"Ebay" Android TV Boxes

[Greg C]

I was checking them out and I was wondering what "XBMC" means. Some of these boxes have better specs than than the Nexus Player. The reason I wouldn't buy one is the lack of Google support and no future Android updates... but still.. they look pretty impressive. Have any of you used one? Anyways.. what is "XBMC?"

 

[Wilberries]

Xbmc is called kodi and is a vrry awesome open source media center. It is sometimes pre installed on a droid boxes.

I love xbmc as it is a great streaming application that is free and very customizable.

Plex is an alternative and is a fork from xbmc and requires a server component.

You can download xbmc free for different os from wjndows to android and chipset, with tge nexus player being the android x86 version.

If you are looking for an awesome streaming media center, look no further, although a little techie.

I plan on i stalling xbmcom my nexus player.

 

[Greg C]

Xbmc is called kodi and is a vrry awesome open source media center. It is sometimes pre installed on a droid boxes.

I love xbmc as it is a great streaming application that is free and very customizable.

Plex is an alternative and is a fork from xbmc and requires a server component.

You can download xbmc free for different os from wjndows to android and chipset, with tge nexus player being the android x86 version.

If you are looking for an awesome streaming media center, look no further, although a little techie.

I plan on i stalling xbmcom my nexus player.

When you say "Streaming Media Player" what exactly does that do? Is it along the same lines as Windows Media Player or Realplayer? Sorry if I sound a bit ignorant.

I found a couple links you may be interested in :

Add ons:

http://lifehacker.com/5768174/power-up-your-xbmc-installation-with-these-new-add-ons

A new app just released :

http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/release-tvmc-custom-build-xbmc-android-t2904878

 

[Wilberries]

Streaming as in all of the content is from the web and streamed (not downloaded) to your TV. You can also download some of the content, or use add-ons that enable you to PVR shows.

Check out Kodi | Open Source Home Theatre Software there is a wiki section to get started.

There are several versions of Kodi including the link you provided, most people tend to go with the original (Downloads | Kodi) as the updates are done there first and any add-ons are tested against that rev, versus the various versions that people package together.

There is a lot that you can do with it and the add-ons are endless. Add-ons are apps that provide content, (see SuperRepo.org » Worlds largest XBMC addons repository with 1,300 or XBMC | Add-on Repository), although these are unofficial most work.

As mentioned before Kodi is a little bit on the techie side and can be a lot on the techie side depending on what you want to do. But to start out its real easy to just follow the wiki, basxically you download and install Kodi (which is the media center) and then install the addons (the content) and enable them. You can customize the interface with different skins depending on your tastes.

Almost forgot Kodi also deals with all your movies, pictures and music, so if you have a large collection on a drive somewhere you can connect to it and get fanart for your movies and covers for your music.

 

[Greg C]

Streaming as in all of the content is from the web and streamed (not downloaded) to your TV. You can also download some of the content, or use add-ons that enable you to PVR shows.

Check out Kodi | Open Source Home Theatre Software there is a wiki section to get started.

There are several versions of Kodi including the link you provided, most people tend to go with the original (Downloads | Kodi) as the updates are done there first and any add-ons are tested against that rev, versus the various versions that people package together.

There is a lot that you can do with it and the add-ons are endless. Add-ons are apps that provide content, (see SuperRepo.org » Worlds largest XBMC addons repository with 1,300 or XBMC | Add-on Repository), although these are unofficial most work.

As mentioned before Kodi is a little bit on the techie side and can be a lot on the techie side depending on what you want to do. But to start out its real easy to just follow the wiki, basxically you download and install Kodi (which is the media center) and then install the addons (the content) and enable them. You can customize the interface with different skins depending on your tastes.

Almost forgot Kodi also deals with all your movies, pictures and music, so if you have a large collection on a drive somewhere you can connect to it and get fanart for your movies and covers for your music.

Again.. thanks! I will try this when I get mine.

 

[mavrrick]

I will go back to the subject of Android TV Boxes.

The problem with most of them is that they don't get allot of attention from android sites. They are a fringe product that seem to be plagued by allot of Cheap Chinese variants that get very few updates. I own a Zeals GK802 which is decent for what it is, but it wasn't a main stream Android Mini-PC and so never really got a update. There are other devices thought that do. Take a look at the Minix Neo Line. They have actually done really good with keeping their products up to date. Their current player actually supports 4k video as well. I believe they also have Google Play support.

I fully expect Minix to update either their current player or release a new player with Android TV loaded. Time will tell when that happens though. You also shouldn't knock the CPU in the Nexus player just yet. Most Likely it is the most powerful device out right now in that price point. There are very few android pc's that have CPU's that are even comparable to top end phones, much less a Intel x86 cpu and GPU. I believe even the CPU in the new Minix that supports 4k is just a higher clocked 2 year old A9 Arm CPU. It is the GPU that allows the 4k content.

XBMC is a great media center software. The 10 foot interface is decent, and there are allot of options for flexibility with it. If this is your first run with a HTPC setup, a Android PC with XBMC may be a good way to start. Just don't get overwhelmed with the options available to you.