Chuwi HiPad LTE Tablet Review – Part1: Specs and Unboxing

CHUWI HiPad LTE Tablet Review

Chuwi HiPad LTE is an 10.1″ tablet running Android 8.0 Oreo on a MediaTek Helio X27 deca-core processor coupled with 3GB RAM, 32GB flash, and offering both dual band WiFi and LTE connectivity. The company just sent me a sample, and today I’ll quickly go through the specifications, before unboxing the two packages I received. Specifications SoC – Mediatek Helio X27 (MT6797) deca-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.6 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores @ 2.0 GHz, and 4x Arm Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.6 GHz, as well as an Arm Mali-T880 GPU clocked at up to 875MHz System Memory – 3GB RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, microSD card socket up to 128GB Display – 10.1″ IPS capacitive screen with 1920 x 1200 resolution Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, built-in stereo speaker and microphone Camera – 5.0MP rear camera, 5.0MP front-facing camera Connectivity Dual band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 Bluetooth […]

Alipay Dragonfly F1 PoS Enables Payments with Face Recognition

Alipay Dragonfly F1

We’re being told the traditional way of paying for purchases – cash – is going away, so we’ll soon have to rely exclusively on electronics payment means such as debit cards, credit cards, contactless stored value smart cards, smartphones, our own face, etc… Wait? I could pay by just showing up my face? Apparently yes, as Alipay recently installed 12 Dragonfly POS (Point-of-Sales) devices with biometric technology at Hong Kong airport. The systems started operating at the airport on April 2nd, but similar devices were allegedly deployed in more than 300 cities in mainland China previously. I’m not entirely sure of the exact model operating at Hong Kong airport, but a quick web search reveals Alipay Dragonfly F1 matches the description. Hardware specifications: Processor – Quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor @ 1.3GHz System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 8GB FLASH Display – 10.1″ TFT touch screen display with 1280×800 […]

Allwinner Tablet SoC Roadmap 2019 – 2020

Allwinner A-Series Roadmap 2019 2020

Both Rockchip and Amlogic have some pretty interesting processors coming down the pipe with for example Rockchip RK3588 Cortex A76/A55 or Amlogic S922D Cortex A73/A53 SoCs both featuring an neural processing unit (NPU) for AI workloads acceleration at low power. The companies also have updated entry-level quad Arm Cortex-A55 processors with RK3530 and S905X3 models which are planned to launch later this year. But this made me wonder what was going with Allwinner since the company got really quiet, except for the “launch” of renamed processors for a specific business unit. That’s the only company among the three to have yet to announce a Cortex-A7X 64-bit Arm processor. The good news is that the company has released a roadmap of sort for their A-Series processors for tablets. The less good news is that very few details are available for the processors except for one: Allwinner A50 – Quad core Cortex-A7 […]

Intel Elkhart Lake Processors To Succeed Gemini Lake Processors in 2020

Intel Elkhart Lake Tablet

Intel Gemini Lake processors were highly anticipated as soon as they were first reported in September 2016, and even more so before launch since Gemini Lake products promised to be about as expensive as their older Apollo Lake counterparts. Interest somewhat fizzled despite a clear performance advantage over the previous generation, as prices did not match initial expectations, likely due to a shortage of Intel cheaper processors. In recent weeks, we started to read about Intel Elkhart Lake processors that are meant to be the successors of Gemini Lake processors, based on Tremont microarchitecture, and featuring Intel “i915” Gen11 graphics. The new processor should be manufactured using a 10nm process, but it’s still unclear whether some Elkhart Lake processors will be part of Intel Foveros which combines a fast Sunny Cove core with several Atom class Tremont cores. That’s about all we know from the technical side so far. A […]

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 855 Hardware Development Kit

