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

May 15, 2015November 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Teclast X70 Might be the First Low Cost 3G Tablet with an Intel Atom x3 Processor

Intel announced three Atom x3 processors combining x86 cores with ARM Mali GPU a couple of months ago, and Intel Atom x3-C3130, the lower end processor with two x86 cores up to 1.0 GHz, an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU and a 2G/3G modem, can already be found in Teclast X70 7″ Android tablet selling for just $70 on GeekBuying, Tinydeal, and probably others Chinese online retailers. Teclast X70 specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x3-C3130 dual x86 core processor @ up to 1GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 533 MHz System Memory – 512MB LPDDR2 Storage – 4GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 32GB Display – 7″ touchscreen (5-point) with 1024×600 resolution Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS Cellular Connectivity – Built-in 3G modem (WCDMA 2100MHz l 2G: 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz); two standard SIM slots Camera – 2MP rear camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera Audio – Stereo speakers, built-in microphone, […]

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

FireWRT is an OpenWRT 802.11ac Board Powered by Mediatek MT7621A Processor

There are plenty of low cost 802.11n routers or boards supporting OpenWRT, even starting at $10 or less such as A5-V11 mini router, but if you’re looking for something a bit more powerful with 802.11ac connectivity, options are much more limited, especially if you need something at a lower cost. One option is Xiaomi MiWiFi router based on Mediatek MT7620A with 64MB RAM, and T-Firefly team is now working on FireWRT board based on the more powerful MT7621A processor coupled with 512 MB RAM, and 16 MB SPI flash. FireWRT specifications: Wi-Fi SoC – Mediatek MT7621A dual core MIPS 1004Kc processor @ 880MHz System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 (Beta version: 256 MB) Storage – 16 MB SPI flash memory, 2x SATA 3.0 ports, micro SD card slot Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4GHz up to 300Mbps 802.11 a/n/ac @ 5 GHz, up to 867Mbps (AC1200 class router) External High-Gain Antennas […]

May 13, 2015March 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Samsung Artik is a Family of Arduino Compatible Boards for IoT Applications

There was a time when development boards were only reserved to companies, then boards like Arduino or Beagleboard made these available and affordable to consumers, and with the introduction of the Raspberry Pi, the maker movement grew even more rapidly, and many low cost boards started to be designed and manufactured mostly my smallest companies. But now larger companies like Intel or Qualcomm have jumped on the makers’ bandwagon, and the latest entry is Samsung with their Artik platform currently comprised of three boards that are programmable with the Arduino IDE. Let’s go through specifications for the three boards: Artik 1 SoC – Dual Core MIPS32 processor @ 250MHz (microAptiv UP) and 80MHz (microAptiv UC) without GPU Memory – 1MB RAM on-chip Storage – 4MB SPI flash Display – Up to WVGA (800×480) Connectivity – Bluetooth Low Energy with chip antenna Security – Secure element Sensor – 9-axis motion sensor […]

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Orange Pi Plus (Allwinner H3) Firmware Images and Linux SDK Released

Orange Pi Plus is a development board based on the new Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 processor that supports 4K video output and decoding. The boards comes with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC, HDMI output, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, SATA and more, and sells for $49 on Aliexpress. When I first covered the board in February, it was already listed on Aliexpress, but I could not find any firmware image, or source code, but this has now changed. There are now four firmware files: Lubuntu_1404_For_OrangePiplus_v0_8_0_.img.xz – Lubuntu 14.04 image Raspbian_For_OrangePiplus_v0_8_0.img.xz – Raspbian for Allwinner H3 orangepi-plus-debian-server-card-v0.9.img.xz – A Debian server image sun8iw7p1_android_orangepi-plus_uart0.rar – Android 4.4.2 image that needs to be flash with PhoenixCard in Windows (Linux tools are not working yet) Beside the firmware images, the company also releases a Linux SDK (h3-lichee-1.0.tar.gz) with Linux 3.4 kernel source code, u-boot, and relevant tools. I assume these should also work on Orange […]

May 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Kaiboer F5 Plus 4K Android TV Box Powered by Actions Semi ATM7039S SoC

Action Semi ATM7039 quad core Cortex A9 processor was launched in 2013 and can be found in low cost tablets, but the company has now launched ATM7039S processor, with similar features but adding 4K video support for OTT boxes, and Kaiboer F5 Plus is one of the first product to feature the new processor. Kaiboer F5 Plus specifications: SoC- Actions Semi ATM7039S quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 with PowerVR SGX544MP GPU System memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB) Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4b with HDCP 1.1 + AV port (RCA) Video playback support – Up to 4K @ 30Hz – AVI, WMV, MOV, MKV, RM/RMVB, MP4/M4V, DivX/Xvid,FLV, 3GP, DAT, VOB, MPG/MPEG, AVS, ASF, TP, TRP, TS, M2TS/MTS. H.265, h.264, etc… Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – […]

May 8, 2015June 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 62 Comments

CHIP is a $9 Linux Development Board Powered by Allwinner R8 (Crowdfunding)

It’s quite common to find MCU board for less than $10, but if you want to run Linux, you’ll need to spend a bit more, unlessit’s sponsored, and today, the cheapest you can get is probably the $20 Raspberry Pi Model A+, unless you go with some OpenWRT compatible routers. But there’s now a new board in development, called CHIP, with Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB NAND flash, as well as wireless connectivity, that will bring cost even lower, as you can pledge $9 on Kickstarter to fund its development. C.H.I.P specifications: SoC – Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor @ 1 GHz with Mali-400 GPU (Compatible with Allwinner A13) System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – 3.5mm jack for composite video and audio (HDMI and VGA available via adapters) USB – […]

May 8, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

MINIX NEO Z64W (Intel Atom Z3735F) mini PC gets HDMI Audio in Ubuntu

We’ve been able to run Ubuntu on Intel Atom Z3735F mini PCs, as well as other Linux distributions, for a while, but with an important caveat: HDMI audio would not work, so instead you had to use an external USB sound card to get any audio. Luckily the problem seems solved, as Linuxium has now released a script (audio-wifi-minix-neo-z64-release.sh) and relevant files that will patch your system to enable HDMI audio, and WiFI on MINIX NEO Z64W running Ubuntu. Ian Morrison (Liuxium) compiled a Linux kernel and the Wi-Fi driver, together with a modified DSDT (Differentiated System Description Table) table to fix an ACPI bug. He used John Pemberton’s Bay Trail Audio HDMI patch, as well as help from Paul Kendall for identifying the ACPI DSDT table bug, Bastien Nocera (hadess) for the wifi source code and DroidMote Server / Client for the wifi pointer. A quick demo shows WiFi […]

May 7, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Seeed Studio Introduces Automation and Wearable Kits for Intel Edison

Intel Edison is a $50 module with a dual core Atom processor @ 500Mhz and a single core Quark MCU @ 100 Mhz, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, as well as headers for I/Os that’s destined to be used in wearables and IoT applications. Seeed Studio has now launched two kits for the Intel module for home automation and wearables. Grove Indoor Environment Kit for Intel Edison The automation kit comes in a small blue box with the following parts (Intel Edison and baseboard not included): 1x base shield v2 that plugs into Edison baseboard and allows Grove modules connections 11 grove modules – temperature & humidity, LCD RGB backlight, relay, moisture sensor, servo, light sensor, buzzer, UV sensor, PIR motion sensor, encoder and button. 2x 26 AWG Grove Cables 9V to barrel jack adapter 1x USB cables 1x User guide Programming is done with Edison Arduino IDE as explained in […]