Soldato
EDIT: nevermind. *nods* 
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Cotton Candy Pre-Order now open
- Thread starter Glaucus
- Start date
Soldato
I'm confused? Does it have a micro usb port or not?
If not, then how can you plug in a peripheral? Where does it get it's power from?
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It has micro USB port as well as the big USB.
So it's both, big USB is for power and using it like USB pen/running it on laptop.
MicroUSB adds peripherals.
Also there's USB splitters, to allow more than one periphal.
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Android 4.0 add tones of support for things like 360 controllers etc.
Soldato
Oh well, thats fine then. If it has that there would be no problems connecting it up to a usb device (or a usb hub, as sarge says).
The documentation has no mention of the micro usb at all (either on the official site, or the reseller's site), thats what was confusing me.
another example - Always Innovating HDMI Android dongle
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/always-innovating-hdmi-android-ics-dongle-hands-on/
seems like there maybe a lot of these this year.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/01/always-innovating-hdmi-android-ics-dongle-hands-on/
seems like there maybe a lot of these this year.
Associate
Exactly. A powerful phone with HDMI and host mode USB isn't going to cost much more. The Cotton Candy is a gimmick; it might sell well in the short term to gadget magnets, but at the current price point, it hasn't got much of a future. The Raspberry Pi will squeeze it from below, and the mobile phone market from above.
Given a few of months, with the input of many, many talented hackers, I think we may all be surprised at what the Pi can do, performance-wise.
Personally speaking, I have zero interest in a Cortex-a9 based device running Android, what with the Linaro project coming along so nicely. Android is a bulky straight-jacket that serves the interests of Google over the user; just gimme a full portion Linux, neat with no added Java.
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The PI can't do much though, it's under powered and can never handle drm stuff, Netflix or a host of over stuff.
Great so your going to plug your phone into a tv all the time and be unable to use it as a phone while it's plugged in, I cant see many people doing this at all.
or if using as a mobile of with all your stuff on, your willing to lose phone functionality for hours at a time?
It is far more than a gimmic and is really usefull and it's hardly expensive at all. It's expensive compared to PI, but then it's so much more than a PI ever can be, even with software devlopment, it's missing core components they have said they won't add and are unlikely to add in future releases as it costs money and this isn't designed for the public.
You're also basically saying al tiny htpcs are also useless like appleTV and host of x86 micro machines.
Great so your going to plug your phone into a tv all the time and be unable to use it as a phone while it's plugged in, I cant see many people doing this at all.
or if using as a mobile of with all your stuff on, your willing to lose phone functionality for hours at a time?
It is far more than a gimmic and is really usefull and it's hardly expensive at all. It's expensive compared to PI, but then it's so much more than a PI ever can be, even with software devlopment, it's missing core components they have said they won't add and are unlikely to add in future releases as it costs money and this isn't designed for the public.
You're also basically saying al tiny htpcs are also useless like appleTV and host of x86 micro machines.
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If people get Android running on the Pi why wouldn't it do google rented DRM stuff or Netflix? The cotton candy seems overpriced for what it does IMO.
Glaucus said:
I can see more people doing that than buying one of these things.
As it doesn't have the hardware support needed as that requires license they didn't want to pay for as it's not a media device or even a public device. This will catch many people out, who thought you just need android. It's not that simple. It was all on their forum, but forums been taken down for release.
I'm assuming(but a guess) it has something to do with these SoC extensions, probably the second one.
How is it over priced? Compared to other hardware of same speed it's pretty much bang on. The is also devlope release, christmas when it goes on public release it is meant to be much closer to the $100 mark.
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Associate
DRM is dying a slow death and Netflix is very much a niche requirement. The majority of people wanting a small, power-efficient av media computer will be well catered for by openelec and raspbmc.
The Raspberry Pi is set to redefine the small av media computer market. Bye-bye AppleTV. If you already own one, it certainly doesn't become obsolete overnight, but sales are likely to decline heavily once the Raspberry Pi makes inroads. The variety of x86 stuff out there all has its place. When it comes to the Cotton Candy - a new entrant into the marketplace - it is not very attractive economically or feature-wise. As a home HTPC it offers nothing that your average homebrew x86 can't do and also does not boast stuff like VDPAU post-processing. Neither is it affordable enough that buying it makes any sense in terms of reduced electricity bills. As a mobile HTPC, it is more compelling, but to be honest, I doubt theres a whole lot of people out there who would shell out £150+ instead of using a phone for the same job.
