Amiko A3 User manual

18 19

TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 09-10/2014 — www.TELE-audiovision.com www.TELE-audiovision.com — 09-10/2014 — TELE-audiovision International — 全球发行量最大的数字电视杂志

Android PVR com capacidade total de acesso à Internet

RELATÓRIO DE ENSAIO

•sistema operacional inovador baseado em

Android

•blind scan bastante rápido

•comutação de canais bastante rápida

•com fontes Cirílico e Arabe integradas

•controlo remoto com design inovador

Bem-vindo

a uma Nova

Geração: Amiko A3

0.52

09-10/2014

www.TELE-audiovision.com/14/09/amiko

20 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 09-10/2014 — www.TELE-audiovision.com

TEST REPORT Android PVR with full Internet capability

A Android-based multi-

purpose box for all TV

and streaming options

Look at the new Amiko A3

receiver for the very rst time

and – if our reaction is any-

thing to go by – you’ll stand

in awe before this beautifully

designed piece of technol-

ogy that wants to be so much

more than a bland set-top

box. Made from high-quality

aluminium coating, the casing

alone appears like a thought-

through piece of art, rather

than a bunch of electronic

components screwed togeth-

er.

The front panel is perhaps

the most striking manifesta-

tion of the manufacturer’s fo-

cus on design and looks: All

it visibly boasts is a four-digit

segment display and an On/

Standby button together with

a status LED. Nothing else

disturbs the awless harmony

of the receiver’s front. Turn

the box around and you’ll no-

tice that this innovative de-

vice is by no means all bark

and no bite.

On the contrary, the Amiko

A3 shines with all connec-

tion options you should rea-

sonably require, such as the

obvious LNB input, RJ45 net-

work socket, micro SD slot,

internal card reader for pay

TV reception, HDMI connec-

tion for crystal-clear video

and mind-blowing audio, USB

OTG interface, as well as an

S/PDIF connection and USB

2.0 interface. Not visible from

the outside but the more im-

portant is the built-in WLAN

to connect the box wirelessly

to the Internet.

What about power supply?

The Amiko A3 comes with

an external 12V power pack

which saves valuable space

inside the receiver’s casing,

but also – and at least as im-

portantly – does away with

the need for cooling fans.

Since we’re talking about

a PVR receiver here, the

Amiko A3 is equipped with a

hard-disk slot on the bottom

of the box. At rst sight this

area looks much like a bat-

tery compartment, and in ac-

tual fact it can be opened and

accessed just as easily. The

only difference is that it can

take up any 2.5-inch hard-

disk, which is another major

bonus of this new receiver:

Your storage medium is hid-

den behind the shiny case of

the Amiko A3, rather than po-

sitioned on top or behind the

receiver, with all the cabling

that comes with an external

USB solution. We like how

Amiko has run their focus on

smart looks right through to

even the smallest detail, as

it goes to show how much

thought and effort this manu-

facturer has put into its latest

offering.

Let’s turn to the remote

control now, which is anoth-

er signature feature of the

Amiko A3. Contrary to what

we have experienced so far,

this remote does not run on

batteries, but uses a built-in

Amiko A3

Latest-generation receiver,

tting perfectly into the smartphone era

22 23

battery pack that is charged

via a micro USB interface. For

one thing, that’s good for the

environment as there are no

replaced batteries that need

to be thrown away or – in

some countries – recycled.

More importantly, howev-

er, this new approach opens

up a whole new world of op-

tions and features. What

do we mean by that? Stay

glued! For example, this re-

mote control comes with a

gyro sensor which can turn it

into a computer mouse with

a single touch of a button.

Just place your nger on the

corresponding button and the

remote control will convert all

hand movements into mouse

signals and will send them to

the receiver. A brilliant fea-

ture, especially for gaming

and surng the web.

Added to that is a touch-

sensitive scroll wheel and a

dedicated button for voice-

controlled operation. Apart

from those – any many more

– innovative features, Amiko

has opted for a minimalist

look, in keeping with the re-

ceiver itself. This makes the

remote control easy to use

and rather self-explanatory

with the least possible num-

ber of individual buttons.

One word of advice on the

remote control, before we

look at setting up the Amiko

A3 for the rst time: This new

remote comes with a stand-

by button, which must be

switched on before it can be

used. You don’t need to worry

about switching it off again,

1. Spark 2 Logo

2. Video resolution options

3. DiSEqC 1.0 settings

4. DiSEqC 1.1 settings

5. Extended installation

6. Extended installation –

satellite conguration

7. Editing satellite entries

8. FastScan search on all

frequencies of a pay TV

provider

9. Network search is supported

10. Channel search

11. The integrated blind scan

feature works extremely

reliably

12. Transponder editor

13. DiSEqC 1.3 settings

14. Blind scan – active

transponders being identied

15. All favourites lists can be

(re)named freely

however. Three hours after

the last input or command it

will power down automatically

to save bat tery pack capacity.

