Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on PiFinger is a Fingerprint HAT for Raspberry Pi (Crowdfunding)

PiFinger is a Fingerprint HAT for Raspberry Pi (Crowdfunding)

“There’s a HAT for that” they say, or something close to it… We’ve covered many HAT expansion for Raspberry Pi boards over the years, but so far, I don’t think we’ve seen any HAT with a fingerprint sensor, probable because tiny USB fingerprint readers are a thing. But if you’d like a HAT with a built-in fingerprint sensor, the guys at SB Components have you covered with PiFinger HAT equipped with a 2D capacitive fingerprint sensor and a small display. The expansion board is also powered by a Nuvoton Cortex-M23 MCU with Arm TrustZone support and on-chip crypto-accelerator. PiFinger specifications: SoC – Unnamed Nuvoton Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller with Arm Trustzone (likely NuMicro M2351 since it’s made for fingerprint applications) Display – 0.91-inch OLED display Sensor – 2D capacitive fingerprint sensor with 176×176 resolution connected to MCU over SPI Host interface USB to computer UART up to 115,200 baud + GPIO via 40-pin Raspberry Pi header UART via 40-pin Raspberry Pi […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on HotDive converts your smartphone into a dive computer and underwater camera (crowdfunding)

HotDive converts your smartphone into a dive computer and underwater camera (crowdfunding)

Many recent phones are fitted with a pretty good camera, and some are waterproof, but not quite enough to go snorkeling or diving. If you could, your phone could also double as a dive computer, and that’s exactly what HotDive provides: a waterproof enclosure for your smartphone allowing you to dive up to 80 meters deep, and convert your phone in a dive computer, underwater camera, and fill light at a fraction of the cost of specialized diving equipment. HotDive enclosure includes an independent auto-pump air extraction system creating a vacuum for your smartphone to make sure all photos are clear of fog, as well as a fill light to take clear photos even during night dives. The fill light is made of CREE LED lights delivering 800 lumens, and providing with 130° illuminance and 5800-6500K sunlight-like color temperature. The HotDive Pro version includes hardware to create a built-in dive computer, namely a solution based on Nordic Semi ultra-low power […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on PinePhone KDE Community Edition smartphone with Plasma Mobile now up for pre-order

PinePhone KDE Community Edition smartphone with Plasma Mobile now up for pre-order

PinePhone Linux phone first launched as an early adopter phone without any OS when the “Brave Edition” was first introduced in November 2019. Since then Pine64 launched variant with different Linux mobile OS including PinePhone Community Edition: UBports, the PostMarket Edition that also added support for mobile/desktop convergence with a model with more RAM and storage, as well as a USB-C Dock, and more recently there was a batch with PinePhone Manjaro Community Edition. If you haven’t already gotten your hand on one of the earlier models, you’ll be glad to know the PinePhone KDE Community Edition is now available for pre-order for the same $149.99 price tag for the phone only or $199.99 with the convergence package. PinePhone comes with Allwinner A64 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor that been around for many years. It’s not a performance beast, but it’s well supported by the open-source Linux community, and affordable. For $150, you’ll get 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, while the $200 […]

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Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav - 3 Comments on DIY Pi KVM: An easy and cheap KVM over IP for Raspberry Pi

DIY Pi KVM: An easy and cheap KVM over IP for Raspberry Pi

Traditional IP-KVM systems may cost you hundreds of dollars. DIY Pi KVM over IP is a very simple and fully functional Raspberry Pi-based KVM over IP that you can make yourself. If you do not know what IP-KVM is, it stands for keyboard, video, and mouse. It allows you to connect to a computer or a server remotely. With this, you can fix problems such as configuring the BIOS or reinstalling the OS using a virtual CD-ROM or flash drive. You can see the v2 example implementation in the above image. Pi-KVM v0 and v2 are ready-made images available for download for Raspberry Pi. You will find all the required hardware in the “Getting Started” section for the v0 and v2 platform for Raspberry Pi. In the figure below you can see the B101 HDMI-to-CSI bridge connected to the Raspberry Pi. The team is working to launch the v3 board and is up for pre-order. Key features It supports Raspberry […]

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Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav - 6 Comments on M5Paper ESP32 IoT development kit features a 4.7-inch e-Ink touchscreen display

