Nufront 2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 for Desktop, Laptop and Netbook – NuSmart 2816

Nufront (新岸线) is a high tech company based in Beijing, dedicated to wireless broadband communication and broadcast, IC design, video search and digital imaging technologies. Nufront showed off their “low-power high performance” mini-PC based on their new NuSmart 2816 chipset at ARM Techcon 2010. NuSmart 2816 is based on a dual-core Cortex-A9 @ 2GHz with Mali-400 GPU. They plan to sell the chip for around 30 USD and expect ARM-based mini-PC to sell for around 200 USD retail. You can download NuSmart 2816 Product Brief for further details. As you can see from the diagram below, NS2816 can support all features (Ethernet, Wifi, GPS, USB, I2S Audio, SATA II, MMC/SD support, VGA, HDMI or LCD video output) that are now expected in modern desktops or laptops. Video playback currently uses around 2 Watts (chip samples) and they target 1.5 Watt for video playback in the final release of their chipset […]

Installing Google MarketPlace on Archos Gen8 Devices

Update: Please now use the files and instructions at http://code.google.com/p/archos-apps-installer/ instead of the instructions below. Currently the Archos Gen8 devices (Archos 28, 34, 43, 70 and 101) are only shipped with AppLibs that contains “only” 10,000 applications. I believe it’s because Google requires tablets to be mobile devices (with GSM or 3G capabilities) to fully access Google MarketPlace. But do not despair, since the guys at Archosfans found a way to install Google MarketPlace on the new Archos android tablets and you’ll be able to use an APK file to install the marketplace. Here are the steps: Simply download gApps4Archos.apk here, here or here. (Firmware version before 2.0.54) Copy gApps4Archos.apk file to your Archos disk. Install it by selecting this file using the device file manager Run the installed package and follow the installation steps Bear in mind, that this has been tested on Android 2.1 and it may or […]

ARM Android Based Rubiks Cube Solver

David Gilday – a chip designer at ARM – has got two hobbies: Playing Lego and Rubik’s Cube. He must have been tired to turn the sides of the game manually so he designed a robot to solve the Rubik’s Cube within an average of 15 seconds. So here’s how it works: A Robot built with Legos using 6 motors and an Android phone connected to it. He’s using an ARM11 platform running Android (Looks like a Google Nexus One to me). You mix the Rubik’s Cube, place it in the middle of the robot, then it starts.. the smartphone scans all faces of the Rubik’s Cube (with the back camera of the phone), an algorithm calculates the moves (using a 300MB database), then the robot turns the Rubik’s Cube to solve the puzzle and finishes with a nice spin once the 3D-puzzle is solved. The algorithm is written in […]

Samsung Orion ARM Cortex A9 – Nexus S

Samsung recently showed off its dual-core Cortex-A9 Orion featuring quad-core Mali-400 GPU at Techcron 2010. The Samsung Orion (model name: S5PV310XH) will run at 1GHz (this frequency might be increased later on: I’ve read 1.2 GHz, 1.5GHz or even up to 2 GHz.) and use 45nm lower power manufacturing technology. Samsung already have a BSP using Linaro kernel and the development board having the following characteristics: Samsung Orion SoC Low power audio subsystem Embedded GPS 2D Graphics Acceleration TFT 24-bit true color LCD Controller MALI-400 3D Graphics TV-out and HDMI interface support Multi-format codec up to 1080p @ 30fps The device would runs Android on top of Linaro kernel which takes care of all the low level stuffs. If you are interested in developing for this platform, you can already download and play around with Linaro 10.11 which already supports Cortex A8 and A9 platforms. The Samsung Orion is rumored […]

Resources for Qualcomm Snapdragon: MSM7x30, MSM8x55, MSM8x60 and QSD8x50

The Snapdragon processors are the latest generation of Qualcomm mobile chips used in smartphones (e.g. Google Nexus One) and tablets (e.g. Dell Streak). There are currently 3 generations of Snapdragon chipsets: First-Generation: QSD8x50 chipsets consisting of QSD8250™ and QSD8650™ based on ARM11 core running at 1GHz, a 595 MHz DSP, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics with Adreno 200 GPU, integrated Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS capabilities, a 12-megapixel camera and 720p video encode / decode. Second-Generation: MSM8x55 chipsets consisting of MSM8255™ and MSM8655™ based on ARM11 core running at 1 GHz as well as MSM7x30 chipsets consisting of MSM7230™ and MSM7630™ running at 800 MHz. All second generation chipsets use Adreno 205 GPU. Third-Generation: MSM8x60 chipsets platform consisting of  MSM8260™ and MSM8660™, dual-core CPU running up to 1.2 GHz with Adreno 220 GPU.  The QSD8672 running at 1.5GHz will also be part of the third generation and samples will be shipped by the […]

3D capable Android 2.2 Smartphones

Lately all the rage was for 3D high definition televisions, but now 3D is also coming to mobile handsets. Softbank will release 2 smartphones –  “Galapagos 003SH” and “Galapagos 005SH” – in Japan between the end of 2010 and spring 2011. The smartphones will run Android 2.2 on a platform based on Qualcomm MSM8255 @ 1Ghz, feature a 3.8″ display and the capability to record HD videos (720p maximum). The main differences between the 2 handsets are that Galapagos 005SH will have a slide-out keyboard and a built-in 8 Megapixel camera whereas 003SH won’t have the keyboard but the camera will be 9.6 Megapixel. Both handsets will be manufactured by Sharp which also owns the 3D technology. The 3D images and videos will be viewable with the naked eyes, i.e. you won’t have to wear glasses.  This will be used for picture, videos and 3D games.  The smartphones will be […]

Resources for Qualcomm MSM722x: MSM7225, MSM7227

Qualcomm MSM722x processors – part of MSM (Mobile Station Modem) series – are mainly used in mobile phones and to a lesser extend in tablets such as WellCoM A800. You won’t find any proper documents or information in Qualcomm website (see Qualcomm MSM page) except the following description: Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) chipset solutions enable cost-effective mobile handsets with advanced capabilities that leverage 3G technology yet minimize development time. Offered on four discrete platforms for tailored functionality, each chipset is integrated with a select set of features from Qualcomm’s multimedia suite of applications to enrich the user experience while maintaining cost-target objectives. So if you plan on developing on that platform, you’ll need to visit Qualcomm developer website to get most of the information you’ll need. There are two chipsets with similar characteristics. MSM7225 The MSM7225 chipset includes a 528 MHz ARM11 processor with a floating point unit (FPU).  […]

WellcoM WePad A800 Android 2.2 Tablet Video Review

More and more decent (e.g. with capacitive multi-touch screen, decent processor…) and cost-effective android tablets are hitting the market such as Archos Gen8 Series. It might be difficult to obtain Archos 70 in some countries in Asia. But not is all lost as product such as the WellcoM WePad A800 are available in Thailand (and probably other countries). This tablet based on Qualcomm MSM7227 @ 600 Mhz runs on Android 2.2. The device comes with 512 MB DDR RAM, 512 MB Rom, a 7″ multi-touch capacitive touch screen (800 x 480) , Wifi, Bluetooth, 2G/3G network support. I discovered this product in a shop in Chiang Mai yesterday. I tried it a bit, it was very smooth and responsive. It sells for 15900 Baht (530 USD / 383 Euros) with a free bluetooth headset. The following videos (In Thai only) reviews the device. The reviewers runs a lot of benchmark […]

Exit mobile version