LoRa Mesh solutions like Meshtastic or MeshCore enable off-grid messaging, GPS coordinates, and in some cases, audio communication for emergencies, working or hiking in remote areas, or simply to be able to communicate outside of cellular networks. However, adoption is limited, as users need to buy a terminal that costs about the same as an entry-level smartphone, or they may not see any use for it, except for emergencies. Integrating LoRa Mesh into Android smartphones can lower the cost of the feature, since the battery, enclosure, etc… are already there, and you just need to add a LoRa module and an antenna. That’s what SpecFive has done with the SpecFive Spectre Pro 4G LTE smartphone with a LoRa module. The rugged phone runs Android 12 and ships with Meshtastic, Mesh Tic Tac Toe, CheckTastic, and Mesh Chess. Spec5 Spectre Pro specifications: SoC – Unnamed quad-core processor System Memory – 4GB […]
NXP i.MX 952 processor supports local dimming for AI-enhanced automotive and industrial HMIs
NXP has recently introduced the i.MX 952 applications processor, a new member of the i.MX 95 series, designed for AI-powered automotive and industrial applications, including driver monitoring, child presence detection, and in-cabin HMIs. The i.MX 952 features up to four Arm Cortex-A55 cores with Cortex-M7 and M33 microcontroller cores, and is compliant with ISO 26262 ASIL B and SIL2/SIL3 standards. It integrates an eIQ Neutron NPU for AI-based sensor fusion, a 500 Mpixel/s ISP with RGB-IR support, and is the first processor with built-in local dimming for better display efficiency. Security features include EdgeLock Secure Enclave with post-quantum cryptography, meeting ISO 21434 and IEC 62443 standards. It can be interfaced with NXP’s PF09 PMIC, PF53 regulator, Trimension UWB, and IW693/AW693 Wi-Fi 6/6E SoCs, and is pin-to-pin compatible with other members of the i.MX 95 family. NXP i.MX 952 specifications: CPU Up to 4 Arm Cortex-A55 cores with 32KB + 32KB L1-cache, 64KB L2 […]
Radxa Dragon Q6A – A $60+ Qualcomm QCS6490 Edge AI SBC with GbE, WiFi 6, three camera connectors
Radxa Dragon Q6A is a credit card-sized SBC powered by a Qualcomm QCS6490 octa-core SoC with a 12 TOPS AI accelerator, up to 16GB LPDDR5 memory, and the usual ports found on Raspberry Pi-like single board computers, such as gigabit Ethernet, four USB ports, HDMI video output, and a 40-pin GPIO header. The board also features an M.2 Key-M socket for SSD storage, a WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless module, a MIPI DSI display interface, three MIPI CSI connectors, a connector for an eMMC or UFS flash module, a microphone input connector, and an RTC battery connector. Radxa Dragon Q6A specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QCS6490 CPU – Octa-core Kryo 670 with 1x Gold Plus core (Cortex-A78) @ 2.7 GHz, 3x Gold cores (Cortex-A78) @ 2.4 GHz, 4x Silver cores (Cortex-A55) @ up to 1.9 GHz GPU – Adreno 643L GPU @ 812 MHz with support for Open GL ES 3.2, […]
$35 Orange Pi 4 Pro – An Allwinner A733 Edge AI SBC with up to 16GB LPDDR5, WiFi 6
Just last week, we wrote about the Orange Pi 6 Plus, a powerful CIX P1 SBC that features up to 64GB LPDDR5 memory. Now, the company has introduced the Orange Pi 4 Pro, an Allwinner A733-based low-cost, low-power SBC, which is very similar to the Radxa Cubie A7A in terms of architecture, AI capabilities, and use cases. It supports up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, eMMC modules (16–128 GB), NVMe SSD via an M.2 M-key PCIe 3.0 slot, and microSD storage. Connectivity options include Gigabit Ethernet with PoE, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.4. It also features HDMI 2.0, dual MIPI CSI/DSI interfaces, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, and audio I/O. Target applications include robotics control, industrial automation, smart gateways, NAS, and more. Orange Pi 4 Pro specifications: SoC – Allwinner A733 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-A76 @ up to 2.00 GHz Hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.79 GHz Single-core RISC-V E902 real-time […]
