A.C. Ryan Veolo - Android Inside

Introduction

In the last couple of years we have seen the rise of convergence devices; TVs that surf the Web, phones that double up as portable media devices and tablets that offer better portability than netbooks while providing a mobile phone's ease of use. In an age of technology where every device is expected to perform more than just a single purpose function, media players too have evolved beyond just a device enabling media playback.

The current crop of media players such as the WD TV Live and ASUS O!Play Mini Plus go beyond the expected norm to include web access and/or online services such as streaming videos via YouTube or providing the daily weather forecast. Some media players can even function as simple network-attached storage (NAS) device. A.C. Ryan noticed this trend and introduced a new line of media players to tackle a different group of people with more varied needs. Enter the Veolo.

With their previous offering, the Playon!HD2, creating a good impression, A.C. Ryan has been hard at work to release a different sort of media player; one that could yet again change expectations of consumers in time to come. A staple in the media player scene, it seems A.C. Ryan has their work cut out for them as competitors have been releasing media players that feature integrated Wi-Fi to enable easier access to the online services.

A.C. Ryan's Veolo, first launched in November 2011, was made with a very different system running within its belly. Powering the Veolo is Google's Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS, which brings with it all that you expect from a an Android smartphone you've become familiar with - including how the user interface reacts. This also means access to widgets, apps and games! So join us as we explore more on this curious media player running the Android OS and see what can it offer you.

The Design Quotient

We would like to start off by saying that the the Veolo has a refreshing design to match its bold move of using a new OS to power its media player. Stepping away from the tired and tested ‘black box’ design favored by the majority of media players, including A.C. Ryan's Playon! series, the Veolo's arched construct on its top is instantly identifiable. However, it maintains the black of its media player brethren to maintain its class and not doing anything outlandish. Of course the glossy black surface does attract its fair share of fingerprints, so we're sure the Veolo will be subject to a lot of wipes to maintain its sheen.

And with the focus on making devices and gadgets smaller, media players are heading this direction too. The Veolo occupies a smaller footprint than some of the earlier offerings like the ASUS O!Play HD. But smaller dimensions also mean less space for I/O ports. This is evident as the Veolo sheds off legacy connections like composite and component video outputs, reaffirming the fact that the Veolo is a full HD media center.

Remote

With the Google Android as its user-interface (UI), the Veolo will definitely need a remote that can navigate an OS that's usually accessed via touch. In this case, the Veolo’s remote resembles the D-Link’s Boxee Box’s remote, with both remotes featuring a QWERTY keypad on one side with more controls on the other side to handle the cursor-based navigation of the user interface. Like any other media player, it's an integral portion of the player's usability.

However, if you have read our Boxee Box review, there were some issues with the minimalist design of the remote. But the Veolo has bypassed these issues with an increased number of buttons, though the number of control buttons is still considered fairly minimal.

The mouse pointer button will bring up the mouse cursor onscreen, and pressing it twice again will make it disappear. This will help if you intend to use the QWERTY keypad on the flip side of the remote, but don’t want the cursor moving around unnecessarily. The middle button on the top row is the "select" button, while the right one is the "back" button which will return you to the previous screen.

And similar to Android phones, the remote has  menu, home and volume adjustment buttons. The QWERTY keypad works reasonably well, though we have to mention that the “ALT” button will only fulfill its function if you hold it down for a second or two; just pressing it won’t register your command. Another quibble was that we found the buttons to be a tad too recessed on the remote; they aren't raised out much, so typing or even just pressing a button may require a bit more conscious effort on your part.

Getting It All Started

Equipped with a 1GHz ARM processor, the Veolo took an unexpectedly long 56 seconds to power up to its home screen. This puts its start up time right in the middle of the pack for media players. While it sounds excruciatingly long, it's not really that bad if you consider how long it takes for a modern phone to start up. Still, we would certainly have preferred a speedier boot-up time like some old media players that have achieved it before.

Once the device becomes usable, the user interface shouldn't surprise anyone who has used an Android enabled device. The Veolo is running a slightly modified version of Android 2.2 (or Froyo for those familiar with its dessert monikers). Even for folks who have been using iOS as their mobile OS of choice, the Android interface will not prove that difficult to navigate once you get the hang of it.

Before exploring what the Veolo offered, we entered the settings menu first to see what could be tweaked or adjusted. The menu settings are what you will find on mobile phones running Android 2.2; you can tweak settings for audio, video, system settings, and network settings.

