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

February 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Samsung Unveils Two Tizen Smartwatches: Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo

After the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Samsung has introduced two new smartwatches, Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, droppping the Galaxy brand in the process, most probably because these two happen to run Tizen, instead of Android found in the Galaxy gear. The Gear 2 has a camera which is missing in the Gear 2 Neo. Other specifications and features are more or less the same. Samsung Gear 2 Product Specifications: SoC – Dual Core Processor @ 1.0 GHz (Exynos 4?) System Memory – 512MB Storage – 4GB Internal Memory Display – 1.63” Super AMOLED (320 x 320) Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE, IrLED Camera Gear 2 – 2.0 Megapixel Auto Focus (1920×1080, 1080×1080, 1280×960) Gear 2 Neo – N/A Video – Codecs: H.264, H.263, Container Formats: 3GP, MP4. HD(720p, @30fps) Playback & Recording Audio – Codecs: MP3/AAC/AMR/Vorbis, Format: MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG. Noise Cancellation Sensors – Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart […]

February 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Flappy Bird Sucks, Let’s Play Flappy Tux Instead! Or How to Modify APK Files

Flappy Bird is a ridiculous fad, and I promised myself not to write about this silly game. I managed to resist when somebody showed off their Arduino powered real-life Flappy Bird, but then XDA developers mentioned one of their member posted instructions to customize Flappy Bird game. I thought it might be fun to personalize the game with pictures of friends or family members, and at the same time, learn how to hack apk files. Instead of real persons, I’ve replaced the original bird, by Tux, the official Linux mascot, flapping wings not included. The instructions in XDA dev forums are mainly for Windows, but I’ve adapted them to Linux, and “created” “Flappy Tux” from Ubuntu 13.10. I’ll assume you’ve already installed OpenJDK and the Android SDK and have a working Android app development environment. I think we just need adb and aapt from android-sdk-linux/platform-tools/bin to be in the path. […]

February 21, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

USB Solar Power Bank Review

A few months ago, I won a $5 coupon for DealExtreme, and decided to buy a “Portable 5V (30,000mAh) Li-ion Battery Solar Power Bank w/ Dual USB + LED – Black + White” for just over $20. For the price, solar charging was a nice bonus, and the 30,000 mAh was probably a “mistake” but it did not really matter. The SKU is gone, but 1BA-2 Solar power bank ($23.97) appears to be a very similar product. I did not plan to write about this gadget, but a few things happened that made me change my mind. First. it took over two months to reach me, instead of the usual 2 to 4 weeks. I ordered on the 9th of November 2013, and received the package on the 25th of January 2014. The reason being that the package got declined by Thai immigration (I live in Thailand). DealExtreme could not […]

February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

802.11ah Wi-Fi (900 MHz) to Provide Low Power, Long Range Connectivity for the Internet of Things

Most devices now feature Wi-Fi modules capable of handling 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 Ghz (and 5 GHz for dual band Wi-Fi), and newer devices and routers boast 802.11ac connectivity @ 5GHz with increased bandwidth (up to 1.2 Gbit/s in theory, maybe around 400 Mbit/s in practive), and in some case increased range with beam-forming. But thanks to an article on EETimes, I’ve learned there’s another upcoming Wi-Fi standard called 802.11ah operating in the 900MHz range, with data rates from 150 Kbit/s with a 1 MHz band to as much as 40 Mbit/s over an 8 MHz band, lower power consumption, and a least double of the range of a typical 802.11n device,capable of covering an area of about 1 km2. The target applications are sensors networks, backhaul networks for sensor and meter, and extended range Wi-Fi, as the standard allows long range and more clients at low bitrates. This new […]

February 21, 2014February 21, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Google’s Project Tango Phone Prototype Generates Real-time 3D Maps

Google ATAP (Advanced Technology and Products), the team who is currently working on Project Ara for Google, and recently moved from Motorola following the acquisition by Lenovo, has also been busy on another project called Tango, which centers around a phone equipped with cameras and sensors capturing 250,000 data points per second to track motion and generate 3D maps in real-time. The prototype is 5” phone with hardware and software customization designed to simultaneously track the 3D motion of the device, and creating a 3D map of the environment. The device runs Android and includes development APIs to provide position, orientation, and depth data to standard Java, C/C++ Android. This is still early development, but the team imagine the technology could be used to easily create a 3D map of your home, facilitating furniture shopping. Other usa cses include indoor navigations, visually-impaired aid, and product location in a store. Augmented reality […]

February 21, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Geeksphone Revolution Multi OS Smartphone Supports Android, Firefox OS, and Soon More…

