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

April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Ubuntu 15.04 Released for PCs, Servers, IoT Gateways, the Cloud, and Phones

The road to convergence is a long one, and although you still can’t really use a smartphone as both a phone and your desktop computers, Ubuntu 15.04 “Vivid Vervet” releases brings us closer to this goal, as the Linux based operating systems now supports not only the traditional PCs and servers, but also the Cloud and IoT platforms thanks to Ubuntu Snappy, and phones such as BQ Aquarius E4.5 Ubuntu Edition. Most changes for Desktop users are under the hood with Upstart replaced by systemd, the Linux kernel is now up to version 3.19, and many packages have been upgraded to a newer version. You can download i386 (32-bit x86) and amd64 (64-bit x86) desktop or server ISO images, and for the first time Ubuntu Snappy for generic amd64 platform, as well as an ARMHF image made for BeagleBone Black, which AFAIK is the very first time Ubuntu formally releases […]

April 23, 2015April 23, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

e-con Systems 13MP MIPI CSI-2 Camera Designed for Nvidia Jetson TK1 Board

e-con Systems has just introduced e-CAM130_CUTK1, a 13 MP MIPI CSI-2 camera board specifically designed for Nvidia Jetson TK1 development board powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 processor supporting up to Ultra HD (3840×2160) resolution @ 22 fps, or 1080p @ 30+ fps with MJPEG or YUV422 output. e-CAM130_CUTK1 camera board is comprised of a camera module and an adapter board that can be directly plug into Jetson TK1 board. Camera board key features and specifications: Camera Module e-CAM130_CUMI1820_MOD with S-mount lens holder based on Aptina AR1820HS sensor. Max S/N ratio: – 36.3 dB; Dynamic Range: – 65.8 dB Interface – 4-lane MIPI CSI-2 interface Resolution / Frame rate – VGA @ 90 fps, 720p @ 60 fps, 1080p @ 30 fps, UltraHD (3840×2160) @ 22 fps, 13MP (4224×3156) @ 14 fps. Values are the same for MJPEG or YUV422. Connector – 125-pin connector for Jetson TK1 […]

April 23, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ARM Roadmap Reveals Plans for 10nm FinFET Processors

A few slides have been leaked including ARM Cortex-A roadmap, allowing to have a peak at what the future will bring after the recently announced Cortex A72, and other existing cores. There’s nothing about performance, but this provides details about the next cores codenames and their manufacturing process. ARM cores are sorted into 4 categories: High-end servers and large tablets – Cortex A72 (16nm FF+) will be supplanted by Ares core optimized for 10 nm FinFET process Premium smartphones and tablets / servers – Cortex A15 and A57 cores will give way to Prometheus (10nm FF) and Artemis (16FF) cores Enterprise data plane / big.LITTLE entry to mid range Mobile – Ananke cores should take over Cortex A17 and A53 cores. Ultra-low cost mobile & wearables – Mercury cores will replace Cortex A5 and A7 cores. There aren’t any date on the slides, but the new cores might be announced […]

April 23, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

TBS 2980 Matrix 2 AllWinner A80 Android TV Box Will Support USB Tuners

TBS launched their Matrix 2910 media player based on Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor in 2013, and what made the platform especially interesting was support for the company’s USB DVB tuners in their Android and Ubuntu images. The company has now unveiled its successor with TBS 2980 Matrix 2 powered by Allwinner A80 octa core processor that will also support USB DVB-T2, DVB-C & DVB-S2 tuners. TBS Matrix 2 specifications: SoC – AllWinner A80 4x Cortex 15, 4x Cortex A7 big.LITTLE processor with PowerVR GC6230 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI + AV port Audio – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – IR receiver, reset button Power Supply – 5V/3A Dimensions – 101 x 101 […]

April 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Nextion 2.4″ and 4.3″ UART TFT Displays Come with a Drag and Drop UI Editor (Crowdfunding)

You may want or need to add a small TFT display to control your devices, and it may not always be easy to interface with the hardware, and desiging the user interface may be time consuming. ITEAD Studio latest project, Nextion TFT HMI touchscreen displays, aims to simplify connection with a simple UART interface, and make UI design easier with their Nextion Editor that allows developers to create a user interface without coding. Two models are available: Nextion-2.4″ 2.4″ display with 320×240 resolution Refresh rate: 80 ms 4MB flash 4-pin UART interface Micro-SD card slot, GPU, resistive touch sensor. Dimensions – Board: 74.43 x 42.85 x 3.32 mm; display: 60.78 x 42.62 mm Power Consumption – Sleep: 20 mA; active: 90 mA Nextion-4.3″ 4.3″ display with 480×272 resolution Refresh rate: 20 ms 16MB flash 6-pin UART interface Micro SD card slot, GPU, RGB driver, RGB buffer, resistive touch sensor Dimensions […]

April 22, 2015April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Various Ways to Control a mini PC without IR Receiver for HTPC Use

Low cost Intel Bay Trail mini PCs such as Pipo X7, MeegoPad T01, MeLE PCG03, etc… almost all share one thing in common: they lack an IR receiver, and for people who’d like to use their box as a dedicated HTPC running Kodi for example, this could be a problem as connecting a keyboard might not the best of solutions. Since I’ve been asked about this recently, I’ve decided to dig into the issue to see what options could be available, and I also hope to trigger a discussion in comments to discover other interesting solutions. RF Air Mouse I’m using MeLE F10 Deluxe air mouse during my reviews, and such device can be used with HTPC. You just need to connect a tiny USB RF dongle to one of the USB ports of your mini PC, and you’d ready to go with having to configure anything. In Kodi, you […]

April 22, 2015April 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Flex Cam PIC is both a Sports & Action Camera and a Selfie Stick (Crowdfunding)

Sports camera are quite popular these days, and so are selfie sticks for better or worse… So a Korean team had a simple-yet-clever idea to combine both into a flexible camera that can be used as a selfie stick, and an action camera that does not require any accessories. You just need bend and roll the “stick” around an object. It’s cute too. Meet Flex Cam PIC. Preliminary technical specifications of the camera: SoC – Unknown Storage – 16GB NAND flash Camera – 720p30, CCD sensor, 124″ wide angle, 5MP Connectivity – Bluetooth USB – micro? USB OTG port Misc – LED for battery level, button Battery – 300 mAh (Good for about 1 hour) IP Rating – IP7 (Water and splash proof). Certified for 30 minutes use under 1 meter of water The specifications are not overwhelming, but it still looks like a fun product. It’s also unclear whether […]

April 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Armadeus Systems APF6_SP SoM Combines Freescale i.MX6 Processor and Altera Cyclone V GX FPGA

Xilinx Zynq and Altera Cyclone V are both SoC families combining an ARM processor (Hard Processor System – HPS) with FPGA fabric into a single chip. But Armadeus Systems, a French company designing industrial ARM Linux processor modules, has unveiled a new module where the CPU and FPGA are two separate chips, namely Freescale i.MX6 (single to quad) and Altera Cyclone V GX FPGA, in order to provide more flexibility, and extra features like a GPU with OpenCL support, an hardware video processing unit, a dedicated SATA port, and so on. Armadeus APF6_SP SoM specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 single, dual or quad core Cortex A9 processor with Vivante GPUs FPGA – Altera Cyclone V GX (C4/C5/C7/C9) System Memory 512MB to 1GB DDR3 32-bit @ 800 MHz for i.MX6 Solo or Duallite 512MB to 2GB DDR3 64-bit @ 1066MHz for i.MX6 Dual or Quad Optional up to 768MB RAM dedicated […]