Android Category - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 18, 2021April 18, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Mecool KT1 4K AV1 capable Android TV STB ships with DVB-T2 tuner

Amlogic S905X4 TV boxes such as Mecool KM6 have already been available for a few months with the main selling being support for 4K AV1 video hardware decoding. But if you’d like to watch AV1 YouTube or Netflix videos, and also get free-to-air channels using older codecs, Mecool KT1 adds a DVB-T2 TV tuner that works in the EMEA region, some Asian countries, Oceania, and a few other countries that adopted the standard. Mecool KT1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X4 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ up to 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 supporting OpenGL ES3.2, Vulkan 1.1, and OpenCL 2.0 System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, MicroSD/SDXC card socket Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC, HDCP2.2, HDR AV output with composite video and analog stereo audio Video Playback Codecs AV1 up to 4K @ 60 fps H.265 HEVC MP-10 up to 4K @ 60fps VP9 up to 4K […]

April 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Zoom i.MX 8M Mini Development Kit supports power usage monitoring

NXP i.MX 8M Mini 14nm Cortex-A53/M4 processor has been around for a couple of years, and several SoM-based development kits are available including Variscite Symphony starter kit, HummingBoard Ripple SBC, or congatec conga-SEVAL007010 evaluation board. Beacon EmbeddedWorks’ Zoom i.MX 8M mini development kit is based on the company’s i.MX 8M Nano System on Module (SOM) and offers features not found on most other devkits or single board computers such as power usage monitoring and control through their Wattson power measurement application. Zoom i.MX 8M mini development kit key features & specifications: System-on-Module SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor with up to four Arm Cortex-A53 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, an Arm Cortex-M4 real-time core at up to 400 MHz, Vivante 3D & 2D GPU’s System Memory – Up to 8GB of 32-bit wide LPDDR4 memory Storage – eMMC flash, QSPI NOR flash Networking Gigabit Ethernet PHY Wireless module – 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 Dimensions – 38 […]

April 16, 2021April 16, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

Quartz64 Model B SBC revealed, Model A gets hit by production delays

Pine64 unveiled the Quartz64 SBC powered by Rockchip RK3566 processor a few months ago. More specifically they provided details about Quartz64 Model A at the time, a featured-rich variant with SATA, PCIe, multiple display outputs, etc… During the announcement, Pine64 also indicated a Raspberry Pi-sized Quartz Model B was in the works but did not have a prototype to showcase just yet. In the latest Pine64 April update, the community showcased the new board, reported software progress, and information about production delays for Model A. Quartz64 Model B Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 2GB to 8GB LPDDR4 Storage 128 Mbit SPI Flash optional eMMC module from 16GB up to 128GB capacity bootable SDHC/SDXC MicroSD card up to 2TB Video Output / Display Interfaces HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60 2-lane MIPI DSI up […]

April 13, 2021April 16, 2021 by Sponsored Post - Comments Off

AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 series on COM Express Compact (Sponsored)

conga-TCV2 AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 COM Express

8 cores for heterogeneous edge computing Tasks at the embedded edge are getting more and more complex. Supporting up to 8 cores and 16 threads, the recently-launched AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors are paving the way for x86-based embedded designs with unprecedented compute density and performance per watt. congatec is offering the new Zen 2 based processor generation, which complements V1000 processor technology with 6- and 8-core versions, on COM Express Compact modules. As the trend towards more IIoT connectivity and digitization continues, embedded systems must handle a growing number of tasks. Additional tasks include the collection of application data that needs to be transcoded, and sometimes analyzed locally using artificial intelligence (AI). In parallel, data must be exchanged with customers’ enterprise clouds and other OEM apps, and this communication must be highly secure, because new pay-per-use models turn the devices, machines, and systems into an OEM revenue source that needs to be safeguarded. Ideally, embedded systems are therefore constantly […]

April 12, 2021April 15, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

T95 Plus Android 11 TV Box features Rockchip RK3566 AIoT processor, 8GB RAM

Last month, we wrote about the first Rockchip RK3566 TV box we had seen so far with a new version of the H96 Max TV box running Android 11 with up to 8GB RAM. While Rockchip RK3566 processor has multimedia capabilities with 4K HDR video playback and output, it has many other interfaces such as native PCIe and SATA that would not make it as cost-effective as TV Box SoC’s like Rockchip RK3328 or Amlogic S905X4. But this does not stop companies from making TV boxes with the AIoT processor, and T95 Plus TV box offers another option, again with up to 8GB RAM. T95 Plus specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 EE GPU, 0.8 TOPS NPU/AI accelerator System Memory – 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB RAM Storage – 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60 Video decoding 4Kp60 H.264/H.265/VP9 VC1 up to […]

April 7, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Google releases the source code for Lyra low bitrate speech codec

Google showcased Lyra audio codec for high-quality voice calls at a low 3 kbps bitrate last February. But at the time, it was only for our eyes to see, or rather our ears to listen to, as the company did not release any software, but only audio samples with excellent quality compared to Speex @ 3 kbps or Opus @ 6 kbps. Google has now released the Lyra source code, written in C++ for optimal speed, efficiency, and interoperability and relying on both the Bazel build framework and the GoogleTest framework. The beta release provides the tools and APIs needed for Lyra encoding and decoding, and is currently optimized for the 64-bit Arm Android platform, but can also be run in Linux x86 64-bit. There is also an example app – lyra_android_example – that integrates with the Android NDK and offers a minimal GUI with two buttons to either record from the microphone and encode/decode with Lyra, or runs a […]

April 6, 2021April 6, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Netflix 4K certified MECOOL KM2 S905X2-B TV Box runs Android TV 10

There are plenty of Amlogic TV boxes around, but unless you buy from the big players, most devices won’t support Netflix FullHD/4K because certification is hard to get for smaller companies. The Hailstorm device scaling program launched in 2018 aimed to make the process easier on Amlogic and Hisilicon processors, and HiMedia S1 TV dongle was one of the first to get approved. But now MECOOL KM2 joins the rank of Netflix 4K certified devices. The TV box is powered by an Amlogic S905X2-B processor running Android TV 10, also known as Android TV on Android 10. MECOOL KM2 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X2-B quad-core Cortex-A53 processor System Memory – 2GB DDR4 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60 with HDCP 2.3, HDMI-CEC support Codecs – H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP8 & VP9 HDR – HDR10+, HDR & HLG DRM – Widevine L1, Playready 3000 Audio Optical S/PDIF, digital audio via HDMI; Codec […]

April 3, 2021April 5, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Top 5 most powerful Arm SBC’s & Devkits in 2021

Most Powerful Arm SBCs development kit 2021

While companies like Hardkernel, Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and FriendlyArm offers affordable, great little Arm Linux development boards that are suitable for many projects, in some cases, your requirements may lead you to spend a bit more for either extra CPU power, more memory, AI processing power, faster I/Os and so on. That’s why I did a list of the most powerful Arm single board computers in late 2017, but with over three years passed since then an update is warranted. The boards from the list must be easily purchasable from individuals (with the cash to spare) or small companies, so we’ll exclude hard-to-source hardware, as well as Arm server boards like Ampere eMAG motherboard, that do not really qualify as single board computers. Snapdragon 888 Mobile Hardware Development Kit While there are plenty of Cortex-A72/A73 development boards around, it’s much hardware to find one with more recent Cortex-X1 or Cortex-A78 cores, and Lantronix Snapdragon 888 Mobile Hardware Development Kit […]