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

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

LinkIt A-Core Packs Mediatek MT2502A SoC into a Tiny Module for Wearables

LinkIt ONE is a development board based on Meditak MT2502A SoC for wearables, and developed by SeeedStudio. With GPS, Wi-Fi, and GSM/GPRS connectivity, and a LiPo battery, it’s great to experiment IoT or wearable applications, but if you plan to launch an actual product, it could be nice to have a module, and built a baseboard around it. That’s exactly what SeeedStudio is working with LinkIt A-Core module. LinkIT A-Core module specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT2502AV ARM7 SoC @ 260 MHz with 32MB PSRAM and 32MB Flash on-chip. External Storage – 16M external Flash (MX25U12835F) Cellular Connectivity – GSM/GPRS quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz with RF7198 RF transmitter. Connectivity – Bluetooth 2.0 / 2.0 EDR / 4.0, GPS compatible GPS/GNSS (requires external GPS module) Expansion – 48 general purpose digital I/O Power supply: DC 3V~4.2V Power Consumption – > 3mA Dimensions – 19x23x2 mm The module is still in development, and the company welcomes […]

January 5, 2015December 20, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Nvidia Announces Tegra X1 64-bit Octa-core Processor with 256-Core Maxwell GPU

CES 2015 has started, and the first company to present their innovations is Nvidia. Last year their introduced Tegra K1, the first mobile processor with a desktop GPU with support for OpenGL. They’ve now raised the bar with Tegra X1, an octa-core 64-bit ARM processor with a 256-core Maxwell GPU delivering 1.5x to 2x the performance of Tegra K1, and supporting 4K60 video playaback with H.265 and VP9 codecs. Some geekbench benchmark comparing X1, K1, and Apple A8x. Nvidia CEO also claiemd Tegra X1 is the first mobie SoC delivering over 1 Teraflops, something that was achieved around year 2,000 with 20,000 Pentium pro processor consuming 1 millions Watts, while X1 SoC only consumes about 10 Watts. Power efficiency is said to have improved too, as Maxwell GPU is said to delivers more performance with similar power efficiency. They also introduced Drive CX mini computer for automotive application featuring Tegra […]

January 5, 2015January 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Crowdfunding Report for 2014 on CNX Software Blog

Following up on my 2013 Crowdfunding Report, I’ve gone through all 55 Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdunding projects featured on CNX Software between December 2013 and November 2014 (inclusive) to see how well they fared. The table below sort projects chronologically as they were published on this very blog. Date Project Crowdfunding Site Funded? Pledged amount / Goal Expected Delivery Actual Delivery Comments 2. Dec. 2013 Micro Python Kickstarter Yes 97,803 GBP / 15,000 GBP 03/2014 04/2014 Available @ https://micropython.org/store/#/store 5. Dec. 2013 Plugaway Kickstarter Yes $162,835 AUD / $50,000 AUD 04/2014 – People upset because of lack of updates. Project might be dead, and backers lost their money 6. Dec. 2013 AIRTAME Indiegogo Yes $1,268,332 / $160,000 05/2014 12/2014 People have started received the beta versions, after a massive 8-month delay 7. Dec. 2013 Crystal Board Kickstarter No $14,574 / $200,000 04/2014 – The project appears to be dead 10. […]

January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 48 Comments

Review of CX-S806 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S812 Processor

I’ve already reviewed one Android media player based on Amlogic S812 processor with MINIX NEO X8-H Plus. Today, I’m going to have a look at another S812 TV box, namely CX-S806, with lower specs, and less support, but that sells for half price compared to the MINIX device. I’ve already published pictures of CX-S806 media player and board, so today I’ll focus on testing the performance and features of the device. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The package include a simple IR remote control, so I inserted two AAA batteries to give it a try, and it seemed to work OK, but as usual I switched to use Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse for the rest of the review. Since I’ve connected Ethernet and HDMI cables, a USB hard drive, a USB webcam, and a USB hub with two RF dongles for the air mouse and wireless gamepad, and […]

January 3, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Xtreamer Prodigy 4K Android Media Streamer & Recorder Comes with a 3.5″ SATA Bay

Last month, we discovered Zidoo X9 Android TV box powered by Mstar MSO9810 quad core processor, and featuring an HDMI input for PVR function. There’s now an alternative with Xtreamer Prodigy 4K based on the same Mstar processor, but adding an internal SATA bay for 3.5″ Hard drives. Xtreamer Prodigy 4K specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180D1R quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 1.5GHz with octa-core ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + 3.5″ SATA bay up to 3TB + multicard slot Video Output / Input – HDMI output up to 4K @ 30HZ, HDMI input with PVR and Time Shifting support up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio I/O – HDMI Out and In, and optical S/PDIF Video Codecs & Containers – H.264, H.265, MPG/MPEG/MP4, TS, M2ts, AVI, BD-ISO, 3D-MVC, DVD-ISO, WMV, FLV, F4V, MKV, Xvid, DAT, VOB, AVS, 3GP, WebM, OGM, […]

January 2, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

What Do You Do with Your Old Devices and Boards?

New and faster processors and products come out regularly, and prices have come down so much that people are likely to discard old devices, or let them collect dust, as new devices can be bought for half the price you bought your now sluggish single or dual core mini PC, remember CX-01?, last year or two. However, people may not like to through perfectly usable product by principle, while others may be concerned by the pollution effects of our consumerism, and craze for the latest gadgets. There must surely things that can be done instead of simply trashing old devices. I’ll give some ideas mostly for mini PCs, but since a group of person is smarter than one only, I’m sure I get some interesting input. Give your old devices to friends of family. Downside: they may never used it themselves either. Sell your device on Ebay or other websites. […]

January 2, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Linux Benchmarks – Rockchip RK3288 vs Exynos 5422 vs AllWinner A80 vs Intel Atom Z3735F

With all these Intel Atom Z3735F been released right now at a price similar to ARM based mini PCs, many people, including myself, are wondering about the performance of the low cost Intel processor against their ARM competitors. Ian Morrison just published some results from Phoronix Test Suite comparing the performance of Firefly-RK3288 (Rockchip RK3288), ODROID-XU3 Lite (Samsung Exynos 5422 BIN2), and A80 OptimusBoard (Allwinner A80) in Linux (Ununtu 12.04.5), against the performance of MeegoPad T01 (Intel Atom Z3735F) running Linux from a Live CD on a USB drive. Some of the benchmarks failed because Phoronix Test Suite got apparently confused with the file systems located on a USB drive, but at least we’ve got a comparison point, and the results are a bit confusing, as they’re no clear winner. In some tests like FFmpeg, the Intel SoC really crushed the ARM competition being at least twice as fast as […]

January 2, 2015January 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Pipo X7 Intel Atom Z3736 based Mini PC Sells for $90

Pipo X7 is yet another mini PC powered by Intel Atom Z3735 / Z3736 quad core processor running Windows 8.1 with Bing, and since it’s now pretty clear all these device should run Ubuntu or other Linux desktop distributions with full GPU support, they’ll gather more interest from Linux users, especially given this mini PC with 2GB and 32GB storage can be pre-ordered for $89.98 on GearBest with PX7CN or PipoX7LM coupon, making it more interesting price-wise than MeegoPad T01, especially since it comes with an Ethernet port, and (probably) an Intel Atom Z3736 processor with a higher burst frequency (2.16 GHz vs 1.83 GHz) Since GearBest has done a pretty poor job at listing the specs for this item, I got the full technical details from GeekBuying, with some errors as well, but still better: SoC – Intel Atom Bay Trail Z3736F up to 2.16 GHz with Intel HD graphics […]