Category: Hardware

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on 99 USD OMAP3 Based Overo Computer On Module by Gumstix

99 USD OMAP3 Based Overo Computer On Module by Gumstix

Gumstix has manufactured its Overo COMS based on OMAP3503 and OMAP3530 since 2008. They have now announced a new low cost version named Overa Sand that sells for 115 USD per unit or less than 99 USD per unit for orders of  1,000 units or more. Overo Sand COM is Gumstix’s most basic computer-on-module with 256MB RAM and no on-board NAND. Here are the board specifications and features: Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3503 Applications Processor: – ARM Cortex-A8 CPU @ 600 Mhz Memory: 256MB RAM NO On-Board NAND Included Features: microSD card slot TPS65950 Power Management Expandability: via one 140-pin expansion board of Gumstix Overo series or custom, 140-pin expansion board via 27-pin camera board Connections: – (2) 70-pin connectors with 140 signals for: – I2C, PWM lines (6), A/D (6), 1-wire – UART, SPI, Extra MMC lines – Headset, Microphone – Backup battery – High Speed USB Host and […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Archos G9 Android 3.2 Tablets Are Now Officially Available

Archos G9 Android 3.2 Tablets Are Now Officially Available

Archos announced that Archos G9 Tablets are now available. There is of course a caveat to this… Only Archos 80 G9 Tablet can be purchased on Archos Store (limited availability) for 299.99 USD, all other models show the dreaded icon “Coming Soon”. However, all Archos G9 models can be pre-ordered on Amazon France but they are not yet available on Amazon US. The other disappointment is that the Turbo versions appear to have been clocked down to 1.2 Ghz, whereas they were previously announced at 1.5 Ghz. Having said that, if you click on “Product Information” on Archos website, it still says “ARM dual-core CORTEX A9 OMAP™ 4 up to 1.5 GHz”. There is also still a lot of confusion about the amount of RAM in the device 512 MB or 1 GB as this is not shown in the specifications. That’s quite a mess, it’s  confusing and somewhat frustrating. […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on First ARM-Based Arduino Board with Atmel SAM3U

First ARM-Based Arduino Board with Atmel SAM3U

Arduino announced Arduino Due board with a 32bit Cortex-M3 ARM processor on their blog before Maker Faire. The SAM3U processor from ATMEL runs at 96MHz with 256Kb of Flash, 50Kb of SRAM, 5 SPI buses, 2 I2C interfaces, 5 UARTS, 16 Analog Inputs at 12Bit resolution and more. Contrary to previous hardware release, they intend to open the process to the community early on and they plan to to be demo the board and give away some boards to a selected group of developers who will be invited to shape the platform while it’s been created. After Maker Faire,  a small batch of Developer Edition boards on the Arduino store will be sold to members of the community who want to join the development effort.  The final board will be released by the end of 2011. If you can’t wait there are some other Arduino-like projects with Cortex-M3 support based […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Sony Announced the Android Walkman NW-Z1000

Sony Announced the Android Walkman NW-Z1000

Sony Corp announced three new series of its Walkman portable music including the “NW-Z1000” series powered by Nvidia Tegra 2, equipped with an 4.3-inch TFT LCD panel and running Android 2.3 (gingerbread). NW-Z1000 user interface is slightly customized and its sound quality is improved thanks to a digital amplifier chip called “S-Master MX.” The changes made to the UI include shortcut icons for Sony’s music applications and video players at the bottom of the screen. The NW-Z1000 has wireless LAN capability, GPS and sensors such as acceleration sensor and is pre-installed with GMS (Google Mobile Service) which includes Google Maps, YouTube and Android Market. Here are the specifications of the NW-Z1000 series Walkmans: Android 2.3 with access to the Google market YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps and various Sony apps pre-installed (Sony Music Player, Photo Player, etc.) 4.3-inch LCD with 480×800 resolution NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core mobile CPU (1GHz) 512MB main […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Ziilabs Unveils Low Cost Jaguar3 Android Tablet Reference Designs

