Review: Amiko A3 and other Android boxes

**Rob van der Does** · 13-07-15, 10:42

Originally Posted by 2stein

history shows that market leaders often failed to innovate and thus lost their leadership.

That is when talking about companies. Enigma is far more then a company.

Originally Posted by 2stein

e2 is already being attacked by tvs, streaming services, etc. so from my point of view the outlook is not rosy.

Not for DVR-functionality. And that's what receivers are about.[/QUOTE]

**2stein** · 13-07-15, 13:19

Originally Posted by Rob van der Does

Not for DVR-functionality. And that's what receivers are about.

yes, but the question is whether dvr-only boxes will survive or whether they will be replaced by boxes with more functionality, like pocket-cameras got replaced by smartphones.

**Rob van der Does** · 13-07-15, 13:50

Well, we go in circles. As long as there is no (good) combined box, there isn't even an alternative. And believe me: the a3 is no alternative for any DVR, by far not.

And in fact your example about the camera is a good example of the very same: there is (still) no smartphone that could replace a real camera. Only limited functionality and quality is embedded in a phone so far (hence there is still a market for real camera's).

Don't get me wrong: I would also like to have a TV that also holds an amplifier, blue-ray player, satellite-receiver/DVR and MM-player. But as there is no such device, I'm more then happy to have these functionalities split over multiple devices, as long as each of them does a thorough job.
And maybe this is even better: adding (and replacing in case of failure or lack of updates) cheap devices like a MM-player and a Chromecast to a TV works quite well. And a 'modular' setup is even trending....

**2stein** · 13-07-15, 14:13

yes... circles

i know that there is no good combined box available yet.
is there a good media player (not kodi based... as kodi has the same drm limitations as e2)... that can be extended with plugins/apps and has a broad community that you would recommend?

**Rob van der Does** · 13-07-15, 14:16

That's for somebody else to answer.

**gerrykiddy** · 13-07-15, 16:54

I have followed this as it is much more interesting than a lot of theory postings. Can I agree with the "final" suggestion that it is really good to be able to add relatively cheap add on devices to enable the latest fad rather than replacing the whole.

**2stein** · 13-07-15, 18:13

Originally Posted by gerrykiddy

I have followed this as it is much more interesting than a lot of theory postings. Can I agree with the "final" suggestion that it is really good to be able to add relatively cheap add on devices to enable the latest fad rather than replacing the whole.

i did not come to that conclusion because i still think that a box with the power of a vu+ duo2 or equivalent could easily do mediaplayer functions in addition to dvr. however, it needs to be based on different os than pure linux, like android ... which does not exist yet.

**Larry-G** · 13-07-15, 18:51

Originally Posted by 2stein

i did not come to that conclusion because i still think that a box with the power of a vu+ duo2 or equivalent could easily do mediaplayer functions in addition to dvr. however, it needs to be based on different os than pure linux, like android ... which does not exist yet.

you still dont seem to get the whole point of this thread, it makes no difference what so ever what OS such a device is based on, it is fully dependant on weather that OS has a active community of developers working with it. Enigma2 does have such a community android currently does not in this context.

**steve1978** · 13-07-15, 20:31

Today I was on XDA Developers forum some of you may be aware of this forum. I noticed that on the thread based around rom for the Galaxy S3 there was just under 1 million views now I'm not much of a stat man but I'm guessing that's more views than the entire world of Satellite forum put together. The world of Satellite forum in my opinion is the current market leading forum for E 2 boxes.

If a single ROM on Android can attract 1 million views how can we say that it doesn't have an active community? The problem is with the development and the hardware. Box's like the M8 are doing really well as are the Amazon fire. These have a very good following.

If a community the size of the Vix got behind an Android piece of hardware such as the Weplay or the Amiko, in the space of 12 months we could have a market leading Android box. Even if we could put Android on to a you duo2 again we would have a market leading box.

When I started this thread I was speaking hypothetically about the future in my opinion not the current. I have the amiko A3 it's an average XBMC box and an average satellite box comparable to an old dm500. But with its hardware it has the capability of being much more.

I only wish I could program, if I could I would. Maybe in a few years when the kids have left home I will start getting my head in the books!

1 last thing, most people on this forum are probably based in the UK. Here 95 percent of the population will have Sky, Virgin, or Freeview / Freesat. When you go into Europe though everybody has enigma type boxes or Android style boxes the market potential is massive! if I was a rich man I would invest in an Android operating system for a high quality satellite and multimedia receiver.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

**Larry-G** · 13-07-15, 20:47

Originally Posted by steve1978

Today I was on XDA Developers forum some of you may be aware of this forum. I noticed that on the thread based around rom for the Galaxy S3 there was just under 1 million views now I'm not much of a stat man but I'm guessing that's more views than the entire world of Satellite forum put together. The world of Satellite forum in my opinion is the current market leading forum for E 2 boxes.

