Android moves into home entertainment
- 04 August, 2009 11:11
- Comments 3
MIPS Technologies on Monday made available Android software source code to anyone interested in creating Android applications for products that use the MIPS32 chip architecture.
MIPS processors are used in a variety of home entertainment and networking devices including Sony DVD players, Motorola set-top boxes and Linksys broadband devices.
The MIPS chips are based on a different instruction set to Intel's x86 chip architecture, which dominates the computer industry, and the RISC (reduced instruction set computer) processors by Arm Holdings that are used widely in mobile phones, so a version of Android needs to be developed for the chips.
On Monday MIPS began offering just that to software developers and initiated an early access program for customers, which will give them access to MIPS engineers and specific hardware and software optimizations.
MIPS made waves in June at the Computex electronics exhibition in Taipei by showing off a home media player and a 10.4-inch LCD display with a built-in computer both running Android. They were among the first non-phones to be seen running the Google-developed OS.
"We are seeing an enormous amount of customer interest in Android on the MIPS architecture," MIPS said in a statement. "We are working closely with customers and partners to ensure that critical technologies are available for developers to take advantage of Android for consumer electronics."
The company put information about Android on MIPS on an Android Web page and said interested developers could also email the company at android@mips.com.
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Comments
Anonymous
PC's get personal again.
What I would like to see is a revival of the all in one keyboard PC- embedded devices. LIKE the old school VIC 20, C=64 and Amiga 500 but with a modern twist to it…
(not their software just their look)
The software could be Android but the external box could take a page from the past with the look and feel of a retro device, offering Wireless internet, a web browser, internet apps, etc. With flat panels TV becoming the norm in everyones household... why use them to take back control of the personal in personal computering?
If Google is looking to take a big bite out of Microsoft this is the way to go…
Note: The X-Xbox 360 is a pc... if MS decided to add a keyboard and mouse to the system, buying a newer PC every few years for websurfing would go out the window because an X-Box 360 offers USB ports, wireless connections and networking... Something to think about.
Anonymous
This statement is inaccurate: "the Google-developed OS". Google didn't develop the OS, which is open source. Google developed an API that relies on the underlying OS (Linux). Credit where credit is due.
Also, for those paying attention, it should be noted that what's really news here is that MIPS has life left in it. Linux has been available for the MIPS CPUs for 15 years. Various distributions have maintained MIPS builds over the years, and Linux has been running on MIPS-powered routers and gateways for several years as well.
I guess that the only piece of the Android platform that wasn't already available as an existing Linux component would be Google's Davlik VM. Everything else was already available for MIPS.
Anonymous
Google did work on the OS
The Linux kernel that comes with Android systems has been augmented/modified with code additions by Google. Google did not just make userland code but also kernel additions which are required for the Android userland to run.
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