Remix OS

Alpha to Beta update

By Anca Gagiuc on Mar 11, 2016 in Technology

The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona had many attractions this year. Among them, Remix OS in beta, now available for download. The alpha version of product was introduced earlier this year at CES. It’s an Android fork with desktop features that can run on pretty much any x86 computer.

Work on the Androidx86 Open Source Project started in 2009 with the initiative of computer engineer Chih-Wei Huang. Over time, the project lead to an official partnership with Jide Technology.

The foundation of Remix OS for PC is a custom engineered version of Android Lollipop – Remix OS 2.0. The Google Play Store in not pre-loaded onto the OS, as the Jide is still waiting for Google’s approval to directly integrate Google Play Services and the Play Store. These items have been side-loaded at the moment (not optional) and it is a bit of a hassle to test it. However, the company says they are in constant discussion with Google about this and they’re confident they’ll receive full approval later this year.

Jide Technology announced the beta version, a more stable build with support for 32-bit hardware and dual-boot support through the new hard drive installer. Moreover, it brings in OTA update options. In other words, users won’t have to worry about losing data (theoretically) when performing an update. Remix takes basic Android and adds all those elements present in any Mac or PC—support for mice and keyboards, a windowed interface, a file manager, system bar and a dock at the bottom of the screen for the apps. Other changes from Alpha to Beta include over 50 major bugs fixed, UEFI support added, and 32-bit support added alongside 64-bit.

Remix OS allows users to run Android apps and games such as Clash of Clans, Microsoft Word and Facebook. David Ko, co-founder of Jide Technology, explained: “Thanks to the support and feedback from our generous community, we’ve been able to speed up the development of the Beta version. Now with OTA software update support, users can begin to rely on Remix OS for more daily activities without the worry of a new update wiping their data. This update will help us to charge towards the eventual stable release later in 2016.”

The capability of breathing new life in older 32-bit computer systems has exciting prospects particularity in developing markets where consumers are unlikely to regularly upgrade their hardware. Furthermore, with Remix OS you can conveniently house the OS on a USB stick and take your Remix experience wherever you go.

Remix OS seems to be part of Android’s future. Jide is working a number of firms to bring the software to new devices and hardware partners are aiming to release the first dedicated Remix OS machines in 2016 and 2017.

So, think twice before throwing out that moldy laptop, Mac or PC. You now have the option to bring some fresh life into it.