Android-based TV sticks activate as tablets, prove popular for bootleg videos in Asia
Android-based USB and HDMI TV sticks that incorrectly activate as tablets have proven popular in Asia, where they are reportedly used to pirate video content --?and could be inaccurately skewing Android's tablet market share at the cost of Apple's iPad.
The unofficial Android accessories, which typically run version 4.2 of the operating system and include access to the Google Play store, were highlighted by Philip Elmer-Dewitt of Apple 2.0 in a report on Monday. The diminutive devices can be found online marketed as "mini PCs," and feature connectivity options such as USB, HDMI and Bluetooth.
But their greatest use may be for pirated video content in Asia, according to "jnaina," a Singapore-based user on the Investor Village AAPL Sanity forum. According to the user, Android-based sticks can be purchased for around $100 U.S. and will come preloaded with bootleg digital copies of 20 or more movies. Additional movies can reportedly be bought from these street vendors for about $2.
According to the forum poster, the dongles are usually running Android 4.2, also known as Jelly Bean. During the activation process, the devices reportedly register as an Android tablet, though they can only be used as media players, and not for surfing the Web, checking email, or running typical tablet applications.
While there's no hard data on just how many Android TV sticks are in the wild, the fact that they are activated as tablets could help explain recent data that suggests Android tablets are beginning to overtake Apple's iPad in terms of marketshare. Despite those figures, actual tablet usage data paints a very different picture, with Apple continuing to control the lion's share of active tablet users.
For example, Web tracking data from Chitika published in July found that the iPad accounted for a whopping 84.3 percent of all tablet traffic data. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook cited that data earlier this year, when he questioned claims of newfound success for Android tablets.
"If there are lots of other tablets selling, I don't know what they're being used for," Cook said. "Because that's a pretty basic function, is Web browsing."
In July, AppleInsider described the curious statistics being used cited in global tablet market share numbers, citing analyst Benedict Evans as drawing a potential connection between such TV sticks and Android tablet activations.
The unofficial Android accessories, which typically run version 4.2 of the operating system and include access to the Google Play store, were highlighted by Philip Elmer-Dewitt of Apple 2.0 in a report on Monday. The diminutive devices can be found online marketed as "mini PCs," and feature connectivity options such as USB, HDMI and Bluetooth.
But their greatest use may be for pirated video content in Asia, according to "jnaina," a Singapore-based user on the Investor Village AAPL Sanity forum. According to the user, Android-based sticks can be purchased for around $100 U.S. and will come preloaded with bootleg digital copies of 20 or more movies. Additional movies can reportedly be bought from these street vendors for about $2.
According to the forum poster, the dongles are usually running Android 4.2, also known as Jelly Bean. During the activation process, the devices reportedly register as an Android tablet, though they can only be used as media players, and not for surfing the Web, checking email, or running typical tablet applications.
While there's no hard data on just how many Android TV sticks are in the wild, the fact that they are activated as tablets could help explain recent data that suggests Android tablets are beginning to overtake Apple's iPad in terms of marketshare. Despite those figures, actual tablet usage data paints a very different picture, with Apple continuing to control the lion's share of active tablet users.
For example, Web tracking data from Chitika published in July found that the iPad accounted for a whopping 84.3 percent of all tablet traffic data. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook cited that data earlier this year, when he questioned claims of newfound success for Android tablets.
"If there are lots of other tablets selling, I don't know what they're being used for," Cook said. "Because that's a pretty basic function, is Web browsing."
In July, AppleInsider described the curious statistics being used cited in global tablet market share numbers, citing analyst Benedict Evans as drawing a potential connection between such TV sticks and Android tablet activations.
Comments
Only problem with them is they have no touchscreen, and you have to use a mouse (which works fine in most cases).
I bought them for development of a cheap plugin kiosk system where our customers only supply the touchscreen (which emulate the mouse via usb connection)
Is that true? If so there might be a market for that. You can also buy FB 'likes'.
http://miniandroidpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/android-tv-box-set-top-tv-box.jpg
With sufficient volume, you can even get the factory to customise the name/logo on it. I have seen it bundled as IPTV service.
Wow. Well, that's one way to stick it to the competition ¡
That is one fugly MacMini.
What Google hath wrought!
Try harder not to be evil . . .
I have to ask though ... if these research companies are as eager to please those that pay them as DED clearly pointed out in his article over the weekend, why doesn't Apple play the same game and pay these jokers for research to show the truth?
make it an iPad dongle that plugs into a PC, Mac or TV and runs iOS apps.
That wouldn't do it. Apple would have to release some iOS-based code that they count in their numbers, like the Apple TV OS which already sells for $99, but make it free to download and be able to load on an SD card, USB flash drive, CD, DVD, another HDD/SSD, VM, etc.
To be clear I was not advocating any such move.
What a fuking joke. So this is how Android has 80% of the phone market and 60% of tablets. Total BS. You could literally 'activate' thousands of 'devices' using a single PC by installing Android, activating, and then uninstall.
I bet USB sticks, in car TV systems, stero systems, even appliances are being counting as Android devices. Bottom line is web usage and PROFITS prove these market share numbers are total BS. If Samsung really sold that many tablets they would have bragged about it in a press release.
This is how all these stupid research firms arrive at their market share numbers:
1. Get total activations from Google. Which includes USB sticks, Chromecast, refridgerators, ect. Divide by 12. Adjust to seasonal sales.
2. Get a sample of what % of smartphones/tablets are Samsung, Leveno, ect. Multiple that by total Google activations.
3. Get the ACTUAL sales numbers from Apple filings.
Where do you live?
In my opinion 80% Market share for Android is conservative. iPhones are rare in most countries.
We all said it before, Google is reporting activation, and as we have seen it does not translate into an actual sale of a products. one phone could be activated multiply times.
Google has been giving anyone and everyone Android to use it how they like, but it does not mean that it being use as designed since it can be modified since it is open source.
Once again all we are left with is the rule that if you want to know what is happening you have to follow the money. And apparently, it is all flowing towards Apple.
Here is the easy solution to this problem unless a publicly trade company or a company has been publicly certified reports their sales and it can be verified their number are not included in the market size calculations.
We all said it before, Google is reporting activation, and as we have seen it does not translate into an actual sale of a products. one phone could be activated multiply times.
Google has been giving anyone and everyone Android to use it how they like, but it does not mean that it being use as designed since it can be modified since it is open source.
I'm not sure that's true any more is it? I think Google counts an activation when a device connects to the Play Store and is identified by a unique device ID which never changes, so a phone being wiped and reactivated would only count as a single activation.