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— 09-10/2014
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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 specifically to
Amiko receivers like the A3.
Here you will find 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 file 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
benefit 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 surfing, 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
office 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
confirm 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
