versions of iPlayer.

Remote operation from an Android phone would be cute but not essential.

WIFI definatelt, wired network nice to have.

Cheers!

Tim

[greyridersalso]

I'm using a Tesco Hudl with great success. Using an OTG cable it runs a wir eless mouse, connects via HDMI and has apps for Netflix, iPlayer, 4OD, dema nd5, TVCatchup, etc, etc as well as a full browser capability. I recently p icked up a splitter ITG which allows for USB connectivity and charging at t he same time - sorted. Amazon are soon to release their own TV box which do es all the same stuff except you can't unplug it and use it as a tablet.... ..

[polygonum]

Want similar! Must work in conjunction with Virgin cable. If it could use an external drive (USB stick, SSD or real disc) to also allow recording, all the better. Ideally controllable from any computer - PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or anything Android.

Lack of UK watch-again on Apple TV is a killer.

[<address_is]

Chromecast? Start iplayer/YouTube/Netflix stuff on your phone then send to the TV. I use Bubble UPNP to send videos from my dlna nas to the TV.

[Tim Watts]

No - really needs to be stand alone.

I did consider that, but then everyone wants my phone when they want to watch something. Same problem with hooking up my phone via an HDMI adaptor.

[dennis]

XBMC on a RPi myself. Controlled over the network from my android phone.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I think OpenELEC is a pre-canned distribution of this.

[David]

Yes. I use RASPBMC myself - excellent. Unfortunately it doesn't do DRM'd things like Netflix, which the OP wants...

[dennis]

Yes, there are two different ones on the RPi official site, I have tried them both but there isn't much between them.

There is an android app to control them or you can use a web browser if you enable them.

You get sound over HDMI if that's any help.

[RS Wood]

Still thinking about your use case, but by coincidence, here's a new device from Amazon that clearly hopes to compete:

Feed: The Register Title: Amazon sets FIRE to your living room in bid to shake up TV streaming Author: Iain Thomson Link:

Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 20:02:07 -0400

Promises $99 Apple-crushing gaming and media console

After months of speculation, Amazon has finally released a $99 set-top box that'll tout TV programs, music, and games to subscribers.?

[RS Wood]

Have you looked into Roku? Again, I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for, but Roku is pretty great. I've got a NAS at home (FreeNaS bought from iXsystems), which offers the PlexMediaServer as a plug in. You put all your local content on the NAS and push it through the Roku to your television.

That's all I use it for, since here in Senegal most of the good "channels" aren't available to me due to IP address or due to wimpy bandwidth. But the Roku has a ton of channels on offer as well. Check into it to see which ones you want. Offhand I don't think the BBC iplayer is one of them.

I did some research before settling on the NAS+Roku with Plex solution, and it seems a lot of Apple TV people aren't feeling overly thrilled with it.

[RS Wood]

Should have checked before sending. BBC IPlayer is one of the channels, so I spoke too soon.

For what it's worth, the remote is pretty cool. Runs on two AA batteries, and it has a headphone jack in the side. Insert your headqphones and the TV goes quiet, good for watching while someone else sleeps. I'm pretty impressed.

[dennis]

Some of the smart dvd and bluray players do net tv and iplayer and stuff like that.

[Tim Watts]

Yes - that was one that I did look at. Seemed (on paper) quite good. I think there was an issue of "no Netflix" once - but that's been fixed, I think??

Apple TV in Android format would be the simplest description. Settop box, WIFI (and optionally wired) in, HDMI out.

Cool. Is Roko an andoid ecosystem or does it have its own?

[Dave Liquorice]

FSVO "do". The ones I've played with have been rather basic compared to the "real thing" on a PC. Also you'll be lucky to get more than a couple of firmware updates from the set manufacturer before they change models and drop support for yours after a couple of years.

[RS Wood]

Amazingly, this just hit OSNews: AndroidTV.

Feed: OSNews Title: This is Android TV Author: Thom Holwerda Link:

Date: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 15:53:13 -0400 According to documents obtained exclusively by The Verge, Google is about to launch a renewed assault on your television set called Android TV. Major video app providers are building for the platform right now. Android TV may sound like a semantic difference - after all, Google TV was based on Android - but it's something very different. Android TV is no longer a crazy attempt to turn your TV into a bigger, more powerful smartphone. "Android TV is an entertainment interface, not a computing platform," writes Google. "It's all about finding and enjoying content with the least amount of friction." It will be "cinematic, fun, fluid, and fast." What does that all mean? It means that Android TV will look and feel a lot more like the rest of the set top boxes on the market, including Apple TV, Amazon's Fire TV, and Roku. All these devices look the same. It's going to be very hard to stand out if they all have the same services. On top of that - I'm not putting a separate box next to my TV. Why can't my tablet or PC act as the box? This is 2014, is it not? If you see a separate box, they blew it.

[Marek Novotny]

I bought the new FireTV from Amazon. I had a Roku but like this new platform much more. Mostly because it feel responsive. The voice search thing really works well too. But mostly it feels like a response box.

I did a voice search for a TV show I wanted to watch and it found it both on Hulu and Amazon and defaulted to Hulu, I'm guessing cause it was cheaper?? Google will hit soon I'm sure, and Apple already has their Apple TV platform, which I bought into about 3 times and still don't like it.