Asus MeMo Pad 7 ME176C Android Tablet Powered by an Intel Quad Core Bay Trail SoC to Sell for $170

Until now, most Intel “Bay Trail” based tablets sold were running Windows 8.1, unless you checked on Aliexpress.  It now appears Asus will soon sell an Android Kitkat tablet, ASUS MeMO Pad 7 ME176C, powered by Intel Atom Z3745 quad core SoC, and featuring a 7″ IPS display, 1 GB RAM and 8GB flash, for as low as $166. ASUS MeMO Pad 7 ME176C specifications: SoC – Intel Baytrail-T Z3745 quad core processor @ 1.33 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.86GHz) with Intel HD graphics. 2W SDP. System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 or 16 GB NAND Flash depending on model + microSDXC card slot Display – 7″ IPS display (1280 x 800 pixel) Camera – 5.0MP rear camera + 2.0MP front camera Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS Audio – 1x Head phone/ Mic-in USB – 1x micro USB (OTG?) Battery – 3910mAh, 15 Whr […]

How to Extract a Device Tree File from Android Firmware Files

Up to now, all our cheap Android devices were based on older Linux kernel (3.0.x, 3.4.x) that still used board files (arch/arm/board, but we’ve recently seen companies like Amlogic and Rockchip release source code with Linux kernel 3.10.x. One of the key differences between these version are the move from board files to flattened device tree and multi-platform support. If it is fully implemented, a single kernel image should be able to boot multiple hardware platforms, and all low level configuration handled by the device tree file. Since I’ve connected the serial port of Tronsmart Vega S89 for debugging, and it’s a slow news day, I thought I might try to boot the Linux kernel I compiled myself, but one of the challenge was to get the device tree file. I’ll show how to extract it from the firmware. It should also be possible to get it directly from the […]

Upcoming MeLe and Egreat A-Series 4K Android Media Players to Feature Realtek RTD1195 SoC

AndroidPC.es has reported that Mele is preparing to launch a new set-top boxes based on Realtek RTD1195 STB SoC with a dual core ARM Cortex A7 (or A9) and a Mali GPU (TBC), and Egreat will also launch their A-Series STB based on the same SoC according to a video by charbax which also features older Realtek and Rockchip Android TV Boxes, and an RK3188 based game console (Egreat K3). RTD1195 supports 4K, H.265 video decoding, and products usually come with USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet ports, and in some cases, even a SATA drive bay. Here are the preliminary specifications from the the upcoming (and unnamed) Mele boxes: SoC – Realtek RTD1195 dual core ARM Cortex A7/A9 @ 1.2GHz with Mali-400 GPU (TBC) System Memory – 1GB DDR3  Storage – 4GB flash (8GB optional), internal bays for 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA drives up to 3TB Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth […]

VidOn.me Updates XBMC Source Code for their AllWinner A20 and A31 based Android Media Players

Just at the end of last year, VidOn.me released XBMC apks for their AV100 and AV200 media players, respectively powered by AllWinner A20 and AllWinner A31 SoCs. The company already had an XBMC repository on github, but at the time it hadn’t been updated for a year. Things have changed since then, as they’ve committed several changes, some of them related to AllWinner SoCs to their XBMC repository. I haven’t look into details, but it could be VidOn.me is now in compliance with the GPLv2 license which XBMC is licensed under. If the code is complete, another “side effect” could be there’s finally support for AllWinner A20 (and A10) for XBMC Android. Previsouly, some people tried the AV100 APK on other AllWinner A10/A20 devices, but it did not work, most probably because they locked the binary to their devices, something that would be more difficult to do if the code […]

Hummingbird A31 Is a $70 Feature-packed Development Board Powered by AllWinner A31

Merrii Technologies introduced the Hummingbird development kit powered by AllWinner A20 last year. Since then they’ve sold 10,000 pieces, and have been working on another development board based on AllWinner A31 with lots of different ports and options, including an optional 7″ capacitive touch screen. “Quad Core” Hummingbird specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 quad core ARM Cortex-A7 with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU compliant with OpenGL ES2.0, OpenCL 1.x, DX 9_3 System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB Flash + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI, VGA, LVDS Video Input – 3.5mm jack for CVBS (or YPbPr?) In (TV IN) Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm jack for stereo audio, 3.5mm jack for Line IN (Same as TV IN). 2x 15w amplifier on-board. Camera – MIPI interface Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (AP6210 module) Cellular Connectivity – SIM card slot + mini PCIe connector for 3G […]

Rikomagic MK902 II Android TV Box with Rockchip RK3288 Coming Soon

Rikomagic MK902 is an Android mini PC powered by Rockchip RK3188 quad core processor, and there’s even a Linux version. The company has announced it has been working on an upgrade of the device named MK902 II, and powered by Rockchip RK3288. It will initially sell with Android, but I would not be surprised with a PicUntu version is also sold later, and even an MK 902 II Chromebox could hit the market, since Rockchip released Chromium OS overlay files for RK3288. They’ve also provide MK902 II specifications: SoC – Rockchip 3288 quad core ARM Cortex A17 up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU System Memory – 2G DDR3 Storage – 8 or 16 GB flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI, AV Audio Output / Input – HDMI, stereo audio (via AV port), optical S/PDIF, microphone Video Codecs – MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, […]

MINIX NEO X8 and X8s Android TV Boxes are Now Available for Pre-order for $119 and up

Last month, MINIX announced their NEO X8 and NEO X8s Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S802 and S802-H (with Dolby/DTS support). The company disclosed the specifications but they did not provide price information. This morning, I noticed the devices were available for pre-order on DealExtreme for $132 and $151.56, and I went to look for it on Aliexpress where NEO X8 sells for as low as $119 and NEO X8s for $148. All prices include shipping. One shop also sell these for well over $200 with the new MINIX NEO M1 air mouse. Both devices come with 2GB RAM, HDMI video output, stereo and optical S/PDIF audio outputs, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, and 3 USB ports. Whereas NEO X8 features 8GB flash, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Amlogic S802 SoC, NEO X8s boasts 16GB flash, dual band 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi, and Amlogic S802-H which properly supports Dolby and DTS audio pass-through via […]

DLink Introduces DSP-W215 Wi-Fi Smart Plug for iOS and Android

D-Link is entering the automation market with a Wi-Fi smart plug (Model DSP-W215) that configurable via WPS, allows you to control and monitor your electrical appliance via Android 4.0+ and iOS6+ mobile devices, and it even has an overheating protection mechanism that can apparently detect if the plug or the device itself overheats. Let’s go through the technical specifications: Wi-Fi – IEEE 802.11n (According to pictures found via FCC filings, the chipset is Atheros AR1311_AL1A) Misc – Power / Status LEDs, On/Off button Dimensions – 9 x 6.10 x 3.56 cm (3.54″ x 2.40″ x 1.40″) Weight – 125 g (4.41 ounces) Power Input – 100 to 125 V AC / 5W maximum power consumption Temperature Range – Operating: 0 to 40 °C, Storage: -20 to 65 °F Humidity – Operating: 10% to 90% non-condensing, Storage: 5% to 95% non-condensing Based on these specs, since it can only work between 100 […]