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

January 31, 2014February 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Linaro 14.01 Release with Linux Kernel 3.13 and Android 4.4.2

The first release of the year, Linaro 14.01, is now out with Linux Kernel 3.13 (baseline), Linux Kernel 3.10.28 (LSK), Android 4.4.2, and Ubuntu Linaro 14.01. The most important part of this release is support for Arndale Octa, which makes big.LITTLE processing code available to a low cost platform. Android 4.4.x is now on par with Android 4.3 in terms of support. Linaro has also decided to provide quarterly stable released with GCC, and Linaro GCC 4.7-2014.01 is the first quarterly stable release with the next one planned with Linaro 14.04. Here are the highlights of this release: Linaro Stable Kernel (LSK) 3.10.28-2014.01 with latest version of GTS patch set for big.LITTLE, and Android support Linux Linaro 3.13-2014.01: gator version 5.17 updated linaro-android-3.13-merge topic by John Stultz, the “Revert “PM / Sleep: Require CAP_BLOCK_SUSPEND to use wake_lock/wake_unlock” patch included uprobes v4 updated big-LITTLE-pmu topic from ARM Landing Team (LT) updated […]

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Framaroot is an Android App to Root Mediatek, Qualcomm, Exynos, etc.. Based Devices

Most of the time, when you want to root an Android devices, you may think you have to start your computer, and in many cases, it has to be a PC running Windows, which can be a real pain. Google does not allow apps that provide root access in Google Play, and all you can install are apps that can check whether your device is rooted such as Root Checker. For some reasons, today I needed to root my smartphone (ThL W200, Mediatek MT6589T), and I looked for a method working with Linux, and I did not find any, but I came across Framaroot, an Android app, that allows you to do that within your Android device without external hardware required. Framaroot is very easy to use and support different exploit in order to provide root access to many devices based on Mediatek (Boromir or Faramir exploits), Qualcomm (Gandalf exploit), […]

January 30, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Dell Wyse Cloud Connect Android mini PC is Now Available for $129

Dell unveiled Project Ophelia about a year ago, and has now officially launched the product under the name Wyse Cloud Connect for $129. The device runs Android, but is mostly different from all the Chinese HDMI sticks thanks to its enterprise-oriented firmware that supports Wyse Cloud Client Manager software-as-a-service (SaaS), PocketCloud software, as well as Citrix Receiver, VMware Horizon View client, and Microsoft RDP protocol for remote desktops. Wyse Cloud Connect specifications: SoC – Multi-core ARM CortexA9 System-on-Chip (SoC). Last year’s prototype was said to use Rockchip RK3066, but it may have changed since then. System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (up to 64 GB) Video Output – HDMI with MHL, DisplayPort Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 USB – 1x USB mini for peripherals (keyboard/mouse), 1x Micro USB host port / external power input Power – Micro […]

January 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

GPS/GSM Yon Bike Lamp Let You Track Your Bicycle

Everything is getting smart these days. We’ve got smart phones, smart watches, smart homes, etc…, and now we’ve got smart bicycles thanks to products such as Yon Bike Lamp by Nastek Tecnologia, a Brazilian company, that can track and report your bicycle location for riding statistics and/or in case of theft. There are not that many technical details, but we do know the bicycle taillight features Telit GL865-QUAD GSM/GPRS module supporting 4 GSM bands: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, compliant with eCall European directive, and that’s control using Python scripts. The chip most probably helps with location tracking thanks to m2mLOCATE service which accesses a database of over 40 million cell-IDs. The light gets its location via GPS, and connects to the outside via GSM/GPRS and SMS. You can either login to a website or via an Android or iOS app in order to access the light […]

January 29, 2014February 19, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Acer AerialCast Miracast Adapter Powered by Realtek RTD1185PA + RTL8192DV

Details about Acer AerialCast, a Miracast dongle have recently showed up on the FCC website. The device is an upcoming Miracast adapter features RTD1185PA media SoC and RTL8192DV Wi-Fi module, which specifications very similar to what is found in AX-01 Miracast/DLNA adapter. The specifications have not been listed, but can be derived from FCC documents and pictures: SoC – Realtech RTD1185PA MIPS24Kc processor @ 500MHz System Memory – 128 MB DDR3 SDRAM – (Etrontech EM6GC16EWXA) Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash – ESMT F59L1G81A Video Codecs – H.264, VC1, RM/RMVB, AVS Decoder USB – 1x micro USB for power WiFi – 802.11 b/g/n via Realtek RTL8192DV module Video Output – HDMI Misc – 1x LED Power Supply – 5V/1A. The device sent to the FCC came with a 5V/1A power adapter, a micro USB cable, an HDMI cable, and a technical documentation. The device will be sold under the name […]

January 29, 2014January 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

RYVAL Elf Could Be the World’s Smallest USB Flash Drive

Hexino, a French company selling “fashion technology” under the brand RYVAL, may be offering the smallest USB flash drives available today with RYVAL Elf. This tiny mass storage device measure 1.8 cm x 1.8 cm x 0.68 cm, weights only 2 grams, and is available with capacities of 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB. The specifications listed on the company’s website are as follows: USB 2.0 compatible with Windows Vista, 7 and 8 Write speed – Up to 4 MB/s Read speed – Up to 12 MB/s Weight – 2 grams Dimensions – 18 mm x 18 mm x 6.8 mm Capacity – 8 GB to 32 GB Colors – Blue, Pink, and Green Material – Aluminium They only mention compatibility with Windows, but I don’t see why it could not work with Mac, Android, and Linux based devices and computers. It’s small enough to replace microSD cards for permanent storage expansion, […]

January 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

AMD Opteron A1100 Server SoCs Feature 4 to 8 ARM Cortex A57 Cores

A few months ago, AMD published a roadmap showing AMD “Seattle” Server CPUs based on ARMv8 64-bit architecture were planned for H2 Q2014. The company has now announced the first series of processors that will be based on ARM Cortex A57: AMD Opteron A1100 Series, as well as the corresponding development platform at the Open Compute Project Summit in San Jose, California. Key features of AMD Opteron A1100 Series processors: 4 or 8 core ARM Corte-A57 processors Up to 4 MB of shared L2 and 8 MB of shared L3 cache Configurable dual DDR3 or DDR4 memory channels with ECC at up to 1866 MT/second Up to 4 SODIMM, UDIMM or RDIMMs 8x lanes of PCI-Express Gen 3 I/O 8x Serial ATA 3 ports 2x 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports ARM TrustZone technology for enhanced security Crypto and data compression co-processors On the software side, the company mentionned it is a […]

January 28, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Asus ZenFone Android Smartphones Powered by Intel Atom CPU to Sell for as Low as $99

Last year, Lenovo sold Android smartphones based on Intel Atom SoC but sales numbers turned out to be disappointing. This year, Asus announced 3 smartphones powered by Intel Atom Z2520 and Z2580 SoC at CES 2014, with screen sizes ranging from 4″ to 6″, and much more aggressive pricing, as the 4″ version will sell for $99, the 5″ version for $149, and the 6″ version for $199. Asus ZenFone 4/5/6 Specifications: SoC ZenFone 4 – 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2520 CPU with Quad-Thread Hyper-Threading Technology ZenFone 5/6 – 2GHz Intel Atom Z2580 CPU with Quad-Thread Hyper-Threading Technology System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8 or 16 GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 64GB ) Display ZenFone 4 – 4″ WVGA 800 x 480-pixel TFT display ZenFone 5 – 5″ HD 1280 x 720-pixel IPS display ZenFone 6 – 6″ HD 1280 x 720-pixel IPS display Camera […]