CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 17, 2019September 17, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

[email protected] 15 Touch is a 15″ 2-in-1 Laptop Dock for Samsung DeX Devices and Smartphones with a USB-C Port

We’ve already covered several laptop docks for smartphones such as NexDock 2. AFAICR, all those modes would come with a full laptop body with non-touch display and keyboard. “Losing the wires” company offers something slightly different with their [email protected] 15 Touch as it aims to convert Samsung DeX smartphones into 2-in-1 hybrid laptops. That means the 15″ display comes with a touchscreen, and the keyboard is separate. [email protected] 15 Touch kit includes the following items and features: 15.6″ LCD display Full HD/1080p resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) with 10 point capacitive touch USB – 1x USB-C port to smartphone, 1 x micro-USB port for peripherals, 1x USB- C charge port Video Output – Mini-HDMI in for use as a secondary display for another device Battery – Up to 4 or up to 7 hours life (model specific) Dimensions – 356 x 224 x 9mm Weight – 900g (without case) UK Bluetooth keyboard with trackpad UK charger, USB-C smartphone cable and …

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September 17, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Wi-Fi Certified 6 Program Available for Products based on Broadcom, Cypress, Intel, Marvell, and Qualcomm 802.11ax Chips

Last year the WiFi alliance introduces a new naming scheme for WiFi using numbers instead of IEEE standards so that WiFI 4 is 802.11n, WiFi 5 is 802.11ac, and WiFi 6 is the latest 802.11ax standard with data throughput up to 10 Gbps, and a better ability to manage high-density scenarios. Shortly after (November 2018) we also got news of the first WiFi 6 routers from ASUS and NETGEAR, but the WiFi alliance only just announced the launch of their Wi-Fi Certified 6 program that promises optimal interoperability and security. The program will make sure the following features are properly implemented: WPA3 WiFi security Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA): effectively shares channels to increase network efficiency and lower latency for both uplink and downlink traffic in high demand environments Multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO): allows more downlink data to be transferred at once and enables an access point to transmit data to a larger number of devices concurrently …

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September 17, 2019 by Stephen Vicinanza - 5 Comments

BalenaOS may be the First Fully Functional 64-bit OS for Raspberry Pi 4

BalenaOS 64-Bit OS Balena just announced the release of a 64-bit OS for the Raspberry Pi 4, that latest release of the iconic SBC. BalenaOS is designed to run 32-bit and 64-bit Docker containers side-by-side and simultaneously. It also supports up to 4GB of memory, to accomplish that feat. The balenaOS also supports several other embedded systems and versions of Raspberry Pi How BalenaOS Is Set Up The BalenaOS is opensource, Yocto Linux-based host OS made for containers. The workflow is fast and current and allows for a number of different embedded systems, but especially Raspberry Pi 4 in a 64-bit environment. The Main Advantage With the advances in the Raspberry Pi 4 platform, the faster data throughput, improved graphics handling, and the faster processor speeds, the BalenaOS is taking full advantage of the Raspberry Pi 4. It adds a wide variety of possibilities to a platform that was waiting for this improvement. Embedded System Function The OS has developed …

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September 16, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

MINIX Unveils NEO T5 & NEO U22-XJ Amlogic S905X2 / S922XJ Android TV Media Hubs

We’ve already seen MINIX showcased a fanless Gemini Lake mini PC at IFA 2019, but the company also had two upcoming Amlogic TV boxes on display at the event. MINIX NEO T5 features Amlogic S905X2 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, while MINIX NEO U22-XJ TV box is powered by an Amlogic S922XJ hexa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor. The former runs Android TV 9.0 with Google certification, while the latter comes pre-loaded with Android 9.0 OS. I had never heard about S922XJ, and apparently, Amlogic has yet to formally announce it, so I wonder whether it could be Amlogic S922X-B tipped by Khadas a while ago with higher CPU & GPU clock speeds. The processor will also come with Dolby Vision and Dolby Audio licenses, and Amlogic has a history of giving different processor names depending on the audio licenses. MINIX NEO T5 Specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X2 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with Arm Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB …

