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

April 12, 2013December 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

UDOO Single Board Computer Features Freescale i.MX6 Dual/Quad and Atmel SAM3 MCU

Have you ever dreamed of a single board with the power of 4 Raspberry Pi and Arduino Due functionality? This dream should soon become reality thanks to UDOO single board computer. This open source hardware board is powered by Freescale i.MX6 Dual or Quad with 1GB RAM, as well as Atmel SAM3 Cortex M3 MCU that provides access to Arduino compatible headers. Here are the specifications of the board: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 ARM Cortex-A9 CPU Dual/Quad Core @ 1GHz + Vivante GPU MCU – Atmel SAM3X8E ARM Cortex-M3 (same as Arduino Due) System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD (boot device) + SATA (i.MX6 Quad only) Video Output – HDMI and LVDS + Touch (I2C signals) Audio I/O – Analog Audio and Mic Expansion Headers – 54 Digital I/O + Analog Input (Arduino-compatible R3 1.0 pinout) Connectivity Ethernet RJ45 (10/100/1000 MBit) WiFi Module USB – mini USB […]

April 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Open Source Time Machine #2 – Build A Complete Watch Yourself

There are already some watches such as Texas Instruments ez430-Crhonos and MetaWatch that are used as development platform and let you develop software yourself. Some hardware documentation is usually provided as well, but Energy Micro forums’ member hairykiwi is trying to go a bit further. He created a watch based on EFM32 Cortex M3 MCU and already released the KiCad schematics and gerber files, with 3D printer files and firmware source code to be released once they are ready. The project is called “Open source Time Machine #2” (OTM2). The project makes use of the following components and features: EFM32LG332F256 – Energy Micro Cortex M3 Leopard Gecko MCU with 256KB flash and 32KB SRAM A 128×128 pixel (23.2 x23.2mm visible area) ultra low power Memory LCD from Sharp Microelectronics, Recharge and programming via Micro USB connector. JTAG programming is also available. 150mAh Li-Po Battery + on-board battery fuel gauge IC. […]

April 11, 2013April 12, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Samsung Exynos 5 Octa Antutu Benchmark Results

The highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone should become available later this month in three versions depending on the country where you reside: GT-I9500 – Exynos 5 Octa @ 1.6 GHz without LTE GT-I9505 – Snapdragon 600 @ 1.9 GHz with LTE SHV-E300S – Exynos 5 Octa @ 1.8 GHz with LTE GS4 will also be the first device to feature Exynos 5 Octa octo-core processor, so until people get their hands on the device, one way to know how fast it can perform is to get some benchmarks running on the devices. SamMobile received the latest Antutu benchmarks for GT-I9500, and as expected, the results are pretty impressive with a score of 28018. This score is about 19% higher than GT-I9505 (Snapdragon 600) which scores 23607 points. As usual, the detailed scores are not available which is pretty annoying, but I’d assume both the CPU, thanks to the 4 […]

April 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Kontron Unveils SMARC Starterkit for ARM Systems-on-Module

You may have previously heard about ULP-COM (Ultra Low Power CoM), a standard for systems and computers on module. The standard has been ratified by the Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies (SGET) in February 2013, and renamed to SMARC (Smart Mobility ARChitecture). This standard is specifically designed for low power designed, and is currently only used with ARM SoC. Kontron was involved in the design of this standard, released several ULP-COM, now SMARC, compatible CoM based on TI, Freescale and Nvidia SoC, and yesterday the company just announced SMARC Starterkit will all hardware and software components needed to get started with evaluation and development. This starter kit comes in a carrying case with the following items: SMARC Evaluation Carrier Board 7″ Display PM070W4 (WVGA – 800×480) Touch USB Kit ETP04USBR Mounting Kit Adapter and Cables: 1x Kontron LVDS Jili30 Adapter incl. cable 1x DSUB9 1x micro USB USB A Storage […]

April 10, 2013April 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$55 AX-14 DLNA, WiDi & Miracast Dongle Works with Android / iOS Devices, and Windows 7/8 PC

Miracast is a new standard allowing you to play videos or mirror your Android device display on a TV via Wi-Fi direct. All you need is a Wi-Fi device that can be connected to the HDMI and USB (for power) ports of your TV, and decode common video codecs. There are not many devices available on the market, but I’ve just found out about AX-14, a Wi-Di and Miracast HDMI adapter that lets you connect your Windows 7 or 8 to your TV via Wi-Di, or your Android / iOS via Miracast. The device also supports DLNA. The hardware specs are said to be as follows: Processor – MIPS24Kc processor (RTD1185PA) @ 500MHz System Memory – 256 MB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video and Audio engine with HW acceleration Video Codecs & Formats – MPEG-1,MPEG-2,MPEG-4 SP/ASP( Xvid), MPEG-4 AVC(H.264), AVS, VP6, Motion JPEG, H.263 , H.264, […]

April 9, 2013May 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

CloudnetGo CR9 RK3188 mini PC Review

The folks at AndroidPC.es have received a preliminary sample of CloudnetGo CR9 HDMI TV dongle powered by Rockchrip RK3188 quad core processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB flash, and posted an unboxing video and a review of the device. That’s the first review of a RK3188 mini PC I’ve ever seen. It’s in Spanish, so let’s provide a summary of their findings in English. Please note that it’s an early sample, so minor hardware changes may occur, and Android 4.1 will be upgraded to 4.2 once it ships later this month. CloudnetGO CR9 Unboxing The package contains the device itself, a 5V/2Apower supply, an extra short HDMI cable, a micro USB to USB cable, a micro USB to USB adapter and a user manual. If you prefer unboxing videos, they uploaded one with background music, no commentary. First Boot and First Impressions Let’s connect the device to the TV HDMI […]

April 9, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Design West Summit – 23-25 April 2013

Design West 2013, previously known as the Embedded Systems Confertence, will take place later this month, on 23-25 April to be exact, at San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, US. The event will be divided into 22 tracks dealing with software development, hardware design, operating systems, security and more: Android Certificate Program – Two-day hands-on embedded android workshop. Black Hat Summit – The Black Hat Embedded Security Summit will provide electronics professionals with essential information and tools, as well as a forum for the discussion and evaluation of the latest solutions for securing their embedded systems. Training courses will focus on topics such as Network Security, Incident Response, Web Application Security, and Exploit Development. Connectivity and Networking – The Connectivity and Networking track educates design engineers on wired and wireless communications, spanning need-to-know topics from essentials of USB device development to antenna and RF system design. Debugging […]

April 8, 2013April 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Mediatek MT6589 Quad Core Cortex A7 Smartphones Galore

Last week, I wrote about low cost quad core tablets based on Actions Semi ATM7029, and today it’s time to look at cheap quad core smartphones, which are all powered by Mediatek MT6589 quad core Cortex A7 SoC, with prices starting at about $130 US. I’ll start by a short overview of Mediatek processor, followed by a few smartphones based on MT6589, starting with higher priced smartphones / phablets with bigger screens and more features to the cheapest ones. Mediatek MT6589 Overview Beside featuring four ARM Cortex-A7 cores, this SoC comes with an Imagination Technologies PowerVR Series5XT GPU, namely SGX544, an advanced multi-mode UMTS Rel. 8/HSPA+/TD-SCDMA modem and dual SIM support. On the multimedia side, it supports cameras up to 13MP, 1080p video playback and recording at 30fps, and LCD screens up to Full HD resolution (1920×1080). It is usually interface with MT6620 connectivity combo providing 802.11n Wi-Fi, BT4.0, GPS […]