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

November 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Apollo Lake Compute Sticks Coming in Q2 2017

Apollo Lake processors have been announced in mini PCs, laptops, development boards, systems-on-module, as well as in Intel’s own NUCs. A new leaked roadmap has now revealed that Intel plans to two Apollo Lake “Michigan City” compute sticks sometimes around Q2 2017. There will be two yet-to-be-named models: Windows OS – 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash No OS – 4GB RAM, 64 GB eMMC flash Both devices will come with 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI port with CEC support, as well as a 1- year warranty. That’s all we know from the leaked roadmap. Price should probably be only slightly higher than to the one of Atom Cherry Trail HDMI TV sticks, considering UP2 Board is selling for 89 Euros (Celeron N3350 dual core version) and 169 Euros (Pentium N4200 quad core version) , and […]

November 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Adding Plus Sign and Tag to Email Address May Help Identify Source of (Spam/Junk) Emails

I’ve noticed several commenters using email formatted as [email protected] or [email protected] while posting comments on CNX Software blog, but I just thought they were using some specific emails account or some forwarding techniques to receive emails, but I did not investigate further, and by chance I came across the reason on reddit this morning: It’s just another character that can be in an email address. For example, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] are all completely different email addresses. However, Gmail will ignore a + and everything after it in the username portion of an email address, so [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] will all go to [email protected]‘s inbox. This is acceptable because Google does not allow + in its login names. Many people use this property to identify the source of an email. So I could not resist trying by sending myself an email by adding +source1 to my username, and […]

November 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Firefly-RK3399 Development Board Will Fly with Rockchip RK3399 Hexa-core Processor

ARM Cortex A72 class development boards are usually quite expensive, and cheaper boards like Mediatek X20 development board ($200) appears to be out of stock very often, and software support is limited to Android 6.0. But things look to improve soon, as T-Chip is about to release Firefly-RK3399 development board powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72/A53 processor. Firefly-RK3399 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core bit.LITTLE processor with dual core Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.0 support, OpenVG 1.1, OpenCL and DX 11. System Memory – 2 to 4 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 to 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card Video Output & Display Interfaces – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, eDP 1.2 interface, YUV interface, 1x MIPI DSI interface Video Decode – 4K VP9 and 10-bit H.265 […]

November 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sevenhugs Smart Remote is a Universal Direction Aware WiFi, Bluetooth and IR Remote Control (Crowdfunding)

You may have all sort of remote control devices around your home from the traditional IR remote control for your TV, air conditioner, audio system etc.., as well remote control apps for WiFi or Bluetooth objects such as smart light bulbs or water pumps running on your smartphone. Sevenhugs Smart Remote promises to replace them all, and all you have to do is to point the remote control to your devices, or setup virtual actions to your door or window to order a Uber drive or check the weather. Sevenhugs Smart Remote specifications: MCU – ARM Cortex-M4 @ 200 MHz System Memory – 32 MB RAM LCD – 3.43″ touch screen IPS display; Dragontrail damage ans scratch resistant cover glass, anti-fingerprint & anti-glare Wireless Connectivity – IR transceiver, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 LE connectivity USB – USB C port for charging Sensors – Indoor positioning sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, […]

November 24, 2016July 25, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Himedia Q5 Pro & Q10 Pro TV Boxes Get Android 7.0 Nougat Firmware

The majority of TV boxes sold today are running Android 4.4 to Android 6.0, but with the release of Android 7.0 for smartphones and tablets earlier this year, it was just a question of time before the OS got ported to TV boxes. Himedia appears to be the first company to have released Android 7.0 for their Hisilicon Hi3798CV200 based TV boxes, namely Q5 Pro and Q10 Pro. The changelog for the new firmware includes: Android N OS running stable and smooth Support for Android N Google Play version Support for Samba UPnP System function perfectly upgraded from 5.1 to Android N with compatibility Youtube updated to 4.10.7 and Netflix to 1.3.11 Homepage, Application Management, Media Center optimized, focus movement are more swift and smooth Media Player upgraded and support mouse operation Local Media Playback Improved; Certain rare videos black screen, display ratio of 3D to 2D abnormal, and occasional […]

November 24, 2016May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

PINEBOOK ARM Linux Laptop Powered by Allwinner A64 Processor to Sell for $89 and Up

Following up on Pine A64 board powered by Allwinner A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor, Pine64 has decided to work on a software compatible laptop based on the processor. PINEBOOK comes with 2GB RAM, 16 GB flash storage, a 11.6″ or 14″ display, and the usual ports you’d expect on such device. PINEBOOK specifications: SoC – Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3L Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.0 flash and micro SD slot up to 256 GB Display – 11.6″ or 14″ IPS LCD display with 1280 x 720 resolution (no touchscreen) Video Output – mini HDMI port for external display Audio – HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack, built-in microphone and stereo speakers Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Camera – 1.2 MP camera User Input Devices – Full size […]

November 24, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

39 Euros FiPy Board Supports Sigfox, LoRa, LTE Cat M1/NB1, Bluetooth 4.2, and WiFi (Crowdfunding)

Long range LPWAN solutions have just started to hit the market, and there are so many standards such as Sigfox and LoRa that it’s difficult to know who will eventually be the winner, or if different standards will co-exist over the long term, and in a general sense it might not be so easy to decide which one is best suited to your project without experimenting first. Pycom has a solution to this problem, as they’ve made a board similar to LoPy with WiFi, Bluetooth, and LoRa, but instead included 5 long and short range IoT protocols: Sigfox, LoRa, LTE Cat M1 & Cat NB1, Bluetooth, and WiFi. Pycom FiPy board specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual core Tensilica L108 processors @ up to 160 MHz with BT 4.2 and WiFi System Memory – 4MB RAM Storage – 8MB flash memory Connectivity WiFi 802.11 b/g/n @ 16 Mbps up to […]

November 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Geniatech ATV1960 Octa-core Android TV Box Comes with a Dual TV Tuner (ATSC or DVB-T2)

We now have so many Amlogic S912 Android TV boxes on the market, it becomes hard for companies to differentiate, but Geniatech is offering something different with their Geniatech/Mygica ATV1960 model thanks to a dual TV tuner support either ATSC or DVB-T2 and allowing you to watch a program, while recording another. Geniatech/Mygica ATV1960 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot + 2.5″ SATA bay (cover on the bottom of the case) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Audio Output – HDMI, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Tuner – Dual Digital TV Tuner (ATSC/T2); one for live watching, another for recording; EPG and PVR supported. Misc […]