Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software

January 13, 2026January 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

StackChan is a cute, community-build, open-source AI desktop robot (Crowdfunding)

StackChan is an open-source AI desktop robot based on the M5Stack CoreS3 ESP32-S3 IoT controller that works as an AI Voice Assistant and can notably be used for Smart Home & IoT control. It features a 2-inch touchscreen display, a VGA camera, a dual microphone array and a 1W speaker for voice interaction, a few sensors, an infrared receiver, an infrared transmitter/blaster, two servos for horizontal and vertical movement, and a few buttons and LEDs. StackChan specifications: Core module – M5Stack CoreS3 IoT controller Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN16R8 CPU – Dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V ULP co-processor Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB flash, Wirleess – 2.4GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE + Mesh Antenna – Internal 3D antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – 2-inch IPS display with 320×240 resolution, 65,536 colors via ILI9342C […]

January 13, 2026January 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

HalowLink 2 Wi-Fi HaLow access point and extender offers up to 1 km range, supports up to 1,000 IoT end devices

GL.iNet HaLowLink 2 WiFi HaLow access point extender

Designed in collaboration with Morse Micro, GL.iNet’s HalowLink 2 is a Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) access point and extender that offers up to 1 km range and supports up to 1,000 IoT end devices. It’s an update to the earlier HaLowLink 1 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway with the exact same functionality, except it replaces a Morse Micro MM6108-based module with an MM8108-based module that offers a higher max link rate (43.3 Mbps vs 32.5 Mbps), broader region support, higher device capacity, and potentially better /performance range with up to 26 dBm Tx power (vs 23dBm in the first generation model). HalowLink 2 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7621 dual-core, quad-thread MIPS1004K processor @ up to 880MHz System Memory – 256MB DDR3 Storage – 32MB NAND Flash Connectivity Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) AzureWave AW-HM677 module with Morse Micro MM8108 HaLow chipset supporting Wi-Fi HaLow, IEEE 802.11ah, Sub-GHz, 43.3 Mbps, ultra-low power, WPA3 Sub-GHz frequency range […]

January 12, 2026January 13, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Upgraded Sipeed NanoKVM-USB USB KVM solution gains 4K 60 FPS video capture and HDMI loop output

Sipeed has released a new variant of its NanoKVM-USB low-cost USB KVM adapter, which upgrades 2K 30 FPS capture and 4Kp30 loop out to 4K 60 FPS capture and 4Kp60 HDMI loop output. The new NanoKVM-USB 4K keeps the same ports as the earlier model, with HDMI and USB-C inputs connected to the target, and another USB-C port that connects to the host, in order to remotely control the target with keyboard, mouse, and monitor emulation. A USB Type-A port that can switch between host and target modes is also implemented, for instance, to share a USB drive between the two systems. NanoKVM USB 4K specifications: Video Input/Output HDMI input up to 4Kp60 from target device HDMI loop output up to 4Kp60 for optional connection to a monitor USB USB Type-C port for connection to the target device for keyboard/mouse emulation USB 3.0 Type-C port for connection to the host […]

January 12, 2026January 12, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Milk-V Titan – A $329 octa-core 64-bit RISC-V mini-ITX motherboard with a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot

We first noted the UltraRISC UR-DP1000-powered Milk-V Titan mini-ITX motherboard when we wrote an article about three high-performance RISC-V processors to watch in H2 2025. There have been some delays, as there often are, but the Titan board finally appears to be in stock, so it’s probably a good time to have a closer look. Powered by a 2 GHz UR-DP1000 octa-core RISC-V CPU, the Titan mini-ITX motherboard supports up to 64GB DIMM memory and M.2 NVMe storage (PCIe Gen4 x4), and features a PCIe Gen4 x16 slot for a graphics card or other expansion, Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, a BMC, and more. Milk-V Titan specifications: CPU – UltraRISC UR-DP1000 8x 64-bit RISC-V UR-CP100 “RV64GCBHX” cores up to 2.0 GHz Two 4x core cluster design with 4MB L3 cache each, and a total of 16MB cache. Fully RVA22 compliant, and “Compliant with RVA23 excluding V extension.” Supports Hardware […]

