Just last week, we found out there was a fair amount of TV boxes running Android TV with certification from Google, with most of them from PayTV providers or OEMs. Today, I’ve come to better understand what that means thanks to ARMDevices.net interview of ARRIS at IBC2017. I used to think getting a device with official Android TV support would mean getting Google’s Leanback launcher, but there’s more to it, as Google also offers “operator tier” Android TV certifications, which allow manufacturer to use Android TV operating system with their own launcher/user interface, and official support for Google services like Google Play Store, Google Play Music and so on. ARRIS International has a whole family of certified Android TV devices with 4K UHD set-top boxes and DVR systems as shown in the table below, all likely based on Broadcom SoCs. Wi-Fi Set-Tops Wi-Fi Processor DMIPS Type Size Zx4430 2×2 802.11ac Dual core (7000 DMIPS) DVB-C, DVB-T, DVB-S 120mm W x…
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Earlier this year, Qwerty Embedded designed PocketBone board, an Eagle & KiCad open source hardware board software compatible with BeagleBone, but much smaller and based on Octavo OSD3358 system-in-package. This was never an official BeagleBoard.org board, and AFAIK it was not made broadly available. But the BeagleBoard foundation has now introduced PocketBeagle with a similar form factor, but based instead on the latest Octavo OSD3358-SM SiP that embeds TI Sitara AM3358, 512MB RAM, a PMIC, and various passive components into a 21×21 package, and exposing more I/Os thanks to 72 through holes. PocketBeagle board specifications: SiP (System-in-Package) – Octavo Systems OSD3358-SM with TI Sitara AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ up to 1 GHz, PowerVR SGX530 GPU, 2x PRU, ARM Cortex-M3 for power and security management functions 512MB DDR3 800 MHz 4kB I2C EEPROM TPS65217 PMIC + LDO with integrated 1-cell LiPo battery support Storage – micro SD slot USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 OTG port Expansion – 2x 36-pin…
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Many years ago, when the first Bluetooth headset started to be sold, it was always a bit funny to hear people apparently talking to themselves while walking in the street. But soon enough, fellow walking zombies may start talking even more on the go, as Google and its partners have launched a new category of headphones with support for Google Assistant starting with Bose QuietComfort 35 II (aka QC35 II). The new headphones are actually an update to QC35 headphones that not only adds Google Assistant support but also noise control settings. It’s not really as cool as it first sounds though. The headphones have an “Action” button to trigger Google Assistant, so no “OK Google” or “Hey Google”, and support is not exactly built-in, meaning you’ll still need to pair the headphones with your smartphone over Bluetooth. You’ll then be able to hear your incoming messages and calendar automatically right from your headphones, even when you listen to music….
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Electronics components and boards are getting smaller and smaller, and for battery powered devices, the battery may take a big chunk of the volume, and in some cases like smart cards, typical battery are not suitable. PowerStream has designed ultra thin bendable LiPo batteries that aredesigned for smart cards and RFID tags that needs their own power, but I could envision that if battery capacity increases, and/or energy harvesting becomes a more common feature, they could be used for wearables, for example by placing them inside the wristband. The main features for the battery as listed by the company: Operating voltage – 3.6V High energy density No memory effect Self-discharge is less than 3% per month Charge/discharge cycle characteristics are excellent Safety characteristics are excellent Processing temperatures for these cells is 100°C for less than 60 seconds, 120°C for less than 20 seconds and 140°C for less than 5 seconds. End-of-discharge voltage cut off 2.8 volts. Temperature range of charging…
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Imagination Technologies has just made two announcements: one for their PowerVR Series2NX neural network accelerator, and the other for the new high-end GPU families: PowerVR Series9XE and 9XM. PowerVR Series2NX neural network accelerator The companies claims 2NX can deliver twice the performance and half the bandwidth of nearest competitor, and it’s the first dedicated hardware solution with flexible bit-depth support from 16-bit down to 4-bit. Key benefits of their solution (based on market data available in August 2017 from a variety of sources) include: Highest inference/mW IP cores to deliver the lowest power consumption Highest inference/mm2 IP cores to enable the most cost-effective solutions Lowest bandwidth solution with support for fully flexible bit depth for weights and data including low bandwidth modes down to 4-bit 2048 MACs/cycle in a single core, with the ability to go to higher levels with multi core The PowerVR 2NX NNA is expected to be found in smartphone and other mobile devices leveraging Tensorflow Lite…
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USB type C receptacles are found in more and more devices, but if you have older accessories or peripherals they likely use micro USB, and USB type A cables or plugs. One way to work around this problem is to get adapter, for example, I purchased a micro USB to USB Type C adapter last year, but this morning I’ve come across a USB type C hard drive enclosure, something I had not seen before, probably because I did not look for it. Maiwo K104c enclosure specifications: Designed for 2.5″ SATA drives (HDD/SSD) up to 9.5mm thick USB type C to SATA 3.0 interface using JMS567 chipset UASP protocol support (aka USB attached SCSI) OS agnostic so it should work with any operating systems Dimensions – 21.50 x 2.70 x 1.20 cm Weight – 130 x 79 x 17mm JMicron JMS567 chipset is the same as used in NanoPi NEO NAS Kit v1.2. Several sites claims it’s a USB 3.1…
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Firefly-RK3399 is a development board powered by Rockchip RK3399, and the company behind the board has now launched a system-on-module called RK3399 Coreboard with 2 to 4GB RAM, 8 to 128GB flash, a PMIC, and a 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector exposing various I/Os. RK3399 CoreBoard specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with dual core ARM Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor, ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL and DX 11 support System Memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR3 Storage – 8, 16, 32 or 128 GB eMMC flash Carrier Board Interface – 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector with Ethernet, PCIe, HDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, MIPI DSI, eDP 1.3, S/PDIF, I2S, GPIO, USB, etc… signals Power Supply – 5V/3A input; RK808 PMIC Dimensions – 82 x 63 mm Weight – 24 grams The company provides support for Android 6.0.1 and Ubuntu 16.04 for the module, and…
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Intel’s new generation of Gemini Lake and Coffee Lake processors is expected to launch at the end of this year, beginning of next, and this morning I received Intel’s NUC roadmap that gives a good idea of what’s coming in 2018 and 2019. Intel plans a whole new generation of NUCs from “Hades Canyon VR” NUCxi7HVK model with a 100W Intel Core i7-xxxxK Kaby Lake-H processor to “June Canyon Celeron” NUC7CJYH model with a 10W Intel Celeron J4005 dual core “Gemini Lake” processor. All in all a total of 7 new NUCs should be launching in 2018. Let’s have a closer look at the cheaper and lower power Gemini Lake models, starting with “June Canyon Celeron” NUC7CJYH specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4005 dual core GLK processor (10W TDP) System Memory – 2x DDR4-2400 slots for up to 8GB RAM Storage – M.2 SSD slot, SDXC slot Display – 2x HDMI 2.0a ports supporting up to two independent displays Audio…
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