The IconBIT Toucan Nano X media center became a mini PC

The IconBIT Toucan Nano X media center is positioned as a mini PC with HDMI on the Android platform, and in the near future Windows 8 RT, which fully justifies its purpose. The device has preinstalled Android 2 operating system.3 as it was in iconBIT’s Toucan Nano and Toucan W. The device has a RK2918 Cortex A8 processor and 512 Mb DDR 3 RAM.

Specifications

Video resolution: Full HD 1080p inc.ch. over the network

Processor: ARM Cortex A8 2400 DMIPS, 1.2Ghz

GPU: Vivante GC800, 2D/3D video core with OpenGL ES2 support.0 OpenVG 1.1

VPU: Hardware Full HD 1080p video decoder

APU: Hardware MPEG audio and Dolby Digital decoder

RAM: 512Mb DDR3

ROM: 4096Mb Nand Flash

Flash Accelerator Hardware

USB: 3xUSB 2.0

SDHC card reader slot

Video Output: HDMI 1.3, composite

Audio output: HDMI, SPDIF, analog stereo

Network: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 100/10M Ethernet

Android 2.3 OS

Support USB WEB Cam, 3G dongle

SKYPE and Google Talk support

Play media files from NAS, PC via LAN, Wi-Fi

Android APK support

Supports Android 2D 3D games

Power: 110-240 DC 5V

Support for Flash 10.1

A few words about the processor

The Cortex A8 reaches 1200 MHz and is capable of handling applications requiring up to 2400 DMIPS – million instructions per second .

Recall that the predecessors Toucan Nano and Toucan W had a Cortex A9 processor.

Toucan W, of course, a little faster – but at insignificant difference in speed it is noticeably more expensive, and Toucan Nano old version with 256Mb RAM will lose to the new Toucan NANO X at a similar price – after all, the new device has 512Mb RAM and has a built-in Wi FI, which is important.

In addition, the device has a 3D gas pedal Vivante GC800, which allows you to play 3D and Flash games.

Video codec decoding is also hardware.

ARM Cortex A8/A9 processors are not capable of decoding video on their own – the hardware Full HD decoder integrated into the chip is used for that. It supports decoding of “heavy” video with big streams, Blu-Ray quality level and even more.

Since the hardware decoding already works out of the box, with the current firmware and support for ARM NEON technology, many Android applications that are compatible with this technology can use the hardware decode video, built into the chip.

Toucan Nano X hardware was originally designed to work with Android 4.0, and the corresponding firmware is now being developed.

For Android OS, – from version 2.3, the resolution of 1280×720 and higher has actually become standard, since many smartphones with high resolution screens and tablets have been released with this OS.

Android 4 works well with a resolution of 1920×1080 but there are less applications for it than for Android 2.3, – so the next six months, – or even more, the version of Android 2.3 will still be the most common, and it will have more applications.

A few words about the internal memory. The device is equipped with 512 MB of “RAM”, which allows you to comfortably work with multiple applications running simultaneously. The amount of memory is also enough to update the OS to Android 4.

Exterior

The Toucan Nano X is a small silver box that makes you think of an Apple Mac mini and it’s really neat and light. There is not a single button on the device, – on the front panel there is a LED that changes color when you turn on, and IR sensor for the remote.

The device has three USB ports – two on the left side and one on the right – next to it is a slot for memory cards. All connectors are placed at the back, – Ethernet port, jack for W-Fi antenna, optical audio output, AV output, HDMI jack and power jack.

Operation

The built-in interface is simple, – “browser”, “applications”, “service”, “explorer” and “settings. Everything is intuitive and no problems with the settings.

The device can be connected to a home LAN, – both via Lan and Wi Fi. Somebody, of course, may have some difficulties with network setup itself, but not more than in other devices, but that’s a question for the router.

When using the device as a media player, the device handles all the “duties”, no lags, malfunctions or freezes when watching “heavy” mkv files. The device coped with different file formats without any problems as well – it is quite “omnivorous”.

With a configured network there is no problem with the playback.

On-line video services

Many users are already installing programs like KinoDroid, which gives access to a huge film library.

And if we remember that today it is possible to use numerous on-line video services, such as ivi, the relevance of the set-top box becomes even greater.

By the way, iconBIT NANO X is certified in the company IVI, – and the company and IVI guarantee a stable and high-quality work with free movies library ivi on NANO X.

To use this service you only need to install a client application from Google Play a few clicks in the app store , – this application and use of IVI service is completely free for clients. In addition, there is full support for Youtube, Tvigle and other similar services.

A few words about the remote

Generally speaking, the built-in remote control is only suitable for using the device as a media player. It must be said that the remote control has a backlight, so for minimal purposes it is very good. Of course, if desired, it can be used to navigate the virtual keyboard opening on the screen, but it is slow and inconvenient.

For “advanced” purposes there are two options. You can connect a full-fledged wireless keyboard and mouse by connecting the sensor to one of the USB-ports.

And, – the second option, you can connect a specially designed for Android devices gyro remote control iconBIT T-Control, which combines a full qwerty keyboard and remote control. And it’s useful not only for inernet-surfing or sending messages, but also for using in some games.

To summarize

Actually Toucan Nano X is a microcomputer with all the “pleasures” connected with it, – applications loading from Anroid Market, Internet surfing and the most important – the possibility to “fix holes” with the help of software.

Problems with time can arise in any manufacturer’s devices, and it’s not only in the hardware, but also in the fact that new audio and video formats are released much more often than we update the devices – just remember how often new codec packs for watching video on your computer are released.

And when using a computer – which is Toucan Nano X, even just as a media player, you can quickly update the software.

So, we can recommend Toucan Nano X to those customers who want to have “one box”:

– An omnivorous media player with software upgrade options

– internet access terminal with Flash support unlike Apple devices

– Gaming console for playing Android games and games designed for gaming consoles.

– A simple work PC for email, Internet surfing, and office documents.

It is quite capable to replace the second computer in the places where it is not convenient to put a noisy system, and the netbook screen is not enough.