January 12, 2026January 11, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Xibo open-source digital signage solution now works with Raspberry Pi 5 thanks to the Arexibo project

Xibo digital signage solution is now compatible with the Raspberry Pi 5 thanks to Axeribo, an unofficial alternative to the digital signage player for Xibo, that is implemented in Rust, and designed for Linux platforms. Long-time readers of CNX Software may remember that I played around with the Xibo open-source digital signage player many years ago (2011-2012). I notably managed to run Xibo for Arm in QEMU, test Xibo digital signage in the Raspberry Pi emulator, and even try it on real hardware: a MeLE A1000 Android TV box to which I installed Linux. It kind of works, but without hardware video decoding and no 3D graphics acceleration, performance was rather on the low side. I eventually stopped playing around with Xibo Arm Linux once Xibo for Android was released in late 2012, and the developers decided to drop support for the Linux client (although they relaunched it in 2019 […]

January 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

XIAO ePaper DIY Kit – EE02 – An ESP32-S3 board designed for 13.3-inch Spectra 6 color E-Ink display

XIAO ESP32-S3 13.3-inch E-ink Spectra 6 color display kit

Seeed Studio’s XIAO ePaper DIY Kit EE02 is an ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth board designed specifically for the 13.3-inch Spectra 6 color E-Ink display provided by the company. It’s based on a similar design as the XIAO ePaper DIY Kit-EE04 (ESP32-S3) and XIAO ePaper DIY Kit-EN04 (nRF52480) introduced last December, which are suitable for smaller 1.54 to 7.15-inch ePaper displays. Like the previous models, the new EE02 model also includes a battery connector with a power switch, a built-in charging IC, and comes with one reset and three user buttons. With support for a larger 13.3-inch color ePaper display, it’s especially well-suited for digital frames and information boards. XIAO ePart DIY kit – EE02 specifications: Wireless board – XIAO ESP32S3 Plus SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth […]

January 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

6-core Intel Wildcat Lake Core Series 3 CPUs to succeed Alder Lake-N and Twin Lake families

When I wrote the Year 2025 in review post, I expected an announcement for the Wildcat Lake CPUs at CES 2026, but instead, Intel initially introduced the high-end Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” family. I assumed the Wildcat Lake announcement was postponed, but some users’ reports on X indicate the company did demonstrate the new Core Series 3 (no “Ultra” there) “Wildcat Lake” processors as lower-end Core Series 3 “Panther Lake” SKUs. Intel has yet to disclose part names, and there’s nothing about the Wildcat Lake on Intel Ark at the time of writing. However, some information was shared through slides and X users. Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” key features and specifications: CPU – Hexa-core processor with 2x Cougar Cover P-cores (Performance cores), 4x Darkmont LPE-cores (Low-Power Efficient cores) GPU – 2x Xe-core Intel Xe3 graphics (no ray tracing, not designed for gaming) AI accelerator – Intel […]

January 8, 2026January 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

MUSE Book laptop review – Testing an octa-core RISC-V Linux laptop in 2026

SpacemiT sent me a sample of the MUSE Book RISC-V Linux laptop for review. It’s based on the SpacemiT K1/M1 octa-core 64-bit RISC-V SoC, ships with up to 16 GB of RAM, eMMC flash and/or NVMe SSD, and features a 14.1-inch IPS display with 1920×1080 resolution, WiFi 6 connectivity, a few USB ports, and more. I won’t go through all the hardware specifications since Leo already did that when he wrote about the MUSE Book Laptop in April 2024, along with a teardown, and additional details about the SpacemiT K1/M1 SoC. I’ll still do an unboxing and quickly check the hardware, but I’ll focus on the software part to show the progress with Bianbu OS 2.3 (Ubuntu 24.04-based) on RISC-V hardware, as I just did for the low-end StarFive JH7110S-based VisionFive 2 Lite SBC. It’s quite a long review, so if you are short on time, you can jump directly […]