Windows 11 Category - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 11, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Mind xPlay display and keyboard review using Khadas Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs

Khadas xPlay connected to Crowview USB C display

In this review, I’ll report my experience with the Khadas Mind xPlay display and keyboard using the Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs, as well as a CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16 laptop to test it as a standard external display. Using Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 mini PC I received the Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 Meteor Lake mini PC, and I already showed how to connect it and get started in the first part of the review. So I’ll continue the review with it initially. I used the EIZO monitor test website to evaluate the display panel itself. I went through all 13 tests, including dead pixel and gradients tests. The pattern above looks fine too, so I compare the Mind xPlay monitor to the 16-inch display of the ASUS Vivobook 16 to find differences. Both were set to maximum brightness. The xPlay delivers noticeably more […]

May 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

My experience upgrading the BIOS of a Windows 11 mini PC (with BitLocker) in 2026

I don’t always update the BIOS of my system, but when I do, I always make sure to waste several hours doing so. Last time I did that was in 2020, but this happened again when I updated the BIOS for the Khadas Mind 2 to test it with the Mind xPlay display and Mind Graphics 2 dock. Khadas provides the BIOS with instructions to update the Mind 2 mini PC, and it’s supposed to take five minutes, but I ended up wasting two about hours… The first step is to download and extract a zip file (mind-2-bios-v1.07-260122.zip), then start the Flash_BIOS upgrade program, and finally wait for the upgrade to complete. That part went great. No problem, but when the system rebooted, I was greeted by a BitLocker window asking me to enter a recovery key to carry on with the boot process. There’s no way to avoid this, […]

May 8, 2026May 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arbor ARES-2100 Wildcat Lake fanless box PC targets industrial automation, machine vision, and Edge AI applications

Arbor ARES-2100 fanless box PC is another industrial platform based on the new Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” processor family, which specifically targets industrial automation, machine vision, and lightweight Edge AI applications. The fanless computer supports up to 64GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory, UFS 3.1 and/or M.2 NVMe/SATA storage, and offers up to three video outputs, up to three 2.5GbE ports, optional WiFi, Bluetooth, and 4G LTE via M.2 expansion slots, an RS232/RS485 RJ45 connector, and two optional CAN Bus interfaces through a terminal block. As an industrial machine, it’s designed to operate in the -20 to +60°C temperature range, takes 9 to 36V DC input, and received MIL-STD-810H certification for shock and vibration. Arbor ARES-2100 specifications: SoC – Intel Core Series 3 Wildcat Lake processors with five or six cores, Intel Xe3 Graphics, and up to 40 TOPS of combined AI performance. TDP: 15W System Memory – Up to […]

May 7, 2026May 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Khadas Mind Graphics 2 and Mind xPlay display + keyboard review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first try

Khadas has sent us the Mind Graphics 2 dock, Mind xPlay portable display and keyboard, as well as the Mind 2 mini PC for review. In the first part of the review, I’ll start by listing specifications, an unboxing of all three packages, a teardown of the graphics dock, and a first try of the xPlay and Mind Graphics 2 with the mini PC. While the Mind 2 will be used for testing, I won’t go into details here since it’s quite similar to the Mind 2 AI Maker Kit we reviewed last year. Instead, in the next parts, I’ll do a review of the xPlay with it, the first-generation Mind, and maybe another platform with USB-C video output. I’ll follow that by detailed testing of the Khadas Mind 2, including graphics and AI performance with the built-in NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB card, and check all its features. […]

May 5, 2026May 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Congatec conga-TC300 COM Express module features up to Intel Core 7 350 Wildcat Lake processor

Intel Wildcat Lake COM Express Compact module

congatec conga-TC300 is an entry-level edge AI COM Express Type-6 Compact module powered by 15W Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” SoCs up to the Core 7 350 hexa-core processor. The module supports up to 64GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and features optional on-board UFS 3.1 storage, an Intel i226 2.5GbE controller, and two standard 220-pin board-to-board connectors exposing I/Os such as SATA, DDI and LVDS or eDP display interfaces, USB4, USB 3.2, USB 2.0, PCIe Gen4/Gen3, and more. congatec conga-TC300 specifications: Wildcat Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core 3 305 6-core CPU – 2x P-cores @ 1.5/4.3 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.3 GHz (Turbo) GPU – 1-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz (9 TOPS) NPU – N/A Intel Core 5 320 6-core CPU – 2x P-cores @ 1.5/4.6 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.4 GHz (Turbo) GPU – 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.5 […]

April 24, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Axiomtek PICO570 – An Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake Pico-ITX SBC with DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM memory, HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp120

Axiomtek PICO570 Pico ITX SBC with Intel Core Ultra Processors

Axiomtek has recently introduced the PICO570, a high-performance Pico-ITX SBC built around Intel Core Ultra (Series 1) Meteor Lake-U processors. Measuring just 100 x 72 mm, this ultra-compact board with its 11 TOPS NPU is designed for edge AI applications. The PICO570 board is very similar to the AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC, but it features a physical 262-pin DDR5 SO-DIMM slot that allows users to upgrade or replace the RAM instead of solder-on LPDDR5 memory, and features an HDMI 2.1 supporting up to 4K resolution at 120Hz. The SBC also features an RS-232/422/485 serial interface, two USB 3.0 ports, and a dedicated SMBus connector for system management. With an operating temperature range of -20°C to +60°C, a watchdog timer, hardware monitoring, and a 12V DC input, it can be used for AI inference nodes, automation controllers, medical systems, and intelligent infrastructure. Axiomtek PICO570 specifications: Meteor Lake-U SoC (one of the other) […]

April 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL – A slim Twin Lake embedded PC for semiconductor manufacturing and digital signage

AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL is a slim (30mm thin) embedded PC powered by Intel Processor N150 or N250 Twin Lake processor, paired with up to 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and NVMe SSD storage. The fanless mini PC also features HDMI and VGA video outputs, four USB ports, dual GbE networking, two DB-9 ports for RS-232/422/485, and three M.2 slots for storage (NVMe SSD), WiFi and Bluetooth, and 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity. Its slim design, ports, and ability to operate in the -20°C ~ 60°C temperature range make it suitable for space-constrained applications such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and digital signage installations. AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL specifications: Twin Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N250 quad-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics @ […]

April 17, 2026April 17, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” processor family launched for entry-level laptops and Edge AI systems

After several leaks, the Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” entry-level processor family is now official. Intel describes it as the first “hybrid AI-ready Core Series processor”. As expected, the “Computer & CPU tile” comes with up to six cores (2x P cores + 4x LPE cores), up to 2-core Intel Xe 3 graphics, up to 40 TOPS of combined AI performance, and LPDDR5x/DDR5 memory interfaces. The “Platform controller tile” integrates six PCIe Gen4 lanes, two Thunderbolt 4 interfaces, two USB 3.2 and eight USB 2.0 interfaces, as well as WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity. The Computer & GPU tile is manufactured using an Intel 18A process, while the Platform controller tile is manufactured with another “External” process (TSMC?). Single-channel memory is confirmed, and it looks like eMMC flash will be replaced with UFS 3.0 memory for edge systems with soldered-on memory, although many systems will make use of […]