Samsung Chromebook Plus / Pro with ARM Based OP1 / Intel Core m3-6Y30 Processor to Sell for $449 and Up

Samsung Chromebook Pro was first discovered last October on some reseller’s website with a Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor, 4GB RAM, and a $499 price tag. The company has finally announced two new Chromebooks at CES 2016 with Chromebook Pro actually based on an Intel Core m3-6Y30 “Skylake” processor, and Chromebook Plus powered by “OP1” hexa-core ARM Cortex-A72/A53 processor. We’ll that apart from the different processor, both new Chromebook have exactly the same specifications Model Code XE513C24-K01US XE510C24-K01US Chromebook Plus Chromebook Pro Operating System Google Chrome Processor / Chipset OP1, Made for Chromebooks. Hexa-core (Dual A72, Quad A53) Intel Core M3 Processor 6Y30 (0.90 GHz up to 2.20 GHz, 4 MB L3 Cache) Graphic Internal Graphics Intel® HD Graphics 515 Display 12.3″ 2400×1600 LED Display (3:2 aspect ratio) with Touch Screen Panel Memory 4GB LPDDR3 Memory (on BD 4GB) Hard Drive 32GB e.MMC Color Platinum Silver Multimedia Internal Dual Array Digital […]

Vorke Z3 Rockchip RK3399 TV Box to Launch in February 2017

I was expecting devices based on Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor to launch by the end of this year, that is about right now, but finally it looks like products will only start the show by the end of Q1 2017, as Firefly-RK3399 development board is scheduled to ship to backers in March 2017, while GeekBuying has started teasing us with their Vorke Z3 TV box powered by Rockchip RK3399 with 4GB RAM slated to launch in February 2017. [Update: Vorke Z3 is now up for sale for $169.99 including shipping] Vorke Z3 preliminary specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with  2x ARM Cortex A72 cores at up to 2.0GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores, and an ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, external SATA interface (hopefully implemented via the PCIe interface), micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ […]

Linux 4.9 Release – Main Changes, ARM and MIPS Architectures

Linus Torvalds released Linux 4.9 on Sunday: So Linux 4.9 is out, and the merge window for 4.10 is thus open. With the extra week for 4.9, the timing for the merge window is obviously a bit awkward, and it technically closes in two weeks on Christmas Day. But that is a pure technicality, because I will certainly stop pulling on the 23rd at the latest, and if I get roped into Xmas food prep, even that date might be questionable. I could extend the merge window rather than cut it short, but I’m not going to. I suspect we all want a nice calm winter break, so if your stuff isn’t ready to be merged early, the solution is to just not merge it yet at all, and wait for 4.11. Just so you all know (I already bcc’d the main merge window suspects in a separate mailing last […]

Firefly-RK3399 Rockchip RK3399 Development Board Launched on Kickstarter for $139 and Up

Firefly-RK3399 is the first, and for now the only one, development board equipped with the latest Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72 & A53 processor. It’s just not available yet, but the board has now been launched on Kickstarter where it is offered for $139 to $199 depending on options. Firefly-RK3399 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with dual core ARM Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL and DX 11 support System Memory Standard – 2 GB DDR3 Plus devkit – 4 GB DDR3 Storage Standard – 16 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Plus devkit – 32 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Video Output & Display Interfaces 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz 1x DisplayPort (DP) 1.2 interface up to […]

Theobroma Announces Rockchip RK3368 and RK3399 Qseven System-on-Modules

Theobroma Systems, an embedded system company based in Austria, has designed several Allwinner systems-on-module compliant with μQseven & Qseven standards in the past. The company has now started to work with Rockchip and reached “an advanced design stage” for the development of μQseven and QSeven systems-on-module powered by RK3368 and RK3399 processors. RK3368-uQ7 module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa-Core ARM Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.2GHz with Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – up to 4GB DDR3-1600 SDRAM on-module (512MB, 1GB, 2GB (default) and 4GB configuration available) Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash on-module (8GB default), 16 Mbit to 128 Mbit SPI NOR flash on-module Video Capabilities –  H.264 decoding up to 2160p30, H.265 decoding up to 2160p60, video encoding up to 1080p30 Connectivity – GbE PHY on-module CAN – On-module communication offload controller for CAN 230-pin MXM edge connector with: 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet USB – 1x […]

Firefly-RK3399 Development Board Will Fly with Rockchip RK3399 Hexa-core Processor

ARM Cortex A72 class development boards are usually quite expensive, and cheaper boards like Mediatek X20 development board ($200) appears to be out of stock very often, and software support is limited to Android 6.0. But things look to improve soon, as T-Chip is about to release Firefly-RK3399 development board powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72/A53 processor. Firefly-RK3399 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core bit.LITTLE processor with dual core Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.0 support, OpenVG 1.1, OpenCL and DX 11. System Memory – 2 to 4 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 to 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card Video Output & Display Interfaces – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, eDP 1.2 interface, YUV interface, 1x MIPI DSI interface Video Decode – 4K VP9 and 10-bit H.265 […]

Giveaway Week Winners – November 2016

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to announce the results the whole world is eagerly waiting for today, and as you’ve probably guessed it, by that I mean CNX Software Giveaway Week 2016 contest… obviously… We had seven winners sharing the prizes shown below from Android TV boxes, to a Linux TV stick, and an Android virtual reality headset. 2016 has been an interesting year so far, putting statisticians, pundits, pollsters, and generally speaking odds to shame, and random.org apparently decided to join that trends, as while most of the blog’s traffic – and I’d assume entries – come from the western world (North America / Western Europe), random.org mostly selected winners from other countries: VR SKY CX-V3 VR headset – Dainis, Latvia WeTek Core TV box – Homer, Morocco Vana Player Hifi Linux audio player – Fakham, Pakistan MeLE PCG02U Ubuntu TV stick – Ziggy, Singapore Coowell V4 Android tv […]

Giveaway Week – Coowell V4 TV Box with Camera

It’s Friday, and Coowell V4 giveaway day. The device is an Android TV box powered by Rockchip RK3368 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and a retractable HD camera with video conferencing. I have not fully reviewed the device, instead focusing on the camera review with Skype and Hangouts, and I could use it without issues with Skype, but video calls in Google Hangouts were not that stable, and frequently lost video. I also quickly benchmarked the device with Antutu and found the score was rather low, so if your ambient temperature is high the device may throttle easily… I’ll send the package to one lucky winner with all accessories shown above. To enter the draw simply leave a comment below. Other rules are as follows: Only one entry per contest. I will filter out entries with the same IP and/or email address. Contests are open for 48 hours starting […]