Banana Pi BPI-M2+ is another Compact Allwinner H3 Development Board

Allwinner H3 processor has become popular on hobbyist boards thanks to several Orange Pi board, especially Orange Pi PC and Orange Pi One due to their ultra-low prices, respectively $15 and $10. Olimex is also involved with their H3-OLinuXino-NANO board, and now at least one more company is about to release another Allwinner H3 board with SinoVoip’s Banana BPI-M2+. Banana BPI-M2 Plus specifications: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot up to 64GB, optional 8GB eMMC flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI with CEC support Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, optional 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (AP6212). More options:  AP6181, AP6335 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port Camera – CSI Interface Expansions – 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible header Debugging – 3-pin UART […]

Raspberry Pi 3, ODROID-C2 and Pine A64+ Development Boards Comparison

Raspberry Pi 3 and hardkernel ODROID-C2 launched the same day, and together with Pine A64/A64+, are the only ultra low cost (<$40) 64-bit ARM development boards available or soon-to-be available, so I’ve decided to make a comparison of the three boards the same way I did with ~$10 boards with a Raspberry Pi Zero, C.H.I.P, and Orange Pi One comparison. I’ve used features of Pine A64+ instead of Pine A64 since features and price are closer to the other two boards. Text highlighted in green means a board is clearly better than the other two for a given features, while a red highlight means it’s the weakest of the three. Raspberry Pi 3 ODROID-C2 Pine A64 Plus Processor Broadcom BCM2837 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz(4x ~2760 DMIPS) Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz(4x ~4600 DMIPS) Allwinner A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ […]

Geniatech ATV195e 4K TV Stick Features Amlogic S905 Processor, 802.11ac WiFi

While there are way too many Amlogic S905 TV boxes to keep up, the number of TV sticks based on the processor is fairly low, and until today I had only heard about Guleek A8 a few months ago, but I can’t even see it for sale anywhere.Potential reason include people have released TV stick are not that convenient, or electronic design houses had issues to cool the thing down, as we’ve seen even some full-size TV boxes have issues with cooling. Nevertheless, Geniatech has designed their own Amlogic S905 TV stick called ATV195e with 1GB RAM, 8GB flash, and 802.11ac WiFi. Geniatech ATV195e preliminary specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta core Mali-450MP GPU up to 750MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (2 to 32GB on-request) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz […]

ODROID-C2 64-Bit ARM Development Board is Now Available for Purchase for $40

ODROID-C2 is a quad core 64-bit ARM development board based on Amlogic S905 processor with 2GB RAM that was planned to launch in early March, but maybe unsurprisingly, Hardkernel decided to launch their latest board, the very same day as Raspberry Pi 3 launch. We already knew the specifications, but it’s always useful to mind ourselves of the details: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core cortex-A53 processor @ 2.0 GHz with 3+2 cores Mali-450 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – eMMC module socket with 8, 16, 32, or 64GB module by Toshiba or Sandisk + micro SD slot supporting UHS-1 SD cards. Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8211F) USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports + micro USB OTG port Expansion Header 40-pin header with GPIO, I2C, UART, and ADC ; All I/Os are 3.3V, except […]

Review of K1 Plus Android TV Box with Combo DVB-S2/DVB-T2 Tuner

VideoStrong has launched K1 Plus TV box powered by Amlogic S905 processor last year, and I had the chance to review their model last November. But here I am reviewing K1 Plus again. Why? That’s because the company’s has several K1 Plus models: the “standard” version that’s just like any Android TV boxes, and the DVB version with DVB-S2, DVB-T2/C, or DVB-T2/C + DVB-S2 combo, and the latter is the one I’m reviewing today. K1 Plus DVB combo teardown revealed that the main board was exactly the same as K1 Plus “standard”, and that only a tuner card was added. So I’ll have a two part review with the first part checking if they fixed any of the bugs found on K1 Plus “Standard” with “November 2015” firmware in the new “January 27, 2016 DVB” firmware, and the second part will focus on testing DTV app with DVB-S2 and DVB-T2, […]

Variscite DART-SD410 Snapdragon 410 SoM Comes with WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 & GPS

Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 is the 64-bit ARM processor used in DragonBoard 410c 96Boards platform, but it’s also found in several phones, some single board computers such as Inforce 6309, and we’ve also seen it in system-on-modules includes Graperain G8916 and Intrinsyc Open-Q 410. Variscite has developed their DART-SD410 system-on-module based on the processor with up to 2GB RAM, up to 16GB storage, and on-board 802.11b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1. DART-SD410 module specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2GHz with Adreno 306 GPU @ 400 MHz System Memory – 1 to 2GB LPDDR3 @ 533 MHz Storage – 8 to 16 GB eMMC 4.5 flash Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.1 LE (WCN3620), GPS (WGR7640), and two u.FL antenna connectors Audio – PM8916 PMIC/Audio codec I/Os available via 2x 90-pin board-to-board connectors: Display 4-lane DSI up to 720p60/1080p30, 24-bit On-carrier DSI to HDMI […]

Eny EM95 Amlogic S905 TV Box Review

CNXSoft has already taken some pictures of Eny EM95 Amlogic S905 TV box, so I’ll take over from here as I received my ENY EM95 today and I was excited. I have not got a new Android device in a while. First Impressions I opened it up to find a tiny box that has a display on it. Seems interesting. While booting it says boot and the rest of the time it shows the time in 24 hour format and a few other indicators that I didn’t find particularly useful. In the retail box is the device remote and HDMI cable and power supply. I noticed no micro or mini USB port to flash firmware. I don’t have a type A to type A cable so will need to pick one up. I was working from home today so I was able to open immediately and play with it for […]

Alcatel OneTouch / TCL Xess 17.3″ All-in-One PC Runs Phoenix OS, Supports Gesture Control

Xess (pronounced Excess) is an All-in-One PC with a 17.3″ touchscreen that runs Android based Phoenix OS on top of Mediatek MT8783 octa-core processor, with some cool added features like an adjustable stand, retractable ports, magnetic stylus, and gesture control.  It is sold under the TCL brand in China, and will be launched by Alcatel OneTouch in the US and Europe. Xess specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT8783 octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5GHz with Mali-T720MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 32GB storage + micro SD slot Display – 17.3” IPS panel with wide visual angle; 1920×1080 (16:9) resolution; 10-point touch Audio – Stereo speakers (JBL 2x 3W), 2x microphones, 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth Camera – 5MP front camera USB – 2x USB 2.0 host port Sensors – G-sensor, 2x P-sensor, 1x L-Sensor Misc – 1x MagTouch Port, power and volume buttons Battery – […]