UPDATE REPORT Multimedia Receiver
TELE-satellite Magazine
Business Voucher Amiko
WLK-100
www.TELE-satellite.info/12/01/amiko-WLK-100
Direct Contact to Sales Manager
Two-in-One
Wireless Keyboard
• Converts receiver into
a fully-functional
Multimedia Center
• Integration of the receiver
into the local network
• Energy efficient
power source
• Mobile use, such as
for camping, due to
integration of 3G
48 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 12-01/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 12-01/2012 — TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 49
UPDATE REPORT Multimedia Receiver
A wireless keyboard with
track pad for control
of the Amiko Alien and
a large software update
Thomas Haring
We here at TELE-satellite
really love it when a man-
ufacturer, after introduc-
ing one of their products,
continues to listen to the
customers wishes and sug-
gestions and then actually
implements them.
An example of one of
these manufacturers is
Karmacom from Hungary
whose top receiver model
Alien SHD-8900 we first
introduced to you in the
05-06/2011 issue of TELE-
satellite. It‘s a receiver with
the world‘s first dual boot
system. We were quite im-
pressed already with the
Alien back then and as the
sales figures showed it re-
ceived high marks not only
with TELE-satellite but with
end users as well.
But Karmacom wasn‘t sat- two-in-one keyboard with But first things first; let‘s ■ The Alien receiver test report
isfied and continued to work track pad and the second start with the wireless two- from the 05-06/2011 issue of
TELE-satellite magazine. The
on improving their Amiko is a large software update in-one keyboard that turns new wireless keyboard turns
Alien receiver. All of this (version number 1.2.07) the Alien into an exception- this receiver into a complete
work has resulted in not one with which Karmacom has al multimedia center. Mutlimedia Center.
but two distinct improve- added a large assortment of of the space on the WLK-
ments: first is the WLK-100 new features. The actual keyboard itself 100. Despite the relatively
takes up about two thirds small size of the buttons,
the keyboard is quite easy
to use. It‘s laid out in the
US American standard and
can therefore be used in-
ternationally.
The right side of the WLK-
100 consists of the track
pad, two mouse buttons as
well as cross-shaped but-
tons. We especially liked
the fact that the keyboard
12-01/2012
did not run off of standard
Amiko WLK-100
Excellent modification: Converts the batteries; instead it is pow-
popular Alien receiver into a fully
functional Multimedia Center
ered by an internal 3.3V
power supply. It is integrat-
50 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 12-01/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
customers to pay for a fea- 100 for the first time here in To top it all off, the WLK- wasn‘t enough; while work- automatically. After just a
ture that they might not our test center, we looked 100 also comes with an ing on adapting the Alien to few minutes and a restart,
have wanted in the first all over for the signal re- integrated laser pointer the new WLK-100 two-in- the Amiko Alien is once
place. Karmacom came up ceiver but had no luck in that can be used, for ex- one wireless keyboard, they again ready to be used.
with a far more intelligent finding it; we thought at ample, during the course also decided to include a
solution and included the first that Karmacom might of a presentation. And let‘s wide range of new features The first and most im-
receiver with the keyboard. have forgotten to put it in not forget the fact that the at the same time. portant new feature in the
But Karmacom wouldn‘t be the box. WLK-100 can also be used update is the integration of
Karmacom if they simply with a Windows XP, Vista or But in order to enjoy all of the WLK-100 wireless two-
placed the 2.4 GHz receiver But that was far from the Windows 7 PC or laptop. All these new features, the re- in-one keyboard. The key-
alongside the keyboard in truth: The USB receiver is you need to do is to connect ceiver first has to be updat- board itself has a specified
the shipping box! extremely small and is real- the signal receiver to a free ed to the latest software. range of about 10 meters;
ly only just a little bit larger USB port on the PC or lap- This can be done either in our tests it was actually
When we saw the WLK- than a standard USB plug. top and you‘re ready to go. through a direct Internet quite a bit more. It really
It is stored in a small open- connection or, as was the doesn‘t make any sense to
ing in the side of the key- But in order to take ad- case with us, with a USB use the keyboard to control
board and therefore can‘t vantage of all the new ca- stick on which the latest the various receiver func-
be lost. When the WLK-100 pabilities of the WLK-100, version of the software was tions; for this purpose it‘s
ed into the WLK-100 and is is to be used, the USB re- a software update for the copied from the Internet. better to use the Alien‘s
charged through a micro ceiver is simply taken out receiver was necessary and As soon as the USB stick is exceptional remote con-
USB port. You can connect of its ‚garage‘ and inserted Karmacom included in this plugged in and the Update trol. But later on, when you
it to any available USB port into the USB port of the update an assortment of process is accessed from access Karmacom‘s inte-
or you can simply use an in- Alien receiver. new features. the menu, the receiver rec- grated Opera web browser,
expensive USB charger that ognizes that new software that’s when the WLK-100
you can find in any elec- Since the Amiko Alien When we first tested the is available and asks the keyboard first comes into
tronics store. only operates with a free Amiko Alien (see TELE- user to confirm the update. play.
