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May 2, 2013May 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

VIA Unveils VAB-600 Pico-ITX Board Powered by WM8950 Processor

VIA Technologies has recently announced the VAB-600 Pico-ITX embedded board featuring WonderMedia WM8950 ARM Cortex A9 SoC clocked at 800MHz. VIA targets in-vehicle infotainment as well as mobile and healthcare applications for the board despite an operating temperature range between 0°C and 60°C. Here are the key features of this embedded board: SoC – Wondermedia WM8950 Cortex-A9 @ 800MHz + Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 4GB eMMC Flash memory + 512KB SPI Flash for Boot Loader + microSD slot Video Output – Mini HDMI, on-board DVO (Digital Video Output) for TTL or LVDS display Video Codecs – MPEG2 MP@HL, MPEG4, H.264 BP/MP/[email protected], VC-1 SP/MP/AP, VP8 and JPEG/MJPEG. USB – 2x mini USB 2.0 host ports Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (VT6113), 3G (SIM card slot) and optional WiFi support (VIA VNT9271B6050 WiFi module shared with one USB port) On-board Connectors: 2x COM connectors 1x RTC battery […]

January 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$39.99 MTB025 Android ICS Mini PC Powered by Wondermedia WM8850

Alex, one of my regular reader, informed me about a new mini PC, called the MTB025, running on Wondermedia WM8850 cortex A9 processor with 512 MB RAM & 4 GB Flash, and sold on Pandawill for $39.99 including international shipping. Since it’s the first time I’ve heard about a Wondermedia based mini PC, I’ve decided to have a look. Here are the specifications of this Android 4.0.3 device: SoC – VIA Wondermedia WM8850 (Cortex-A9) @ 1.2GHz with Mali-400 GPU. System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4 GB NAND Flash + microSD slot (up to 16GB?) Video output – HDMI (Up to 1080p60) Video formats – AVI, RMVB, MKV & FLV Audio codecs – MP3/WMA/WAV/APE/AAC/FLAC/OGG Connectivity – WIFI 802.11 b/g/n USB – USB host 2.0 + micro USB OTG Dimensions – 98 x 30 x 11 mm Weight – 24g The package also includes an HDMI Cable, a USB […]

January 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

VIA ARMOS-800 Embedded System Features a Freescale i.MX537 based Pico-ITX Board

VIA Technologies has recently announced the VIA ARMOS-800, an fanless system designed around VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX board powered by Freescale i.MX537 processor. The VIA ARMOS-800 provides a ruggedized low-power system for industrial and in-vehicle applications such as a digital signage. Here are VIA ARMOS-800 specifications: Processor – 800MHz Freescale Cortex-A8 single core i.MX537 System Memory – 1GB DDR3-800 SDRAM using 128M x16 memory devices Storage – 4GB onboard eMMC Flash memory + ob-board micro SD connector Graphics – Supports two integrated graphics processing units: an OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics accelerator and an OpenVGTM 1.1 2D graphics accelerator Video Output – VGA and HDMI Audio I/O – Line-In, Line-out, Mic-in connectors Connectivity: Ethernet – 10/100 PHY transceiver (SMSC LAN8720A) Wi-Fi – Optional VIA 802.11n Wireless module VNT 9271 USB – 3x USB connectors + 1x on-board USB 2.0 pin header COM – 1x D-Sub 9-pin female connector CAN – […]

January 17, 2013January 17, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

VIA Announces $79 APC Rock & $99 APC Paper Cortex A9 Board and PC

Following the launch of the $49 APC ARM11 board as a Raspberry Pi alternative last year, VIA has just announced two new APC products based on a WonderMedia WM8950 Cortex A9 processor: APC Rock – $79 Android board APC Paper – $99 Android PC with a case made of recycled cardboard Both products run Android 4.0 (ICS) and mostly share the same specifications: SoC – VIA WonderMedia WM8950 ARM Cortex-A9 @800Mhz + Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 512 DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + microUSB slot Video Output – HMDI (Rock & Paper) and VGA (Rock only) Audio I/O – Audio out / Mic in combo Ethernet – 10/100 Mbps USB – USB 2.0 (x2) and microUSB (OTG) 20-pin ARM-JTAG header Extra GPIO, SPI and I2C busses on a header Dimensions (Board) – 170 x 85mm (W x H), Neo-ITX Standard. APC Paper is basically the same as […]

