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

March 14, 2015March 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Unuiga Game PC U1 mini PC Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 Sells for $145 and Up

We’ve seen a few Nvidia Tegra K1 mini PCs from China with Warchief and MC8718 game consoles, but both are pretty hard to source outside China, and the latter may just be vapor-ware. Unuiga Game PC U1, however, is a game console based on Nvidia Tegra K1 that’s destined for oversea markets, and should run Android 5.0 with an interface supporting multiple languages, and not only Chinese. U1 Specifications: SoC- Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 CPU @ 2.3GHz 32bit 192-core Kepler GPU with support for OpenGL4.4, and DirectX11. System memory – 2 to 4GB DDR3 Storage – 16 or 32GB eMMC, micro SD slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K@60fps Video Decoding – H.265 up to 2160p @ 60fps, support for Kodi 14.1 Connectivity – Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2T2R Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 (AP62X2 module) USB – 2x USB3.0 ports, 2x USB2.0 host ports. […]

March 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Experimental Android 5.x Lollipop Port for Raspberry Pi 2?

When Raspberry Pi 2 was announced, I was quite hopeful Android would be ported to the board since it now had the processing power and memory requirements to run Android. But members of the Raspberry Pi foundation put a damper on this expectation directly in their Android forums by closing some Android related threads, and stating the mobile operating system does not bring anything to the educational goal of the Raspberry Pi. But yesterday, I’ve been informed that there was an experimental Android 5.1 port for ODROID-C1 and another Android 5.x port for Raspberry Pi 2. One of the key challenges to port Android to Broadcom BCM2836 is allegedly the large number of changes required for VideoCore 4 GPU’s buffer management, which was done by Broadcom internally for BCM2835, but never ported to the Raspberry Pi. So it does not quite seem an easy task. The README on github describes […]

March 14, 2015March 16, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 116 Comments

Giveaway Week – HD18T DVB-T2 Android Set-top Box

HD18T is an Android media player powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor and featuring a DVB-T2 tuner, and that’s the device I’m giving away to a lucky commenter today. Since the processor has been around for a while, I haven’t done a full review, but instead I focused on the DVB-T2 part. The results were mixed, as while I could scan and watch SD and HD TV channels fine, the videos recorded did not get any audio, possibly because I switched channels during recording, but that’s strange since the video was recorded just fine. However, some people based in Singapore mentioned that while DVB-T works, DVB-T2 does not work with this device, so your mileage may vary. All accessories above are included in the giveaway except the EU to US plug adapter on the top right. You can find more pictures and full specs in the unboxing […]

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Engimusing DIY Home Automation Modules Are Managed with openHAB installed on ODROID-C1 Board (Crowdfunding)

Engimusing has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for their home automation solutions comprised of tiny modules (20x20mm) based on Silicon Labs Gecko EFM32 MCUs, some sensor modules and a server based on ODROID-C1 board and enclosure pre-installed and configured with openHAB open source home automation software. There are not that many technical details about the EFM32 modules, but they come into two variants: standalone & DF11-10 I/O, the latter allowing you to vertically stack multiple modules. This video shows how DF11-10 IO connectors work. The modules are said to be programmable with the Arduino IDE. The openHAB server is a standard ODROID-C1 board (Amlogic S805, 1GB RAM) with 4GB flash (eMMC or micro SD), and a black enclosure. If you value your money more than your time, and/or already have another computer or board (Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone Black…) that runs Linux, you could also install and configure openHAB by […]

March 13, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Theobroma Systems Introduces A31-μQ7 Micro QSeven System-on-Module Powered by Allwinner A31 Processor

Most standardized system-on-modules for embedded and industrial applications are still based on established Silicon vendors such as Freescale, Texas Instruments or Atmel, simply because documentation and support is generally much better than relatively new SoC vendors, most of the time China-based, such as Allwinner or Rockchip. That does not mean nobody is using Rockchip or Allwinner on their modules, as shown recently with Olimex RK3188-SOM, and previously with an Allwinner 10 CoM. But Theobroma Systems, an Austrian based engineering services and embedded systems solutions company, may have a first with a Micro Qseven compliant modules powered by Allwinner A31, simply called A31-μQ7. A31-μQ7 module specifications: SoC – Allwinner A31 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor up to 1.2GHz with 256KB L1 cache / 1024KB L2 cache, and PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – Up to 2GB DDR3 Storage – Up to 64GB eMMC, Up to 16MB SPI NOR flash, On-board […]

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Radxa Rock Lite Board Price Drops to $39

When the new Radxa Rock Lite was announced for $59 in September 2014, it was one of the most inexpensive quad core ARM Linux development board available on the market. But ODROID-C1 board in December 2014, and especially Raspberry Pi 2 board in February 2015 changed all that, as these two quad core boards sell for $35 before shipping and taxes. So the company has now decided to drop the price to $39 for the Radxa Rock Lite board. Let’s remind us of Radxa Rock Lite specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 ARM Cortex-A9 quad core @ 1.6Ghz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 @ 800Mhz Storage – micro-SD SDXC up to 128GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p@60hz, and AV output. LVDS interface. Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet port, WiFi 150Mbps 802.11b/g/n with antenna Audio I/O – Audio S/PDIF, headphone jack Camera – CSI interface USB […]

March 13, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 164 Comments

Giveaway Week – VidOn.me AV200 Android Media Player

After Vidon Box giveaway earlier this week, it’s time for another Vidon.me box with AV200 powered by Allwinner A31 qaud core Cortex A7 processor coupled with 2GB RAM and 8GB eMMC, and a metallic body. In Vidon.me V200 review, I concluded the box had pretty good video decoding capabilities in XBMC, as well as fast Wi-Fi, but the box still suffered from a few stability issues, and since the device was phased out, quite unlikely to get further firmware updates. All accessories shown above are included except the HDMI cable. You can check out more pictures here. To enter the draw simply leave a comment below. Other rules are as follows: Only one entry per contest. I will filter out entries with the same IP and/or email address. Contests are open for 48 hours starting at 10am (Bangkok time) every day. Comments will be closed after 48 hours. Winners will […]

March 12, 2015August 4, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Qualcomm Dragonboard 410c is Another 96Boards Compliant 64-bit ARM Development Board

Linaro announced the 96Boards initiative at Linaro Connect Hong Kong last month, and in collarabation with Huawei announced Hikey development board following this new standard. Qualcomm has now joined the Fray with Dragonboard 410c, a 96Boards board powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core Cortex A53 processor. Dragonboard 410c specifications: SoC- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (APQ8016) quad-core ARM CortexA53 @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU @ 400MHz System Memory – LPDDR2/3 533MHz, Single-channel 32-bit (4.2GBps) Storage – eMMC 4.51 + micro SD 3.0 (UHS-I) Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p Connectivity – Integrated 802.11 b/g/n, BT/FM, GPS USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port. Camera – Support for 13 MP camera with Wavelet Noise Reduction, JPEG decoder, and other post-processing techniques done in hardware Expansion: 1x 40 pin low speed expansion connector – UART, SPI, I2S, I2C x2, GPIO x12, DC power 1x 60 […]