For people who want to use their television to browse websites on the Internet or enjoy streaming online movies and music, the Mini X provides a solution.
This media device that fits right into one’s palm looks like a plastic box with an antenna protruding from its body to receive wireless signals. It has measurements of 2.8″ x 2.4″ x 0.5″ and a weight of merely 1.8 oz.
Inside it runs an Allwinner A10 ARM Cortex-A8 processor. It also has a custom version of Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), although it is likely that the device might be able to run Ubuntu and other Linux-based operating systems because of the presence of the Allwinner A10 chip. It had been previously noted that Ubuntu works with other devices carrying such processor.
The Mini X comes with 512 MB of DDR3 memory and 4 GB of internal Flash storage, expandable via a built-in microSD. There is also an HDMI port for connecting the device to an HDTV, and 2 USB ports for attaching it to other devices. For facility of use, the Mini X’s user interface can be controlled with an IR remote control that comes with the box.
Being made in China, it plays a wide variety of video formats. Among these are VOB, DAT, ASF, TRP, FLV, BD-ISO, AVI, MPG, MKV, TS, TP, M2TS, RM, and RMVB. It also supports a range of video codecs like RM8/9/10, VP6, Divx, Xvid, MPEG1/2/4, H.264, and VC-1. It also reads various subtitle files like SSA, SMI, SRT, SUB, and IDX. Music formats that are supported include WAV, M4A, APE, MP3, ACC, OGG, and WMA whereas image files that can be read are JPG, BMP,GIF, TIF, and PNG.
Perhaps because of the small size, this device doesn’t come with a SATA connector, VGA output, or Ethernet port. If users require such ports, they may look for a similar yet larger device and more expensive product called the Mele A1000 STB.
