KODLIX Mini PC Comes with Celeron N4000/N4100 or Pentium Silver N5000 Gemini Lake Processor, Supports Up to 16GB RAM

Gemini Lake mini PC announcement keep on coming, with the latest from Plater Electronics which showcased their KODLIX Gemini Lake mini PC at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2018. What makes this model interesting is that beside the usual Celeron N4000/N4100 dual/quad core processor, it also offers the most powerful yet less common Pentium Silver N5000, and support for up to 16GB RAM via two SO-DIMM slots despite competitors and motherboards manufacturers claiming a maximum of 8GB on their Gemini Lake hardware, even two memory slots are available. Specifications: SoC Intel Celeron N4000 dual core processor @ 1.10/2.60 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 6W TDP Intel Celeron N4100 quad core processor @  1.10/2.40 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 6W TDP Intel Pentium Silver N5000 quad core processor @ 1.10/2.70 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 605; 6W TDP System Memory – 2x DDR4 or LPDDR4 SO-DIMM slots up to […]

Acer Swift 1 Laptop Gets an Upgrade to Intel Pentium Silver N5000 Gemini Lake Processor

Acer Swift 1 laptop was introduced last year with an Intel Pentium N4200 “Apollo Lake” processor and a 13.3″ display, and it appears the laptop is getting an upgrade to the latest Intel Pentium Silver N5000 Gemini Lake processor and a large 14″ display based on product pages (here and there) recently updated on Acer Germany website. Acer Swift 1 (2018) specifications: SoC – Intel Pentium Silver N5000 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz  / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 605; 6W TDP System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 256GB SSD, SD card reader Display – 14″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS display Video Output – HDMI Connectivity – 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi Audio – Built-in microphone, stereo speakers Camera – 1280 x 720 webcam USB – 2x USB 3.0 , 1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C Input device – TouchPad, keyboard Battery – 3-Cell […]

Intel Tremont Will Succeed Goldmont Plus Microarchitecture

Goldmont Plus is the microarchitecture found in Gemini Lake processors, and products are just starting to get to market as we’ve seen with our recent Intel June Canyon NUC mini PC review. But we already know the successor of the microarchitecture thanks to a programming document entitled “Intel Architecture Instruction Set Extensions and Future Features Programming Reference” which references “Future Tremont and later” micro-architecture. Here the full list of new instructions listed in the document: CLWB – Force cache line write-back without flush GFNI – Galois Field New Instructions ENCLV – SGX oversubscription instructions Split Lock Detection – detection and cause an exception for split locks CLDEMOTE – Cache line demote instruction Direct store – MOVDIRI and MOVDIR64B User wait – TPAUSE, UMONITOR, UMWAIT That does not give much clue, but Wikichip found a patch submitted to the Linux Kernel mailing list on March 1st, that reveals a bit more: […]

IBASE AGS100/AGS102 Smart IoT Gateway Targets Industrial Control and Factory Automation

IBASE has introduced AGS100 and AGS102 intelligent IoT gateways powered by an Intel Apollo Lake processor, and specifically geared towards industrial control and factory automation applications. AGS100 can be powered by Intel Atom processor E3950/ E3930 with extended operating temperature (-40°C to 70°C), Intel Pentium N4200, and Celeron N3350 processors (-20°C to 60°C), while AGS102 adds support for two RS232 ports and more GPIOs. Specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3950/E3930 or Pentium N4200/ Celeron N3350 processor System Memory – 1x 4GB DDR3L-1866 SO-DIMM, up to  8GB Storage – 1x mSATA socket (Mini-PCI-E), 1x 2242 M.2 B-Key socket for mSATA SSD Rear Panel External I/O 1x DVI-I + 1x DisplayPort connector 4x USB 3.0 ports 2x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port 3x LED indicators (HDD, WLAN, WWAN) 1x power button with green LED 1x 3-pins DC-in terminal block type for 9-36V DC input 1x Antenna hole for WLAN module AGS102 only – […]

ASRock J5005-ITX Pentium J5005 Motherboard Coming Soon for around $120 and Up

Several products based on Gemini Lake processors have already been announced, and some are already available through pre-orders, but so far, I’ve not seen many retail hardware based on Intel Pentium J5005, the most powerful processor of the family, except for one Intel NUC. ASRock J5005-ITX motherboard brings another option, and while it had been expected for a while, the company has now setup a proper product page, and the motherboard can be seen as “coming soon” for about $120 and up (excluding VAT) on some websites like Alzashop (in Europe) or Kakaku (in Japan). ASRock J5005-ITX motherboard specifications: SoC –  Intel Pentium J5005 quad core processor @ 1.50/2.8 GHz with 18EU Intel UHD Graphics 605 up to 800 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 2x DDR4-2400/2133 SO-DIMM slots up to 8GB (2GB per module not supported) Storage 2x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug 2x […]

ACRN is an Open Source Hypervisor Built for IoT Device Development

ACRN – pronounced “acorn” – is an open source reference hypervisor with a small footprint, real-time capabilities, adaptability with support for Linux, Android, and RTOS guest operating systems, built for safety critical code in mind, and specifically designed for IoT and embedded devices. The project is managed / supported by the Linux Foundation. A few more details about some of the key features of the solution: Two main components: the hypervisor itself, and its device model complete with rich I/O mediators managed by Linux-based Service OS (SOS). Small footprint – Approx. 25K lines of code (LOC) for ACRN hypervisor against 156K LOC for datacenter-centric hypervisors. Real Time – Low latency, enables faster boot time, improves overall responsiveness with hardware communication Adaptability – Multi-OS support for guest operating systems like Linux, Android, RTOSes… Safety Criticality – Safety critical workloads have priority, isolation of safety critical workloads Built for Embedded IoT – Virtualization […]

Intel NUC7CJYSAL “June Canyon” Gemini Lake NUC Mini PC Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu

The hardware specification for mini PCs has recently evolved past the traditional fixed amount of memory and storage. Now mini PCs are shipping with SODIMM slots allowing RAM expansion and a variety of M.2 or SSD combos providing flexible storage options. Recent mini PCs are also coming to market with desktop processors rather than mobile processors because there has been a gradual acceptance of the necessary inclusion of a small internal fan. In doing so not only is this addressing the key limiting factors for mini PCs but it is also redefines the very definition of a mini PC. Until recently Intel NUCs (Next Unit of Computing) were seen as small-form-factor personal computers primarily because they consisted of the traditional motherboard with a processor, included removable RAM and storage and were enclosed in a case with an external power supply. They were also sold as kits meaning they were essentially […]

Diamond Systems Zeta is a Miniature SBC Based on Bay Trail/Apollo Lake COM Express Mini Modules

Diamond Systems, a Silicon valley based company providing embedded computing solutions for transportation, energy, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, medical and research market, has recently introduced Zeta single board computer comprised of a baseboard, a choice of COM Express Mini type 10 modules based on Intel Bay Trail or Apollo Lake processor, and a heatspreader for cooling. The company explains the small size and high feature density of the solution make it particularly suitable for mobile applications. The SBC also supports a wide range 6-36VDC input voltage, and works in -40 to +85°C temperature range. Zeta SBC specifications: COM’s Processor and System Memory Intel Atom Bay Trail E3825 dual core processor @ 1.33GHz  with 2GB RAM Intel Atom Apollo Lake E3940 quad core processor @ 1.6GHz with 4GB RAM Intel Pentium Apollo Lake N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1GHz (burstable to 2.5GHz) with 8GB RAM Storage – 1x mSATA socket , 1x […]