Android

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on $12 Semlamp SL-012 Lamp Controller Let You Wirelessly Control Lights with Android or iOS Devices

$12 Semlamp SL-012 Lamp Controller Let You Wirelessly Control Lights with Android or iOS Devices

WiFi smart sockets have come down in price with products like Orvibo Wiwo S20 selling for $16, but if all you want to do is control your lights, there’s an even cheaper option with Semlamp SL-012 lamp controller selling for just $11.92 on DealExtreme and allowing to control two lights independently with Android or iOS mobile devices. Specifications listed for Semlamp SL-012 : Voltage – AC 220-240V Max Current – 10A Dimmable – Yes Control Range – 10 meters Dimensions – 9.5 cm x 4.5 cm x 2.4 cm Weight – 59.5 g Material – Plastic Right, not that much information, and nothing about wireless connectivity. But the description also mentions that the device does not use Bluetooth, nor WiFi. So how is that possible? The answer lies with another picture shown on the right…. A microphone is attached to that yellow cable, and they are using audio to control […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on Mygica ATV586 Quad Core Android DVB-T2 Receiver Unboxing and Teardown

Mygica ATV586 Quad Core Android DVB-T2 Receiver Unboxing and Teardown

Today, I received both Mygica ATV1900AC and ATV586 from Geniatech. I’ve already taken apart ATV1900AC, so it’s now the turn for Mygica’s latest Android DVB-T2 receiver powered by Amlogic S805 to get photographed and torn down. If you don’t like in a region where DVB-T2 is supported, Mygica also sells a version with an ATSC tuner. Mygica ATV586 Unboxing That’s the retail package for the receiver that shows the tuner type (DVB-T2), and that the box is based on a quad core processor supporting HEVC/H.265 video codec and running Kodi in Android 4.4. There are quite a lotf of accessories in the package including the usual HDMI cable, 5V/2A power supply, and IR remote with two AAA batteries, but there’s also a TV antenna set with an indoor antenna and mounts. I’ll try the indoor antenna, but it’s unlikely to work in my location, so I’ll probably connect the box […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments on Zidoo X1 Android Firmware 1.0.7 Fixes Critical Kodi Playback Issues

Zidoo X1 Android Firmware 1.0.7 Fixes Critical Kodi Playback Issues

I was quite disappointed when I wrote Zidoo X1 review, as Zidoo provided decent firmware with their Zidoo X9 recorder (albeit with some caveats), but Zidoo X1 with firmware 1.05 was a disaster while playing videos in Kodi either from the network or a USB hard drive, as even most H.264 videos could not play smoothly…  I recommended prospective buyers to skip the box for now, as Kodi was not acceptable when Zidoo’s ZDCodec hardware decoding implementation was enabled. But the developers have quickly worked to fix critical bugs in Kodi, and provided a test APK that indeed fixed H.265, H.264, and MPEG2 videos, and improved greatly 4K video playback in Kodi with ZDcodec implementation. Since then, they’ve also fixed some other playback issues for video using VC1 codec, and released firmware 1.0.7 with the following changes: Kodi Fixed choppy video problems with online videos, such as YouTube Fixed choppy […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Mygica ATV1900AC Android Lollipop TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Mygica ATV1900AC Android Lollipop TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Geniatech sent me two samples of their latest Android devices this morning with Mygica ATV1900AC TV box powered by Amlogic S812 quad core Cortex A9 processor, and Mygica ATV586 DVB-T2 receiver powered by Amlogic S805 quad core cortex A5 processor. Beside relatively high-end specs with 802.11ac, Gigabit Ethernet, 2GB RAM, and 16GB eMMC, one of the former main selling point is the Android Lollipop firmware that is said to brings significant improvement over Android 4.4 KitKat. But today, I’ll focus on the hardware side with pictures of the devices and its internals, before writing the results of my tests in a few days. Mygica ATV1900AC Unboxing Geniatech sent me both boxes in a DHL parcel, and both are Mygica branded retail packages. Mygica ATV1900AC packages shows some of its key features like Android Lollipop support, 4K UHD, H.265, 802.11ac WiFi, voice search and so on… Most TV boxes ship with […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on Beelink i68 Rockchip RK3368 TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Beelink i68 Rockchip RK3368 TV Box Unboxing and Teardown

