Android News - Page 208 of 375 - CNX Software

July 31, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Linaro 15.07 Release with Linux 4.2 and Android 5.1

Linaro 15.07 has been released with Linux 4.2-rc3 (Baseline), Linux 3.10.83, 3.14.45 and 3.18.17 (LSK), and Android 5.1.1_r8. The Linux kernel got various bug fixes, and a power reduction technique has been implemented for Qualcomm processor. Progress has been made to boot Android with UEFI on Hikey board, and work is still on-going on 96boards including Hisilicon Hikey, Qualcomm DragonBoard 410c, and an upcoming and yet-to-be-formally-announced Marvell PXA1928 board called Helium. Highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 4.2-rc3-2015.07 linaro-android topic updated to 4.2-rc3 and recent AOSP/android-3.18 included GATOR version 5.21.1 llct-misc-fixes topic: “HACK: of: Limit FDT size for CRC check on arm64” has been dropped. FVP model was the last target to require this hack, but the new FVP firmware doesn’t need it anymore updated integration-linaro-vexpress64 topic by ARM LT: Versatile Express TC2 support is back, HDLCD display now works on TC2, the topic will be renamed to integration-linaro-vexpress next […]

July 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$90 H7 Hummingbird Development Board Features Allwinner H8 Octa-core Processor

Allwinner announced Allwinner H8 octa-core Cortex A7 processor in Q4 2014, which targets game console and TV boxes,but since then I had not really heard about hardware based on this new SoC. Merrii Technology has now launched a development board powered by Allwinner H8, and confusingly called it H7 Hummingbird. H7 Hummingboard development board specifications: SoC – AllWinner H8 octa-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with PowerVR SGX544 GPU @ up to 700MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot or SD card slot (option) up to 32GB Video Output / Display I/F – HDMI up to 1080p, MIPI DSI connector, LCD connector for RGB/CPU/LVDS LCD including a 6-pin header for backlight. Capacitive touch panel header Audio – HDMI, headset/microphone jack, audio speaker connector, Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (Despite the processor support Gigabit Ethernet), WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 via […]

July 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Orvibo Wiwo S20 Smart Socket Now Sells for $16

Kankun KK-SP3 used to be the cheapest smart socket on the market at around $20, and it is hackable too, but only available with a Chinese / Australian plug, and for some reasons, many sellers stopped selling the device. Last year, a similar product called Orvibo Wiwo S20 launched with US, UK, EU or AU plug types, but sold for nearly twice as much as KK-SP3 at the time. The good news is that the price has gone down considerably, as it can be purchased for around $16 on GearBest, and it’s available on others for $20 to $26 including on Amazon US, DealExtreme, and GeekBuying. Let’s remind us of the specifications first: Material – ABC 94V-0 (fireproof) Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Security – WEP, WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK Power Plug – US, Europe, United Kingdom or Australia plug Output Current – 10A Output Power – 2000W max. Voltage Range – 100-240V […]

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$55 UWatch UX Strapless Heart Rate Monitor Watch Syncs with iOS and Android Devices

Last time I checked about heart rate monitor, they required a chest strap to monitor ones heart rate, which I found cumbersome. It’s been while though, and I’ve now been informed that a low cost Bluetooth strapless heart rate monitor watch was available for $59.99 on GeekBuying. This type of product should provide a much more accurate evaluation of your daily calories burn rate than typical fitness bands based on an accelerometer and gyro sensor, but I’m not quite sure how they compare to the old models with a chest strap. Uwatch UX specifications and features: SoC – Mediatek Aster MT2501 ARM7 processor @ 108 MHz (A lower end version of MT2502 used in LinkIt One Devkit) System Memory – 32MB RAM Storage – 24MB NOR flash Heart rate monitor – Built-in photoelectric heart rate sensor Other sensors – magnetometer, 3-axis gravity and acceleration sensor Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 and […]

July 23, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Kodi 15 Isengard Release

After several months of development, including H.265 hardware decoding in Android, Kodi 15 “Isengard” has recently been released by the developers. It’s available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, and Android, and for the first time a stable release can directly be downloaded from Google Play store with so far over 400,000 active installs from the app store. Key features and improvements of Kodi 15 include: Android specific changes – 4K, refresh rate switching and H.265 for hardware that support it including several Amlogic platforms, and Nvidia Shield Android TV. Android 5.0 and greater is required. New chapter selector window – Allows users to visually browse and select chapters from mkv videos and other containers that support chapters Adaptive seeking (aka Skip Steps) – The more times a user presses a button to seek in a period of time, the larger the jump forward or backward will be. Audio and […]

July 22, 2015July 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

ODROID-C1+ Board is an Upcoming Upgrade to ODROID-C1 Board

ODROID-C1 board has been relatively popular thanks to its great hardware features and good software support for its $35 price tag. In mid-June however, ODROID-C1 got out of stock due to sudden large orders, and it was only scheduled to sale again in early August because of long leadtime for some components. It turns out ODROID-C1 may never sell again, simply because it will be replaced by ODROID-C1+ with various improvements. It’s still very much based on ODROID-C1 with Amlogic S805 processor, 1GB RAM, and an eMMC sockets, but Hardkernel made the following improvements: HDMI connector change to Type-A from Type-D (micro HDMI). Improved SD card compatibility CEC function whether the RTC backup battery is installed or not ODROID-C1+ can be powered from the USB OTG port as well as DC-Jack I2S signals exposed for external audio DAC All of which are welcomed modifications. The board size will remain the […]

July 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Geniatech Showcases Amlogic T866 TV Box with 2 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output

Amlogic mostly makes SoCs for tablets, for example the M80x series, and TV boxes such as Amlogic S805 or S812, but they also have a processor family designed for Smart TVs such as Amlogic T866 quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.8 GHz coupled with an octa-core Mali-450MP. Somehow, Geniatech has designed ATV1866 TV box based on the latter support two HDMI inputs, and one HDMI output. The box does not appears to support video recoding from the HDMI input, nor time-shifting, but the company showcased picture-in-picture (PiP) functionality, showing either input used in full screen or windowed mode on top of the Android user interface. HDMI version is 2.0 for the output, with H.265 codec supported, but I could not find details about the HDMI inputs. The box is running Android 4.4 for now, but will certainly run Android 5.0 at launch. The company is still developing the product, […]

July 21, 2015July 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Remix Mini Android Mini PC Offers a Better Desktop Experience (Crowdfunding)

Android mini PC are great to consume content, but when I tried to blog with one, I found many shortcomings which made it not such as good user experience, and writing articles on an Android mini PC everyday, it would seriously decrease my productivity. That’s probably why Chinese start-up Jide Tech decided to work on Remix OS, based on Android 5.0 but with customizations for a better desktop experience including multitasking support, resizable windows, shortcuts support, a taskbar, and more. The company has now launched a Kickstarter campaign for a low cost mini PC powered by Allwinner A64 and Remix OS. They called it Remix Mini, and dubbed it the “First True Android mini PC”. Two versions are available, one with 1GB RAM + 8GB storage, and one with 2GB + 16GB storage. Specifications: SoC – Allwinner H64 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz System Memory – 1 […]