USB port, effective imme- satellite issue 05-06/2011),
The WLK-100 is back- diately the software now we were already quite im- Once the update process We appreciated the fact
lit so that it can easily be supports the connection of pressed with the stability is started, the user just that Karmacom kept in
used in a dark room. And a USB hub or Y cable so that and functionality of the ex- needs to sit back and re- mind those users that don‘t
even if the backlight is used multiple USB devices can be isting software in the re- lax since the receiver takes have a WLK-100 keyboard
regularly, the WLK-100 does used at the same time. ceiver. But for Karmacom it care of this process fully and must continue to rely
not put a great load on the saving mode after a certain At this point you might
power supply; in fact, the amount of inactivity. be asking yourself how the
wireless keyboard can be The signal transmission Alien receives the signals
used all day without having to the receiver takes place from the wireless keyboard
to worry about recharging in the 2.4 GHz range and - did Karmacom already
it. The integrated Standby should therefore not cause include a 2.4 GHz receiver
function is in large part the any interference with other in the Alien from the fac-
reason for this. It automati- devices such as wireless tory? No, they didn‘t, and it
cally puts the two-in-one headphones and other simi- wouldn‘t have made sense
keyboard into an energy lar equipment. either; it would have forced
52 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 12-01/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 12-01/2012 — TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 53
amount of freely available
and unrestricted content
is continuously on the rise.
How nice would it be to be
able to watch those down-
loaded videos directly on
your TV instead of on your
PC? Who wants to sit in
front of a monitor for hours
at a time? Karmacom has
heard this wish from all of
these users and has inte-
grated this capability into
the Amiko Alien by provid-
ing access to all of the MS
Windows network drives.
All you need to do is en-
able access to the desired
hard drive or folder, pro-
vide the receiver with the
name and IP address of the
More on This Manufacturer Windows PC as well as en-
Read TELE-satellite’s Company Report: ter in the previously set up
AMIKO user name and password. If
all the entries are correct,
Receiver Manufacturer, Hungary www.amikostb.com then after only a few sec-
were able to press every onds the Amiko Alien has
desired letter confidently incorporated the hard drive
and without any problems. or folder into its operating
Even the sensitivity of the system. A total of six net-
trackball was just right and work folders or hard drives
above all there were no can be accessed; the re-
delays. Together with the ceiver assigns them drive
WLK-100, the Amiko Alien‘s letters from U to Z.
web browser is comparable
to that of a PC or laptop. We After some brief difficul-
were a little disappointed ties (the integrated Win-
that there were consistent dows Firewall had to be
problems with displaying convinced that the Amiko
web sites that contained Alien was not something
Flash animation but it‘s not dangerous), the connec-
as bad as it sounds. Flash is tion took place right away.
really a technology that is In our tests we were unable
www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1107/eng/amiko.pdf on its way out and will soon to disturb the link even with
be replaced by HTML5. high-resolution videos with
on the remote control. The bies the manufacturer high- their corresponding high
keyboard is not a require- lights this fact once again The start page of the Op- data rate. We really didn‘t
ment for the Alien but rath- with a message on the start era web browser definitely expect anything else from
er an option. In those cases page of the web browser. needs to be mentioned Amiko.
where the WLK-100 is not as well. In addition to the
used, the Alien includes an We actually had quite a Google search field, you‘ll Naturally, the linked hard
OSD virtual keyboard. But bit of fun using the WLK- also find direct links to drives can be used not only
in our case, we couldn‘t 100 to surf the internet di- Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, for playback but also for
wait to start playing with rectly on our TV. We even Yahoo and Amazon. Securi- recording so that even if
the WLK-100! checked a few e-mails and ty is also a very big subject; there is no available exter-
also provided some status the integrated browser in nal hard drive, the Amiko‘s
The link to the receiver updates on Facebook and the receiver immediately Record function can still
takes place automatically; Twitter. identifies any web site that be completely used. In
several blinks of the back- has an expired certificate this way recordings can be
ground illumination con- Although our first look and thereby prevents fu- placed directly on a PC so
firmed this to us in just a at the WLK-100 suggested ture Phishing attacks. that they can be cropped,
few seconds. The F1 button to us that the keys were edited and burned to a DVD
on the WLK-100 can be used rather small and placed For users the Internet is at a later time.