Google’s open-source, RISC-V-based Coral NPU is integrated into Synaptics SL2610 Edge AI SoCs
Google has very recently introduced Coral NPU full-stack, open-source RISC-V-based platform for always-on AI on low-power edge devices and wearables. The first chip to integrate the Coral NPU is the upcoming Synaptics Astra SL2610 family. Google Coral NPU The Coral NPU aims to address the software fragmentation on entry-level AI accelerators that makes them difficult to program. By releasing an open-source NPU and associated source code, Google hopes its design will be adopted by silicon vendors, reduce software fragmentation over time, and help machine learning (ML) developers bring products to market faster. Building on the works on the Coral platform, the new, open-source Coral NPU is comprised of three main components: A scalar core – A lightweight, C-programmable RISC-V core that manages data flow to the back-end cores. It uses a simple “run-to-completion” model for ultra-low power consumption and traditional CPU functions. A vector execution unit – A single instruction […]
Orange Pi 6 Plus – CIX P1 SBC offers up to 64GB LPDDR5 memory, 45 TOPS of AI performance
We wrote about the Orion O6N Nano-ITX SBC yesterday, mentioning that the Orange Pi 6 Plus was in the works. The good news is that the CIX P1 (CD8180/CD8180) single board from Orange Pi is now available on AliExpress for $223.90 with 16GB RAM and $268.89 with 32GB RAM, including a heatsink with fan, and a 100W USB-C port adapter. It’s the smallest CIX P1 board we’ve covered so far, but it still packs of lot of features including up to 64GB LPDDR5, two M.2 Key-M sockets for storage and/or AI accelerators, one M.2 Key-E socket for WiFi and Bluetooth, dual 5GbE networking, five displays interfaces via HDMI, DP, USB-C, and eDP, two 4-lane camera interfaces, and more. Orange Pi 6 Plus specifications: SoC – Cix P1 (Codename: CD8180 or CD8160) 12-core DynamIQ processor 4x Cortex‑A720 big cores @ up to 2.6 GHz 4x Cortex‑A720 medium cores @ up to […]
ADLINK OSM-IMX95 – An NXP i.MX 95 OSM Size-L system-on-module for IoT and industrial applications
ADLINK OSM-IMX95 is an OSM Size-L solder-on system-on-module powered by an NXP i.MX 95 hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 SoC with an up to 2 TOPS eIQ Neutron NPU/AI accelerator. It follows the OSM-IMX93 OSM Size-L module based on NXP i.MX 93 SoC, but features a more powerful SoC, up to 16GB LPDDR4L RAM, up to 256GB eMMC flash, and high-speed interfaces like USB 3.0 and PCIe Gen3. The new NXP i.MX 95 OSM module is designed for Smart Home, Smart Building, Smart City, medical, and Industry 4.0 applications. ADLINK OSM-IMX95: SoC – NXP i.MX 95 CPU Up to 6x Arm Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz Real-time co-processors – Arm Cortex-M7 @ 800MHz and Cortex-M33 @ 250MHz 2D/3D Graphics Acceleration Arm Mali-G310 3D GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.2, OpenCL 3.0 2D GPU Video Encode / Decode – 4Kp30 H.265 and H.264 AI/ML – 2 TOPS eIQ Neutron NPU System […]
Android 14 smartphone offers 6.13-inch E-Ink color display, 5G cellular connectivity
Bigme HiBreak Pro Color is an Android 14 smartphone with 4G LTE and 5G cellular connectivity, and a more unique feature: a 6.13-inch E-Ink color display. We had seen a few smartphones with E-ink grayscale displays in the past, with products such as the Hisense A5 or YotaPhone 3, but phones with an E-Ink color display are more of a rarity, and the Bigme HiBreak Pro Color adds to the Hisense A7CC. Other key features include a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB UFS flash. Bigme HiBreak Pro Color specifications: SoC – MediaTek Dimensity 1080 Octa-core CPU – 4x Arm Cortex-A78 cores @ 2.6 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 cores @ 2.0 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G68 MC4 VPU Video decoding – H.265, H.264, MPEG-4, VP9 up to 4K @ 30 FPS Video encoding – H.265, H.264 up to 4K @ 30 FPS System Memory […]


