Tronsmart, has announced its latest device, the Orion R28, its first device to include a Cortex-A17 based processor. The specialist Android media player manufacturer has built its latest device around the Rockchip RK3288, which is probably the first commercially available Cortex-A17 processor on the market. The RK3288 has a quad-core CPU, which can be clocked up to 1.8GHz, along with an ARM Mali-T764 GPU. The result is a processor package that can handle 4K H.264 and 10bit H.265 video.
The Orion R28 will come in three forms. The Pro, the Meta and the Telos. The first comes with 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. The Pro also comes with 2GB of RAM but has 16GB of storage plus 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi. The Telos model won’t initially be available, but when it is released it will feature 4GB of RAM along with 32GB of internal storage and 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi.
These first two models are currently available on pre-order from Geekbuying who want to attract developers to work on the platform. As an incentive the first batch of boxes will include a free 8GB SD card with all the source code for the device, plus a development SDK. The wholesaler is also offering a full refund to the first developer who creates a custom ROM. Developers can get the Orion R28 Pro for just $79.99.The wholesaler is also offering a full refund to the first developer who creates a custom ROM.
All three models will run Android 4.4 KitKat with the promise of over the air updates. Ports on the media player include 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x micro USB with OTG, a standard HDMI, plus a RJ-45 Ethernet port and micro SD card slot.
We are in contact with Geekbuying and we hope to get hold of a review unit, so that we can test out the Cortex-A17 processor and the ARM Mali-T764 GPU.
