Android Tv Box Flexiview FV-1

[deanfarnaby]

Hello all,

First post here, I've been a "spectator" for some time now but this time I didn't find the info I needed so will have to ask .

Basically I have been looking into these FV-1 units for a few days now.

I have a few little niggles I want to clear up before I go ahead and order one. (Probably order from here - UK seller, UK stock - 1080p Full HD Movie Player build in android 2.2 WiFi | eBay UK)

I will list my issues below, makes it easier to answer.

1. 1080p HDMI? - Obviously there's a few different "brands" for this bit of kit. Every website I have been on lists it as 1024 x 600 resolution. Pardon my ignorance if I'm missing something, but this is not 1080p as far as I am aware?

2. Bluetooth. Is it possible to use a Bluetooth keyboard? I hear people are having problems Not really an issue as I can use RF. Also did anybody manage to get a bluetooth headset connected?

3. 1080p video playback. I've read the thread, people are having issues, dropping frames , laggy video etc. I have an HTC incredible S, it will play MKV @ 1080p but it's slightly problematic, It's a bit jumpy from time to time. Any seeking what so ever totally screws up playback. Not sure if this is the same issue?

4. Market, I've read people having issues with the Market? Is this resolvable? I would want the full and official android market.

5. Gingerbread? / Honeycomb? . Does anybody know if were getting anywhere with this? I've read through the Whirlpool forum but it's all 2.2 related stuff. IIRC Honeycomb was desgined for tablets, optimised for larger screens etc so would probably be nice on here?

6. I use an app on my HTC IS called IMediaShare. It allows me to browse my network for DLNA servers, It also allows me to play media (videos on my phone, youtube etc) to a DLNA enabled TV. Basically with this app I could stream DLNA between Phone\PC\TV (not live tv - phone , that would be nice) . It works pretty well on my phone. Although inital DIR loading can be slow. Has anybody tried this out? Does the box support DLNA or just SMB?

7. UK TV Streaming, I see a lot of posts regarding a certain app for streaming all sorts of TV shows. Will this work in the UK? Also what is the quality like on the like of BBC Iplayer on a 50" or so screen?


Damn I've rabbited on abit, this is why I try not to post

Anyway, all help much appreciated

Thanks Ladies and Gents

-Dean

 

[jbard]

These look really cool. I have got three questions however:

1)Whats it like playing a large video file. Like if a rip a dvd and it is a 2-3GB file can it handle that? Not a HD file but maybe 720p or maybe just normal dvd quality?

2)If i have it on my wireless network can i access it via my windows computer?
So if i have a file on my computer i want to put on the android can i share it over the network or do i need to put it on a USB stick to move it?

3)Final question, Whats it like with flash games? Could you possible try a few games out and maybe make a video? Just wondered if they are playable at all or how laggy the are?

Cheers

 

[deanfarnaby]

These look really cool. I have got three questions however:


2)If i have it on my wireless network can i access it via my windows computer?
So if i have a file on my computer i want to put on the android can i share it over the network or do i need to put it on a USB stick to move it?


Cheers

1 and 3 I can't help you with. File sharing I presume is do-able. One of two ways

1. Use ES File Explorer (Or Astro I think will work aswell) You can connect to a samba (shared folder) on your pc and copy files to your device. (Within Android)

2. Use Android Samba Server. More Tricky, but easier to use once set up. You need to root your device. Then download SMB app from market. This is essentially step one but backwards. You then go on your computer, and the android device will be avaliable as a shared folder, you can then copy files accross from pc to device. (Using PC to drag and drop files will be easier and faster then using File manager in android)

Hope this helps

Dean

 

[Maurice C]

Thank you Awanone. What you mentioned about the cold boot up certainly helps. I noted the same - after the cold boot, the response to the power button becomes normal. It is tricky.

 

[Sonic-NKT]

Can someone try DicePlayer https://market.android.com/details?id=com.inisoft.mediaplayer.dice on this unit. I read that its the fastest player for accelerated h264 decoding. Maybe it gives better results.

 

[jbard]

1 and 3 I can't help you with. File sharing I presume is do-able. One of two ways

1. Use ES File Explorer (Or Astro I think will work aswell) You can connect to a samba (shared folder) on your pc and copy files to your device. (Within Android)

2. Use Android Samba Server. More Tricky, but easier to use once set up. You need to root your device. Then download SMB app from market. This is essentially step one but backwards. You then go on your computer, and the android device will be avaliable as a shared folder, you can then copy files accross from pc to device. (Using PC to drag and drop files will be easier and faster then using File manager in android)

Hope this helps

Dean

Cheers

I had no idea you could do that with android but that sounds like a great solution

 

[awanone]

thanks for the fast reply...
The files im talking about are like this..
Small encoded tvshows (23min around 70MB) in quite good quality.
i uploaded a sample file on megaupload: MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

Thanks for testing!!