October 31, 2012October 31, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

VIA ARTiGO A1250 Slim System Powered by Quad Core E-Series Processor

VIA Technologies announced the VIA ARTiGO A1250 slim system featuring a 1.0 GHz VIA QuadCore E-Series processor and VIA VX11H media system processor (MSP). The VIA ARTiGO A1250 is a low profile system targeted at home or office applications such as home server, home automation, hotel management, media streaming, digital signage, surveillance as well as medical and healthcare applications. Here are the key features of ARTIGO A1250: VIA QuadCore E-Series processor (U4650E) @ 1.0 GHz Up to 8GB of DDR3 1333 SDRAM SODIMM Supports one 2.5″ SATA HDD or Flash SSD installation Quiet, ultra slim profile design (3cm high) VIA VX11H media system processor with DirectX11 support 3D and HD video up to 1080p HDMI & VGA display ports with dual independent display support I/O: HDMI, VGA, 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, GigaLAN, Audio-in/out/mic-in Average power consumption of 27W TDP Dimensions: 17.7cm x 12.5cm x 3.0cm I understand that inside […]

July 26, 2012July 26, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

VIA Releases Kernel 2.6.32 and U-Boot Source Code for $49 APC Board

VIA Technology unveiled the low cost APC (Android PC) board based on WonderMedia WM8750 processor (ARM11) back in May, and started to ship the Android board this month (I think since that was their plan). The company has just released Kernel 2.6.32.9 and U-Boot source on github. Here’s how to retrieve the code provided git is already installed on your machine:

git clone git://github.com/apc-io/apc-8750.git

1	git clone git://github.com/apc-io/apc-8750.git

You can then build U-Boot (provided you’ve already installed an ARM toolchain in your path):

cd $CURRENT_PATH/u-boot
make wmt_config
make all

cd $CURRENT_PATH/u-boot

make wmt_config

make all

and the Linux kernel:

cd $CURRENT_PATH/kernel
make 8710_defconfig
make ubin

cd $CURRENT_PATH/kernel

make 8710_defconfig

make ubin

The availability of the source means we should see Linux distribution like Debian, Fedora or Arch Linux ARM (separate from Arch Linux) running on the board very soon. In theory, it’s also possible to run a Linux distribution with the binary Linux kernel compiled for Android, but it causes some issues and also makes customization more difficult. I think they should also have release the code they modified […]

July 24, 2012July 24, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

VIA Announces VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX Board Based on Freescale i.MX537 Processor

VIA Technologies has announced the VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX board powered by a Freescale i.MX537 (ARM Cortex A8) processor clocked at 800MHz or 1GHz depending on the requirements, with 1GB DDR3-800 SDRAM and support for eMMC Flash with a capacity of up to 64 GB. The VIA VAB-800 is an industrial board that can operate in a wide temperature range and targets high-end industrial and in-vehicle embedded applications. Here are the specs of the board: Processor – Freescale Cortex-A8 single core iMX537 @800MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3-800 SDRAM, using 128M x16 memory devices Flash – eMMC Flash, up to 64GB Graphics – Supports two independent, integrated graphics processing units: an OpenGL® ES 2.0, 3D graphics accelerator and an OpenVG™ 1.1 2D graphics accelerator Ethernet – SMSC LAN8720A 10/100 PHY transceiver with HP Auto-MDIX support Audio – Freescale SGTL5000 low power stereo codec with headphone amp HDMI – Silicon image SiI9024A […]

June 26, 2012May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

List of 39 Low Cost Linux Friendly Boards and Products

Dmitry (omgfire), one of my awesome readers, compiled a great tabular list of Linux friendly boards and products that sells for less than $300 US (usually less than $200). This list includes technical details such as the processor, GPU, memory, NAND flash, connectivity, ports, supported Linux distributions… as well as availability and pricing information. There are currently 39 Linux devices in total. The vast majority are ARM based boards, but he also included 2 x86 products by VIA, but those are relatively pricey ($265 and up). Here’s a summary list with SoCs used, links to blog posts and product pages (if available), as well as price information. Raspberry Pi Model B – Broadcom BCM2835 (ARM11) – Blog post (That’s my first post about the R-Pi last year, and the board is much different now) – Product page – Price: $35 + shipping Rikomagic MK802 – Allwiner A10 (Cortex A8) – […]