Its a novelty device. That is how it is being marketed, too.
Drm is not dying all legal services use it. It's not going to kill appletv, where are people going to get there media from. All apple movies/tv etc has drm on it, same with Zune, same with Google streaming. So it's not a niche market at all.
As I've said before if all you want is to play ripped files then it's great. If you want to do anything more it's not very good at all.
It's not going to redefine the HTPC market, it's to limited, have you seen the videos of it runninng Xbmc, plays films fine, but web browsing, that would annoy me.
People are vastly overestimating what it can do. What it should turn on its head is the cheap programable computer systems. Which it can compete with things like digibee. Oh that's exactly what it was designed for.
Its a he'll of a lot cheaper than a usual x86 HTPC, it also does all the important functions of a HTPC and more as it runs a mobile OS (all though w8 will change that). It also has far more features than just electrical cost. Size, noise from fans etc.
The good thing is all these types of devices are going to fall in price fairly quickly, as they don't need the upto date SOCs.
When a similar device comes out with w8 on it, I'll be buying one for parents they only updated to a LCD tv the other year and they are wanting things like bbc iplayer and stuff. But I don't want to give them a fragmented system. Neither do they want another box under the tv, of which there isn't space.
As I've said before if all you want is to play ripped files then it's great. If you want to do anything more it's not very good at all.
It's not going to redefine the HTPC market, it's to limited, have you seen the videos of it runninng Xbmc, plays films fine, but web browsing, that would annoy me.
People are vastly overestimating what it can do. What it should turn on its head is the cheap programable computer systems. Which it can compete with things like digibee. Oh that's exactly what it was designed for.
Its a he'll of a lot cheaper than a usual x86 HTPC, it also does all the important functions of a HTPC and more as it runs a mobile OS (all though w8 will change that). It also has far more features than just electrical cost. Size, noise from fans etc.
The good thing is all these types of devices are going to fall in price fairly quickly, as they don't need the upto date SOCs.
When a similar device comes out with w8 on it, I'll be buying one for parents they only updated to a LCD tv the other year and they are wanting things like bbc iplayer and stuff. But I don't want to give them a fragmented system. Neither do they want another box under the tv, of which there isn't space.
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Associate
I think you may be overestimating the scale of uptake there. Indeed, citing Zune actually serves to demonstrate my point!
The vast array of plugins for XBMC says otherwise.
Those videos were trial demos. Once the compiled codebase is fully optimised for the ARMv6 and XBMC is tuned for the Raspberry Pi, navigation will likely be noticeably quicker. It is early days. Your average-joe using openelec won't be using the device for web browsing anyway.
Devices like the digibee don't have powerful h.264 and powerful OpenGL ES capabilities. The foundation made a point of touting the GPU's grunt: It is aimed at a broad spectrum of applications, that much is blatantly apparent.
Take one old PC, install a GT210 and a quiet heatsink. Save £100. Install the OS of your choice... Apart from Android, but really, why would one put Android on an HTPC by choice?
Indeed. Hopefully FXI can reap a modest income from the Cotton Candy and move on.
What good. Is Xbmc plugins when the hardware can't handle stuff.
Uptake, look at sale figures for appletv, the designs at not to dissimilar.
Look at how many users there are on iTunes, android market, Zune.
Zune will expand when MS enter mobile world.
Yes PI is very flexiable and is why it will crush these custom devices.
Mobile OS are perfect for HTPC, as they are designed for media consumption with easy to hit buttons.
Yes, becuase everyone has an old PC around, and silent graphics is only one of the three main noise issues. Add silent CPU and silent psu to that. Even modifying a old pc is not cheap.
Oh and your massively overestimating how many people are willing to build and install modify software. This is a computer forum, so it's fine for us. It's not fine for the public.
Uptake, look at sale figures for appletv, the designs at not to dissimilar.
Look at how many users there are on iTunes, android market, Zune.
Zune will expand when MS enter mobile world.
Yes PI is very flexiable and is why it will crush these custom devices.
Mobile OS are perfect for HTPC, as they are designed for media consumption with easy to hit buttons.
Yes, becuase everyone has an old PC around, and silent graphics is only one of the three main noise issues. Add silent CPU and silent psu to that. Even modifying a old pc is not cheap.
Oh and your massively overestimating how many people are willing to build and install modify software. This is a computer forum, so it's fine for us. It's not fine for the public.
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