With Android as its interface, the Veolo allows for widgets and shortcuts to be placed on its home screen, similar to your Android mobile phone. Apps can be downloaded via Android Market, resulting in a highly-customizable interface that is unlike what you have come to expect with the boring or rigid interfaces found in earlier media players.

So what does this mean to you? Apps from the Android Market are all available to you, and you can enjoy them on your big TV screen. However, all this comes with a catch; it’s more difficult to navigate the interface due to the need to wave around your remote. Since your TV isn't a touchscreen and the device doesn't interface with the TV directly other than video output, there's really no other way to navigate a UI that was designed with touch usage in mind. It's a pity considering the interactive and fun aspects this media player brings to the table.

As we’ve mentioned in the previous section, the remote is basically a motion sensor, so you need to wave the remote in order move the mouse pointer that is onscreen. However, due to the lack of tactile feedback, it’s pretty difficult to determine the speed and distance you would have to wave the remote in order to move around the interface and make menu or app selections. And if you need to select a control with a particularly small onscreen button, this method of navigation may prove to be quite frustrating.

So while playing Angry Birds on a widescreen TV sounds appealing, in practice it is still better to stick with your mobile phone. The same advice applies to a lot of other apps. As such, the advantage of the Android OS on the big screen quickly dwindles away and you would be back to using the Veolo for its primary purpose - media playback.

Video Playback Performance

Despite the navigation limitations to enjoy the Android OS on the big screen, we noted the Veolo's advantage to access the Android Market allows you to download any other media-playback apps. This helps if the default player does not suit your taste or is unable to tackle certain content types (but this is fast becoming moot as the software is getting more mature). Do take note that we did our testing using the default media playback app as this is what most end-users would use if they do not want to spend time to scour for another media playback app.

As expected of the Veolo, media playback was smooth and we experienced no jitters when playing full HD video files. The files we tested ranged from 1080p AVI and MP4 files to 720p WMV files. None caused the Veolo any problems, and subtitles displayed no issues as well, with many options available for just tweaking subtitles alone. But one point to take note is that it was unable to tackle ISO files as they are in reality an image file, and not a video file. At the time of assessment, we've yet to come across an app that allows for the loading and playback of ISO image files.

Fast forwarding and skipping to various points in local content did not present a problem to the player; playback resumed almost instantly, though we have to warn readers that for streaming content, it boils down to how fast your connection is as well as how high the file's bit-rate is. Obviously high definition content like 720p or greater video files will stutter over Wi-Fi, so stick with a wired connection if you're planning on watching a fair bit of high definition or full HD content.

Conclusion

So what are our final thoughts on the Veolo? In a nutshell, it’s a mixed bag of emotions.

While earlier incarnations of media players featured some form of internet services with media playback as the main focus, the Veolo seems to have shifted focus on Android with its accompanying bells and whistles with media service options taking a backseat. That’s not to say that the media playback prowess of the Veolo is sub-par; it plays full HD video files with no hiccups for most file formats when used with the right connectivity options. The Veolo is catered to those who place equal or more emphasis on having Android and its app ecosystem on a media center, as opposed to those who just want a media player that is simple to operate and plays files with no fuss.

Of course having Android as the UI does have its advantages as it offers much more customization options as well as an established ecosystem of applications. You can install apps from the Android Market, making the internet services of other media players look paltry in comparison.

But don’t forget that the Google Android OS was created as a mobile UI, so it isn’t exactly ideal for large screens without direct contact options - it wasn't meant to be interacted in any other form besides a touch-based UI. While the whole premise of the Veolo is interesting, using a remote to navigate Android feels awkward and slows down the whole process. Usability is certainly affected.

So if you're looking for just a media player to enjoy your videos and music, the Veolo may take slightly longer to get to where you want due to the UI navigation aspects and the fact that Android isn't the most user-friendly interface for pure media playback purposes. Even if you conjured grand plans of tinkering with this Android-based media player and would like to have access to what Android ecosystem has to offer, be warned that not many will enjoy using a remote to explore the interface. The advantages of the OS fast wanes out due this limitation.

With a suggested retail price of S$329, we hesitate to recommend the Veolo even if you do wish to try out something different and unique from the rest of the media players in the market. There are certainly more affordable options available that can accomplish most of what the Veolo can do with a more straightforward interface - minus the Android ecosystem. Last but not least, the Veolo only has a 4GB NAND flash memory for the OS and apps and it doesn't take long to fill that up if you hoped to dabble with the apps ecosystem.

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