Review: Nixeus Fusion XS, the Android-powered STB
Posted Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 7:38 pm by Jason Cartwright![Nixeus Fusion XS STB[9]](http://techau.tv/blog/images/Review_112F8/Nixeus-Fusion-XS-STB9.jpg "Nixeus Fusion XS STB[9]")
The Nixeus Fusion XS is an Android-powered set-top-box. Running Google Android 2.2 (Froyo), it’s certainly a few steps behind the latest 4.0 version. But does running a custom build of a mobile operating system on your HDTV make any sense? We spent some time with the device, so get ready for the breakdown.
Hardware
The device itself is a small, compact unit, weighing about the same as an average smart phone. The device contains no fans, meaning operation is silent and wrapped in a glossy black finish to match the rest of your home cinema. From the back we get access to HDMI 1.3, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g, Optical Audio Out, and couple of USB 2.0 ports for accessing media.
There isn’t any SD or media card slots like some STB competitors, which means photos need to go via a PC before they reach your TV. Using one of the rear USB ports or over your network, the Fusion XS will display JPEG, PNG, GIF, Bitmap or TIFF, basically any common image format, minus RAW support.
Inside the components include dual Sheeva Processors running at 900Mhz and 512MB DDR2 RAM.
The remote is fairly typical, which is actually a negative. This device runs custom software, which means many of the remotes buttons go unused. I’m guessing it was easy to brand a control off the shelf that get one custom made.
Format support is pretty decent, supporting AVI, WMV, MPG, VOB, IFO, MP4, ASF, TP, TS, M2TS, MOV(H.264), MKV, M-JPEG, Rmvb, FLV, MPEG 1/2/4, AVI, H.264, WMV9 and VC1 on the video side. As for audio, the Fusion XS can playback MP3, WMA, AAC, Dolby Digital, DTS, FLAC, OGG, MPEG 1 Layer 2, PCM, WMA PRO.
A full list of specs is available here.
Software
With Google Android 2.2 on-board, the device streams a custom UI suited to HDTV’s. It’s an interesting idea, but sadly has many significant drawbacks.
First of all the interface is slow, at times taking 5-10 seconds to enter an app. Other times the device would freeze all together and require a reboot, not when performing an intensive HD video decode, but simply launching an in-built app. There’s a market available to download additional applications like IMDB, Google Reader and many more.
One of the issues is that many of the apps require a mouse to use. If you are comfortable having a mouse (and likely keyboard) in your living room, then you’ll need to source your own, none ship with the device.
Streaming video from online sources like YouTube worked well, but lacks the ability to control playback like skipping forwards or backwards. While the Fusion XS features solid language support, the videos displayed in YouTube, appeared to be Asia rather than Australian.
Jumping into the Settings, the system really breaks down, revealing raw Android UI where the custom skin ends.
To be fair the Fusion XS does support a Google Chrome browser with support for Flash 10.1 to playback movies on the web. It even supports HTML5, so most modern sites render decently, even at 1080p, you will need a mouse and keyboard to use it though, there’s basic operation possible via the remote, but it’ll make you want to poke out an eye and cut of an arm.
The idea of using Android to get apps to your television is a nice idea in theory, after all its a problem pretty much every TV manufacturer is trying to solve right now. The problem is that Android apps are made for phones, not TVs. Also at Android 2.2, there’s very little in the way of developer support, all the attention (rightly so) has turned to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Gallery
Price
The device sells for A$199.99 inc GST. With the limitations mentioned above, it’s incredibly hard to justify that cost.
Overall
There’s much better set top box offerings on the market in the sub-$200 price range. Overall, I can’t recommend this device, go for a Boxee Box instead, which has is faster, has a custom remote, better app support, responsiveness and UI. Even at half the price the Nixeus XS wouldn’t be a good solution to your home local/online media streaming needs.
Consumers are wise to bad experiences, especially with a daily use device. For around the same price. the experience of an Xbox 360 with its new Metro apps is far better than this device. Although it lacks a browser, it’d be a better choice overall.
Available from Mwave.com.au
Boxee 1.5 finally released for the desktop
Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2011 at 8:00 am by Jason Cartwright
While those of us who bought the Boxee Box are used to the updated 1.5 UI for Boxee, the desktop version was forgotten about. Now months later, Boxee 1.5 for Windows, OSX and Ubuntu has been released and is available to download now.