When the receiver is turned

on for the very rst time, an

installation wizard pops up

and guides you through the

initial setup routine, which

covers all required basics:

video output resolution (with

1080p available as an option,

as we can happily conrm),

OSD language and network

parameters. As far as the lat-

ter is concerned, the Amiko

A3 will accept cabled network

access just as well as WiFi

(802.11 b/g/n) through its

built-in WLAN. Even Internet

access through a cellphone

network (provided you buy

the required USB stick that is

available as an accessory) is

possible.

We did appreciate the fact

that the internal clock of the

receiver can be set to obtain

the correct time from the In-

ternet instead of from a DVB

channel. Some channels per-

sistently transmit inaccurate

time codes, which may cause

troubles down the line with

timed recordings, for exam-

ple. The Internet is more reli-

able here, so thank you Amiko

A3 for providing that option.

The initial setup is completed

with adjusting the receiver to

the reception equipment at

hand, and once again you’re

given all options you should

ever require, including DiSE-

qC protocols 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and

1.3, as well as unicable solu-

tions, complete with manual

LOF input, if needed. A total

of 53 European and Asian

satellite positions plus their

current transponder data are

pre-stored already. It goes

without saying that new en-

tries can be added at any

time, and existing entries can

be edited, if need be.

As far as search modes are

concerned, the Amiko A3 has

in store the standard auto-

matic mode, a manual scan

and a blind scan mode which

worked excellently in our test.

It did not take more than two

minutes for a blind scan on

HOTBIRD 13° East, which was

not only extremely fast but

also very reliable, nding all

active transponders on that

position and saving the data

24 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 09-10/2014 — www.TELE-audiovision.com

16. OSD keyboard with Cyrillic characters

17. OSD keyboard with Arabic characters

18. Recently watched channels

19. Extended EPG information

20. Searching for entries in the channel list

21. Channel logos can be downloaded from the Internet and

are then shown right next to the channel name

22. Pre-stored channel lists for various satellites or pay TV

providers are available for download from the Internet

23. Channel list of the Amiko A3

24. Info bar of the Amiko A3

26 27

onto the overall channel list.

Any search can be restricted

to free-to-air channels only or

to channels on transponders

of any selected provider.

Once the initial search is

completed the Amiko A3 will

turn into standard recep-

tion mode. Time to look at

the operating software used

for this receiver. It comes

by the name of Spark 2 and

is the latest development of

the Spark operating system.

What’s truly surprising here

is the fact that – contrary to

the vast majority of satellite

receiver operating systems –

Spark 2 is based on Google’s

25. Selection of audio track

and/or subtitles

26. OSD teletext decoder

27. Channel manager

28. List of installed apps

29. Google Play Store

30. Network settings

31. Device settings

32. Recording settings

33. Language settings

34. Remote control settings

with a list of languages that

support voice recognition

Android operating system

rather than on Linux. To be

more precise, Android 4.2

Jelly Bean is the underlying

version. We found (and very

much appreciated) that Spark

2 is not merely your run-of-

the-mill mainstream operat-

ing system with a couple of

in-house apps added on top of

a standard Android version,

but an individual solution

that combines manufacturer-

specic apps with the power-

ful foundation of the Android

operating system. As a con-

sequence, Spark 2 offers the

vast range of tried-and-test-

ed Android features together

with a software solution that

is perfectly tailored to the

Amiko 3 hardware. That’s

a remarkable achievement,

and one that provided us with

great joy and ease of use dur-

ing our everyday test.

Of course, it’s not all about

software alone, and we can-

not put enough praise on the

fact that Amiko has made

wise decisions about which

hardware components to use.

At the heart of the matter is a

Cortex A9 1.5 GHz dual core

processor, which can draw on

1 GB of RAM (which can be

expanded by inserting a Micro

SD memory card at the rear

side of the box) and 8 GB of

ROM. Ample power to guar-

antee awless TV and PVR

enjoyment, but also to make

use of the extensive list of

Android-based games.

