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

November 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Zome ZMT-330A is Both an Android TV Box and a Wi-Fi Router

A few months ago I wrote about SinoVoip BPI-R1 board powered by Allwinner A20, and being a sort of hybrid media player / router system running Android with 5 Gigabit ports, Wi-Fi, HDMI output and SATA, but now somebody made an actual product which they call an “Android TV Box Wi-Fi Router” sold under the model name ZMT-330A, and based on Nufront NS115 dual core processor. Zome ZMT-330A specifications: SoC – Nufront NS115 dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.0GHz + Mali-400 GPU System Memory – Nufront: 512 MB DDR3 (1GB optional); Wi-Fi module: 32MB SDRAM (64MB optional) Storage – 4GB eMMC Flash (8 /16 GB optional) + micro SD slot; Wi-Fi module: 8MB SPI flash (16MB optional) Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p Video Codecs and Containers – AVI, H.265, VC-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DIVD/DIVX, Real8/9/10, RM, RMVB, PMP, FLV, MP4, M4V, VOB, WMV, 3GP, MKV Connectivity – 2x 10/100M […]

November 10, 2014November 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rayeager PX2 Development Board Features Rockchip PX2 Dual Core Cortex A9 Processor

Rockchip has apparently discreetly released a PX2 SoC with a dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.4 GHz coupled with a Mali-400MP4 GPU, that on the surface looks extremely similar to their RK3066 SoC. Unfortunately, at first, I could not find much details about the processor itself, but Chipspark have introduced Rayeager PX2 development board based on the new Rockchip processor, with 1 to 2 GB RAM, an 8GB eMMC flash, and various ports including a SATA 2.0 interface. Rayeager PX2 specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX2 dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.4 GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 to 2 GB DDR3@400MHz Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot, and SATA 2.0 interface for 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drives (the latter may require external power supply) Video Output – HDMI, and VGA up to 1080p, , and LCD interface Video Input – 1x CVBS input […]

November 10, 2014November 11, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Android 5.0 Lollipop Now Boots on Rockchip RK3188 Tablets

Android 5.0 source code was pushed to AOSP less than a week ago, but oma7144, a member of Arctablet CrewRKTablets, already managed to have a preliminary firmware boot on Odys Iron, a tablet powered by Rockchip RK3188. This is still work in progress, and the firmware image has not been made available for download, but it looks promising, and that means Android Lollipop firmware images for Rockchip tablets and mini PCs could be released sooner than I initially expected. Some screenshots taken from the tablet. You can find more screenshots on Arctablet. Via Google+ Mini PC community. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

November 9, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 68 Comments

Tronsmart Draco AW80 Octa core Android TV Box Review

Tronsmart Draco AW80 (click for full specs) is the first octa core Android TV box / mini PC thanks to Allwinner A80 processor. Draco AW80 Meta model comes with 2GB RAM / 16GB eMMC, and the upcoming Draco AW80 Telos will feature 4GB RAM and a 32GB eMMC. Geekbuying sent me the Meta version for review, and since I’ve already posted pictures of the device and board, today I’ll post my findings after testing the unit. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve inserted two AAA batteries in the provided remote control, and it works as expect, but as usual, I’ve used Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse to control the device during my testing, since it’s impossible to use most apps with an IR remote control, XBMC/Kodi being one exception. I’ve connected an HDMI cable, a USB 3.0 hard drive to the USB 3.0 OTG port of the TV box, […]

November 8, 2014November 16, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Raspberry Pi Model A+ Board Features a 40-pin GPIO Connector, a micro SD slot, and Improved Power Management

After the Raspberry Pi foundation officially announced Raspberry Pi Model B+ board, it was natural to expect a Model A+ to come soon after. Based on a webpage on Element14 (now down), an update of the cheapest version of the Raspberry Pi could get announced very soon, maybe as soon as Monday. It has specifications very similar to Model A, but replaces the 26-pin GPIO connector, by a 40-pin connector, a micro SD slot takes the place of a full-sized SD slot, and power management has been improved so that it’s more efficient, and can support “power hungry” USB devices. [Update: It’s now officially announced as planned] I’ve drawn a comparison table between the latest two boards: Model B+ vs Model A+. Raspberry Pi Model B+ Raspberry Pi Model A+ SoC Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 700MHz with VideoCore IV GPU System Memory 512 MB (PoP) 256 MB (PoP) Storage […]

November 7, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Unboxing of Tronsmart Draco AW80 Meta mini PC Powered by AllWinner A80 Processor

GeekBuying sent me a sample of their Tronsmart Draco AW80 mini PC powered by Allwinner A80 octa core processor. I’ve received the Meta version with 2GB RAM, and 16GB eMMC, but next month Telos version will ship with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC instead. Today I’ll show some pictures of the product and the internal boards, and in a few days I’ll write a full version with the Android 4.4 firmware. Later, I’ll most certainly review the Ubuntu beta image that’s scheduled for released by the end of the month. Tronsmart Draco AW80 Unboxing I’ve received the device by DHL in the black and gold package below. I was surprised by the size of the box (16.4 x 16.4 cm) which quite larger than what I’m used to with other TV boxes, and all cables and accessories are stored in little black boxes within the main package. Accessories include a […]

November 7, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

NetBSD 7.0 To Support Multi-Core ARM Processors from Allwinner and Freescale

NetBSD is an open source Unix-like Open Source operating system running on a wide range of platforms, from servers and desktop systems to embedded devices. The operating system has supported ARM since 1996, with more recent ports for ARM Cortex A8 and Raspberry Pi, but until recently it did not support SMP (Symmetric multiprocessing) to support more than one core. But NetBSD has now fixed this “anomaly” and the following Allwinner A20/A31 and Freescale i.MX6 boards are now supported: Banana Pi (BPI) Cubieboard 2 (CUBIEBOARD) Cubietruck (CUBIETRUCK) Merrii Hummingbird A31 (HUMMINGBIRD_A31) CUBOX-I NITROGEN6X You can give it a try on Allwinner boards by creating an SD card following instructions on NetBSD / Allwinner Wiki. There does not seem to be documentation for the Freescale boards yet. If Allwinner documentation is up-to-date, this is a headless image, as framebuffer, HDMI, etc… are still in to TODO list, but Gigabit Ethernet and […]

November 7, 2014November 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

BeagleBoard-X15 Development Board To Feature TI Sitara AM5728 Dual Core Cortex A15 Processor

Before the BeagleBone and BeagleBone Black boards based on TI Sitara processor, there were BeagleBoard (-xM) boards powered by TI OMAP3 processors, and Beageboard.org and Texas Instruments are now working on their next open source hardware board with BeagleBoard-X15 powered by TI Sitara AM572 dual core Cortex A15 SoC. Since Beagleboard-X15 has not been formally announced, there’s no picture, and we don’t have the full details yet, but here are the expect technical specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM5728 dual core Cortex A15 processor @ 1.5 GHz, with PowerVR SGX544-MP2 3D GPU, Vivante GC320 2D GPU, 2x Cortex M4 cores, dual core C66x DSP, and IVA (Image and Video Accelerator) for 1080p video decode (H.264, VC-1, MPEG 1/2/4, AVS, etc..) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L with dual 32-bit buses Storage – 4GB eMMC, micro SD slot, and eSATA interface Video I/O – HDMI out up to 1080p60, LCD port, […]