Interesting device on Kickstarter. Looks like “Android” will rule the TV soon 
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872297630/gamestick-the-most-portable-tv-games-console-ever
Interesting - Might have to jump on this!
It seems as if the Ouya has caused a surge in the Android console market. It’s a perfect example of how people like to jump on the success bandwagon. Though I don’t necessarily like this in software because of the number of copycat games, in hardware this adds a good element of creative competition as those who are developing the hardware are the few who have the skill to do so compared to the games market.
It’s using the Google Play store which means that there’s likely going to be vast incompatibility issues at launch. I’ll pass.
I don’t know… I got a crazy strange vibe from the guys on this video… and only 100k pledge gaol? That’s all they need? VERY strange…
I actually ponder about that, Google does not license the store that easily. You must do a device they will certify as Android for it to work, and so far that only means Tablets or smartphones, with the occasional smartphone-styled MP3 Player.
You can’t just say you going to do an entirely incompatible piece of hardware, stick it on a TV dongle and force touch apps to work. Google should not license their store for such a thing…
100k is the new one million.
I thought the billion was the new million… when did economy start to deflate?
Google’s licensing requirements are not strict at all. It’s pretty much just a lower-level hardware requirement and the rest is barely considered at all.
That’s not my understanding. Android off itself is plainly open and anyone can use it for anything, but for you to add Google services (Play store or any other Google branded app) you must be able to join the Open Handset Alliance, and for that you must meet requirements like being a touch-screen device, for one, being compatible second.
Members of the alliance have also been threatened with being expelled and lose certification on any current and future products simply by joining a non-compatible project (happened recently with a manufacturing deal an Arabic company had with, I think, LG or Asus.)
That’s only if you want it on a mobile phone or tablet. There are different certification requirements for different types of devices, all you have to do is email them to work something out.
So far they’ve identified 200 games that work with it and there working with 250 developers.
Seems like it could be a good thing, and looking at how it can handle a game like shadowgun in that small thing
is amazing.
Don’t believe any showcase you saw on their video. They also showcased a frigging XBox dashboard with some video magic changing the header.
Even more curious is the $5000 discrepancy and the missing 221 backers from my quick math. A lot of this is really… curious. It’s also near spec-for-spec the exact same product as the Droid Stick A2, but with Bluetooth.
Form what I saw on there video here
Looked like it was running on Android tech, as the taskbar on the bottom I’ve seen
on a few android tablets. But we’ll know if it actually works like they say later.
I gotta agree, I love my Gears of War and Battlefield 3, these devices will never replace consoles anytime soon, if at all, this is just another way to play android games and its quite moronic… if you cant afford a console or an android device then you should not have an alternative… Playing android games on a TV wont make much difference…
Anyone else notice they had the xbox dashboard or what looked like it. Also the video says just a model it does not work… just saying…
he has an xbox controller in his hand… also listen for the sounds the controller makes, if you ever played xbox you’ll recognize them…
I honestly feel like this is a scam, and all those people who donated will be ripped off…
I really like the design. Why even bother designing a console when you can make it as the gamepad/joypad. Its incredibly portable.
I think for that alone, its already better than Ouya. Imagine if you just bring your gamepad/joypad to your friends house and start playing.
The part I don’t get is how the images get onto the screen. Surely most of the processing is inside of the controller, not inside that tiny hdmi receiver thing? So it broadcasts the screen to the receiver or something?
It said that the hdmi receiver communicates through bluetooth.
I guess you missed the news about the USB stick computer craze last year…
The famous MK802
And the new noname brand
https://www.miniand.com/products/MK802%20Android%20Mini%20PC
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/07/mk802-android-4-0-mini-pc-hands-on-impressions/
http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/89-dual-core-android-stick-pc-leaves-mk802-in-the-dust-20120814/
There are quite a few of those around now - costing no more than $89 dollars - basically Android-based HDMI stick PCs.
“This new stick made its debut on YouTube yesterday, and it’s packing a Rockchip RK3066 dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.6GHz and 1GB of DDR3 RAM. That’s a big improvement over the MK802, which offers a single-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A-8 processor. It’s also significantly better than the Z902, which just appeared last week.”
So yeh, everything is processed inside that USB stick.
What I would like to see though, is to get rid of the stick. Why bother with it. Just integrate the stick into the gamepad/joypad. Now there is more room to pack more silicons in it (or simply more room for cooling those hot mobile GPUs)
I doubt bluetooth has enough bandwidth to transmit full HD resolution video at 30 fps. Bluetooth 2.0 only had 2.1 Mbit/s data rate. Their Kickstarter page stated they will be using Bluetooth v4.0 LE (Low Energy), which means it will be using 1 Mbit/s transmission rate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_low_energy) which makes it high unlikely.
They will have to use the wifi to have sufficient bandwidth to transmit the video to TV.