M5Paper ESP32 IoT development kit features a 4.7-inch e-Ink touchscreen display

M5Stack has just launched its unique and latest core device with a touchscreen e-Ink display. M5Paper ESP32 IoT Development Kit is a fully programmable microcontroller-based platform that can be an ideal choice for your IoT applications. This low-power device could suit such purposes as an industrial controller or smart weather display. The M5Paper comes with the ESP32-D0WD, the same chip that has powered M5Stack Core2. The e-Ink display supports 16-level grayscale, which provides a great reading experience. The display is a GT911 capacitive touch screen that supports multipoint touch and a variety of gesture controls. M5Paper ESP32 IoT Development Kit Specifications SoC – Espressif ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 dual-core clocked at 240MHz with 520KB SRAM, Wi-Fi, dual-mode Bluetooth connectivity. Memory/storage – 16 MB of flash memory along with 8 MB of PSRAM. Antenna – 2.4GHz 3D antenna. Display – GT911 capacitive touch screen with 960×540 resolution (IT8951 driver) along with 4.7″ e-Ink display, 235 PPI, and display area of 58.32×103.68 mm. Misc – […]

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Posted on by Abhishek Jadhav - No Comments on CodeBug Connect IoT development board is designed for young makers (Crowdfunding)

CodeBug Connect IoT development board is designed for young makers (Crowdfunding)

In 2015, a UK-based team launched a mini IoT development board called CodeBug. The same team has now come up with the CodeBug Connect IoT Development Board.  CodeBug Connect is a new wearable micro-computer that brings IoT to everyone and aimed at educators and young makers.  Upgrade to the original CodeBug This comes as an upgrade to the original CodeBug. The new development board retains its original cuteness and petite proportions but adds full color to the grid of 5×5 LEDs. The original buttons have been upgraded to mini joysticks, making them more suitable for games. The touch-sensitive, croc-clip connectors ‘legs’ that serve as I/O pins remain, as does the 0.1” header socket. “This year has shown our reliance on connected technology — with CodeBug Connect we wanted to make this technology accessible so everyone can build their own IoT devices and no one is left behind. The technology in our original CodeBug has been used by over a million […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on ASRock Mars 4000U could be the world’s thinnest AMD Ryzen 4000 mini PC

ASRock Mars 4000U could be the world’s thinnest AMD Ryzen 4000 mini PC

We’ve already written about AMD Ryzen 7 4800 mini PC‘s such as ASROCK 4×4 BOX-4800, but if you’d like something slimmer with the processor, nothing beats the company’s Mars 4000U series mini PCs with a 26mm height. Despite its slim body, the mini PC packs up a lot of processing power and features, with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 4800 processor, up to 64GB RAM, support for a 2.5-inch SATA drive and M.2 NVMe/SATA SSD, as well as HDMI and VGA video outputs and more. ASRock Mars 4000U mini PC specifications: SoC Mars 4300U model – AMD Ryzen 3 4300U quad-core processor up to 3.7GHz with 6MB cache, 5-core Radeon graphics; 15W TDP Mars 4500U model – AMD Ryzen 5 4500U hexa-core processor up to 4.0GHz with 11MB cache, 6-core Radeon graphics; 15W TDP Mars 4800U model – AMD Ryzen 7 4800U octa-core/16-thread processor up to 4.2GHz with 12MB cache, 7-core Radeon graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – 2x […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on MorphESP 240 ESP32-S2 board integrates a 1.3-inch color display (Crowdfunding)

MorphESP 240 ESP32-S2 board integrates a 1.3-inch color display (Crowdfunding)

We’ve already seen ESP32 platforms with a color display such as M5Stack, but MorphESP 240 is kind of cute with a 1.3-inch color display, features the more recent ESP32-S2 WiFi processor, and supports battery power & charging. MorphESP 240 specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-S2-WROOM with Espressif Systems ESP32-S2 single-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microprocessor up to 240 MHz with 128 KB ROM, 320 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC, 4MB SPI flash, 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi connectivity Display – Onboard 1.3-inch ST7789 display with 240 x 240 resolution, connected over SPI USB – 1x Micro USB port for power/charging and programming Expansion – 16-pin and 24-pin headers with GPIO, I2C, UART, SPI, USB, and power signals Misc – WS2812B RGB LED connected to IO16, Reset button, boot mode switch, battery on/off switch Power Supply 5 V to 3.3 V regulator to feed additional modules JST connector for a battery plus a USB charging module Dimensions – 89 x 28 […]

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