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

May 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Pivos Unveils XIOS XS Android XBMC TV Box Powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX Processor

When XBMC Android development was announced in 2012, the main development platform was Pivos XIOS DS, a TV Box based on Amlogic AML8726-M1 that can run either XBMC Linux or Android, and the company (Pivos Group) was the main sponsor and contributor for XBMC on ARM. Contrary to many other companies that push faster and faster hardware, Pivos Group focuses on software and user’s experience, and they’ve just announced he successor of the Pivos XIOS DS, called the Pivos XIOS XS powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor and feature their own heavily custom version of Android called ToFu Media OS. Let’s go through the hardware specifications first: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.5 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4b with CEC support […]

May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Technologic Systems TS-7670 Industrial Board Features Freescale i.MX286, Supports RAID-like System on SD Cards

Technologic Systems has unveiled an industrial board powered by Freescale i.MX286 ARM9 processor and a MCU part of NXP LPC1100 Cortex M0 series to to create a CDC ACM serial device on a host PC, and interfaces via UART, I2C, and SPI with the Freescale processor. The board targets applications such as fleet vehicle or asset tracking, point-of-sales (PoS), vending machines, data acquisition units, and data recorder modules. TS-7670 specifications: Processor – Freescale i.MX286 (1x ARM926EJ-S core @ up to 454MHz) MCU – NXP LPC Cortex M0 MCU in QFN32 package (LPC1114??) System Memory – 128MB to 256MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 2GB soldered NAND flash, 2x microSD slot with Doublestore support (similar RAID on SD card) Connectivity – 10/100 Ethernet port Wireless – Optional Telit Jupiter series multi-constellation GPS; optional CDMA, GPRS, or HSPA+ modules USB – USB host port, USB OTG port Other I/Os: 2x RS-232/interfaces (optional TTL […]

May 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Toshiba Excite Go 7″ Android Tablet Powered by Intel Atom Quad Core Processor Sells for $110

If you still think that only products based on ARM can be inexpensive, Toshiba Excite Go might change your mind. The latest Toshiba tablet is somewhat similar to HP 7 Plus with a quad core AllWinner A31 SoC and a 7″ display with a resolution of 1024×600, but instead it features an Intel Atom quad core processor, and sells for just $10 more at $110 (MSRP), but CNET reports it might even sell for just $99. The complete specs have not been released, but here’s what we do know, and/or can speculate with educated guesses and pictures from Engadget: SoC – Intel Atom “Bay Trail” Quad core SoC. Probably one of the cheapest Bay Trail-T, so either Atom Z3735F or Z3735G both listed for $17 (Tray price). Z3735F supports up to 1Gb RAM, Z3735G up to 2GB RAM. Both are clocked at 1.33 GHz, and up to 1.83 GHz (Burst […]

May 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Ugoos UT3 and UM3 Android TV Boxes With Rockchip RK3288 Available Soon

We’ve already seen a few RK3288 boards for upcoming Android TV boxes such as Zero Devices Z6C,Sunchip TV Box and HDMI Sticks, and Ugoos UT3. Most companies did not show off their complete products however, but Ugoos has now unveiled some pictures of their UT3 and UM3 Android TV boxes, and announced availability for next week. This is probably availability to resellers, but it should still mean RK3288 based TV devices should be available within a few weeks, especially since tablets such as Pipo P8 are already up to sale, and should start shipping within a few days. The specifications are very similar for both Ugoos UT3 and UM3: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core CortexA17 @ 2.0 GHz + Mali-T764 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 (1GB optional) Storage – UT3 – 16GB NAND Flash (Options: 8, 32 or […]

May 28, 2014February 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Prpl Non-Profit Organization to Work on Linux, Android, and OpenWRT for MIPS based Processors

In what looks like an answer, albeit fairly late, to Linaro, the non-profit organization working on open source software for ARM based SoCs, a consortium of companies composed of Imagination Technologies, Broadcom, Cavium, Lantiq, Qualcomm, Ingenic, and a few others, has funded Prpl (pronounced Purple), “an open-source, community-driven, collaborative, non-profit foundation targeting and supporting the MIPS architecture—and open to others—with a focus on enabling next-generation datacenter-to-device portable software and virtualized architectures”. The Prpl foundation will focus on three key objectives: Portability – To create ISA agnostic software for rapid deployment across multiple architecture Virtualization & security – To enable multi-tenant, secure, software, environments in datacenter, networking & storage, home, mobile and embedded Heterogeneous Computing – To leverage compute resources enabling next generation big data analytics and mining Initially there will PEG (Prpl Engineering Group) to take of the following projects for 4 market segments (datacenter, network & storage, connected consumers, […]

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

Rockchip to Design Intel x86 “SoFIA” SoCs for Android Tablets

Intel has just announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Rockchip to design Intel-branded SoC platform for entry-level Android tablets. The Chinese SoC vendor will design two quad core tablet SoC one with 3G and one with LTE, which will part of Intel’s SoFIA mobile SoC platforms for Android mobile devices. Intel will bring Intel Atom and 3G/LTE modem IP, and Rockchip will work in the integration and overall design. The 3G model should become available in the first half of 2015 and target entry-level and value tablets, and the LTE version is also scheduled for H1 2015. That’s about all that’s been disclosed for now, and we don’t know for example which GPU will be part of these SoCs. Here’s what Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, had to say about the agreement: The strategic agreement with Rockchip is an example of Intel’s commitment to take pragmatic and different […]

May 27, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

iFans EL-PB-17 is a 3-in-1 USB Wall Charger with a Battery and an SD Card Slot

I’ve noticed TYLT ENERGY 2K a USB wall charger with an internal 2,300 mAh battery, is currently on Kickstarter for $20, and received some press coverage. The main advantages of this system is that it saves space ,and you don’t need to remember charging your phone and your USB power bank separately, it will just charge both within 3 to 4 hours. However, since I’ve recently purchased a USB solar power bank with a 30,000 mAh battery (actual 8,000 to 10,000 mAh) for about $25, I thought there must be better options with a larger batter and similar price, or cheaper price with a similar battery size. It turns out there aren’t so many options, but I did find NewTrent Travelpak Plus with a 7,000 mAH battery that sells for about $40 on Amazon and even $19 on Ebay. But I’ve found a product even more original and versatile with […]

May 26, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Hewlett Packard Unveils $100 HP 7 Plus Tablet Powered by AllWinner A31 Quad Core SoC

Hewlett Packard has just launched HP 7 Plus Android 4.2 tablet with an AllWinner A31, or possibly AllWinner A31s considering the screen resolution, that sells for $99.99, but you may also be able to get it for $85 with SLICK15HP coupon. This price includes shipping, but unfortunately this is only available in the US. I’ll also check out alternatives of the rest of us. HP 7 Plus specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 (A31s?) quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1 GHz with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Display – 7″ diagonal WVA IPS multitouch-enabled (1024 x 600) Camera – 0.3 MP fixed focus (front-facing); 2 MP fixed focus (rear-facing) Audio – Mono speaker, 1x integrated microphone, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n (Miracast compatible) USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 Sensors – Accelerometer Battery […]