OK played the video you provided today, uploaded a video on youtube for you to see there is no problem in mkv playback on 480P resolution with rock player and as well as dice player as recommended by you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbuoy1P-5gM

 

[awanone]

Did a test today on MKV format to put to rest the idea that this unit cannot play MKV file format used three formats 480P 720P and 1080P , i also used the rock player and DICE player to play back . 720P playback with rockplayer is not good so is 1080P as both you can see the trouble with the decoding, but with DICE player its all smooth sailing no major issues just occasional jerk here and there i hope this will ease people minds that this unit has issues with MKV format at high resolutions

YouTube - ‪P1030837‬‏

 

[awanone]

Hello all,

First post here, I've been a "spectator" for some time now but this time I didn't find the info I needed so will have to ask .

............................................................................................

Damn I've rabbited on abit, this is why I try not to post

Anyway, all help much appreciated

Thanks Ladies and Gents

-Dean

@deanfarnaby I will try to answer your questions based on my experience with this unit.

1. I've just posted a video in which I have played all three resolution types of MKV formats Namely 480P, 720P and 1080P , and you can see the results for yourself as to how it handles MKV and higher resolution files for video playback. It's not the hardware but the software deficiencies which gives the impression that this unit is not capable of handling higher resolutions. Rock player might not be a good option for playback which is provided with this unit and you should look into dice player as recommended by Sonic-NKT.

2. Bluetooth for this one has to update the firmware (disclaimer it might brick your unit do it at your own risk). I did try to connect a Bluetooth hands-free

 

[awanone]

These look really cool. I have got three questions however:

1)Whats it like playing a large video file. Like if a rip a dvd and it is a 2-3GB file can it handle that? Not a HD file but maybe 720p or maybe just normal dvd quality?

2)If i have it on my wireless network can i access it via my windows computer?
So if i have a file on my computer i want to put on the android can i share it over the network or do i need to put it on a USB stick to move it?

3)Final question, Whats it like with flash games? Could you possible try a few games out and maybe make a video? Just wondered if they are playable at all or how laggy the are?

Cheers

@jbard
1. i have played files upto 1 GB various formats from TV shows to mHD movies etc i have no issues though i played them from SD card , i yesterday downloaded a 720 BD rip of 5.38GB flick lets see will play it in few days have to find a SD card for it will let you know what happened . it should work without any issues.
2. already answered
3. Give me the url of few online flash games i will make a video and upload it , but give me easy games

 

[Sonic-NKT]

thanks awanone for the videos and testing the player.
it looks very promising and i just purchased my unit.
a small modding scene arround this player would be awesome!

 

[awanone]

thanks awanone for the videos and testing the player.
it looks very promising and i just purchased my unit.
a small modding scene arround this player would be awesome!

No Problem glad to be of help, exactly my sentiments this little box has a lot of potential and can out shine those expensive smart tv etc , I also establish this thread in the hope that we might be able to get few moddres and get some thing going lets hope for the best

 

[sohil786]

Hi!

I have been able to get in touch with the manufacturer, they have asked me to provide them suggestions for improving user experience and they are planing for a new firmware by next week, if u guys can send in me ur suggestions i will forward them.

My suggestion :
if u have noticed box reads sdcard (physical sdcard inserted by user) as external-sd and the physical memory available on box as sdcard (2gb box abt 600+mb available for user data+app) due to this u cant install games which require to download large files on sdcard i have requested them if box reads internal memory as NAND flash or something else like an android mobile.

 

[deanfarnaby]

No Problem glad to be of help, exactly my sentiments this little box has a lot of potential and can out shine those expensive smart tv etc , I also establish this thread in the hope that we might be able to get few moddres and get some thing going lets hope for the best

Can you test "Fantastic Contraption" for me please?

I know you said make it easy but this game is awesome.

If you haven't played before I'd make sure your entire evening is free as it's highly addictive. !

 

[Sonic-NKT]

btw, is it possible to download music/videos on the unit, save them in nand/USB/SD and play back after that?

 

[deanfarnaby]

btw, is it possible to download music/videos on the unit, save them in nand/USB/SD and play back after that?

Please note I do not condone illegal music\video download. I will only download a "backup" of a movie / song I have legally purchased.