Snapdragon 855 HDK

Snapdragon 855 processor is found in premium smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S10 or Xiaomi Mi 9, but Snapdragon 855 Mobile Hardware Development Kit has now started to show up on Qualcomm developer website. Beside the octa-core processor, the platform comes with WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, GNSS, Gigabit Ethernet, multiple MIPI DSI and CSI interfaces, DisplayPort over USB-C and HDMI outputs and more. Snapdragon 855 HDK preliminary specifications: SoC –  Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Octa-core processor with 1x Kryo 485 Gold Prime core at up to 2.8 GHz, 3x Kryo 485 Gold cores at up to 2.4 GHz, and 4x Kryo 485 Silver low-power cores at up to 1.7 GHz, Adreno 640 GPU System Memory – TBD Storage – TBD flash, micro SD card slot Video Output 2x MIPI 4-lane DSI + touch panel 1x HDMI DisplayPort over USB 3.1 type-C port Camera Input – 3x MIPI 4-lane CSI with support […]

AAEON RTC-1010M Semi Rugged Tablet Runs Windows 10 IoT or Android 9

Windows 10 IoT Tablet

AAEON has introduced a new semi-rugged Intel Apollo Lake tablet with a 10.1” sunlight readable screen, IP54  certification, and optional modules such as a smart card reader, magnetic stripe reader (MSR) and 2D barcode scanner, as well as various mounting options from docking mounts to shoulder belts. The choice of operating system is also interesting for AAEON RTC-1010M tablet as it will come with Windows 10 IoT by default, and support for Android 9 is planned for Q2 2019. AAEON RTC-1010M tablet specifications: SoC (One or the other) Intel Celeron N3350 dual core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.4GHz (Turbo) with Intel HD graphics; 6W TDP Intel Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1GHz / 2.5GHz (Turbo) with Intel HD graphics; 6W TDP System Memory – 4 GB DDR3L (Default), up to 8GB Storage – 64GB eMMC  flash, microSD card slot, optional mSATA III drive up to 512GB Display – […]

Estone MJ-100 10.1″ Rugged Tablet is Equipped with Rockchip RK3399 Processor, a Barcode Scanner

Enstone MJ-100

Launched several years ago, Rockchip RK3399 is now a mature platform found in Chromebooks, some laptops, SBCs, and various other products. Estone Technology offers something a little different with MJ-100 rugged tablet with a 10.1″ display, IP65 waterproof rating, MIL-STD-810G shock & drop resistance, as well as ESD protection. The Android 7.1 tablet also comes with up to 4GB RAM, up to 256GB flash storage, 4G LTE connectivity, GPS / GLONASS support, and some unique features like sealed IO ports, an optional 1D/2D barcode reader, or an optional medical grade power supply. Estone MJ-100 rugged tablet specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 big.LITTLE hexacore  processor with 2x Arm Cortex A72 cores @ 1.8 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 core @ 1.8 GHz, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 RAM (Optional: 4GB) Storage – 64GB, 128GB or 256 GB of eMMC 5.1 flash, micro SD/SDXC/SDGC/SD3.0 card slot up to 64GB Display […]

Diskio Pi 13.3″ DIY Tablet Kit for Raspberry Pi – Take 2 on Kickstarter

Diskio Pi with ODROID-C2 Board

Diskio Pi was a DIY tablet kit for Raspberry Pi, ODROID-C2/XU4 and other compatible boards with a 13.3″ Full HD display that launched last year on Kickstarter. But the project failed likely due to the high costs (350 Euros and up for early bird pledges without battery nor SBC) and an elevated funding target of 400,000 Euros. But the team did not give up, worked on reducing costs, improved the design, and recently relaunched Diskio Pi on Kickstarter with a more achievable 52,096 Euros target, and reasonable pricing with rewards starting at 189 Euros including VAT. Diskio Pi “basic” DIY tablet kit content and main specifications: Display – Innolux 13.3″ TFT/IPS display with 1920×1080 resolution, WLED backlight + 10-point touch capacitive panel connected over USB 2.0 Video control board with HDMI 1.4 to eDP converter, stereo amplifier, and 2x 1W speakers Daughter board with Genesys USB hub, 9V to 5V/4A […]

EDATEC Raspberry Pi 5 fanless case