Imagination Technologies Introduces PowerVR Series7 GPUs with Up to 512 Cores, Virtualization Support

Imagination Technologies has announced a new PowerVR Series7 GPU architecture that will be used in their high end PowerVR Series7XT GPUs delivering up to 1.5 TFLOPS for mid range and high-end mobioe devices, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and even servers, as well as their low power lost cost PowerVR Series7XE GPUs for entry-level mobile devices, set-top boxes, and wearables. PowerVR Series7 GPU, both Series7XT and Series7XE GPUs, can achieve up to a 60% performance improvement over PowerVR Series6XT/6XE GPUs for a given configuration. For example a 64-core PowerVR7XT GPU should be up to 60% faster than a 64-core PowerVR Series6XT clocked at the same frequency, with all extra performance due to a different and improved architecture. Some of Series7 architectural enhancements include: Instruction set enhancements including added co-issue capability, resulting in improved application performance and increased GPU efficiency New hierarchical layout structure that enables scalable polygon throughput and pixel fillrate […]

Rayeager PX2 Development Board Features Rockchip PX2 Dual Core Cortex A9 Processor

Rockchip has apparently discreetly released a PX2 SoC with a dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.4 GHz coupled with a Mali-400MP4 GPU, that on the surface looks extremely similar to their RK3066 SoC. Unfortunately, at first, I could not find much details about the processor itself, but Chipspark have introduced Rayeager PX2 development board based on the new Rockchip processor, with 1 to 2 GB RAM, an 8GB eMMC flash, and various ports including a SATA 2.0 interface. Rayeager PX2 specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX2 dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.4 GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 to 2 GB DDR3@400MHz Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot, and SATA 2.0 interface for 2.5″ and 3.5″ hard drives (the latter may require external power supply) Video Output – HDMI, and VGA up to 1080p, , and LCD interface Video Input – 1x CVBS input […]

Raspberry Pi Model A+ Board Features a 40-pin GPIO Connector, a micro SD slot, and Improved Power Management

After the Raspberry Pi foundation officially announced Raspberry Pi Model B+ board, it was natural to expect a Model A+ to come soon after. Based on a webpage on Element14 (now down), an update of the cheapest version of the Raspberry Pi could get announced very soon, maybe as soon as Monday. It has specifications very similar to Model A, but replaces the 26-pin GPIO connector, by a 40-pin connector, a micro SD slot takes the place of a full-sized SD slot, and power management has been improved so that it’s more efficient, and can support “power hungry” USB devices. [Update: It’s now officially announced as planned] I’ve drawn a comparison table between the latest two boards: Model B+ vs Model A+. Raspberry Pi Model B+ Raspberry Pi Model A+ SoC Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 700MHz with VideoCore IV GPU System Memory 512 MB (PoP)  256 MB (PoP) Storage […]

BeagleBoard-X15 Development Board To Feature TI Sitara AM5728 Dual Core Cortex A15 Processor

Before the BeagleBone and BeagleBone Black boards based on TI Sitara processor, there were BeagleBoard (-xM) boards powered by TI OMAP3 processors, and Beageboard.org and Texas Instruments are now working on their next open source hardware board with BeagleBoard-X15 powered by TI Sitara AM572 dual core Cortex A15 SoC. Since Beagleboard-X15 has not been formally announced, there’s no picture, and we don’t have the full details yet, but here are the expect technical specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM5728 dual core Cortex A15 processor @ 1.5 GHz, with PowerVR SGX544-MP2 3D GPU, Vivante GC320 2D GPU, 2x Cortex M4 cores, dual core C66x DSP, and IVA (Image and Video Accelerator) for 1080p video decode (H.264, VC-1, MPEG 1/2/4, AVS, etc..) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L with dual 32-bit buses Storage – 4GB eMMC, micro SD slot, and eSATA interface Video I/O – HDMI out up to 1080p60, LCD port, […]

Connect Objects Wirelessly, and Create User Interfaces Easily With Xped DeB for Arduino (Crowdfunding)

Xped, an australian startup, has designed an ecosystem comprised of an Arduino shield with NFC and 802.15.4 connectivity, a Raspberry Pi Model B+ based gateway, and DeB browser that generates a user interface in Android, iOS, or Linux based on an XML file stored in an Arduino board. This allows to connect various objects wirelessly, with reduced power consumption thanks to 802.15.4, and to create user interfaces easily with a text file located in your Arduino board. ADRC stands for Auto-Discovery Remote Control, and that’s what Xped ADRC Shield allows thanks to the following hardware specifications: MCU – RM Cortex M3 32-bit microcontroller with 256 KB of FLASH memory. NFC – NDEF Type-2 Tag with bi-directional communications capability. NFP proximity communications technology which is similar to NFC but was developed by Xped to use less than 1,000th of the power and provide faster speeds than NFC. It is mainly used […]

TI Sitara based GOEMBED Systems-on-Module and Single Board Computers with BeagleBone Capes Support

GOEMBED is a startup funded by engineers previously working for Embest Shenzhen, based in Longhua district in Shenzhen, and specialized in embedded boards and modules. They currently have board and modules based on Freescale i.MX6 and Texas Instruments Sitara processors, but I’ll focus on the TI products in this post, including one of their single board computers that supports BeagleBone capes. CM3352 and CM3358 Systems-on-Module CM335x Series modules specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara Cortex A8 AM3352 @ 800 Mhz or AM3358 @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512 MB Micron DDR3 chip Storage – 2 to 4 GB eMMC depending on model PMU – TI TPS65910A3 Dimensions – 67.5 x 36.5 mm Temperature Range – Commercial: 0° to 70° C or Industrial: -40° to 85° C The modules are said to support Linux 3.x, Android 4.x, Ubuntu, Angstrom, Debian, WinCE 6.0/7.0, and uCOS operating systems. SBC335x Single Board Computers […]

Radxa Rock 2 Development Board Pictures and Specifications

Radxa Rock 2 is an upcoming development board based on Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A12/A17 processor, which will run Android, and I would expect it to have better support for Linux desktop distributions than the original Radxa Rock board thanks to the current work done by Rockchip and Google on Chromium OS, which could bring 2D/3D graphics, and hardware video decoding to the platform. The board is not available for purchase yet, but pictures have been published, and specifications released. So the new board is comprised of a baseboard and a system-on-module (SoM), which should help Radxa’s customers design their own products, while using Radxa SoM, and doing early development on Radxa Rock 2 board. Radxa SoM specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core ARM Cortex-A17 [email protected] with ARM Mali-T764 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0, OpenCL 1.1, DirectX 11 System memory – 2GB (4GB optional), 64bit DDR3@800Mhz Storage […]

Android 5.0 Lollipop Source Code Pushed to AOSP

As Nexus 6 smartphone, Nexus 6 tablet, and Nexus Player have now started to ship, Google has pushed Android Lollipop to AOSP (Android Open Source Project), as well as images for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013), and Nexus 10. You’ll soon be able to retrieve the source code with the following command lines [Update: I still can’t use the lollipop-release branch to retrieve the code, so instead you can use android-5.0.0_r1 tag for Nexus 9, or android-5.0.0_r2 tag for Nexus Player / Android TV]: repo init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b android-5.0.0_r1 repo sync Currently repo init fails with: error: in init -u https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b lollipop-release –repo-url=https://gerrit.googlesource.com/git-repo –repo-branch=stable: revision lollipop-release in manifests not found But everything should come online soon. In the meantime, you could still browse the code. Anyway that means Android 5.0 images for mini PCs, TV boxes and other devices will hopefully be available in […]