ARM’s Next Generation Processor: Cortex A15 with Mali T-604

This year and next, many products will use processors based on ARM core cortex A8 and A9 tied-up with Mali 400 GPU. Those processors will run between 1 and 2 GHz. Earlier this month, ARM announced their new GPU Mali-T604 that will be used with Cortex A15 @ 1 to 2.5 GHz depending on the target application. The core design is ready, silicon foundries should be able to manufacture chips by the end of 2011 and products should be available for retail end of 2012 / beginning of 2013. ARM and their customer target the following applications for Cortex A15: Advanced Smartphones (1 to 1.5 GHz single or dual-core configurations) Mobile Computing (1 to 1.5 GHz single or dual-core configurations) High-end Digital Home Entertainment (1 to 2 GHz dual-core  or quad-core configurations) Wireless Infrastructure (1.5 to 2.5 GHz quad-core, octo-core or larger configurations) Low-power Servers (1.5 to 2.5 GHz quad-core […]

Nufront 2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 for Desktop, Laptop and Netbook – NuSmart 2816

Nufront (新岸线) is a high tech company based in Beijing, dedicated to wireless broadband communication and broadcast, IC design, video search and digital imaging technologies. Nufront showed off their “low-power high performance” mini-PC based on their new NuSmart 2816 chipset at ARM Techcon 2010. NuSmart 2816 is based on a dual-core Cortex-A9 @ 2GHz with Mali-400 GPU. They plan to sell the chip for around 30 USD and expect ARM-based mini-PC to sell for around 200 USD retail. You can download NuSmart 2816 Product Brief for further details. As you can see from the diagram below, NS2816 can support all features (Ethernet, Wifi, GPS, USB, I2S Audio, SATA II, MMC/SD support, VGA, HDMI or LCD video output) that are now expected in modern desktops or laptops. Video playback currently uses around 2 Watts (chip samples) and they target 1.5 Watt for video playback in the final release of their chipset […]

ARM Based Embedded Server – Marvell ARMADA XP

A few years ago, nobody would have considered using an embedded system to run a server. But now, with the advance of technology, more and more servers are running embedded systems from the lower end such as home-based NAS (Network Access Storage) to higher-end for data-centers, cloud computing, web 2.0… This is the higher-end that Marvell targets with its Quad Core ARM ARMADA XP MV78460 running at 1.6GHz with “16,600 DMIPS performance at less than 10 watts”. Please checkout Marvell ARMADA XP Product Brief for further details. The main selling point of such solution is the power consumption compared to traditional Intel x86 based servers. According to Marvell, 50% of the cost of running a data-center is the electricity bill to run the server and especially to cool the room with air-conditioners. So let’s do a little exercise. Let’s take the estimated power consumption of Google data-center in Oregon that […]

Xibo Open Source Digital Signage Tutorial / Demo

This is the second blog entry about Xibo, in case you have missed the first you can read XIBO: An Open Source Digital Signage Server/Client to make yourself familiar with Xibo and learn how to install it in a Windows XP computer. This mini-tutorial follows the instruction in Xibo’s training documentation and Xibo’s Introduction and Basic Operation The video below shows how to create a layout with a background, different zones with videos, images, html pages and an RSS feed and schedule it for a specific Xibo player. Here’s the resulting output in Xibo’s player. (The audio does not match. Since I had some problems during recording, I simply used a background music instead). You can get obtain free backgrounds at the Layout exchange section of Xibo’s website. We used Blue Boxes – 1920×1080 – for the background image of our tutorial. The RSS Feed is http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/114751985.rss from CNXSoft twitter […]

WellcoM WePad A800 Android 2.2 Tablet Video Review

More and more decent (e.g. with capacitive multi-touch screen, decent processor…) and cost-effective android tablets are hitting the market such as Archos Gen8 Series. It might be difficult to obtain Archos 70 in some countries in Asia. But not is all lost as product such as the WellcoM WePad A800 are available in Thailand (and probably other countries). This tablet based on Qualcomm MSM7227 @ 600 Mhz runs on Android 2.2. The device comes with 512 MB DDR RAM, 512 MB Rom, a 7″ multi-touch capacitive touch screen (800 x 480) , Wifi, Bluetooth, 2G/3G network support. I discovered this product in a shop in Chiang Mai yesterday. I tried it a bit, it was very smooth and responsive. It sells for 15900 Baht (530 USD / 383 Euros) with a free bluetooth headset. The following videos (In Thai only) reviews the device. The reviewers runs a lot of benchmark […]

Archos 101 Archos 70 with Android 2.2

In the previous blog post about Archos 70 Video Review, I mentioned the device was running on Android 2.2. This is not currently accurate, as the device now ships with Android 2.1, but will be upgradable to Android 2.2 soon after. [ad#Google Adsense – Wide Banner] In the meantime, here’s an another Charbax’s video about Archos Gen8 devices (i.e. Archos 28,Archos 32, Archos 43, Archos 70and Archos 101) running a beta version of Android 2.2 for this series of devices. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

D-link Boxee Box available for pre-order

D-link Boxee set-top-box is available for  pre-order on amazon for 199 USD. It can only be pre-ordered to addresses in the US for now and shipments should start in November. D-Link disclosed that its device is based on an Intel Atom processor CE4100 (Sodaville), not an ARM or MIPS processor as many other STBs do. It is running on embedded Linux. Key features listed by D-Link for the device (beside its weird shape) are basically those of the Boxee media-streaming software on which it’s based: Enjoy thousands of shows available for free from your favorite networks, ready to watch at any time Check-out free movies from the web & watch new releases in stunning HD from premium movie services Play videos, songs, or pictures from your computer or home network Plays any non-DRM video, music, and photos and media from anywhere on the Internet The device features the following input/output and […]

Internet TVs at IFA Berlin

Even though Android tablets were widely hyped, IFA also had other interesting devices on display. Among them, internet TV is starting to take off. I would have expected some Android set-top box to be shown off, but some manufacturers may prefer to attend IBC 2010 10-14 September 2010. Interestingly the 2 videos below only provide integrated internet Tvs, i.e. without external set-top box. Philips demo’ed an improved version of Net TV, a standard for internet television. Here’s the LG’s Smart TV system for Web-TV and apps on High Definition Television. They have a really cool “magic” remote. (Wii-like remote). This is still a prototype but it looks promising. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

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