to switch back and forth too close to each other, more and more becoming
between the wireless key- we found that after playing the first source for movies An especially interest-
board and the on-screen with it for a while that this and videos and all of this ing and practical feature
virtual keyboard. For new- worry was unfounded. We is completely legal. The is Karmacom‘s support of
54 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 12-01/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com
1 6 11
3G modems. At the mo- viewers to follow what is
ment this support is limited going on.
to models from the com-
pany Huawei, but these are The second new feature is
so widely distributed that the fully automatic search
most users should have no of the IMDb movie data-
trouble getting their hands base allowing the display of
on one. According to Kar- a wide variety of additional
macom, this function is information on the movie
still in the Beta stage and that is currently playing.
2 7 12 when we connected our This includes not only the
Huawei E5830 we found names of the actors and
out why. The receiver cor- a brief description of the
rectly recognized the mo- movie itself, but also where
dem although a link to the the movie was made, when
UMTS network could not it was made, the length of
be established. Since this the movie plus much more.
is a beta version, we un-
derstood that there might For our test we selected
still be some glitches; we a somewhat older movie
look forward to the day from 2007 (Bury My Heart
when our E5830 will also At Wounded Knee). The
work nicely together with IMDb information was im-
the Amiko Alien. This fea- mediately accessed by the
3 8 1. The Amiko Alien‘s 13 ture will let you access the Amiko Alien. This is an out-
software can be updated Internet for example, on a standing feature that we
either via the Internet or
camping trip, without hav- hope other manufacturers
via a USB stick. Before the
update process begins, ing to drag along your lap- will integrate into their re-
the receiver confirms the top or tablet PC. ceivers. Karmacom, with
version number of the their Amiko receiver series,
update. Even the Amiko Alien‘s is quite a few steps ahead
2. After a restart and a YouTube function has been of all the others and there‘s
quick reorganization of
given a facelift and can now no doubt that customers
some critical data, the
receiver can immediately store clips on external stor- are quite satisfied with the
be put back into service. age media. You can then products from the Hungar-
3. Access to a Windows quickly transfer them to a ian company.
shared folder PC or other device and ar-
4. 3G Modem settings chive them or pass them on With the WLK-100 two-
4 9 14 to others via e-mail or so- in-one keyboard, Karma-
5. The reworked network
menu, now also with a web cial networking. We found com offers a very practical
browser this to be an excellent func- improvement to the Amiko
6. The Opera web tion that worked perfectly Alien receiver. Thanks to
browser‘s start page with
during our tests. the perfect integration
search field and five links
to most-often viewed web into the software, the key-
sites Especially noteworthy are board‘s setup is actually
7. Despite the wireless the two additional functions fun and greatly simplifies
two-in-one keyboard, that were added to the me- the use of the receiver‘s
the manufacturer did dia player with this software Internet features. The key-
not eliminate the OSD
update. First there‘s the on- board itself is highlighted
keyboard.
line subtitle search that can by its exceptional work-
8. Facebook on the Amiko
Alien be accessed with the yellow manship, the comfortable
function button during the operation of its buttons
5 10 9. Access to YouTube
videos. With the push of play back of a movie. and the sensitivity of the
one button the current track pad.
video is stored on an With the data name and
external storage device the selection of the de- All in all, it‘s an exception-
10. Amazon search for a current Tom Cruise movie in the Amiko sired language, the Alien al expansion of the Amiko
Alien‘s web browser
automatically searches the Alien that is topped off by
11. Our USB hard drive with some test data for the media player was
Internet and blends in the a wide-reaching software
recognized without any problems.
subtitle it has found. This update that includes access
12. Internet subtitle search. The Amiko Alien provides complete
access to the IMDb database feature is not just inter- to network drives, 3G mo-
13. A previously enabled Windows folder can easily be linked to the esting for the hearing im- dem support, the recording
Amiko Alien as a logical drive paired; it can also be used of YouTube videos as well as
14. Security settings during the enabling of a folder under MS alongside foreign language the additional features in
Windows movies to make it easier for the media player.
56 TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine — 12-01/2012 — www.TELE-satellite.com www.TELE-satellite.com — 12-01/2012 — TELE-satellite International — The World‘s Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 57