Connecting a PC with a television is a passé and this is equally true for mobile devices. Though, Chromecast tried to fill the gap, but it did not succeed completely. Jide had launched an Android-as-desktop Remix OS products and it also created a buzz of sorts in this direction. Now the company is trying to take this idea to mainstream. The Remix IO is a gadget which works pretty well with your desktop or may reside in the entertainment center as well.
This gadget is practically a mixture of Mini PC gadget and is more like a set top box. When you use it like a desktop mode, users can have access to the familiar Remix OS. It has desktop style window interface which works on the Android applications.
You can interact with it via mouse and keyboard, but once you start using it as a television, it will give you an amazing Android TV experience. You get experience like Nexus Player or SHIELD TV. It will have a lot of apps running in the background. IO uses a custom “TV Mode” launcher.
Remix IO has tried to focus on TV gaming instead of trying so many things. It is more like an Android TV box with a Bluetooth controller inside it. The box is capable of handling various mobile games in TV mode. There is also a built-in control mapper to smooth the transition between touchscreen control and interface.
But this does not mean it’s perfect. The hardware is a weak spot in the Remix IO. The box uses RK3368 CPU octa-core processor running at 1.5GHz having 2GB of RAM. This is not impressive who is expecting something like a shield TV. It has be at least 16 GB that aims to position itself as a gaming console. Though MicroSD card can increase the capacity, despite that the capacity is at the lower side. Jide is not very much perturbed about these shortcomings, “the Remix IO can handle 4K video just fine… we’ll see. When it’s ready to ship to backers in March, the IO will be running Android 7.0 underneath the Remix interface”.
Other standard hardware features are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, HDMI and VGA outputs for connecting to monitors and TV adapters, USB 2.0 port, keyboards and Ethernet port. The cost of the standard model is $99. At $299 you can also get a developer kit containing Remix IO with a remote and a developer board.
One of the biggest advantages with Remix IO+ is its price which is $129. You will have to shell out $30 more if you subscribe to early bird special. Though, it will be shipped at later date.
Jide will certainly improve upon it in the next version, but it is encouraging to note that it is taking feedbacks positively and based on a feedback, it has shown its intention to offer an advanced version having better specifications.
