*If it affects anything, I am in Canada.
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Is Nvidia Shield the only legit Android TV box right now?
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From what I can tell, Android TV does not support all Android apps. Is there a way to look up what apps are supported? Is there a separate Play store link? I found this page [ https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_3000e26_androidtv_apps_all] but surely that isn't everything.
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Do they (or the Shield at least) support wireless keyboards? I have the Logitech Living Room keyboard [ http://www.logitech.com/en-ca/product/living-room-keyboard-k830] .
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Other than for gaming, is something like the Shield relevant if you have a modern Android Smart TV? The information I am finding about all of this is totally insufficient to perform meaningful gap analysis.
I have a PS4 and a not-smart TV right now. I also have a WD NAS personal cloud box storing all of my media. There are 3 primary objectives I am reaching for.
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To be able to use more Android based TV/streaming apps than are available on PS4, such as Google Play, Adult Swim, and VLC.
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To be able to run more normal/surfing type apps like a web browser, FB, twitter, etc on my TV without having to pull my laptop over.
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To possibly be able to run a Plex server, since running it right on the WD NAS box kind of sucks. It looks like this is possible, but I'm not sure if it will be better.
I feel like the Shield is probably overkill with all of that gaming power and I don't want it for gaming. I would also prefer a more subdued adult aesthetic than this Doritos Alien Cyborg look. Should I wait for the Xiaomi? Is Google releasing a new Nexus?
there's also the nexus player if you can find it. Or you can wait a for the xiaomi android tv. Don't bother with the razer forge
Android tv does support android apps. Android tv is like a fork of android. Apps with an android tv interface would show up in the device play store. Apps without the android tv interface would be harder to navigate (may require a keyboard. And mouse)and does not show up in the play store. Such app can be sideloaded and installed manually.
3)Yes they should be suppprted
4)For shield specifically, nvidia has done a good job in updating the android tv os to the latest version. Smart tv manufacters might take a long time to update it or might not update it at all. And the shield hardware us pretty good, buttery smooth interface, has never lagged. Also the shield supports multiple video codecs and certain audio passthroughs (im not sure exactly which one because i don't have a surround system).
The latest update makes the shield a decent plex server (most likely better than your current setup). I belive you can connect your storage to the shield and plex can transcode the media.
For accessing the browser, you can sideload chrome onto it and use the nvidia game controller joystick as a mouse. But its best to just connect a wireless keyboard and mouse if you want to surf the net on it.
I exclusively use the nvidia shield for streaming media content and the plex server. I don't play games on it since i have an xbox and a pc.
For its price, it has not given me any problems, navigating it is smooth and quick, it has regular updates and strong support from nvidia, and its future proof hardeware and 4k abilities makes it worth it to me personally.
Regarding the Xiaomi, it so far looks to be a good alternative to the nvidia shield. But at lauch I dont think it would have plex server capabilities afaik. And another question is its availability and whether you are willing to wait for it. For nexus player there are some indication that Google would release an updated version but I don't think anything is confirmed