A touch of the OK button on

the remote control opens up

the channel list that presents

all detected and stored chan-

nels in a smart layout. All the

perfectionists out there will

be delighted to know that a

dedicated menu item is avail-

able for downloading chan-

nel logos from the Internet,

which will then be shown right

next to the channel names

on the list. We tried that out

during our test and can con-

rm that this feature worked

nicely on a number of satel-

lite positions, even though

you will nd that not every

single channel comes with a

corresponding logo on the In-

ternet. Considering the sheer

number of channels on the list

(we’re talking thousands…!)

and the fact that each day

dozens of channels are either

switched on or off the channel

logo feature works surpris-

ingly well.

There’s so much to see with

such an extensive channel

list, and here the scroll func-

tion of the remote control

comes into play extremely

nicely. Much like working with

a tablet computer, for exam-

ple, you use your nger to

move over the scroll wheel –

navigating can hardly be eas-

ier! And speaking about easy:

Simply keep the language se-

lection button of the remote

28 29

35. Spark App Store

36. Games available in the Spark

App Store

37. Multimedia apps in the Spark

App Store

38. OTT section with apps for

YouTube, Kartina TV, SHOUTcast

and weather

39. YouTube App

40. Web browser – amazingly easy

to use thanks to the gyro function

built into the remote control

41. Reading TELE-audiovision with

the Amiko A3

42. Web browser

43. Unfortunately, it is not possible

to watch a second channel

live while one channel is being

recorded

44. EPG view

45. Creating timer entries

46. List of recorded events

47. The integrated multimedia

player supports almost all current

audio and video formats

48. Playback of short videos

downloaded from the web with the

Amiko A3

49. Audio playback

30 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 09-10/2014 — www.TELE-audiovision.com

50. Image viewer

51. Recording controls

52. The screen content of an

Android-based smartphone or

tablet can be transmitted to the

Amiko A3 using the Miracast

feature

53. Using the Amiko A3 to

display the content of an

Android-based smartphone on

the TV panel at home

54. A huge range of games is

available for downloading to the

Amiko A3

55. Weather app

56. Voice-controlled operation

of the Amiko A3

pressed and say the name

of the channel you’re looking

for. The receiver software will

pick up your request and will

immediately display all cor-

responding channels that are

available. Press OK if the one

you want is included and start

watching it in the blink of an

eye. This all worked amazing-

ly well during our test, even

using different languages.

And while we’re at it, the

OSD keyboard of the Amiko

A3 does not only come with

Latin characters, but also

with Cyrillic and Arabic letters

by default. This means users

in regions where those lan-

guages are spoken can work

with this receiver right away

and don’t have to download

and install extension packs to

localize the software.

Even in channel list view

concise EPG information on

the currently selected chan-

nel is presented. The same is

true whenever you switch to

a new channel, when an info

bar is shown for a short time.

Obviously, you can easily look

up extended EPG information

as well, which either provides

details on the current and

next events of seven chan-

nels at a time, or can be set

to display the entire schedule

of a single channel.

Channel switching of the

Amiko A3 is very fast and

never takes more than one

second. Video and audio qual-

ity are just as brilliant and

leave nothing to be desired.

In terms of convenience fea-

tures, this receiver sports a

clever timer function giving

users a range of repeat timer

options, complete with au-

tomatic after-run and a host

of additional useful features.

You might want to know that

the Amiko A3 does not come

with dedicated PVR buttons

on the remote control. All

those features (playback,

fast forward, rewind, etc.) are

controlled with the OK button

and the arrow keys.

We did like the editing func-

tions provided for the channel

list, which are very efcient

and sport an easy-to-use lay-

out and design. It’s always a

62 63

64 65

67 68

69 70

32 33

57. Web server of the Amiko A3 with live streaming of the currently

received TV channel

58. EPG view via the web browser

59. Virtual remote control via the web browser

60. Controlling several functions and features of the Amiko A3 via

the web browser

great idea to bring some or-

der into an extensive chan-

nel list, and with the options

offered by the Amiko A3 you

really have no excuse for not

creating a list that’s perfect

for you. Favourites lists usu-

ally are a favourite, if you’ll

excuse this pun. This way,

each family member can have

his or her individual channel

list with all of their most liked

channels.

Flexibility is also a given

thanks to the receiver’s An-

droid-based operating system

that allows to download apps

from the Internet for any im-

aginable purpose. Users can

either turn to the well-known

Google Play Store or to the

Spark App Store, both of

which combined offer a sheer

endless variety of third-party

apps for download.

We went for a number of

popular apps from the Goog-

le Play Store during our in-

depth test, all of which were

happily accepted. The Spark

App Store, on the other hand,

boasts a streamlined offer of

apps targeted specically to

Amiko receivers like the A3.

Here you will nd custom-

ised apps for Facebook, Twit-

ter, Dropbox, Skype, various

games and multimedia apps.

