This $20 case turns Raspberry Pi into a TV box

Kodi, an open-source media software company, announced recently its "first piece of hardware ever" in the form of a Kodi Edition Raspberry Pi Case, which the company made with Flirc. That might not sound particularly impressive to most people, but it represents the open ethos of Kodi, formerly XBMC. Flirc is known for having hardware that can run on many different types of devices, turning them into media streaming units that can create a library and playback media from a local network or, with the help of add-ons, from other locations over the Internet.

The endorsement of Raspberry Pi is likely appreciated by those who love Kodi for being open-source and highly versatile. The new case costs $20, on top of the $30 for the Raspberry Pi. Most consumers might not see the advantage of paying roughly the same for a homemade TV box as an off-the-shelf streaming stick from a name-brand company.

Streaming boxes and dongles are becoming very popular. Younger consumers are turning into "cord cutters" as they leave behind traditional television for streaming content over the Internet. Kodi's first hardware product is an acknowledgement of this trend. Using the Raspberry Pi as a streaming box makes sense largely for the maker community and open-source evangelists. Consumers can pick up Amazon's Fire Stick, which runs Android and supports Kodi, for $40. The latest Roku Streaming Stick costs $50. These devices can only stream at 1080 pixels, but the Raspberry Pi is also limited to that resolution. The case does have the advantage of looking nice and being made of aluminum to help dissipate heat, but these are not really concerns for streaming dongles.

The Kodi Edition Raspberry Pi Case does show how easy it is to make a customized TV box these days. China suppliers already make a wide variety of set-top boxes in many different shapes and sizes. Most of these locally made units run Android. For consumers looking to get Kodi on their TVs, this is the least complicated solution. There are already many tutorials online showing people how to install Kodi on the Amazon Fire Stick. This is possibly the least expensive option, but people would not get the sleek-looking Kodi case for their living room.