If a single ROM on Android can attract 1 million views how can we say that it doesn't have an active community? The problem is with the development and the hardware. Box's like the M8 are doing really well as are the Amazon fire. These have a very good following.

If a community the size of the Vix got behind an Android piece of hardware such as the Weplay or the Amiko, in the space of 12 months we could have a market leading Android box. Even if we could put Android on to a you duo2 again we would have a market leading box.

When I started this thread I was speaking hypothetically about the future in my opinion not the current. I have the amiko A3 it's an average XBMC box and an average satellite box comparable to an old dm500. But with its hardware it has the capability of being much more.

I only wish I could program, if I could I would. Maybe in a few years when the kids have left home I will start getting my head in the books!

1 last thing, most people on this forum are probably based in the UK. Here 95 percent of the population will have Sky, Virgin, or Freeview / Freesat. When you go into Europe though everybody has enigma type boxes or Android style boxes the market potential is massive! if I was a rich man I would invest in an Android operating system for a high quality satellite and multimedia receiver.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Im not saying android does not have a dev community because it does but thats almost entirely centred around the cell phone market, for these android based receivers they pretty much just throw a stock android rom with a few tweaks onto it and leave it at that. that is not a community in my opinion, just imagine if ViX said ok fellas we have pretty much done as much as we can with this think so were stopping development, for all your future needs just look for compatible plugins. And as far as the wetek goes the best thing I ever did with mine was to put OpenElec on it.

**Rob van der Does** · 13-07-15, 21:16

Originally Posted by steve1978

The world of Satellite forum in my opinion is the current market leading forum for E 2 boxes.

That's too much honour and far from the truth.

Originally Posted by steve1978

I have the amiko A3 it's an average XBMC box and an average satellite box comparable to an old dm500. But with its hardware it has the capability of being much more.

That's virtually always the case. But in this case it's also the chipset that doesn't support the DVR-functionality enough.
And this is 'closed firmware', so there is no community involved. Just a few professional devs, in a professional environment; that never works. Fulan pulled the plug, because they couldn't manage it.
And as far as I know no Android community is busy around receivers/DVR's. At least not a large one.

Believe me: it's not that easy to match the years of development that made Enigma mature.

**Sicilian** · 14-07-15, 06:07

Just my two cents worth, not read all the the thread been too busy with real life.

1) Anyone buying an Amiko A3 @ £159 is being ripped off, Fulan (the manufactuer) has pulled the plug on them.
2) If you still really want one, save yourself a packet and buy the IDENTICAL SAB ANROID I S908, you'll get one for around £110.00. Don't believe the market BS from the UK seller, they're full of crap.
3) If you want an Android box that DOES have loads of active development with many OS's including Enigma2 go for the Wetek Play, E2 images are improving, although still in Alpha/Beta stages.
4) Wetek play imo if a great little versatile little box, for Kodi, OpenELEC, Android, etc..tinker with many OS's, you wont get bored tinkering.
5) If you want a fully functional PVR box then buy a Broadcom powered Linux Enimga 2 receiver. Xtrend ET8000 at only £159 is a bargin.
6) If you want an easy to use box purely for Kodi that plays more or less everything thrown at it, consider the COOD-E TV.

**2stein** · 14-07-15, 08:47

Originally Posted by Larry-G

you still dont seem to get the whole point of this thread, it makes no difference what so ever what OS such a device is based on, it is fully dependant on weather that OS has a active community of developers working with it. Enigma2 does have such a community android currently does not in this context.

i get that point. but it's still a mute point. in my mind (and correct me if i'm wrong) e2 will never be able to do reasonable streaming (legal drm) because of linux.
that's why i think that future "universal" settop boxes need to be based on a different os... android would be the only one suitable that comes to my mind.
the wetek box goes in that direction (and i'm playing with the idea of buying one)... but the hardware platform is way below my requirements... i'd like to have a duo2 like hardware (internal disk, card reader, 4 tuners). i know that there is no community (yet) to put android on a duo2... and it won't probably happen because the duo2 has no arm processor. but the solo 4k will have an android friendly processor (did broadcom move to an arm processor to enable it for android???), so that's why i thought it would make a lot of sense to put android (besides e2) on that box... but again: circles...

**Rob van der Does** · 14-07-15, 13:54

You should not even want to play anything with DRM.
The 'M' stands for management, but the only thing that's being managed is limiting your own, personal rights. So yes: Open Source software and limitation of rights do stand in each others way. And IMHO it should stay that way.

So to break the circle: I'm very happy with the versatility E2 offers us, including it's streaming potential.

**Sicilian** · 23-07-15, 17:48