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

June 13, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Renesas DevCon Extension Organizes Free One-Day Courses About IoT, Low Power, Sensors and More

I’ve just come across a YouTube video called Ultra-Low-Power Solutions for Wearable Technology and the ‘Internet of Things’ On Renesas channel. The video itself promotes Cymbet EnerChip Solid State Batteries and Kits, working together with Renesas MCUs, and the interesting part is that they’ll provide a free training session for the kit as part of Renesas Devcon Extension 2014. This is not a single event as you may think, but instead the company hosts one-day workshops in various cities in the US and Brazil covering various tracks all year long, as you can see in the simplified schedule below. RTOS & Middleware track is not available anymore, but you can still attend training sessions for Human Machine Interfaces, Low Power designs, the Internet of Things and Sensors. As an example, the following lectures are available for the Low Power track: Renesas Low-Power MCU Lineup (30 minutes) – Updated technology roadmap […]

June 13, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Console OS Aims to Run Android Alongside Windows on Intel based PCs, Laptops and Tablets (Crowdfunding)

There are already various solutions to run Android on Windows PC powered by Intel processors either going the emulator route, for example with BlueStacks or AndroVM (now Genimotion), or the native route with solutions such as Android-x86. So when I read Console OS, a port of Android capable of running along side of Windows, was looking for funds on Kickstarter to complete the project, I was perplex. But looking into details, it seems Console OS may indeed bring improvements to existing solutions, and Mobile Media Ventures, the company behind the project, released the following table comparing Console OS to other Android ports. If like me you had never heard of Andy Android, here’s the link to the project. Android IA is Intel ports of Android, which currently targets developers. So according to the developers, Console OS makes installing and dual-booting Android on a Windows PC easy, brings full Android Kitkat […]

June 12, 2014November 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Qiyang Technology ARM Development Boards Based on Atmel SAMA5D3, TI Sitara AM335x and Freescale i.MX6 SoCs

Hangzhou Qiyang Technology (杭州启扬智能科技有限公司) is a company based in Hangzhou, China, that provides embedded hardware solutions such as low power development boards and computer-on-modules. I’ve recently come across the company, and they have boards for various ARM based SoCs, but I’ve received details about three of their latest industrial development boards powered by Atmel SAMA5D3 Cortex A5 processor, Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x Cortex A8 SoC, and Freescale i.MX6 single and multi-core ARM Cortex A9 SoCs. Let’s have a look. Qiyang QY-A5D3XEK – Atmel SAMA5D3 Development Board The development kit is comprised of a base board (IAC-A5D3X-MB) and a computer-on-module (ICA-A5D3X_CM) with the following hardware specifications: Processor – Atmel SAMA5D3 ARM Cortex A5 @ 536 MHz (Either SAMA5D31, SAMA5D33, SAMA5D34 or SAMA5D35) System Memory – 256 MB DDR2 @ 333 MHz Storage – 256MB NAND flash + 2MB dataflash on CoM, 2x SD card slot on baseboard Video Output – VGA, […]

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Soap is a Touchscreen Enabled Router Supporting Gigabit Ethernet and Lots of Wireless Standards (Crowdfunding)

Soap is a strange creature, and I’m not convinced there are that many use cases for such hardware, but I find it interesting that the developers decided to pack a Freescale i.MX6 Solo/Dual or Quad SoC powered Android 4.4 tablet and a router supporting five Gigabit Etherner ports, as well as WiFI 802.11ac, Wi-0Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Zigbee, Z-wave, Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE), Insteon RF, X10, 433Mhz, NFC, and infrared into one and only device which they call an “Intelligent Home Management Hub”. It’s also complete with an HDMI output port so that you can use it as a media player. Let’s go through the specifications for the four version this little monster (Soap Solo, Soap Dual, Soap Quad, and Soap 8.4): SoC Soap Solo – Freescale i.MX6 Solo single ARM Cortex A9 @ 1 GHz with Vivante GC880 3D GPU Soap Dual – Freescale i.MX6 Dual dual ARM Cortex A9 @ […]

June 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MyGica ATV582 Enjoy TV Box Powered by Amlogic S802 Is Now Available for $139

Geniatech has historically been the company which first delivered set-top box and media player solutions based on Amlogic processors. I’m not sure it’s still the case with Amlogic S802 and other S80x SoCs, as other companies appear to have released their products first such as Tronsmart Vega S89 and M8 Android TV boxes, but Geniatech ATV582 based on Amlogic S802 quad core processor has been available since April under the company’s retail brand Mygica. Mygica ATV582 specifications: SoC – AMLogic S802 quad core Cortex A9r4 processor @ 2GHz with Mali‐450MP6 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, Wi‐Fi 802.11 b/g/n Video & Audio Output – HDMI, AV. HDMI supports 1080p, 4K2K 30fps Video Codecs and Containers – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, AVC, VC‐1, RM/RMVB, Xvid, DivX3/4/5/6, RealVideo8/9/10… Audio – MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, OGG, AC3, DDP, TrueHD, DTS, DTS […]

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Meet Samsung Smart Bike fitted with an Arduino, a Rear Camera, Lasers and More

Samsung Maestros Academy has introduced a Smart Bike prototype integrating various “smart” components within its aluminum frame, such as an Arduino board connected to a Wi-Fi + Bluetooth module, a battery, four laser projectors, and a digital camera controlled by a Samsung smartphone. The camera is fitted at the back just under the seat, and allows the riders to have a real-time rear view image on the phone. The four lasers are used to create a virtual bike lane in case a real one is missing, and remind other drivers to keep a safe distance to your bicycle. The bike can also detect ambient conditions using the smartphone sensors, and modify its behavior. For example, it can switch on or off the laser beams depending on the brightness sensor data from the smartphone. Each bike also tracks daily routes of the riders using GPS, and can let local authorities know where bicycle traffic is most intense, and […]

June 12, 2014June 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Vidonn X5 USB & Bluetooth LE Activity Tracker Sells for $27.61

Many companies have launched activity trackers, some small watch-like device that you wear around your wrist, and that monitor fitness related data such as the number steps and the distance you’ve walked during the, the calories you’ve burnt, and even your sleep quality. However, I’ve never understood why you would pay more than $30-$40 for such devices, let alone around $100. Vidonn X5 is one of the low cost devices that still looks decent, and can be found on many Chinese online stores for about $40 to $50. But DealExtreme currently has a promotion selling the device for just $27.61 which makes it even better value. Vidonn X5 specifications: MCU/Memory – Unknown Display – 0.49″ OLED display Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE and micro USB Battery – 40mAh Li-battery good for 4 days on a charge IP Rating – IP65 (Dust-proof and waterproof to water jets) Operating Temperature – -20’C~45’C Maximum Operating Altitude […]

June 11, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Linux 3.15 Released

Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux Kernel 3.15 last Sunday: So I ended up doing an rc8 because I was a bit worried about some last-minute dcache fixes, but it turns out that nobody seemed to even notice those. We did have other issues during the week, though, so it was just as well. The futex fixes and cleanups may stand out, but as usual there’s various other random fixes since rc8 in there too: mainly drivers (drm, networking, sound, usb etc), networking, scheduling and perf tooling. But it’s all been fairly small and quiet, which *may* of course be due to the fact that last week was also the first week of the merge window for 3.16. That might have distracted some developers. I’m not entirely convinced I liked the overlap, but it seemed to work ok, and unless people scream really loudly (“Please don’t _ever_ do that again”) and give good […]