If you want to buy a cheap Android phones, one way is to go to some Chinese e-retailers and purchase the phone that matches your requirements. Most phones will work reasonably well, but one thing that’s common to most/all Chinese manufacturers is lack of firmware updates and concerns for security. So you may only get 2 or 3 firmware update during the lifetime of your phone, if any, and usually the Android security patch is rather old. But Dr.Web discovered several Android smartphone models that ships with a Trojan (Android.Triada.231), in other words, the stock firmware is already infected with malware. The company found over 40 injected models, but the list may still grow Android.Triada trojans infect the Zygote process, which is used to launch all applications in Android. Once the module is infected, it becomes possible to download and launch software without the user’s knowledge. The 231 variant of […]
CUBOT X18 Plus 4G Smartphone Sells for as Low as $79.99 (Promo)
If you are on the lookout for an inexpensive 4G phone, Cubox X18 Plus smartphone with a Mediatek MT6750T processor running Android 8.0, a 6″ display, 4GB RAM, and 64GB flash may be worth a look as GearBest offers the device for as low as $79.99 shipped. The trick is that it is a flash sale with only the first 10 units sold at 9:00 UTC on March 5-9 (50 units in total), so you’d have to be fast and lucky to get it at that price. If you miss the flash sale, promo price is $129.99 until March 12. CUBOT X18 Plus smartphone: SoC – Mediatek MT6750T Octa-core (4+4) processor @ up to 1.5GHz with Arm Mali-T860 MP2 GPU System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, micro SD card slot up to 256GB Display – 5.99″ 2160×1080 touchscreen display Camera – 20+2MP dual rear camera with AF […]
OpenEmbed Launches $99 em3399 Rockchip RK3399 SoM, and a Compact Evaluation Kit
Looking for a system-on-module based on Rockchip RK3399 processor? So far, you had at least four options with either edge connectors or castellated holes: Theobroma RK3399-Q7 (Qseven) SoM, 9Tripod X3399 core, Boardcon PICO3399 CPU module, or Firefly-RK3399 CoreBoard. OpenEmbed now offers another RK3399 system-on-module with their em3399 SoM using board-to-board connectors interfacing with the carrier board. OpenEmbed em3399 system-on-module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores, 4x Cortex-A53 cores, and a Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR3L RAM Storage – 16GB to 128GB eMMC 5.1 flash Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet transceiver (Atheros AR8033) Power Management – Rockchip RK808D PMIC 2x 120-pin board-to-board connectors (0.8mm pitch) with: Display: HDMI 2.0 port with audio for up to 4K @ 60Hz DisplayPort 1.2 with audio for up to 4K @ 60Hz MIPI-DSI (dual-channel) at up to 2560×1600 @ 60 Hz eDP 1.3 (4-lane) Camera – […]
SECO Unveils SM-C12 SMARC 2.0 Compliant i.MX8M Module, CSM-B79 SMARC 2.0 Carrier Board
We’ve already seen several computers-on-module/systems-on-module based on NXP i.MX8/8M processors, most of which use proprietary standards, but so far we’ve covered at least on Qseven 2.1 CoM with Advantech ROM-7720 powered by i.MX 8QuadMax SoC. SECO has now announced their SM-C12 module compliant with another SoM standard: SMARC 2.0. The system-on-module is powered by i.MX 8M dual or quad core processor, supports up to 4GB RAM, offers optional WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, and plenty of I/Os thanks to the 314-pin MXM3 connector mandated by SMARC 2.0 specification. The module targets home automation, transportation, digital signage and vending machines, multimedia devices, and others applications requiring real-time processing and/or multimedia capabilities. SC-12 module specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8M dual or quad Arm Cortex-A53 processor with Cortex-M4 real-time core, Vivante GC7000Lite GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1, Open CL 1.2. OpenGL 3.0, Vulkan, DirectX System Memory – LPDDR4-3200 memory, 32-bit interface, […]