What they have in common is

that they have been specially

develped to make them per-

fect matches for Amiko re-

ceivers.

Generally speaking, the

Amiko A3 has many aces up

its sleeve when it comes to

Internet access, OTT and

multimedia. Apart from pre-

installed apps for YouTube,

Shazam, SHOUTcast or Kar-

tina TV, it features a media

player that works with vir-

tually all current audio and

video le formats, as well as

an image viewer. The Amiko

A3 even includes the XBMC

media player for a real Home

Theater experience.

It’s quite obvious that users

benet enormously from the

underlying Android operating

system, which provides a very

capable foundation for multi-

media usage. The integrated

web browser deserves special

praise, since it is miraculously

easy to operate and use, not

least thanks to its interplay

with the remote control’s vir-

tual mouse. We could hardly

take our hands off this fea-

ture during our test, and it

turned out we used the Amiko

A3 for an awful lot of Inter-

net surng, music and video

playback and image viewing –

apart from actually watching

TV, that is. The web browser

even integrates a Flash Play-

er, supporting motion pictures

and videos.

Last, but by no means least,

we should look at how the re-

ceiver cooperates with other

devices or features you may

use. Let’s start with the inte-

grated web server, which can

be set up to fully control the

Amiko A3 from any place on

earth that has access to the

Internet. It provides users

with a virtual remote control

and offers access to the chan-

nel list and to EPG data. This

way, it’s possible to easily

create timer entries for PVR

recording, or to edit existing

entries.

What’s more, you can watch

the receiver’s live TV picture

in your web browser, so no

matter whether you’re in your

ofce in town or on vaca-

tion on the other end of the

world, you can always use

this streaming function of the

Amiko A3 to watch your local

channels from home. After

trying out this feature we can

conrm that it not only sounds

good in theory, but also works

reliably in practise.

But even that’s not all: Ded-

icated apps for Android and

iOS have been developed for

accessing the Amiko A3 from

any mobile device that runs

on one of those two operating

systems. Here, too, a virtual

remote control is at hand, in

addition to a virtual touch pad

for controlling the mouse cur-

sor. This way it’s child’s play

to switch between channels,

create a timer entry, look up

EPG data or even transmit

music, pictures or videos from

your smartphone or tablet to

the Amiko A3 and from there

to the TV panel.

In addition, this brilliant

feature works both ways,

which means the app on the

smartphone or tablet is also

capable of displaying the cur-

rently received TV channel

from the Amiko A3. You can

even use this app to send

61. Dedicated apps are available for both iOS and Android,

which allow controlling the receiver right from the

smartphone or tablet

62. Spark 2 app for Android

63. Virtual remote control

64. Touch pad

65. Channel list of the Amiko A3 on the smartphone

66. Live TV streaming from the Amiko A3 to the smartphone

67. Creating timer entries right on the smartphone

68. EPG view on a smartphone

69. Extended EPG information

70. Settings of the Spark 2 app

71. Messages can be transmitted to the receiver right from a

smartphone or web browser

DIAGRAM

ENERGY

Active Power

Apparent Power

Mode Apparent Active Factor

Active 18 W 9.5 W 0.52

StandBy 5.5 W 0.5 W 0.09

OPINION

EXPERT

–

RECOMMENDED

PRODUCT BY

Thomas Haring

Test Center

Austria

Amiko A3

Android PVR with full Internet

■Silver

■Red

■Black

34 TELE-audiovision International — The World‘s Leading Digital TV Industry Publication — 09-10/2014 — www.TELE-audiovision.com

15 minutes of active operation, followed by 15 minutes in standby

mode.

● Extremely reliable software, smoothly tailored to the hard-

ware components.

● Android-based operating system gives users access to milli-

ons of different apps.

● Flawless integration of satellite reception into Android ope-

rating system.

● Smart user interface that is both pleasing to the eye and easy

to use.

● Using dedicated apps the receiver can easily be controlled via

smartphone or tablet.

● Integrated web server.

● Regular software updates and enhancement.

● It is not possible to watch another channel live while a recording

is taking place, not even when both channels are transmitted on the

same transponder.

messages to the receiver, so

that you can remind your (TV

watching) kids to take care of

their homework, for example,

or not to watch too much TV.

Apple fans will be happy to

note that Airplay is also sup-

ported by the Amiko A3.

The Amiko A3 is a shining

example of a new genera-

tion of receivers. One which

uses state-of-the-art operat-

ing systems across different

devices to offer breathtaking

possibilities and to make use

of all available synergies. Still,

it takes an innovative manu-

facturer to put all pieces of

that puzzle into place – Amiko

has achieved just that and

has created a very unique

user experience.

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