OUYA Review

[vcoleiro1]

They are still working on the UI , expect another update prior to the retail launch

 

[Asiyura]

I was reading this http://www.reddit.com/r/ouya/comments/1gk0km/ouya_advertised_as_a_hackers_welcome_device_quite/

About Ouya and its "openness".

From what I've read, you can root the Ouya, but if you mess up something, it's really hard to get to recovery…

And some Ouya team member don't understand why people want to flash it with custom firmware (hint : access to other android appstores, installing a true linux, …).

Even on my Sony (not known for its openness) android phone, I have an easy access to recovery. Moreover Sony provide what you need to install custom firmware on it. Ok, you loose your guarantee, but I think that's fair. (they even provided support to custom firmware makers to get camera and other accessories working…).

I hope that Ouya team will open their console a bit, or they're going to get even more negative reviews.

 

[WizardStan]

And some Ouya team member don't understand why people want to flash it with custom firmware (hint : access to other android appstores, installing a true linux, …).

Installing Linux on the Ouya would definitely be more of a "because I can" than a "because I should". If hacking around with a Linux TV console is your intention then there are better devices to do it with. A lot of the cost and appeal of the Ouya is the software and if you take that away you've basically got just another ARM based dev board, except it costs more for less than what else is available out there. The only reason I can think of for installing Linux on the Ouya specifically is to say you installed Linux on your Ouya, and the more challenging that is the more rewarding it will be in the end. As for installing other appstores, so long as they continue to allow you to install any apk you'll always be able to install whatever you want from any appstore with a bit of work, but I can understand the appeal of wanting an all-at-once solution.

 

[Klumpen]

How many of the Android games are playable with the Ouya by now?

I thought, that the whole idea was to be able to play all of them on a TV set but I read everywhere,

that there is no wrapper for digital to physical controls and the collection is very small.

Is it really that bad?

 

[Exophase]

Installing Linux on the Ouya would definitely be more of a "because I can" than a "because I should". If hacking around with a Linux TV console is your intention then there are better devices to do it with. A lot of the cost and appeal of the Ouya is the software and if you take that away you've basically got just another ARM based dev board, except it costs more for less than what else is available out there. The only reason I can think of for installing Linux on the Ouya specifically is to say you installed Linux on your Ouya, and the more challenging that is the more rewarding it will be in the end.

As for installing other appstores, so long as they continue to allow you to install any apk you'll always be able to install whatever you want from any appstore with a bit of work, but I can understand the appeal of wanting an all-at-once solution.

I'm not really interested in OUYA one way or the other but I have to disagree with you here. You can't get a $99 ARM device that runs Linux, comes in a decent enclosure, and has a controller. You could maybe augment a Raspberry Pi to that level and still pay less but that'll be much weaker hardware - and personally I wouldn't touch RPi with a ten foot pole on account of not even being ARMv7a (ie, no NEON).

I figure the viable end goal would be to dual boot this. Normal Linux would be easier to port to, it's possible you could get quickly recompile games and emulators that normal OUYA doesn't have yet. And this could be useful for development; a progression of Linux x86 to Linux ARM to Android ARM can ease some pain. You can get the controls and presentation right and do most necessary performance testing and optimization on the proper hardware before having to deal with the special headaches Android imposes on you.

I actually bought one of those Android TV sticks a while ago purely in the hopes of putting Linux on it. After realizing it wasn't happening for this model I never bothered using it again.

 

[TrashyMG]

^ I like the RPi for electronics projects, it does have a nice polished debian OS and it has surprisingly good video decoding..

I'd say a Beaglebone Black $45 US may be the next best thing for you.. although you would have to deal with the same Ti BS.. the GPU is still not as good as the OUYA is..

I think that MadCatz console looks promising.. it's what the Ouya is but without the lockdown.

 

[_jr_]

A question about the Beaglebone link: is the maufacturer the famous CC or am I mixing that up?

 

[vcoleiro1]

^ Yes it is the same CC.

Seems they can manufacture everything else without much note of issues.  

 

[elwing]

As for installing other appstores, so long as they continue to allow you to install any apk you'll always be able to install whatever you want from any appstore with a bit of work, but I can understand the appeal of wanting an all-at-once solution.

sorry but I'm still trying to find how to do that, I still failed to find a way to get the apk of some application from the market as they are said to be "incompatible" to my three devices... I tryed alternative download site but they just link to the market and I can't download the apk from there? have you a good way to bypass that f*%\ing compatibility check?

 

[WizardStan]

sorry but I'm still trying to find how to do that, I still failed to find a way to get the apk of some application from the market as they are said to be "incompatible" to my three devices... I tryed alternative download site but they just link to the market and I can't download the apk from there? have you a good way to bypass that f*%\ing compatibility check?

Get the Android SDK, start an emulator with whatever hardware is needed to be compatible. Install one of the many "backup" utilities that will get the apk from an installed application.

