This week Matchstick launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of raising $100 thousand to mass produce a TV streaming device that runs Firefox OS.
They raised that much in about a day.
MatchStick is a lot like Google’s Chromecast. It’s a small device that you can plug into the HDMI port of your TV. Connect a micro USB power cable and then fire up a phone, tablet or PC to find media you want to send to the MatchStick.
It supports Android and iOS and works with the Chrome and Firefox web browsers. Many apps that work with Chromecast will already be able to send content to the Matchstick.
But the team hopes to offer a platform that’s more open than Google’s Chromecast. The software is all based on the open source Firefox OS and the hardware schematics and designs for the device are available for download.
The Matchstick is also cheaper than a Chromecast. The full retail price is expected to be $25 when the device begins shipping in February, 2015. But with nearly a month left to go in the crowfunding campaign, there’s still plenty of time to reserve a Matchstick device for $18.
Found this product on Amazon… very similar to the matchbox specs:
https://www.amazon.com/SANOXY%C2%AE-MK808-Android-Rockchip-Cortex-A9/dp/B009OX22B4
Looks like if it has the right drivers, the hardware is actually ok. Don’t expect software decoding of DTS. This pretty much makes 50% of my personal library incompatible. I’ll stick with chromebox/ubuntu/xbmc/ethernet/steam_casting.
The more I look at the user reviews for rk3066 products on Amazon, the more I doubt reliable, full 1080p streaming. How are these people going to get better performance than the other products that use the same soc? Isn’t that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting different results.
Kickstarter had a bunch of great inventions that really are truly innovative. Now you get a bunch of people trying to repackage same existing technology and trying to get money out of it.
Sure they’re getting a lot of funding, but I seriously doubt people are actually getting it for the original intended purpose. They want it because it’s Firefox OS and they can hack the crap out of it which is something you can’t do with Chromecast. I’d be more sold on this if they just said, “here’s a chromecast you can hack the heck out of it and do whatever you want”
Interesting. I still prefer the Chromecast though. https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/111872452551180665185