Ziilabs Unveils Low Cost Jaguar3 Android Tablet Reference Designs

Earlier this May, Ziilabs announced the ZMS-20 dual core processors targeted at Android Honeycomb tablets. They have now unveil the 3rd generation of Android Tablet reference designs based on ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 called Jaguar3. Here’s an excerpt of the press release: ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd), today introduced its JAGUAR3, the most powerful 3rd Generation Android 3.2 tablet series. JAGUAR3 is a series of ultra-slim, ultra-lightweight and stylish 10.1” tablet reference designs targeted at the OEM markets. With over a decade of designing experience in portable mobile devices, Creative provided the ergonomic and sexy design of this series of JAGUAR3 tablets. ZMS-20 StemCell Processors JAGUAR3’s superior performance, low power consumption and rich feature set comes from the dual-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 based ZMS-20 StemCell Processors. ZMS-20 has another 48 StemCell Processing cores within, which effectively make it into a 50-core processor. […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Advantech PCM-C3500 Series OMAP35xx SBC

Advantech PCM-C3500 Series OMAP35xx SBC

Advantech announced the PCM-C3500 Series single board computers (SBC) powered by TI OMAP3503 or OMAP3530 processors with 128 to 256 MB SDRAM and 1 to 2 GB Flash (optional) . These heatsink-free boards are targeted for various low-power applications in industrial control, HMI/kiosk, medical, and portable applications.The boards will run Windows CE 6.0 (default), Embedded Linux 2.6 and Android 2.2. Here are the specifications for PCM-C3500 SBC: CPU – PCM-C3530: TI OMAP3530 @ 600 MHz / PCM-C3503: TI OMAP3503 @ 600 MHz DSP – Built-in 430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core (PCM-C3530 only) 2D/3D Accelerators – OpenGLES 1.1 and 2.0, OpenVG1.0 (PCM-C3530 only) OS – WinCE6.0 English professional version as default, and Linux DRAM – PCM-C3530: 256 MB, PCM-C3503: 128 MB (Optional: 256 MB) Onboard Flash – PCM-C3530: Default 2 GB, (Optional: 0 GB, 1 GB) /PCM-C3503: Default 0 GB, (Optional: 1 GB, 2 GB) RTC Watchdog Power Management – Standard, idle […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Embedded Systems Conference Boston 2011 Sessions Schedule

Embedded Systems Conference Boston 2011 Sessions Schedule

ESC Boston 2011 will take place on the 26-29 September 2011, four days of hands-on training, educational sessions and an interactive exhibit hall. There are 5 programs during the event: ESC Boston – Embedded software development tutorials for Android, Linux, microprocessors, QA, C programming, etc… DesignCon East – Hardware tutorials, e.g. SDRAM debugging, hardware encryption… DesignMED – Embedded systems development for embedded medical devices. Designing with LEDs! – LED hardware and drivers. DesignDays – Embedded systems sessions mainly presented by semiconductor companies and hands-on tutorials on specific platforms such as Beagleboard or TI MSP430 Chronos Wireless Watch. There are simply too many sessions (over 170) to list them all here. So I’ll selected a few among ESC Boston and DesignDays that look particularly interesting: Android Jump Start (Monday 26 – 8:00 – 17:00) by William Gatliff (Consultant, Freelance) and Karim Yaghmour (CEO, Opersys Inc.) . The features that make Android a great cell […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Low Cost Android Set-Top Box based on HiSilicon Hi3716C

Low Cost Android Set-Top Box based on HiSilicon Hi3716C

Shenzhen Coolech Technology showcased an Android 2.2 Set-top box (Android Deluxe) powered by HiSilicon Hi3716C – a SoC designed around single core ARM Cortex A9 – at IFA 2011 in Berlin. This STB comes with 2 USB host port, 1 USB device port, composite and HDMI video output,  SPDIF optical output, an Ethernet port and a SD Card reader. Here are the technical specifications of Android Deluxe set-top box: Description Operating System  Android 2.2 Processor  High-performance core solo ARM Cortex A9 processor 1GHz Hardware JAVA acceleration Graphic Unit  Enhanced full-hardware 2D/3D graphics acceleration engine, OpenGL Video Connections  HDMI1.4; CVBS; Audio Connections  HDMI1.3; Stereo; Optical S/PDIF  AC Adapter  Input: 100-240V           Output: 12V/3A  SATA Interface  SATA II x1 or eSATA x1 USB Interface  USB 2.0 Host x2; USB 2.0 Device x1 (Option: USB 3.0 Device)  SDIO Interface  8-bit SD input/output x1  DVB  Two DVB Channel with PVR Network Interface  10/100 Mbit/s adaptive Ethernet […]