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

August 6, 2015August 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

LightBlue Bean+ Bluetooth LE Board is Programmed Wirelessly, Lasts One Year on a Charge (Crowdfunding)

Punch Through launched a crowdfunding campaign back in 2013 for LightBlue Cortado an innovative Arduino compatible BLE board that can only be programmed wirelessly over Bluetooth Smart. The board has since then been renamed to LightBlue Bean, and the company allegedly delivered rewards to backers on time, a rarity in the crowdfunding world. LightBlue Bean+, the second version of the board, is larger with solderless headers, supports more Bluetooth LE capabilities such as MIDI, and includes a battery. The project launched on Kickstarter yesterday, and already raised over $40,000, surpassing the $30,000 funding target set by the team. LightBlue Bean+ board specifications: MCU – Info N/A (Bean has an Atmel ATmega328P @ 8MHz with 32KB Flash, 1KB EEPROM, 2KB SRAM) Bluetooth Bluetooth LE with support for 5 new capabilities: beacon, MIDI, HID, ANCS and observer role. Hardware module undisclosed (Bean has an LBM313 Module with Texas Instruments CC2540) Up to 400 […]

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Mini Review of MeLE PCG01 Intel HDMI TV Stick

I reviewed MeLE PCG03 mini PC powered by Intel Atom Z3735F processor at the beginning of the year, and there are now many different models from manufacturer which all come with the same processor, 2GB RAM, and 32GB storage either in box or stick form factor. MeLE also released their own Bay Trail stick, similar to Intel Compute Stick, called MeLE PCG01, which they sent me for review. Most of these products are very similar, and all run Windows 8.1 by default, so the main differentiating factor between companies being price, whether they use a properly licensed version of Windows or not, and the thermal design of the enclosure, which may also impact performance as a good design will prevent CPU throttling. So in this review, after quickly checking the mini PC and accessories, I’ll take apart the device to check in more details what has been done to cool […]

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Atmel SAM S70 and SAM E70 Cortex M7 MCUs, SAM V71 Xplained Board Are Now Shipping

ARM Introduced Cortex M7 IP in September, and ST Micro simultaneously announced its STM32F7 Cortex M7 MCU clocked up to 200 MHz, and boards are now available, including some running Linux. But two other companies have licenses Cortex M7, Freescale with its Kinetis KV5x micro-controllers which are yet to be mass-produced, and Atmel which has recently announced their SAM S70 and E70 micro-controllers are now in mass production. SAM E70 and S70 have similar features, but E70 offers some extra interface like CAN and Fast Ethernet: ARM Cortex-M7 core running at up to 300MHz (1500 CoreMark) Up to 2MB Flash and 384kByte SRAM Floating point unit (FPU) for high-precision computing and accelerated data processing High-performance internal memory architecture with user configurable Tightly Couples Memories and System memory, and 16kB I and D-cache High Speed USB Host and Device with on-chip high-speed PHY CMOS image sensor interface AES hardware encryption engines, […]

August 5, 2015August 5, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

i-mobile IQ II is an Android One Smartphone for Thailand

Android One program aims to delivers low cost smartphones for emerging market with the latest Android version and firmware updates for at least 2 years. Google started with India, shortly followed with Indonesia, and now the company has announced the launch of an Android One smartphone for Thailand with its partnership with i-Mobile. i-Mobile IQ II specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU and Hexagon V50 DSP System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 32GB Display – 5″ multitouch display, 1280×720 resolution Connectivity – WiFi, A-GPS Cellular Connectivity 2G: 900/1800 MHz (for AIS, Dtac and True mobile providers) 3G: 850/2100 MHz (for AIS, Dtac, True and 3GX mobile providers) HSDPA (Mbps) Download : 42 Mbps; HSUPA (Mbps) Upload : 11 Mbps Dual SIM card support Camera – 2.0 […]

August 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Gigabyte GB-BACE-3000 is a Fanless mini PC Powered by Intel Celeron N3000 Braswell Processor

Systems with the latest low power Intel Braswell processors are starting to hit the shelves, and after ASRock Beebox, some Braswell laptops, Intel Braswell NUCs, and some ASRock motherboards, here’s another Braswell mini PC with Gigabyte BRIX GB-BACE-3000 based on Intel Celeron N3000 dual core processor. GB-BACE-3000 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3000 dual core processor up to 2.08GHz with Intel Gen8 HD Graphics (4W TDP) System Memory – 1x SO-DIMM DDR3L 1.35V slot @ 1066/1333/1600 MHz up to 8GB RAM Storage – 2.5” thickness 7.0/9.5mm Hard Drives (1 x 6Gbps SATA3), 1 x Micro SD card slot Video Output HDMI up to 3840×2160 @ 30 Hz VGA up to 1920×1200 @ 60 Hz Audio – Realtek ALC255 audio codec, 1x Audio-out / Mic-In, HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit LAN (Realtek RTL8111H), Wi-Fi 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0 (M.2 module) USB – 2 x USB 3.0 ports (front panel), 2 x USB […]

August 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 34 Comments

Zidoo X1 Android Media Player (Allwinner H3) Review

In theory, Allwinner H3 is supposed to be a better alternative to Amlogic S805 processor thanks to more powerful Cortex A7 cores, and support for 4K video output and playback, while Amlogic S805 only features four Cortex A5 cores, and support H.265 up to 1080p60 only. Zidoo X1 is one of the TV boxes recently released with H3 processor. If you’ve not read my two previous posts yet, you may want to check out Zidoo X1 specifications, as well as the unboxing and tear-down post. In this post, I’ll focus on testing performance, stability, and video playback capabilities with Kodi. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve connected an Ethernet cable, an HDMI cable, a USB hard drive, and a USB hub with a USB webcam, an two RF dongles for an air mouse and a wireless gamepad. The box will boot automatically as you connect the power adapter. Boot […]

August 3, 2015December 28, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Cubieboard 5 (aka CubieTruck Plus) Development Board is Powered by Allwinner H8 SoC

Merrii unveiled H7 Hummingbird board based on Allwinner H8 octa core Cortex A7 processor a few days ago, but it turns out they’ve not been the only ones working on a board with that processor, as Cubietech also showcased prototypes of Cubieboard 5, which they also call CubieTruck Plus, around mid July. They’ve only shown pictures of the board, without much more information, but we can derive most specifications from the pictures: SoC – AllWinner H8 octa-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with PowerVR SGX544 GPU @ up to 700MHz System Memory – 2GB RAM (4x H5TQ4G63AFR-PCB DDR3 chips) Storage – FORESEE eMMC or NAND flash + micro SD card slot + SATA port (via GL830 USB 2.0 to SATA bridge) Video Output – HDMI and DisplayPort Audio – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, 3.5mm headphone jack, built-in microphone Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (RTL8211E), dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and […]

August 3, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Espressif is Working on a New Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE Chip with Hardware SSL Support

Espressif came to fame thanks to its low cost ESP8266 WiFi chip which was originally designed for connected lightbulbs, but soon got used in a variety of applications, and ESP8266 modules must now be the most popular solutions to add WiFi to IoT projects, as long as they are not battery powered. The company has recently announced they were working on a new chip, whose name as yet to be decided, that will support both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy. Details are sparse, but we do know the chip will come with 500KB RAM, support hardware SSL and possibly ECDH, deliver 500 DMIPS of performance, and consume 5 uA in deep sleep mode. The company asked for beta testers via their twitter account around 2 weeks ago, so I guess it’s a bit too late to apply. John Lee, working for Espressif, also said the new part should become available […]