Geeksphone, the company behind the earlier Firefox OS developer’s phones, and the privacy-enhanced Blackphone, has now officially launched the Geeksphone Revolution powered by a dual core Intel Atom Z2560 processor and supporting Android, Firefox OS, or more exactly Boot2Gecko (B2G), and potentially other OS supported by the community such as Sailfish OS. Geeksphone Revolution specifications: SoC – Dual core Intel Atom processor Z2560 up to 1.6GHz System Memory – 1GB LPDDR2 Storage – 4GB EMMC + MicroSD support, Up to 32GB Display – 4.7″ IPS LCD Multi-touch, qHD resolution. Cellular network – HSPA/WCDMA: 2100/1900/900/850 MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSDPA up to 21Mbps, HSUPA up to 5.76Mbps, GPRS Class 12 / EDGE Class 12 Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth Class 3.0, GPS, AGPS Camera – 8 MP rear camera with LED Flash, 1.3 MP front camera System I/O – 3.5mm audio jack, micro USB Sensors – G‐Sensor + E‐Compass + […]

February 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

U-Boot & Linux BSP for STMicro STM32 Discovery Board

If you want to run Linux on STM32 Discovery board, more exactly STM32F429 Discovery board, it’s now possible thanks to Emcraft Systems’ BSP for STM32F429 Discovery Board. It will only work on that particular version of the discovery board as it features 64Mbit external SDRAM, which is required for uClinux, and missing on other STM32 Discovery boards. You can either get u-boot and (uC)Linux from the company’s github account which contains the required patches, but lacks complete documentation, and a default config file for the kernel for example, or purchase a BSP ($33) with 3-month support, and pre-built u-boot and Linux binaries. There’s also publicly available documentation explaining how to flash the bootloader and the kernel among other things, and links to relevant external resources, without the need to spend any money. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a […]

February 20, 2014February 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Samsung GH7 Quad Core 64-bit ARM SoC Code Submitted to Linux

Following my post about Samsung Exynos 5260 hexa core processor, I’ve been informed that some other patches have been submitted about Samsung GH7 ARMv8 SoC, which should be the other processor announced at MWC 2014. A look at the device tree file shows four ARMv8 cores:

+/ {
+	model = "SAMSUNG GH7";
+	compatible = "samsung,gh7";
+	interrupt-parent = &lt;&amp;gic&gt;;
+	#address-cells = &lt;2&gt;;
+	#size-cells = &lt;2&gt;;
+
+	cpus {
+		#address-cells = &lt;2&gt;;
+		#size-cells = &lt;0&gt;;
+
+		cpu@000 {
+			device_type = "cpu";
+			compatible = "arm,armv8";
+			reg = &lt;0x0 0x000&gt;;
+			enable-method = "spin-table";
+			cpu-release-addr = &lt;0x0 0x8000fff8&gt;;
+		};
+		cpu@001 {
+			device_type = "cpu";
+			compatible = "arm,armv8";
+			reg = &lt;0x0 0x001&gt;;
+			enable-method = "spin-table";
+			cpu-release-addr = &lt;0x0 0x8000fff8&gt;;
+		};
+		cpu@002 {
+			device_type = "cpu";
+			compatible = "arm,armv8";
+			reg = &lt;0x0 0x002&gt;;
+			enable-method = "spin-table";
+			cpu-release-addr = &lt;0x0 0x8000fff8&gt;;
+		};
+		cpu@003 {
+			device_type = "cpu";
+			compatible = "arm,armv8";
+			reg = &lt;0x0 0x003&gt;;
+			enable-method = "spin-table";
+			cpu-release-addr = &lt;0x0 0x8000fff8&gt;;
+		};
+	};

+/ {

+ model = "SAMSUNG GH7";

+ compatible = "samsung,gh7";

+ interrupt-parent = <&gic>;

+ #address-cells = <2>;

+ #size-cells = <2>;

+ cpus {

+ #address-cells = <2>;

+ #size-cells = <0>;

+ cpu@000 {

+ device_type = "cpu";

+ compatible = "arm,armv8";

+ reg = <0x0 0x000>;

+ enable-method = "spin-table";

+ cpu-release-addr = <0x0 0x8000fff8>;

+ };

+ cpu@001 {

+ device_type = "cpu";

+ compatible = "arm,armv8";

+ reg = <0x0 0x001>;

+ enable-method = "spin-table";

+ cpu-release-addr = <0x0 0x8000fff8>;

+ };

+ cpu@002 {

+ device_type = "cpu";

+ compatible = "arm,armv8";

+ reg = <0x0 0x002>;

+ enable-method = "spin-table";

+ cpu-release-addr = <0x0 0x8000fff8>;

+ };

+ cpu@003 {

+ device_type = "cpu";

+ compatible = "arm,armv8";

+ reg = <0x0 0x003>;

+ enable-method = "spin-table";

+ cpu-release-addr = <0x0 0x8000fff8>;

+ };

The patch also include code for Samsung SSDK-GH7 board with 2GB RAM. That’s about all we know for now. Thanks to David for the tip. 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