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

June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Raspberry Pi 3 To Get ARM TrustZone Support with Linaro OP-TEE Port

If you ever wanted to experiment with ARM Trustzone, and IoT security, you’ll soon be able to do so with the Raspberry Pi 3 board thanks to a port of Linaro OP-TEE (Open Portable Trusted Environment Execution) by Sequitur Labs. Broadcom BCM2737 SoC found in Raspberry Pi 3 board already had TrustZone hardware for isolation and protection for sensitive material such as cryptographic keys, algorithms and data, but the upcoming software release will mean the feature can now be used, and it’s free for trial/evaluation, and education. Trustzone is also used for DRM (digital rights management), but in the case of Raspberry Pi 3 it will most likely used to teach how to secure the Internet of Things (IoT). The release is scheduled for July 11, with source code and documentation to be available in OP-TEE github account. All you’ll need to get started is a Raspberry Pi 3 board, […]

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

Orange Pi PC Plus Quad Core Development Board with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash Sells for $20

Most low cost development boards do not include internal storage in order to decrease costs, and instead require their users to flash their preferred operating system on (micro) SD card. This makes it easy to get started, but many micro SD cards often suffer from poor random I/O performance, even for Class 10 or greater card, leading to a poor user experience compared to what you’d get with an eMMC flash. Shenzhen Xunlong has released yet another Allwinner H3 board, namely Orange Pi PC Plus, similar to Orange Pi PC but adding WiFi, and 8GB eMMC flash. Orange Pi PC Plus specifications with main change with Orange Pi PC highlighted in bold: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.3 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI […]

June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KS2 Android SoundBar Features Amlogic S905 Processor, a DVB-T2 Tuner

I’ve tested several Android TV boxes with digital TV tuners this year, including K1 Plus S2 T2 and U4 Quad Hybrid, but the manufacturers of K1 Plus have decided to design an Android 5.1 soundbar powered by Amlogic S905 processor and including a DVB-T2 tuner to catch live TV channels. KS2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash + micro SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz; composite video output (RCA) Audio HDMI, Line IN, digital audio input Speakers 2x 15W 2.5″ speakers 1x 20W 3″ subwoofer 1x bass diagram Audio Range – 20 to 20 kHz Signal to noise ratio – >= 85 dB Effective output power: 50 watts Video Codecs – 10-bit H.265 up to 4K60, MPEG/VC-1/AVS+/H.265 […]

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Frosted OS is an Open Source POSIX Operating System for Cortex-M Micro-controllers

Frosted, which stands for “Free Operating Systems for Tiny Embedded Devices”, is an OS with a POSIX-compliant system call API, borrowing the Linux kernel kconfig for configuration, and currently supporting ARM Cortex M0,M3,M4, and M7 MCU including Texas Instruments Stellaris LM3S, STMicro STM32F4/F7, and NXP LPC17XX micro-controllers. The developers are focusing on IoT applications, as well as porting retro-games such as Doom. The kernel relies on libopencm3 for hardware abstraction, and the operating system can be built with GCC ARM for Frosted using the source code released under a GNU GPLv2 license. The Wiki explains how to build and run the OS on either Qemu (in a Linux computer) used LM3S target, or an STM32F4 Cortex -M4 or STM32F7 Cortex-M7 board. The team also uploaded showing a video of Doom (fdoom) running on STM32F7 board, and possibly adapted from stm32doom port. If you are interested in joining the project you can […]

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

CX-V3 Android VR Headset based on Allwinner H8vr Platform Sells for $130

We’ve already seen that Allwinner intended to enter the virtual reality market with their H8vr, V9 and V10 All-in-One Android VR solutions, and at least one H8vr headset is now available for sale with CX-V3 VR headset with a full HD display, also called V3 that selling for $129.99 on GeekBuying, or as low as $99.99 if you are lucky enough to win a coupon. CX-V3 All-in-One VR headset specifications: SoC – Allwinner H8 octa core Cortex A7 processor @ 2.0 GHz with PowerVR SGX544 GPU @ 700 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Display – 5.5″ 1920×1080 resolution Lenses 2x optical lenses that work for people with myopia under 64 mm Diameter – 43mm 100 degrees field of view (FOV) 46mm IPD (interpupillary distance) adjustment Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 (Ampak AP6212) Audio Output – 3.5 mm […]

June 8, 2016June 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 47 Comments

Allwinner H3 Boards Comparison Tables with Orange Pi, Banana Pi M2+, NanoPi P1, and H3-OlinuXino-NANO Boards

Allwinner H3 SoC has now found its way into many low cost development boards, including several Orange Pi Boards, Banana Pi M2+, NanoPi M1, and Olimex H3-OlinuXino-NANO, and it might be difficult to choose among the list of boards available, so tkaiser has written a buyer’s guide for boards supported by Armbian, with some of the key differentiating factors, and on my side, I thought it might be a good idea to draw a comparison table between the boards. Since a table with 10 boards would be hard to read, I made two tables: one with boards with 512 MB RAM + Orange Pi PC / PC Plus, and a second table with higher end boards with 1 to 2 GB RAM, and more features. But first let’s talk about Allwinner H3 SoC since it’s common to all boards. It’s a quad core Cortex A7 processor clocked at up to […]

June 8, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

$66 I5 Intel Mini PC Features 2GB RAM, 32GB Storage, HDMI & VGA Ports (Promo)

It would have been unthinkable a few years ago, but you can now buy a computer capable of running Windows or Linux and shipped to your door for just $65.99 (with coupon GBi5) thanks to i5 mini PC based on Bay Trail processor (not Core i5 as the name may have implied), and the usual 2GB RAM and 32GB storage combination. i5 mini PC specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Z3735F “Bay Trail” quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz / 1.83 GHz with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4, and VGA Audio I/F – HDMI, 3.5mm earphone jack Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host, 1x micro USB OTG port Misc – Power Button, power LED Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 13.00 x […]

June 8, 2016June 8, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

$33 Mini M8S TV Box Comes with 2GB RAM, Amlogic S905 Processor

While there are many Amlogic S905 TV Boxes below $40, many of them only come with 1GB RAM, and if you want to get a model with 2GB RAM, you’d need to pay a little more. Mini M8S appears to be a pretty good deal, as it includes 2GB, and sells for $32.97 including shipping on eBay. Mini M8S specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 Audio – HDMI, optical S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – IR receiver Power Supply – DC 5V/2A Dimensions – 110 x 110 x 17.5 mm Weight – 162 grams The device runs Android 5.1, and looks exactly the same […]