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

January 16, 2016January 17, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

PixiePro Board Combines NXP i.MX6Q Processor with WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, and a 3G Modem

Saying that the market now provides a wide range of development boards is probably an understatement, but Code Ing has found out that most hobbyist boards had limited on-board wireless connectivity with WiFi and Bluetooth basically the best you could expect, with any extra wireless functionality requiring USB dongles. So the company designed PixiePro single board computer powered by NXP i.MX6Q quad core Cortex A9 processor with on-board wireless connectivity including WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/GLONASS, NFC and a 3G module. PixiePro board specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX6Q quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 1 GHz with Vivante 2D and 3D GPUs System Memory – 2GB 64-bit DDR3 Storage – 2x UHS-I micro SD card slot up to 104 MB/s Video Output – micro HDMI up to 1080p60 Audio Output – HDMI and 3.5mm mini TOSLINK optical port/Line Out Connectivity WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO with two antenna connectors Bluetooth […]

January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 49 Comments

MXQ 4K RK3229 Android TV Box Sells for $29.99 Shipped

This morning I wrote about Sunchip CX-R9 TV box based on Rorkchip RK3229 that is said to be selling for $32, as long as you buy 1,000 pieces, but the new Rockchip SoC might truly disrupt the low-end market, as MXQ 4K RK3299 TV box has just launched on GeekBuying where it is sold for only $29.99 shipped. MXQ-4K specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps, and 3.5mm AV output (composite) Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and coaxial S/PDIF Connectivity – 100Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – N/A The device runs Android 4.4 with Kodi 16, and the specs list […]

January 15, 2016October 15, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Ocean is a Battery Powered Mobile Server Powered by Allwinner A20 Processor

iCracked, a company selling and repairing iPhones, has designed a thin and battery powered mobile Linux server called Ocean. The device is powered by Allwinner A20 processor with 1GB RAM, 4GB flash completed with 8 to 64 GB internal storage (SD card), and runs Debian 8.1 Jessie. Ocean mini server specifications: SoC – Dual core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 @ 480 MHz Storage – 4GB flash for firmware, 8 to 64 GB internal SD card Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi up to 72 Mbps, and Bluetooth 4.0 LE + EDR with 10 dBm Antenna USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x mini USB for power Misc – Programmable RGB button Battery – 4,200 mAh; good for two days of continuous CPU usage; Charged via mini USB port (~4 to 5 hours) or Qi charger (~10 hours) Dimensions – 15 x 7.8 […]

January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Review of EzeeCube Media Hub and Private Cloud Server

EzeeCube is a Linux Kodi based media hub powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor that includes a 1 or 2 TB hard drive by default and is expandable with extra 2TB hard drive modules that you simply stack on top of each other to get up to 10TB storage. I had a look at EzeeCube hardware last October, but due to one issue with the Android app that prevents syncing pictures between my phone and the hard drive on the device, one of the key selling point of the system, I decided to postpone the review. EzeeCube developers finally found a workaround in early December, but as I was busy with other tasks and the end of year holidays, I only managed to finally review the device in the last few days. Initial Setup The first thing that you go through after connecting all cables, and powering up the media […]

January 15, 2016January 16, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

MJ Technology Ubuntu 16.04 Tablets are Powered by Intel Atom x7-Z8700 Processor

A company called MJ Technology is planning to launch Ubuntu tablets powered by an Intel Atom x7 Cherry Trail quad core processor with 4GB RAM, 64 GB RAM, and 8.9″ or 10.1″ full HD displays. MJ Tech Ubuntu tablets specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x7-Z8700 quad core processor up to 2.40 GHz with Intel HD Gen8 graphics System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 RAM (2x2GB) Storage – 64GB Internal + micro SD Slot up to 128GB Display – 8.9″ and 10.1″ HD IPS display (1920×1200) with 10 point multi-touch Video Output – micro HDMI Audio – HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, and 2x 2W speakers Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1 x USB 2.0 host port, 1x USB 3.0 host port, 1 x micro USB port Camera – 8MP front facing camera, and 13MP rear camera Expansion – Internal mini PCI-Express slot with external access […]

January 15, 2016January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sunchip CX-R9 Rockchip RK3229 Android TV Box Sells for $32 (Factory Price)

We’ve already seen Rockchip RK3229 quad core processor with 4K 10-bit H.264 and H.265, and 4K VP9 support announced at CES 2016. Sunchip CX-R9 will be one of the first devices on the market with the new processor, and includes 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Sunchip CX-R9 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + SD card reader Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps Audio Output – HDMI, and optical S/PDIF Video Codec – 4K2K 10-bit H.265 @ 60 fps (Up to 200 Mbps), 4K 10-bit H.264 @ 30 fps (Up to 250 Mbps) and 4K 8-bit VP9 @ 30 fps (Up to 200 Mbps) Connectivity – 100Mbps Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports, including on OTG port […]

January 15, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

AMD Launches 3 ARM based Opteron A1100 Server SoCs: A1120, A1150 and A1170

AMD Roadmap showed “Seattle” Cortex A57 server SoC were expected in H2 2014, which later became known as Opteron A1100, and the company unveiled their Optron A1100 development board in summer 2014, but since then there has been a few delays, the announcement of Huskyboard 96Boards EE development board, and finally they announced availability of three Opteron A1100 processors yesterday. So there’s one quad core Cortex A57 with Opteron A1120, and two octa-core with Opteron A1150 and A1170 clocked at respectively 1.7 and 2.0 GHz. I was surprised by the rather high TDP at 25W and 32W since one of ARM advantage is low power consumption. But since it is a server SoC it needs to be compared to Intel server SoC, and AnandTech did that against Intel Atom C2750 with eight Silvermont cores @ 2.4 GHz. On the three important metrics, i.e. price, performance and power consumption, AMD A1170 […]

January 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Texas Instruments 4K DLP Chip Should Bring Affordable 4K Projectors to the Home, Office and School

4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) is slowly with the price of 4K television going down, 4K media players flooding the market starting at $40, and 4K content appearing online via services like Netflix and over the air with DVB-S2. Thanks to the latest Texas Instruments DLP 0.67″ digital micromirror device (DMD), a cost down version of the 1.38″ DMD used in around 80% of cinemas worldwide, we could start seeing affordable 4K projectors in the second half of 2016. The chip includes 4 millions tiny mirrors that quickly switch to generate the ~8 millions pixels required by a 3840×2160 display, and should be found in projectors capable of delivering up to 5,000 lumens. The DLP chip can be used in home theaters, but also in the office and at school for presentations or courses were text needs to be easily readable. The solutions should delivery 100″+ displays with sharp images […]