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October 22, 2015December 3, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

SMA-Q Bluetooth Smartwatch Features a Color E-Paper Display, an Heart Rate Monitor… for $56 and Up

My Vidonn X5 activity tracker died on me a few weeks ago about over a year of service. While it was useful to keep me active thanks to its “steps” counter, I realized I was not a big fan of OLED displays as they aren’t turned on all the time in order to save power, and are hard to read when there’s a strong sunlight, the battery did not last that long (about 2 days), and using motion sensors to evaluate activity is not that accurate. So I’m interested in wearables with always-on displays, readable in sunlight, that don’t suck too much battery (e.g one charge per week), and with a strapless heart rate monitor. The first three are normally only achievable with E-Ink or E-Paper displays and the latter have become much more common thanks to electro-optical heart rate monitors. I’m also a budget conscious guy, so I’d like […]

October 20, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Xiaomi Introduces Mi TV Bar TV Box Speakers Powered by Mstar 6A928 Processor

Xiaomi has introduced a few new products yesterday including Mi TV 3 60″ 4K UHD television, a cheap Bluetooth voice remote, as well as Ninebot Mini self-balancing two-wheel scooter. But the company has also launched a product that looks like the offspring of a sound bar and a TV box with MI TV Bar, featuring Mstar 6A928 quad core Cortex A17 processor with 2GB RAM and running Android 5.1 Lollipop as well as built-in speakers with Dolby Audio technology. It’s actually designed to be the smart system for Mi TV 3, as Xiaomi found out that while TVs may last 10 years, the “smart” part in smart TV may need an update every couple of years. Mi TV Bar specifications: SoC – Mstar 6A928 quad-core ARM Cortex A17 processor @ 1.4GHz with Mali-760 MP4 4 + 4 core GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.0 flash […]

October 18, 2015October 18, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Samsung Introduces $250 SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit

Samsung has recently launched SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit including a SmartThings hub, a motions sensor, two multi-pupose sensors to detect when windows or doors are opened, and a smart outlet for home automation and monitoring via mobile devices. Some of SmartThings Hub technical specifications: Ethernet for connection to router Communication Protocol – ZigBee, Z-Wave, IP Range – 15 to 40 meters Power Supply – In-wall power adapter with about 10 hours of backup power from 4 included AA batteries Dimensions – 10.67 x 12.45 x 3.3 cm Weight – 218 grams Operating Temperature: 5 to 35°C (Indoor use only) They’ve decided not to include WiFi, or omitted in the product page, so it would have to be close to your router. The multi-purpose sensors, and motion sensor are powered by a pre-installed CR-2450 battery, while the smart outlet takes 100 to 220V (12A @ 120V max). All three devices communicate […]

October 17, 2015October 18, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

UP Board is a Raspberry Pi Clone with an Intel Atom X5 Processor (Crowdfunding)

Many ARM based “insert-fruit-name-here” Pi boards are available on the market, and they all look like the Raspberry Pi board to some extends, but thanks Emutex we’ll soon get the “UP board” powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8300 and in Raspberry Pi form factor including the ubiquitous 40-pin Raspberry Pi headers, DSI and CSI connectors, and mostly the same port placements, with some extra goodies like a USB 3.0 port and Gigabit Ethernet. Up Board specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics @ 500 MHz System Memory – 1 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 USB 3.0 port (under the board) Camera […]

October 16, 2015December 17, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 60 Comments

$48 MXQ Pro TV Box Features Amlogic S905 Processor with Support for 4K, 10-bit HEVC Videos

Amlogic S905 is the only low cost SoC on the market that can offer a future proof TV Box with HDMI 2.0 output compliant with HDCP 2.2, 10-bit HEVC video playback up to 2160p60, and DTS & Dolby audio pass-through. I had also been told the SoC was cheap, going for $4.50 per unit in largish quantities, and now MXQ Pro, one of the first Amlogic S905 TV Box, is available for pre-order for just $55 on GeekBuying. MXQ Pro specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0, AV Video Codec – 4K@60 Hz video decoding 10-bit HEVC and AVS+ codec support; H.264 up to 4K 30 Hz Audio – HDMI, AV, coaxial S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth […]

October 15, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Rockchip RK6321 Dual Core Cortex A5 SoC Targets Wearables with WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G and GPS

Rockchip and Intel started to work on a platform called XMM6321 last year. It featured a dual Core Cortex A5 processor, 3G connectivity, WiFi, and GPS, which was aimed at entry level 3G smartphones and tablets. Fast forward to 2015, Rockchip showcased their RK6321 processor at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, with very similar specifications compared to XMM6321, but instead it targets wearables such as smartwatches, or children and elderly tracker. So I’ m not quite sure whether Intel XMM6321 and Rockchip RK6321 are the same processor with a different name, or Rochchip tweaked RK6321 specifically for wearables. Key features of Rockchip RK6321 processor: CPU – Two Cortex A5 cores up to 1GHz with 32KB L1 D-cache, 32KB L1 I-cache, and 512KB L2 cache GPU – Supports OpenGL ES 2.0 Memory and Storage I/F – 16-bit LP-DDR2 SDRAM, 8-bit eMMC, 16-bit NAND Display I/F – MIPI DSI up to FWVGA […]

October 15, 2015October 15, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

BeagleBoard-X15 Board Based on TI Sitara AM5728 SoC Announced, To Sell for $239

We’ve first found out about Beagleboard-X15 open source hardware board about a year ago, and development has taken a bit longer than expected, but Beagleboard.org has now formally launched BeagleBoard-X15, which remains based on Texas Instruments Sitara AM5728 dual Cortex A15 processor, and is expected to ship before Christmas for $239. The key part of the specifications are still the same as last year, but we’ve got a few more details now: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM5728 with: Two ARM Cortex A15 cores @ 1.5 GHz PowerVR SGX544-MP2 3D GPU, Vivante GC320 2D GPU Two Cortex M4 cores @ 212 MHz Dual core C66x DSP @ 700 MHz IVA (Image and Video Accelerator) for 1080p video decode (H.264, VC-1, MPEG 1/2/4, AVS, etc..) Four 32-bit PRUs (Programmable Real-time Units) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L @ 533MHz Storage – 4GB 8-bit eMMC flash, micro SD slot, and eSATA interface (500 […]

October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

BLOCKS Modular Smartwatch Replaces the Watchband With Smart Modules (Crowdfunding)

While Project Ara aims to create a modular smartphone, the guys behind BLOCKS have designed a modular smartwatch with the Core (the main watch) and various hot swappable smart modules that clip together with a clasp make the watch band. BLOCKS’ Core specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor System Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4GB flash (ePoP) Display – 1.36″ round display, resolution: 360 pixels diameter Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 Sensors – Accelerometer / Gyro Audio – Microphone Misc – Power button, vibration motor IP Rating – IP67 (but target is IP68) Battery – 400 mAh battery; good for ~1.5 days on a charge Dimensions – TBD Weight – TBD So the Core module is already a standalone smartwatch on its own, and they do provide one without module, but just a simple strap. The watch runs a modified version of Android Lollipop, and […]