The Nexus Player is a digital media player that was co-developed by Google, Intel and Asus. It was the second media player in the Google Nexus family of consumer devices. Originally running the Android Lollipop operating system, it was the first device to employ the Android TV platform. The Nexus player supports Google Cast, the feature for selecting and controlling media playback on a television that was first introduced by Chromecast. Sales of the Nexus Player were discontinued in May 2016, and product support ended in March 2018.
History
The Nexus Player was unveiled on October 15, 2014, and made available for pre-order two days later on the Google Play Store for $99,
and later made available for purchase at retail stores in the US.
On May 24, 2016, Google discontinued direct sales of the Nexus Player.
In August 2018, Android Headlines reported that some Nexus Player users were facing an issue where they became inoperable.
Hardware
It is powered by a 1.8
Hertz quad-core
Intel Atom Z3560 processor with 1
Gibibyte of LPDDR3 RAM and 8 GB of internal
eMMC storage.
Remote control
The Nexus Player comes bundled with a Bluetooth remote control, with a direction pad & middle enter button, a back, home and play/pause button. It also features a button to activate the
Google Search application to search for content by speaking through the remote's built-in microphone. The device can also be controlled by any Android smartphone with Google Play services. The app also features a
Wear OS counterpart to allow remote input from compatible smartwatches.
Features
The Nexus Player and Android TV allows consumers to use an
HDTV set to play music, watch video originating from Internet services or a local network, and play games (
Emulators and Android Games). The primary interface is interacted with using a remote with a D-pad dial and 5 buttons. The remote also includes a microphone for voice search functions within supported apps and the main system interface. Android TV can be paired with Bluetooth gaming controllers to interact with the system interface / applications, as well as, playing games. Android TV also includes all features and streaming capabilities of the
Chromecast device.
FCC difficulties
During its initial days on sale, the Nexus Player was pulled from the Google Play Store because it had not passed FCC certification.
Two days later, the device returned to the Play Store after receiving said certification.
See also
-
Nexus Q
-
Chromebit
-
Apple TV, a similar product from Apple Inc.
-
Roku, a similar product from Roku, Inc.
-
Amazon Fire TV, a similar product from Amazon
External links
