Ziilabs Unveils HanZpad Android 4.0 Tablet Reference Design

ZiiLABS, a subsidiary of Creative Technology,  has announced the HanZpad platform, a tablet reference design based on ZiiLABS ZMS-40 StemCell Media Processor (4 ARM Cortex A9 cores and 96  GPU cores) optimized for Android 4.x (ICS) and a Chinese operating system. The HanZpad platform is built around Ziilabs ZMS-40 processors with four 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPUs and 96-core for the GPU. The ZMS-40 SoC supports H.264 HP decoding of up to 3840×1080 for true 1080p 3D stereo, and 2560×1600 (WQXGA) display resolution support.  The firmware can also be upgraded to support for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) aka H.265 which can increase data compression ratio by up to 2 times compared to H.264. Beyond the ZMS-40 processor, the key features of the tablet are as follows: 10.1-inch, 1,280 x 800-pixels IPS panel 1GB memory micro SDHC slot (up to 64GB) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity 22-hour battery life (~1W power consumption) […]

MediaTek Announces MT6575 Android Platform

Yesterday, MediaTek Inc. announced the availability of the MT6575, its 3rd generation platform for mid and entry‐level Android smartphones (defined as less than 190 USD wholesale). The MT6575 platform offers a 1GHz ARM  Cortex‐A9 processor, a 3G/HSPA modem and runs Android 4.0 (ICS). The company targets 2 market segments with this SoC: mid‐range smartphones –  The platform supports 720p HD video playback and recording with an 8MP camera and qHD (960×540) display thanks to a Imagination Technologies PowerVRTM SGX Series5 GPU . Mediatek claims the MT6575 offers over 35% improvement for browser applications and over 20% improvement in graphics capabilities for gaming when compared to competitors’ best offerings in these segments. entry‐level smartphones – The MT6575 also caters to low end smartphone with smaller display sizes, lower resolution, less memory and reduced multimedia requirements. The company claims that the MT6575 has the world’s lowest power consumption, as well as support for […]

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) Runs Android 4.0

Samsung has just announced its first Tablet to run Android 4.0 (ICS), the  Galaxy Tab 2. The tablet features a dual core 1GHz processor with a 7″ touchscreen display (resolution 1024×600), 1GB RAM and 8, 16 or 32 GB flash expandable via a microSD Slot.  There are also front and rear (3MPixel) cameras. Here are Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 (7.0) Product Specifications: Network HSPA+ 21Mbps 850/900/1900/2100 Processor 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor Display 7” WSVGA(1024×600) PLS TFT OS Android 4.0(ICS) Camera Main(Rear): 3 Megapixel Fixed Focus CameraSub(Front): VGA for Video Call Video Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, VP8Format: 3GP, ASF, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MKV, WebM Playback/ Recording: Full HD@30fps, HD@30fps Audio Codec: MP3, AAC, AC-3, AMR, FLAC, MID, WMA, WAV, VorbisMusic Player with SoundAlive 3.5mm Ear Jack Value-added Features Samsung TouchWiz/ Samsung L!ve Panel UX  Samsung Apps Samsung Kies / Samsung Kies air Samsung Hub* – Readers Hub/ […]

Embedded World Conference 2012 Schedule

The Embedded World Conference 2012 will taken place on the February 28 – March 1 in Nuremberg, Germany. There will be over 1,000 exhibitors for the tenth conference (it started in 2003) showcasing their new products and solutions for the embedded markets. Beyond the exhibition, there will also be 13 classes and 22 sessions during those 3 days. February 28th 2012 Classes: 09:30 – 15:30 – Modeling Behavior with UML: Interactions and Statecharts by Dr. Bruce Douglass, IBM 16:00 – 17:00 – Agile Systems Engineering by Dr. Bruce Douglass, IBM 09:30 – 18:00 – Introduction to Real-Time Operating Systems by Dr. David Kalinsky, D. Kalinsky Associates 09:30 – 18:00 – Hands-on-Workshop Safety Critical Linux – Automated debugging and code screening with formal methods by Prof. Nicholas Mc Guire, OSADL Safety Critical Linux Working Group and Andreas Platschek, OpenTech. 09:30 – 16:30 – Cryptography and embedded Security – The Workshop chaired […]