Yup, Just like you can on an Android Phone.

You can direct HTTP download (from within browser if you can find a direct link)

Or you can install a torrent client (I use TTorrent) then use your favorite Torrent search engine , download the torrent and TTorrent will pick it up automatically.

Not sure on NewsBinz on Android, not looked into it.

Once downloaded your media players should pick them up, Although I like to use a File manager to keep my SDcard in some sort of order (Move all Movies out of Downloads directorys into a "Movies" Directory

You can even use www.zamzar.com or a similar site to convert video from youtube (or other flash stream websites) into mp4 and download it to your device

(Not sure if there is an app for this yet - suppose it would be easy enough to create an app that uses ZamZar's service - just a case of posting the URL and reciving the download link once converted)

For music, Albums etc can be torrented or found on google if you know how.

Singles - There's loads of apps in the market where you can search for mp3 files online. (I won't name them because I don't want to draw too much attention) You can then preview and download them directly from the app's - Once again media player will automatically pick these up.


Hope this helps

Deano

 

[Warpedflash]

Hi!

I have been able to get in touch with the manufacturer, they have asked me to provide them suggestions for improving user experience and they are planing for a new firmware by next week, if u guys can send in me ur suggestions i will forward them.

My suggestion :
if u have noticed box reads sdcard (physical sdcard inserted by user) as external-sd and the physical memory available on box as sdcard (2gb box abt 600+mb available for user data+app) due to this u cant install games which require to download large files on sdcard i have requested them if box reads internal memory as NAND flash or something else like an android mobile.

Get rid of the internal nand space for pics etc entirely just use whole space for apps then use SD for SD stuff.
Fix the bug with the Ethernet turning off after you sleep/wake up the device! its really damn annoying!
Give us back the original menus! there are there anyway don't hide them! We already have root so an SDK or just information regarding the .osk update package would be nice.

 

[awanone]

Can you test "Fantastic Contraption" for me please?

I know you said make it easy but this game is awesome.

If you haven't played before I'd make sure your entire evening is free as it's highly addictive. !

i ran the test of the flash game you mentioned , what i found out that i really am a failure in playing games , Yes it works on the unit no issues except i couldn't see the ad they run before the game starts perhaps i might have clicked something i am not sure ,here is the youtube video of me attempting the game

YouTube - ‪flashgame test on fv 1‬‏

 

[sohil786]

Get rid of the internal nand space for pics etc entirely just use whole space for apps then use SD for SD stuff.
Fix the bug with the Ethernet turning off after you sleep/wake up the device! its really damn annoying!
Give us back the original menus! there are there anyway don't hide them! We already have root so an SDK or just information regarding the .osk update package would be nice.

hi!

Have u tried to update the firmware.

sohil

 

[awanone]

Hi!

I have been able to get in touch with the manufacturer, they have asked me to provide them suggestions for improving user experience and they are planing for a new firmware by next week, if u guys can send in me ur suggestions i will forward them

@sohil786 thank you for asking for suggestions for improvements in the unit and relaying the same to the OEM team , here is my wish list , some are doable some I don’t know
1. the OEM should release two flavors of their updates
a. for Mainland China market/Chinese users only the language preferences set to Chinese as in the recent update found on the web
b. second aimed at International uses the language is set to English this way they can make it easy for international users to avoid “localized applications” generally video streaming websites in mainland China which we so lovingly refer to as bloat ware. I hope you understand what I am referring to if you have recently upgraded your system.
2. Kindly enable two-way communication in Bluetooth so one can attach a Bluetooth hands-free in order to have voice chat with IM such as Skype and MSN messenger. Currently Bluetooth library only enables voice out and not the other way around that would be a real bonus it will bring this unit at par with the smart TVs which to offer voice chats with Skype
3. Add generic WebCam lib in the Kernel of next update so one can attach a WebCam through provided USB for future video voice chat that also would be a great improvement.
4. Kindly enable NTFS partition reading as of now the SD card only supports fat 32 which has a limitation of maximum file size of two GB which is nothing if you're copying a 5.8 GB video file to SD card .

5. Kindly enable hardware information such as MAC address of Wi-Fi and LAN interface in the settings so people can easily set the router filters etc .
6. please enable the development menu in settings as that is very important if one wants access to system files for personal upgrades etc
This is all I can think of it this time but if I do come across some more suggestions I'll definitely make sure that I posted for you to forward them to the OEM thinking you again for the opportunity and I hope that they'll be able to do the most of my wish list.​

 

[deanfarnaby]

Hi!