 

[Fzero]

sorry but I'm still trying to find how to do that, I still failed to find a way to get the apk of some application from the market as they are said to be "incompatible" to my three devices... I tryed alternative download site but they just link to the market and I can't download the apk from there? have you a good way to bypass that f*%\ing compatibility check?

I've encountered this issue, incompatibility with some apps, fairly often.

Easy to get around if your devices are rooted.

The problem is most likely your LCD density, which is detected on Play store, and results in this alert rather than offering you the download link.

Some ROM's include settings to change it, like my SlimBean ROM.

If yours doesn't, but you are rooted, you can download a number of apps to change the setting, like this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdapi.android.dpi&hl=en

Or ROM Toolbox which does this and lots more:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.liberty.toolbox

Once changed density, reboot, go to the Play store and check again ... will probably have option to download it now.

I've even changed density, installed, then set density back to how it was before and the installed apps continue to work correctly.

A bit of a pain, but easy enough work around.

Not sure if any LCD density settings apps exist for a non-root though...

 

[second exodous]

Customer support is terrible, I'm sure it is because it is flooded with people asking 'where is my ouya' right now but I caught a mistake on my order BEFORE it shipped and since they didn't get back to me I'll have to wait till mine gets to me and then e-mail them letting them know that they forgot two controllers in my box.  Also very very upset that mine has taken this long to get to me, I was one of the first ones to place an order and still have not gotten mine yet.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

So ouya hits retail tomorrow!!


Ive just ordered one to use as a dev kit. Ill get a second to test builds of games we are working on in a few weeks.

 

[hosant]

So, the unit is hitting retail before my shipping code even works... That's what I get for supporting independent projects. Pandora and then this.

 

[SeeThruHead]

Who cares? You want it to be successful right? I assume that's why you supported it. This is what it takes. It needs sales and lots of them in order to become a worthwhile device. 

 

[SNESFAN]

Installing Linux on the Ouya would definitely be more of a "because I can" than a "because I should". If hacking around with a Linux TV console is your intention then there are better devices to do it with. A lot of the cost and appeal of the Ouya is the software and if you take that away you've basically got just another ARM based dev board, except it costs more for less than what else is available out there. The only reason I can think of for installing Linux on the Ouya specifically is to say you installed Linux on your Ouya, and the more challenging that is the more rewarding it will be in the end. As for installing other appstores, so long as they continue to allow you to install any apk you'll always be able to install whatever you want from any appstore with a bit of work, but I can understand the appeal of wanting an all-at-once solution.I'm not really interested in OUYA one way or the other but I have to disagree with you here. You can't get a $99 ARM device that runs Linux, comes in a decent enclosure, and has a controller. You could maybe augment a Raspberry Pi to that level and still pay less but that'll be much weaker hardware - and personally I wouldn't touch RPi with a ten foot pole on account of not even being ARMv7a (ie, no NEON).I figure the viable end goal would be to dual boot this. Normal Linux would be easier to port to, it's possible you could get quickly recompile games and emulators that normal OUYA doesn't have yet. And this could be useful for development; a progression of Linux x86 to Linux ARM to Android ARM can ease some pain. You can get the controls and presentation right and do most necessary performance testing and optimization on the proper hardware before having to deal with the special headaches Android imposes on you.I actually bought one of those Android TV sticks a while ago purely in the hopes of putting Linux on it. After realizing it wasn't happening for this model I never bothered using it again.

I'm not terribly interested in the ouya or the HDMI sticks because my passion is for handhelds only. However most tegra devices do end up getting Linux ports because of "Linux for tegra" from nvidia. As long as the boot loader gets cracked/unlocked I see someone doing the port. Even if its "because you can"

 

[PokeParadox]

I'm semi interested in this as my RaspberryPi could become a simple webserver if I got an OUYA... but keeping eyes open for the time being.

 

[hosant]

Who cares? You want it to be successful right? I assume that's why you supported it. This is what it takes. It needs sales and lots of them in order to become a worthwhile device. 

I do. Why is an early backer getting a worse deal than soemone just walking in today into a store and buying an unit?

 

[vcoleiro1]

It's not good that some KS backers have not got there's before retail. That said, they have apologized in the there last KS update, it should only be a few more weeks for those still waiting.


One thing to remember, they promised to start delivering in March and deliveries continued to June. Ie a span of 3 months.


For a KS project that's a major success, most are like 6 months late.

 

[EvilDragon]

What's weird is though that they deliver retails before backers without any real reason.


For the Pandora, sadly, it was necessary since a lot of bad things happened and there wouldn't have been any money left... those folks had 6 times more money, a much more simple device - and it seems they had a smooth ride.


They met their deadline, which is pretty cool and rare for Kickstarter projects..


So why deliver to retail first?


I can only imagine they either had contracts with a deadline or didn't want to piss some huge distributors off. Both would be understandable, but still a bit sad.