Android

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on HD18T Android DVB-T2 Receiver Mini Review

HD18T Android DVB-T2 Receiver Mini Review

I’ve had HD18T Android TV box with a DVB-T2 tuner for several months, but I’ve only installed a roof antenna recently, so I’ve decided to give it another try since my indoor antenna did not pick-up any signal with that box. The set-top box is also known as EM6-T2 or HD18T2, and features Amlogic AML8726-MX dual Cortex A9 processor which has been used in numerous boxes in the past, so I will only focus on my experience with the DVB app in this mini review. If you want to use DVB-T2 go straight to the right and click on DVB app. Where you’ll then be greeted with a pop-up windowsasking if if you want to scan channels. You can do autoscan, manual scan (for one frequency), select the area (France/Taiwan/UK/Italy/Australia only), and enable/disable LCN (Logical Channel Numbering). At first I selected “Australia”, and the system did not find any channels, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Advantech UBC-220 Freescale i.MX6 RISC Compact Box Is Made for Wall-Mounting

Advantech UBC-220 Freescale i.MX6 RISC Compact Box Is Made for Wall-Mounting

If somehow you need a fanless ARM Linux / Android computer with lots of mounting holes, Advantech UBC-220 might be what you are looking for. The company’s “Freescale i.MX6 RISC Compact Box” features a Freescale i.M6 Solo or DualLite processor with up to 1GB RAM, 4GB eMMC, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and LVDS, a COM port, and more. Product specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Solo/DualLite up to 1GHz with Vivante GPU System Memory – 512MB to 1GB DDR3 @ 1066 MHz Storage – 4GB eMMC for OS, 4MB SPI flash for Advantech bootloader, 1x SD card slot Video Output / Display – 1x HDMI, 1x 18/24-bit LVDS Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (limited to 470Mbps due to i.MX6 internal limitation). Optional 3G/Wi-Fi via mini-PCIe slots. External antenna connector included. USB – 1x USB 2.0 type A, 1x micro USB 2.0 OTG Serial – 1x 4-wire UART Expansion 1x full size mini PCIe […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Egreat A9 Quad Core Android Media Player Comes with HDMI Input, a 3.5″ SATA Bay

Egreat A9 Quad Core Android Media Player Comes with HDMI Input, a 3.5″ SATA Bay

Egreat A9 was first shown in spring last year with a Realtek RTD1195 processor, but it’s only now that I could see it for sale. But just like Zidoo X9, the device is now powered by Mstar MSO9810 quad core processor, and features an HDMI input port with PVR capabilities, but adds an internal 3.5″ SATA bay, double the internal storage (16GB eMMC), as well as a Gigabit Ethernet port. Egreat A9 specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180-DB2 quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with an ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash + 3.5″ internal SATA bay Video Output / Input –  HDMI 1.4b output up to 4K30, HDMI input (1080p) with PVR support Audio I/O – HDMI Out and In, and optical S/PDIF Video Containers & Codecs DAT, MPEG, MPE, MPG, TS, TP, VOB, ISO, AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, FLV, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on ZTE Blade S6 Smartphone Runs Android 5.0 Lollipop on Snapdragon 615 Processor

ZTE Blade S6 Smartphone Runs Android 5.0 Lollipop on Snapdragon 615 Processor

Android 5.0 (Lollipop) was released on last October, together with Motorola Nexus 6 phone running the latest version of the operating system. Since then some other global brands like Samsung, HTC, or Sony have ported Android 5.0 to some of their devices, but it’s currently pretty hard to find a Lollipop smartphone on Aliexpress made by low cost Chinese manufacturers. ZTE Blade S6 is one of the first “Chinese” smartphone boasting Android 5.0, so let’s have look. ZTE Blade S6 smartphone: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (MSM8939) Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex A53 @ 1.5 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 @ 1.0 GHz, Adreno 405 GPU, Hexagon V50 DSP, and a 4K HEVC capable video decoder. System Memory  2GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC – No micro SD slot Display – 5.0” capacitive touch screen IPS display (16M colors). 1280×720 resolution Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi , Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments on Review of Zidoo X9 Android Media Player and Video Recorder