I have been able to get in touch with the manufacturer, they have asked me to provide them suggestions for improving user experience and they are planing for a new firmware by next week, if u guys can send in me ur suggestions i will forward them.

My suggestion :
if u have noticed box reads sdcard (physical sdcard inserted by user) as external-sd and the physical memory available on box as sdcard (2gb box abt 600+mb available for user data+app) due to this u cant install games which require to download large files on sdcard i have requested them if box reads internal memory as NAND flash or something else like an android mobile.

Just out of interest. Which Manufacturer are you in talks with?

I've noticed these all over the web , but branded by different companies. I presume they are all made by one company (OEM) and then branded by third party.

Are you in touch directly with the OEM or a 3rd party? I would think either way it doesn't really matter, It's all the same hardware so we can all use this update when it comes.

I was just curious - I would rather have an update from the OEM

Has anybody seen anything on this device on XDA-Dev? Would be cool to get a modding community going and perhaps get some custom roms on here (Honeycomb anybody?)

I "may" sink my teeth into this a bit - It's been around 8 - 9 years since I touched a linux shell so I'll probably just break everything lol.

 

[sohil786]

Just out of interest. Which Manufacturer are you in talks with?

I've noticed these all over the web , but branded by different companies. I presume they are all made by one company (OEM) and then branded by third party.

Are you in touch directly with the OEM or a 3rd party? I would think either way it doesn't really matter, It's all the same hardware so we can all use this update when it comes.

I was just curious - I would rather have an update from the OEM

Has anybody seen anything on this device on XDA-Dev? Would be cool to get a modding community going and perhaps get some custom roms on here (Honeycomb anybody?)

I "may" sink my teeth into this a bit - It's been around 8 - 9 years since I touched a linux shell so I'll probably just break everything lol.

i m talking to Mesada, well actually after 7 days of my purchase this box went in boot loop mode (android logo comes up and restart) i have contacted suppler was ready to replace but postage was on me., i have contacted mesada they have send me a procedure, firmware and SDtool which i have attached, if u can get something out of it

There is no one working from xda on this device.


how to : http://www.multiupload.com/HTOYV4VOKZ
firmware : http://www.multiupload.com/FBH9R6X83J
SDtool : http://www.multiupload.com/RXF9QGZQ6L

sohil

 

[sohil786]

@sohil786 thank you for asking for suggestions for improvements in the unit and relaying the same to the OEM team , here is my wish list , some are doable some I don’t know
1. the OEM should release two flavors of their updates
a. for Mainland China market/Chinese users only the language preferences set to Chinese as in the recent update found on the web
b. second aimed at International uses the language is set to English this way they can make it easy for international users to avoid “localized applications” generally video streaming websites in mainland China which we so lovingly refer to as bloat ware. I hope you understand what I am referring to if you have recently upgraded your system.
2. Kindly enable two-way communication in Bluetooth so one can attach a Bluetooth hands-free in order to have voice chat with IM such as Skype and MSN messenger. Currently Bluetooth library only enables voice out and not the other way around that would be a real bonus it will bring this unit at par with the smart TVs which to offer voice chats with Skype
3. Add generic WebCam lib in the Kernel of next update so one can attach a WebCam through provided USB for future video voice chat that also would be a great improvement.
4. Kindly enable NTFS partition reading as of now the SD card only supports fat 32 which has a limitation of maximum file size of two GB which is nothing if you're copying a 5.8 GB video file to SD card .

5. Kindly enable hardware information such as MAC address of Wi-Fi and LAN interface in the settings so people can easily set the router filters etc .
6. please enable the development menu in settings as that is very important if one wants access to system files for personal upgrades etc
This is all I can think of it this time but if I do come across some more suggestions I'll definitely make sure that I posted for you to forward them to the OEM thinking you again for the opportunity and I hope that they'll be able to do the most of my wish list.​

You are great man i will send all this suggestions to them

regards
sohil

 

[deanfarnaby]

Good stuff Sophil.

I'll be getting one of these next week.

There's some stuff on the Whirlpool forums on this aswell (Link are on page 1). Would be nice to see some custom stuff. I can't download the files ATM as I am at work. Have they provided the source? or just a ROM? Is there anyway to unpack it that anybody knows of? Excuse my ignorance but I'm not up to speed on all this ROM customisation lark.

Ta

Deano

 

[deanfarnaby]

+ Thanks for the Fantastic Contraption test.

Great game, difficult and addictive, It's fiddely enough on the PC. It seemed a little difficult to get the rod's to connect to the centre of the wheels.. Probably easier with a mouse.

Thanks again matey