Rockchip RK3368 started shipping last month, and thanks to GearBest, I’ve received my first 64-bit ARM TV Box with Beelink iONE i68. Today, I’ll take a few pictures of the device and the board, and will follow up with a full review in a few days. Beelink i68 Unboxing The box was sent to me via DHL in a cartonboard package various information about the “Smart Android TV Box” such as Android 5.1 operating system, an eight core CPU with G6110 GPU, 4K2K and H.265 support, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0, and eMMC flash. The package includes the box, a Quick Start Guide in English, and HDMI cable, an IR remote control that requires two AAA batteries, a USB OTG adapter, and a 5V/2A power adapter with US and EU plugs. An SD card slot, two USB 2.0 host ports and a micro USB OTG port can be found on the […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on $39 Beaglebone Green Loses HDMI and DC Jack, Gains Grove Connectors

$39 Beaglebone Green Loses HDMI and DC Jack, Gains Grove Connectors

The original BeagleBone launched in 2011  $89, then Beagleboard.org released an updated version with HDMI, a faster processor, and more RAM called BeagleBone Black for $45 in 2013, possibly as a competitor to the Raspberry Pi, and since then the price has bumped up to $55 because of a larger eMMC flash. There’s now a new version – and a different color – with BeagleBone Green selling for $39 on SeeedStudio with shipping starting on August 20, 2015. BeagleBone Green board specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358BZCZ100 Cortex A8 @ 1 GHz with NEON + PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 512 MB DDR3L @ 800 MHz Storage – 4GB eMMC + micro SD slot USB Access to USB0, Client mode via Micro USB Access to USB1, Type A Socket, 500mA LS/FS/HS Serial Port – UART0 via 6-pin 3.3V TTL header (populated) Ethernet – 10/100M Ethernet , RJ45 Expansion […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Eny EMP01 is a $170 mini Android Projector Powered by Rockchip RK3128 Quad Core Processor

Eny EMP01 is a $170 mini Android Projector Powered by Rockchip RK3128 Quad Core Processor

Eny Technology has brought another product to market with EMP01 an Android 4.4.2 mini projector based on Texas Instruments DLP projector – as most other low cost projectors on the market – and Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with a Mali-400MP2 GPU. Eny Eny EMP01 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Projector Technology – Texas Instruments DLP Brightness – 100 lumens Contrast ratio – 2000:1 Standard resolution – WXGA 854*480 Throw ratio: 1.19:1 (76″ @ 2 meters) Projector size – 30 to 120″ Aspect ratio – 4:3, 16:9, 16:10 Video Output – HDMI output Video Codec – H.263, H.264, H.265, VC-1, RV, VP6/VP8, Sorenson Spark, MVC, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 up to 1080p Audio Output – HDMI and 3.5,, for earphone, loud speaker Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Freescale i.MX6 DualPlus and QuadPlus SoCs Gets Faster 2D and 3D Graphics, Higher Memory Bandwidth

Freescale i.MX6 DualPlus and QuadPlus SoCs Gets Faster 2D and 3D Graphics, Higher Memory Bandwidth

Freescale unveiled three new models for its i.MX 6 family processor for consumer, industrial and automotive markets in May. Two models are an upgrade to existing i.MX6 Quad and i.MX6 Dual processors, as the new i.MX 6QuadPlus and i.MX6DualPlus processors features four and two Cortex A9 cores, together with improved 2D and 3D GPUs delivering around 50% faster performance, an “optimized” SDRAM controller, more SRAM, and a prefetch and resolve engine. The third model, i.MX 6UltraLite, features a single ARM Cortex A7 core and hardware security, and targets applications such as electronic Point Of Sales (ePOS). That means there are now 9 i.MX6 processors, and today, I’ll focus on the two new “Plus” versions. Since they are based on the original i.MX6 Quad and i.MX6 Dual processors, the best way to have a look at these is to compare them to their predecessors. Features i.MX 6QuadPlus i.MX 6Quad i.MX 6DualPlus […]