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September 16, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Linux 5.3 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS & RISC-V Architectures

Linus Torvalds has just announced the release of Linux 5.3: So we’ve had a fairly quiet last week, but I think it was good that we ended up having that extra week and the final rc8. Even if the reason for that extra week was my travel schedule rather than any pending issues, we ended up having a few good fixes come in, including some for some bad btrfs behavior. Yeah, there’s some unnecessary noise in there too (like the speling fixes), but we also had several last-minute reverts for things that caused issues. One _particularly_ last-minute revert is the top-most commit (ignoring the version change itself) done just before the release, and while it’s very annoying, it’s perhaps also instructive. What’s instructive about it is that I reverted a commit that wasn’t actually buggy. In fact, it was doing exactly what it set out to do, and did it very well. In fact it did it _so_ well that …

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September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

PineTime is a $25 Smartwatch / Companion for PinePhone Linux Phone

We’ve recently seen Linux smartphones are coming in a few weeks or months, but the $150 PinePhone may not come alone, and soon be joined by a $25 companion, namely PineTime smartwatch. That’s what we learned through a tweet by Pine64 explaining the PineTime is a Linux smartphone companion that can run FreeRTOS or Arm Mbed operating systems. It will be a side-project however, and the focus is still on PinePhone and Pinebook Pro, meaning it will take a while depending on the level of community engagement. Available information is limited to the discussion in the tweet at this stage, but we do know the watch will be made of zinc alloy & plastic, come with a charging dock, a 20 mm wristband, an heart-rate monitor and last several days on a charge. We’ve also seen people interested in porting ZephyrOS to the watch, and others would like to make it work with Android and/or iOS smartphones. Development kits should …

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September 14, 2019September 14, 2019 by Stephen Vicinanza - 11 Comments

Whiskey Lake-UE SBC & Fanless Embedded Computer Target Industry 4.0 & AIoT Applications

Industrial AIoT Vecow makes its latest entry into the industrial 4.0 and AIoT application market place with the announcement of the Whiskey Lake-UE based EMBC – 3000 3.5″ SBC and the SPC 5200 slim fanless computer system. The units are extremely similar, and it would seem the EMBC-3000 is inside the SPC-5200, so there are several options for the system features and setups. Whiskey Lake-UE processors, such as Core i7-8665UE, are the embedded, long-lifespan version of Whiskey Lake-U processors. Company Background Vecow has a long history in the embedded industrial computing industry, going back to 2011. Their latest embedded systems are a 3.5 form-factor SBC, the EMBC-3000 and the SPC-5200 slim build embedded computer, both built around the 8th Gen Whiskey Lake-UE processors with 15W TDPs. The EMBC-3000 are available with i-series or Celeron processors. EMBC-3000 SBC Intended Uses and Application The EMBC-3000 has been developed with machine vision and AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles) in mind, for use in factories, …

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September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi CM3+ based EagleEye Smart Camera Works with OpenCV and LabVIEW NI Vision

Raspberry Pi CM3 Industrial Smart Camera

We previously covered Q-Wave Systems’ Melon S3 board combining a Xilinx Spartan 3E FPGA with ESP8266, but the Thai company is back is a completely different product: EagleEye Smart Camera. The board is powered by Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+ (CM3+) with 16GB or 32GB flash, and equipped with a 5 MP camera for machine vision and robotics applications. There are two version of the board Uno and Industrial with the latter adding 24V digital input and outputs, circuit protections and support for industrial temperature range. EagleEye smart camera key features & specifications: SoM – Raspberry Pi CM3+ with Broadcom BCM2837B0 quad core cortex-A53 processor, 1 GB RAM, and 16GB or 32 GB flash Camera – 5 MP OV5647 image sensor, CS/M12 lens holder + 4mm CS lens Video Output – mini HDMI port Networking – 10/100M Ethernet USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port up to 1.2A Expansion Uno – 4x 3.3V digital input; 4x 3.3V digital output; both …

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