Review of Beelink MINI MX TV Box with MX Player

Beelink MINI MX Amlogic S905 Android media player has similar features, and costs about the same as K1 Plus TV box I reviewed last week, so it would be interesting to compare both. While specifications are similar there are some differences. For example, MINI MX lacks AV output, and only features two USB ports against four for K1 Plus, but it supports Gigabit Ethernet which could be an advantage while playing high bitrate 4K videos, as well a Bluetooth 4.0. I’ve already provided pictures and torn down MINI MX, so today is time for the full review and a comparison with K1 plus. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I connected my USB 3.0 hard drive to one of the USB port, and a USB hub to tghe other port with a USB webcam, a USB keyboard, and two RF dongles for a gamepad and an air mouse. I also […]

Wio Link is an ESP8266 Board Designed to Make IoT Projects Easier (Crowdfunding)

There are already plenty of board or modules based on Espressif ESP8266 WiFi SoC, but if you don’t like soldering, or would rather avoid breadboards and some cables for your or your kids’ projects, Wio Link may be interesting, as all you need to is to connect Grove modules required for your applications to get started, and Seeed Studio also took care of the low level software part and a drag-and-drop mobile app is provided, so software programming has been made easy too. Wio Link hardware specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP8266EX Tensila SoC Storage – 4MB flash Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi, with WEP/TKIP/AES encryption support Expansion – 6x Grove connectors: 3x digital, 1x analog, 1x UART and 1x I2C (3.3V I/Os) Power Supply 5V via micro USB port 3.4 ~ 4.2V via external battery Output DC Current – 1000mA MAX Charge Current: 500mA MAX Dimensions – 55mm*48mm Weight – 26g […]

Omate Rise is a $199 3G and WiFi Smartwatch Powered by Mediatek MT2601 SoC (Crowdfunding)

Most smartwatches sold on the western markets are designed to be smartphone’s companions, and only come with Bluetooth LE connectivity, while we’ve seen many smartwatches (aka watchphones) with SIM card slot originating from China in the past, including the lower end No.1 D3 smartwatch which I reviewed recently. But this may be changing, as Omate is going to launch a new smartwatch called Omate Rise that will include 3G connectivity via a micro SIM card slot, as well as WiFi, Bluetooth Smart, and GPS. Omate Rise specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT2601 dual core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400 MP GPU System Memory –  512MB RAM Storage – 4GB flash Display – 1.3″ round muti-touch color display with 360×360 resolution (Innolux) Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.1 LE (A2DP profile), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS Cellular Connectivity – 3.5G HSDPA (2100/1900 MHz), GPRS / EDGE /GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz); micro SIM card […]

iMX6 TinyRex Module and Development Board Support HDMI Input in Linux (Video Demo)

A couple of years ago, I wrote about iMX6 Rex open source hardware project combining a Freescale i.MX6 SoM and baseboard that aimed a teaching hardware design (schematics and PCB layout). I had not followed the project very closely since then, until I watched a video showcasing HDMI input capabilities in Linux using the new version of the module and baseboard called i.MX6 TinyRex. i.MX6 Tiny Rex module specifications: SoC – Freescale iMX6 processor up to 1.2GHz and 4 cores System Memory – Up to 4GB DDR3-1066 (533MHz) Storage – EEPROM Connectivity – 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet PHY I/Os via 3 board to board connectors: Display / Video Output 1x HDMI (up to QXGA 2048×1536) 1x LVDS (up to WUXGA 1920×1200) 1x 20-bit parallel LCD display (up to WXGA 1366×768) or 1x Video Input (CSI) 1x MIPI DSI differential display output (up to XVGA 1024×768) Video Input 1x 20-bit parallel video input […]

Thunderboard Wear is a $75 Smartwatch Development Board by Silicon Labs

A few days ago I watched an ARMDevices.net’s video about an ARM’s smartwatch reference design running mbed OS 3.0, powered by a Silicon Labs EFM32 Giant Gecko Cortex M3 MCU, and promising up to 2 months battery life on a 160 mAh battery. While I could not find the full details about the reference design, I noticed Silicon Labs also launched a development board called Thunderboard Wear, based on the same platform, just quite bigger, and still wearable… (Sort of) Thunderboard Wear specifications: MCU – Silicon Labs EFM32GG995F1024 ARM Cortex-M3 MCU up to 48 MHz with 128 kB RAM,1 MB Flash External Memory – 256 kB external SRAM External Storage – micro SD card slot Display – 128×128 pixel Memory LCD from Sharp Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.1 smart module (Silicon Labs BGM111), upgradeable to Bluetooth 4.2 Sensors Ambient Light Sensing (ALS) and Proximity/Gesture via Silicon Labs Si1141. Optical hear-rate monitoring […]

ShiftWear Shoes Integrate a Flexible e-Paper Display, Energy Harvesting Capabilities (Crowdfunding)

ARM CTO, Mike Muller, showcase imprinted electronics, that is an integrated circuit printed on a plastic film, at ARM TechCon 2015, and several products are featured flexible displays, so in future flexible electronics could bring innovation applications from truly wearables electronics to traceable bank notes, and so on. A company has launched an Indiegogo campaign for a new product, that’s both cool and relatively useless, with ShiftWear sneakers that integrate a flexbile e-Paper display, a battery that recharges by harvesting energy from your steps, and some connectivity (likely Bluetooth LE) to update the display from your iOS, Android or  Windows device. Three models are available: L1, M1 and H1 referring to low height, medium height and high height of the part around the ankle (heel tab?). But all three have basically the same features: Always-on HD color e-paper flexible display Up to 30 days of battery life Waterproof up to […]

UP Board Gets 2GB RAM and 32GB Storage Option, Linux Port in Progress

The UP Board is a Raspberry Pi like board with an Intel Atom processor that’s currently on Kickstarter with a few hours left, and it has just reached its 100,000 Euros stretch goal meaning that beside the 16GB storage / 1 GB version, a version with 32Gb storage and 2GB is now offered. The company also showed their progress with the implementation Debian based Ubilinux on the Intel Atom x5-Z8350 board. That means the specifications have now been updated: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8350 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics @ 500 MHz System Memory –  1 GB or 2 GB DDR3L-1600 Storage – 16 or 32 GB eMMC Video Output / Display – HDMI, DSI connector Audio I/O – HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 2.0 pin header, 1x micro […]

Bmorn W4301 is a $34 Android Smartphone Powered by Intel Atom x3-C3101 Processor

Intel unveils their plans for Atom X3, X5 and X7 processors last year, but so far we’ve mostly seen devices with Atom X5 processors.  The lowest end Intel Atom processor, namely X3-C2101 “Sofia” dual core processor, with an ARM Mali-400MP GPU and 3G connectivity did find its way into Teclast X70 3G tablet that is now selling for $64 and up retail (but there’s a deal on Geekbuying for $45.99), and a company called Bmorn is about to launch their W4301 smartphone based on Intel/Rockchip X3-C2101 SoC for just $34 ( factory price in quantities), but I think the retail price should be around $60 including shipping. Bmorn W4301 preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x3-C3130 dual x86 core processor @ up to 1GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 533 MHz System Memory – 512MB or 1GB LPDDR2 Storage – 4 or 8 GB eMMC Display – 4″ touchscreen with 800×600 resolution […]