Hardware Category - Page 584 of 1065 - CNX Software

December 14, 2017December 15, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

More Low Cost ARM Linux NAS Platforms Coming Soon: Popcorn Hour Transformer (XL), ODROID-HC2

Last summer, Hardkernel launched ODROID-HC1 Home Cloud 1 taking a single 2.5″ hard drive, and based on a modified version of their popular Exynos 5422 powered ODROID-XU4 board where they removed HDMI, and added a SATA interface (via USB 3.0), but based on the initial announcement, we also knew the Korean company was working on ODROID-HC2 supporting 3.5″ drives instead. The device is not available yet, but guys at Armbian got an early unit, so we should not be waiting too long. Hardkernel will also have some competition for their ODROID-HC1 NAS, as Cloud Media (and Pine64?) are working on Rockchip RK3328 based Popcorn Hour Transformer & Transformer XL with support for 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives respectively. Hardkernel ODROID-HC2 ODROID-HC2 preliminary specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 5422 octa-core processor with 4x ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0 GHz, 4x ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz, and Mali-T628 MP6 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 / […]

December 14, 2017July 6, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$10 Self-Powered Thermometer Displays Shower Water Temperature in Real-Time

I now live in a house with an electric water heater that warms the temperature on the fly to the temperature we set on the display, provided it’s not too cold. But in the past, I lived in colder climates with water pre-heated in a hot water tank, and accessible from most taps in the house. Each time I took a shower I had to adjust the cold and hot water taps, wait a bit and do further adjustments to get the right temperature, not too cold, not too hot. I’ve just come across a little gadget that you ease this process as it displays the water temperature on an LCD display. The installation looks fairly easy, and there’s no need for batteries as it’s self-powered with the flow of water. Some of the key features of the device include: Display – 360-degrees rotatable & waterproof LED display design: and […]

December 13, 2017May 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

HiMedia Q10 Pro 4K TV Box Review – Part 2: Full Blu-ray Navigation & Playback

HiMedia Q10 Pro is an Android TV box powered by HiSilicon Hi3798CV200 SoC that was launched in March 2016, but the company recently provided a firmware update with support for Full Blu-ray navigation, and asked me to review that part. I received the device last month, posted the first part of the review with HiMedia Q10 Pro unboxing, and also explained how to install a 3.5″ SATA drive at the time. I’ve now acquired a few Blu-ray RIPs in order to test 4K Blu-ray video playback and navigation specifically. Initial Setup, Firmware Update, and Copying 4K Blu-ray Videos to the Hard Drive I connected the TV box to Onkyo TX-NR636 AV-Receiver, itself connected to LG 42UB820T 4K UHD television. If you’ve ever owned an HiMedia TV box the Android launcher should be familiar. If you want more details about the launcher, and user interface, checkout my HiMedia Q30 review. It’s […]

December 13, 2017December 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 32 Comments

NanoPi NEO Core and NEO Core2 Allwinner H3/H5 Systems-on-Module Launched for $7.99 and Up

FriendlyELEC has launched many cool NanoPi development boards such as NanoPi NEO2, NanoPi A64, or more recently NanoPi Duo based on Allwinner H- or A- series ARM processors, as well as some models based on Samsung/Nexcell or Amlogic SoC. The company has now launched two other NanoPi products that are a bit different since they are systems-on-module – or could even be considered minimal development boards – with namely NanoPi NEO Core powered by Allwinner H3 quad core 32-bit processor, and NanoPi NEO Core2 based on Allwinner H5 quad core 64-but processor. NanoPi NEO Core Specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex-A7 processor up to 1.2GHz with Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 256MB or 512MB DDR3 RAM Storage – NC/8GB/16GB/32GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot USB – 1x micro USB OTG port also used for power input Expansion – 2x 2.54mm pitch 24-pin headers, 1x 2.54mm pitch 20-pin […]

December 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Geniatech & Arrow Are Working on Tablet Docks for 96Boards Development Boards

Geniatech has been working on some interesting tablet docks specifically designed for 96boards compliant hardware platform. They showcased a prototype at Linaro Connect US 2017 with their “almost-96Boards-compliant” Developer Board IV based on Snapdragon 410E which adds an Ethernet port to 96Boards CE specifications.The model showcased comes with a 10.1″ FullHD touchscreen display, and should work with all 96Boards CE edition boards once launched. JinJun Fang, CEO of Geniatech, also mentioned they are discussing with Arrow Electronics, which will manage distributions, about other 7″ and 13″ models. The video – by Charbax – embedded below was filmed in September 2017, but AFAIK the 96Boards tablet docks have not launched yet, and Geniatech did not reply to request for information, so we’ll have to wait a little longer before launch. Mr Fang also mentioned a new Snapdragon 820 based board coming later-on, maybe Developer Board V? Via ARMdevices Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc […]

December 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

VESA Introduces DisplayHDR Specifications for PC Monitors and Laptop Displays

HDR (High Dynamic Range) used to be a feature specific to cameras, but recently HDR got into phones and televisions with solutions like HLG, HDR10 or Dolby Vision. The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has now announced DisplayHDR open standard specifying high dynamic range (HDR) quality for PC monitors and laptop displays that use liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. DisplayHDR version 1.0 specifies three levels of HDR system performance (DisplayHDR 400, 600 and 1,000) with different white luminance, black level, and bit-depth “performance”. An automated testing tool will be available for the users to perform their own testing if required. HDR display in PC will mostly be useful while watching movies, gaming, and creating photo and/or video content. The requirements for DisplayHDR 400, DisplayHDR 600, and DisplayHDR 1000 are listed in details in the table below from DisplayHDR.org website. Eventually DisplayHDR will also support the less common OLED display, and a list of […]

December 12, 2017December 13, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

F6 / GOLE 10 Mini PC Tablet Review- Part 1: Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

Mini PCs and tablets are normally distinct product category, but in recent years we’ve seen mini PCs fitted with touchscreen displays, which are somewhat like industrial panel PCs with mostly consumer grade, and with the display placed at an angle. PiPo has designed several of those with models such as PiPo X8 or PiPo X9S. Shenzhen Qianhai GOLE Technology (aka GOLE) is another company manufacturing “mini PC tablets”, but when I reviewed their first GOLE1 model, I did not find it very useful because a 5″ display is quite inconvenient with Windows 10, and even for Android as if you may not always keep it close like a phone, except for some very specific applications. The company has now launched another model called GOLE 10 (aka F6), still based on an Atom x5 processor, but that should be more useful thanks its 10.1″ touchscreen display with 1920×1200 resolution. I’ve received […]

December 12, 2017December 12, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Marvell 802.11ax WiFi Chips are Designed for Enterprise Gateways, Mainstream Routers, and Set-Top Boxes

High-Efficiency Wireless (HEW), better known as 802.11ax, is a new WiFi standard that is supposed to deliver up to 10 Gbps bandwidth over 2.4 and 5.0 GHz frequencies, and improve the average throughput per user by a factor of at least 4 times in dense environments. Several draft of the specifications have been voted on, but the latest 802.11ax timeline seems to indicate the final 802.11ax specifications will only be approved sometimes in 2019. This has not prevented companies to announce or unveil 802.11ax SoC or solutions based on the draft specifications, as we’ve seen in the past with NXP Layerscape LA1575 programmable WiSoC, Qualcomm gateway reference design, and Broadcom Max WiFi chips. Marvell has now joined the fray with their 802.11ax wireless portfolio. All Marvell 802.1ax WiSoCs support all using uplink & download OFDMA / MU-MIMO, 1024 QAM, off-channel spectrum scanning, dedicated in-service monitoring, and precision location. Three SKUs […]