Sonoff S31 Smart Socket Review – Power Consumption Monitoring with eWelink Android App
Today we are looking at the Sonoff S31. It is another device in the Sonoff line by ITEAD Studio. Similar to the Sonoff POW, you can see power usage but on the S31 you can keep historical data up to 100 days. This time around I am using it with the standard firmware, and will not be flashing the popular MQTT Tasmota firmware. Specifications per ITEAD website: Max. Current: 16A Voltage Input: 90~264V AC, 50/60HZ Wireless Standard: 2.4GHz, 802.11 b/g/n Receive Sensitivity: 802.11b: <-84dBm(11Mbps); 802.11g: <-68dBm(54Mbps) Output Power: 802.11b:16±2dBm; 802.11g:13±2dBm Security Mechanism: WEP/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK Encryption: AES/TKIP Working Temp: -20 °C ~ 75 °C Working Humidity: 10%-80% Product Dimensions: 75.7×39.7x32mm Gang: 1 Weight: 135g Certification: FCC (Download) Sonoff S31 Unboxing & Teardown Taking the S31 apart is rather easy but I did not take it fully apart for fear of breaking it. Just pop the power button off the left side. Then […]
VIA SOM-9X20 Module Powers Smart Recognition and Smart Machine Vision Platforms
At the end of last year, VIA launched SOM-9X20 system-on-module powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with 4GB PoP LPDDR4 RAM, 64 GB eMMC flash, as well as WiFi + Bluetooth module, and a GNSS/GPS receiver. The company introduced two software platform for the SoM and development kit at embedded world 2018: a Smart Machine Vision Platform for manufacturing management and control systems, and a Smart Recognition Platform for facial recognition, object detection, people counting & tracking, etc… VIA SOM-9X20 module specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad- core processor with 2x high-performance Kryo cores up to 2.15GHz, 2x low power Kryo cores up to 1.593GHz, and Adreno 530 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.1/ GEP, GL4.4, DX11.3/ 4, OpenCL 2.0, Renderscript-Next System Memory – 4 GB POP LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 64 GB eMMC 5.1/ UFS 2.0 flash On-module Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/ b/ g/ n/ ac + Bluetooth […]
SolidRun Announces i.MX 8M Industrial Systems-on-Module, Cubox Pulse Mini PC and HummingBoard Pulse Board
Solidrun has several products based on NXP i.MX6 processors including i.MX6 SoMs, Cubox-i mini PCs, and HummingBoard Edge development board, which were launched between 2013 and 2015, and still sold to this day. But the company has now launched refreshes for all those products based on the new i.MX 8M 64-bit Arm processors with i.MX 8M industrial systems-on-module, Cubox Pulse mini PC, and HummingBoard Pulse SBC. Solidrun i.MX 8M SoM Three different modules – which differ only by their processor and max memory capacity – are available with the following specifications: SoC SOM i.MX8 Dual – NXP i.MX 8M Dual core ARM A53 @ 1.3 GHz (up to 1.5 GHz), Arm Cortex-M4, and Vivante GC7000 Lite GPU SOM i.MX8 Quad Lite – NXP i.MX 8M QuadLite quad core ARM A53 @ 1.3 GHz (up to 1.5 GHz), Arm Cortex-M4, and Vivante GC7000 Lite GPU SOM i.MX8 Quad – NXP i.MX […]
UP Core Plus Board To Support AI Plus FPGA and AI Net Ethernet Expansion Boards
We’ve just written about UP AI Core mPCIe card part of the new AI Edge family from UP Board, but other members will soon be released including UP Core Plus board, that builds upon UP Core Cherry Trail board launched last year, with a choice of Intel Atom x5/x7, and Celeron/Pentium Apollo Lake processors. The form factor is different, but just like the first UP Core board, the Core Plus board supports expansion boards via docking connectors such as the Net Plus Ethernet expansion, and the AI Plus expansion board with Intel Cyclone 10 GX FPGA. UP Core Plus specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Atom x5-E3940 (2M Cache, up to 2.00 GHz) Intel Atom x7-E3950 (2M Cache, up to 2.00 GHz) Intel Celeron N3350 (2M Cache, up to 2.50 GHz) Intel Pentium N4200 (2M Cache, up to 2.50 GHz) System Memory – 2GB, 4GB or 8GB on-board DDR4L-2400 […]