Review of Zidoo X9 Android Media Player and Video Recorder

Zidoo X9 is quite a unique product on the market, as it’s the only low cost Android platform that I know of that features an HDMI input port with recording capabilities. The hardware is actually based on Kaiboer F5, with some modifications, but the latter focuses on the Chinese market, while Zidoo X9 targets oversea markets with an English firmware by default. I took pictures of Zidoo X9 and its board about a month ago, but a busy schedule and some initial issues with Google Play Store delayed the review. Finally, I’ve completed testing of the device, and ready to share my findings about performance, stability, and features in this review. OTA Firmware Update I’ve had to go through two firmware updates before carrying on with the review, and this part is working great, and they even include a detailed changelog with each release, which they also publish on their […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Sia Lab Has Designed a $34 Medical Lab Dongle for Smartphones

Sia Lab Has Designed a $34 Medical Lab Dongle for Smartphones

Technology makes live easier, and often helps bringing down the cost of services. Medical care is one of these things that can be cumbersome, for example if you need to regularly perform some medical tests at your local hospital, and that can also be expensive. That’s why I believe we’ll see more and more affordable devices, at least for diagnostic purpose such as Scanadu Scout tricorder, and there are also some open source solutions for Prosthetics,  electrocardiographs, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) equipment used to copy DNA sequences. Eventually, I even expect robots to replace most tasks currently performed by doctors. Sia Lab, a lab focusing on tissue engineering and point-of-care diagnostics, has recently published a paper entitled “A smartphone dongle for diagnosis of infectious diseases at the point of care” describing how a low cost dongle can diagnose disease like HIV or Syphilis, and targeting health professionals in developing […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Ingenic Halley is a $20 Linux based IoT Board with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 Connectivity

Ingenic Halley is a $20 Linux based IoT Board with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 Connectivity

Ingenic introduced Newton2 platform for wearables a few months ago, and the kit with an AMOLED display, camera board and other accessories should go on sale in March for $80. In the meantime, the company has also been working on a lower cost internet of things (IoT) module and development kit powered by Ingenic M150 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 targeting smart appliances, Wi-Fi speakers, smart toys, industrial control applications, and other smart devices. Halley IoT module specifications: SoC – Ingenic M150 XBurst (MIPS) single-core processor up to 1.0GHz with 128MB LPDDR on-chip, 2D graphics GPU, VPU supporintg 720p30 H.264 video decoding. Storage – 8MP SPI NOR flash (GIGA GD25LQ64) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and  Bluetooth 4.1 via Broadcom 43438 chip. Expansion headers (2mm pitch) 8-bit parallel LCD interface, Audio – MIC, Line-In and headphone, 2x I2S, SD card (MMC interface) USB device 2.0, and USB host 1.1 3x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on $129 Hikey Board Features a 64-bit ARM HiSilicon Processor, Complies with Linaro’s 96Boards Specifications

$129 Hikey Board Features a 64-bit ARM HiSilicon Processor, Complies with Linaro’s 96Boards Specifications

In my post about the Embedded Linux Conference 2015, I noticed a talk entitled “Generalizing Android for Low-Cost 64-Bit ARM-Based Community Boards” to be presented by Khasim Syed Mohammed, Linaro, mentioning that “Linaro is developing an open hardware platform specification to encourage software development on low-cost boards to lower the cost and accelerate the availability of maker and embedded products based on ARM SoCs”. But at the time, I had no details about the specifications themselves. As Linaro Connect HK 2015 is now taking place, the 96Boards Consumer Edition specifications have been released, and Hikey board have been unveiled with HiSilicon Kirin 620 octa core Cortex A53 processor, 1 GB RAM, and 4GB eMMC. Hikey board specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Kirin 620 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz (10,000 Dhrystone VAX MIPS) with ARM Mali-450MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 @ 800 MHz Storage – 4GB eMMC […]