It’s easy to see the reason behind the delay in a desktop update, with the Boxee Box providing a real revenue stream, but the desktop software is given away free. With a limited development pool, it makes business sense to focus on Boxee Box first. That said, Boxee rose to fame on the back of the desktop releases, leaving passionate fans out in the cold.
With the long delay, many users would have found local and online media playback alternatives, so it’ll be interesting to see how successful this release is. By far the biggest change is the UI update, but you can take a look at a full list of what the update includes.
More information @ Boxee
Got some time to kill over Christmas? Spend it watching TED
Posted Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 8:45 am by Jason Cartwright
Over the Christmas break, there’s often chunks of unproductive time that we could waste or put to good use. TED Talks are an amazing resource, with videos from some of the smartest people on the planet across a wide variety of disciplines. Take the opportunity to visit TED.com and watch some thought provoking presentations that may actually make you think differently.
Sure the idiot box is there if you’d prefer to shut your brain off for a while and zone out, but when that’s over, why not be entertained and educated at the same time. Best of all, this amazing content is free. Before this starts to sound too much like a paid post, it’s not by the way, the reason I’m highlighting it, is that during those late nights, it has provided me with inspiration and motivation to work harder and smarter.
The site is constantly being updated with new content, so check back frequently to see what’s new. Personally I spend a lot of time in the technology, innovation and business sections but there are videos on almost every subject matter at this point.
One of my favourite talks is from Thomas Suarez, a 12 year old app developer check it out.
More information @ TED.
YouTube Channels get a facelift
Posted Friday, December 2, 2011 at 6:10 pm by Jason Cartwright
Along with pretty much every other Google property, YouTube Channels also now have a new lick of pixels. YouTube Channels are the home for videos that you create. The new design brings consistency with the rest of the YouTube redesign that started rolling out earlier in the week.
Owners of channels can now set a featured video at the top of their channel, similar to the cover at the top of your Facebook timeline, it’s just this one is video. There’s now some interesting choices that channel owners have, including the option to set that featured video to autoplay. I’m begging you, please don’t do this and turn YouTube into the next MySpace.
The new design also features 3 tabs at the top of the page, Featured which is the default, Feed and Videos. The Videos tab provides a fantastic thumbnail view for visitors and subscribers to get a quick overview of all the videos you upload.
While the redesign of Google Reader was heavily criticised, I think the new UI for YouTube should be commended. Over the past few days I actually find myself engaging in new behaviour, visiting YouTube as a destination. Something that used to be reserved as a ‘sometimes activity’ to fill in time, YouTube videos are now presented in a way that allows users to catch up on what’s new.
In some ways YouTube now feels like it has the makings for a DVR replacement. After subscribing to your favourite content, it is now surfaced to the top making sure you never miss an episode.
Also don’t forget to subscribe to techAU on YouTube.
Can YouTube take on television ?
Posted Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 3:48 pm by Jason Cartwright
YouTube just announced with a blog post, that they are bringing loads or new original content via new YouTube channels. The new channels will be created by well-known personalities and content producers as well as some of the most innovative up-and-coming media companies and some of YouTube’s own existing partners.
The first of these new original channels will appear on YouTube starting next month and continuing over the next year. They’ll be available on any internet-connected device, with all the normal interactivity and social features of YouTube built right in.
While no details of financial arrangements between YouTube and content creators has been detailed, Google do reference their partner grants program announced in July. So is this the IPTV platform to challenge traditional over-the-air broadcast and Pay TV services ? For more information and to sign-up for updates, head to http://www.youtube.com/creators/original-channels.html
TiVo to lose Sony Music content, June 27
Posted Friday, June 24, 2011 at 6:48 pm by Jason Cartwright
In an email to TiVo subscribers, news arrives that Sony Music content will no longer be available on TiVo. Starting from the 27th June 2011 the content loss also extends to Bandit.fm content. While the reason why the Sony Music content is being pulled still remains a mystery, what is clear is that TiVo is going backwards in Australia.
No new models, features or updates are being released and now content is beginning to disappear. While the US version of TiVo are enjoying Series 4 devices with a much improved flash-driven HD UI, and iPhone/iPad apps, Australians are left out in the cold with Series 3.
While its doubtful that many consumers bought the TiVo for its IP-delivered media (still SD), any loss of content or functionality sends the platform in the wrong direction. On the 27th of June, the content will disappear automatically.
Read the full message @ TiVo