Using Your Android Smartphone As A Desktop Computer

I’ve already written some posts with videos showing the many things you could do with your smartphone thanks to MHL Technology. Christian Qantrell (YouTube User) uploaded a video on YouTube where he connected his smartphone to a monitor with a MHL cable showing how it could be used as a desktop computer. I really like his setup with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Android 4.0) smartphone  connected to a monitor with an MHL adapter (Micro-USB to HDMI) and Apple Bluetooth keyboard and (Magic) trackpad. He also mentioned external power, but this should not be needed if his monitor supported MHL. The Apple trackpad makes it very neat as it tracks the finger movements as it would if you used the smartphone touchscreen. He showed web browsing and music playback and said gmail works great. Thanks to the multi-touch trackpad, pinch and zoom also works.  Overall, the user experience feels pretty good. […]

ARM Mali-200 and Mali-400 GPU Open Source Driver Released

There has been a lot of controversy around GPU drivers and open source, as GPU drivers usually come with a blob (a binary file). If you have been lurking in Raspberry Pi forums you’ll know what I mean. But this will change thanks to Lima. No, not the capital of Peru but the open source graphics driver for ARM Mali GPUs (Mali-200 and Mali-400) also called Lima whose goal is stated as follows: The aim of this driver is to finally bring all the advantages of open source software to ARM SoC graphics drivers. Currently, the sole availability of binary drivers is increasing development and maintenance overhead, while also reducing portability, compatibility and limiting choice. Anyone who has dealt with GPU support on ARM, be it for a Linux with a GNU stack, or for an Android, knows the pain of dealing with these binaries. Lima is going to solve […]

Android Kernel Source Released for HP TouchPad

The CyanogenMod team has been working on an Android port for the HP TouchPad for a while, and although good progress has been made, the firmware is still considered alpha due to issues with hardware and driver support. There are 2 versions: CM 7 (Alpha) with Android 2.3 and CM 9 (Alpha) with Android 4.0. The CM7 version is more complete and stable than CM9. The Android port might be sped-up as following pressure from the developer community, Hewlett Packard has released the Android kernel source and some other GPL packages modified for the HP TouchPad. Apparently, HP used those for factory testing. The source code is available on github at https://github.com/dalingrin/hp-kernel-tenderloin/tree/hp-topaz-android “green” user at rootzwiki built the kernel binary which is available at  http://crimea.edu/~green/TP/oss-db910-QC1065-Kernel.tar.bz2 They also have the source code for: androidvncserver: http://crimea.edu/~green/TP/oss_db910_vnc.tar.bz2 i2c-tools: http://crimea.edu/~green/TP/oss_db910_i2c.tar.bz2 Apparently all components needed are available, except the wifi driver (Atheros AR6003), which HP […]

Google Releases Chrome for Android (Beta)

Google has introduced the beta version of Chrome for Android, bringing Chrome’s capabilities to smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0 (but not earlier versions). The key features of Chrome for Android: View open tabs: Access the tabs you left open on your computer (also signed into Chrome)—picking up exactly where you left off.  Swipe on your mobile device to switch between tabs. Get smarter suggestions: If you visit a site often on your computer, you’ll also get an auto-complete suggestion for it on your mobile device, so you can spend less time typing. Sync bookmarks: Access your favorite sites no matter which device you are using. You can watch the teaser video below. On the technical side, Chrome for Android brings support for many of the latest HTML5 features to the Android platform including hardware-accelerated canvas, overflow scroll support, HTML5 video. Chrome for Android also brings new capabilities such as […]

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