Finally… An Android TV Stick with an Ethernet Port

Ever since MK802 hit the market in April 2012, I’ve been expecting HDMI TV Sticks with Ethernet ports, but it never really materialized. There have been many small TV boxes, but AFAIK none of which could simply be insert in the back of your TV. Thanks to MK802 V we now have an HDMI TV dongle, powered by Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A12/A17 processor, featuring an Ethernet port. MK802 V specifications: SoC – Rockchip 3288 quad core ARM Cortex A12/A17 up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash (16GB optional) + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Video / Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 (male) Video Codecs – MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, H.265, AVS, VC-1, RV, VP6/VP8, MVC (1080p) Sorenson Spark, MVC up to 4K2K @ 60fps Audio Formats – MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, OGA, […]

Review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 Android Mini PC Powered by RK3288 with 4GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage

Last week-end, I finally received TP-Link TL-WDR7500 router (Chinese variant of Arched C7) router, so I could complete my review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 including 802.11ac Wi-Fi. I’ve already listed the specifications, and taken a few pictures of the device and the board, and today I’ll focus on the test results. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, going through the user interface and settings, before testing video playback, as well as benchmarking networking, storage and overall system performance, playing some games, and testing most hardware features of this mini PC. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions A simple infrared remote control is provided with the device, and I’ve quickly tried it by inserting two AAA batteries, and it works fine, but for the rest of testing I switched to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse to control the device, as it’s much more user friendly than any IR remote. Before […]

FVIEW U2 Rockchip RK3188 Media Player with 2GB RAM, Ethernet, and Camera Sells for $53

If you are looking for deals, when new products come to market, older devices are usually sold at a deep discount, and sometimes you also have the advantage of getting a firmware that has gone through various iterations, and that’s  more stable than the ones pre-loaded on new devices. We’ve already seen MK813 quad core TV box selling for less than $50, but it lacks Ethernet, and today I’ve been informed of another Rockchip RK3188 device with similar specifications but with an Ethernet port called FVIEW U2 that’s currently selling for $53 on Buyincoins. FVIEW U2: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad Cortex-A9 CPU @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND Flash +  SD slot (Up to 32GB) Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with external antenna Bluetooth 3.0 Video Output – HDMI Audio Output – HDMI + optical S/PDIF Video Codecs […]

Firefly-RK3288 Development Board is Now Available for $189

Three days ago, a T-chip representative informed me privately that Firefly development board (Rockchip RK3288) would not be available on foreign websites, and that it was unclear when the board would be selling in China. So either I’ve been lied to, or there’s poor internal communication within the company, as they’ve now listed Firefly-RK3288 board on Taobao for 800 CNY (~$130), and it’s also available on GeekBuying for $159 including shipping, possibly by somebody unrelated to T-chip, especially there are only 3 units for sale. Let’s go the specifications that have slightly changed since the original announcement: SoC – Rockchip 3288 quad core ARM Cortex A12 / A17 up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2G DDR3 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video I/O HDMI 2.0 up to 3840×2160@60p VGA out (D-SUB connector) Dual MIPI, Dual LVDS and and EDP […]

Linaro 14.09 Release with Kernel 3.17 and Android 4.4.4

Linaro 14.09 has just been released with Linux kernel 3.17-rc4 (baseline), Linux 3.10.54 & 3.14.19 (LSK), and Android 4.4.2 & 4.4.4. Linaro has kept working on their member boards such as IFC6410 (Qualcomm), D01 (Huawei/Hisilicon), Ardnale (Samsung), and Juno (ARM). They’ve also announced they’ll change the tools to build GCC by using cbuild2 instead of cbuild1 for next release, and they’ve enabled a build with gcov (for code coverage analysis) which may mean they’ll work on reducing the kernel size by getting rid off unused code. I’ve also noticed the Arndale and Arndale Octa Ubuntu images are now based on Linux LSK with Mali GPU support since last month. Here are the highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 3.17-rc4-2014.09 GATOR version 5.19 updated topic from Qualcomm LT (ifc6410 board support) and HiSilicon LT updated Versatile Express ARM64 support (FVP Base and Foundation models, Juno) from ARM LT. updated Versatile Express […]

Howchip Introduces ExSOM-4412 Module and Development Kit Powered by Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad Core SoC

Howchip, the company that normally distribute Insignal Origen and Arndale boards, has just introduced ExSOM-4412 system-on-module, and a corresponding development kit called ExSOM-4412-DVK. ExSOM-4412 module specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 4412 quad core Cortex A9 CPU with Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – N/A (TBC) Storage – Up to 8GB eMMC + SD/SDIO interface Connectivity – 10/100Mbps Ethernet, optional  Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module Video Output – HDMI(1080p) for TV, 2-ch LVDS for TFT LCD Camera – 2x parallel camera interfaces Audio – Line in/out  and Headphone out. USB – 4x USB 2.0 Host ch and OTG Configurable GPIOs, Analog inputs, PWMs and Serial interfaces such as I2Cs, SPIs,  and UARTs SoM Connector – 213-pin MXM connector Dimensions – 70mm x 70mm The dimensions and connector used points to the module following Qseven standard, but the company does not mention anything about Qseven, so the pin assignment may be different. Software support […]

Rockchip RK3126, RK3128, and “MayBach” Octo-core Cortex A53 Processor Could Be Found in Tablets in Q4 2014

T-chip, the company behind Firefly-RK3288 development board and HPH NT-V6 media player, has sent me their latest company brochure this morning. The brochure mentions the company history since 2005, various tablets solutions they have done over the year, and new and upcoming products. One of the slides particularly caught my attention. RK3288 is pretty popular right now, but I had never heard about RK3126 and RK3128 SoC with four ARM Cortex A7 core with a Mali GPU supporting HEVC decoding up to 1080p resolution. Both processors are manufactured using 40nm technology, so I’d guess these target ultra low cost tablets, which should become available in October and November 2014. Even more interesting is the mention of “MayBach” Tablets. I’ve been told MayBach, which could just be a temporary codename, is an upcoming Rockchip SoC. Based on the information in the slide, it should be an Octa-core Cortex A53 processor with […]

pcDuino Acadia 1 is a Freescale i.MX6 Quad Development Board with Arduino Headers

Linksprite has been pretty busy recently. After announcing the $39 pcDuino3 Nano, they’ve now unveiled a new board named pcDuino Acadia 1 powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC, a few common ports, and Arduino headers in order to connect Arduino shields to their Linux/Android board. pcDuino Acadia 1 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Quad with four ARM Cortex A9 cores up to 1.2GHz, and Vivante GC2000 GPU with support for OpenGL/ES 2. x, OpenCL EP support, and OpenVG 1.1. System Memory – 1GB DRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC, 2x micro SD card slots (up to 128GB), and SATA Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with HDCP support, LVDS Audio Output – 3.5mm analog audio interface Camera – 1x MIPI, 1x CSI Connectivity – 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (limited to 470Mbps) USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG Expansion Headers – Arduino UNO compatible […]