Embedded Linux Conference 2014 Schedule

The Tenth Embedded Linux Conference (ELC 2014) will take place on April 29 – May 1, 2014 at the San Jose Marriott in San Jose, California. The event will feature 90+ sessions on embedded Linux, Android and IoT with over 450 attendees expected to attend. It will also be co-located with Android Builders Summit and the AllSeen Alliance Hackfest. Even if you can’t attend it’s still interesting to see what will be discussed at the event to get a grasp of on-going developments, learn a few things about different optimization techniques, and so on. So I’ve gone through the sessions’ description, and I’ve designed my own virtual schedule with sessions that could be of interest. April 29 9:00 – 9:30 – Keynote: The Paradox of embedded and Open Source by Tim Bird, Sony Mobile Linux has taken the embedded world by storm.  Billions (with a ‘B’) of devices have now shipped […]

Review of M8 Android Kitkat TV Box Powered by Amlogic S802 SoC

A few days ago, I wrote an Unboxing and Specs post about the M8, an Android TV Box powered by Amlogic S802 quad core Cortex A9 processor. The review took a little as I was waiting for a new firmware. I’ve now upgraded this S802 Box, and been able to complete a review. As usual , I’ll start by giving my first impressions, have a look at the user interface and settings, test different king of video files, evaluate Wi-Fi performance, and try to cover most hardware features including Bluetooth, external storage, USB webcam, and so on. The overall user’s experience, is very similar to Tronsmart Vega S89, but there are some notable differences I’ll go through during the review. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions Shenzhen Tomato sent me a sample unit which they call TM8 (Tomato M8?), but I’ll just refer to the device as M8 in the […]

Rockchip RK3288 based Android and Chromium OS Tablets and TV Boxes (Video)

After the first RK3288 Android TV boxes started to be promoted on Alibaba, and the first RK3288 board was shown, Rockchip is currently showing their quad core Cortex A17 processor in reference designs, tablets, and TV boxes running Android or Chromium OS at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Charbax interviewed the company, and the first demo was a development board connected to an LCD display running Chromium OS, which is said to handle 30 tabs without issues. Rockchip RK3288 is now advertised as being a quad core Cortex A17 with a Mali-T764 GPU, but when Rockchip representative was asked, he strangely denied to comment on whether it was a Cortex A12 or A17, as both are very similar. He also said the GPU was a Mali-T760MP4… If this seems all confusing that’s because it is… Some interesting things are H.265/HEVC support for 4K2K videos, and HDMI 2.0 for 4K @ […]

Mixtile LOFT-Q Board and LOFT Kit mini PC Powered by AllWinner A31

Recently most development around AllWinner, at least for Linux, is focusing on AllWinner A20, and there are several AllWinner A20 board and development platforms available on the market such as Cubieboard2, A20-OLinuXino, IBOX and more. But apart from the team at Free Electrons, few people seem to be working on AllWinner A31, so there are few development platform available, if we exclude consumer products such as tablets and Android TV Boxes. There’s now an AllWinner A31 development board thanks to Mixtile LOFT-Q board, which also comes in LOFT Kit to make a complete mini PC with enclosure. Mixtile LOFT-Q specifications: SoC – Allwinner A31 quad core ARM Cortex-A7 processor with PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB 64-bit DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC (ver 4.51), SATA III connector for 2.5″ drives, and SD card Slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p Audio I/O – HDMI, 1 headphone/TOSLINK […]

MINIX Unveils NEO X8 and X8s Android TV Boxes Powered by Amlogic S802 & S802-H SoCs

MINIX has been providing Rockchip based Android TV boxes for a couple of years notably with their NEO X5 and NEO X7. They will now also offer devices powered by Amlogic with NEO X8 and NEO X8s respectively powered by S802 and S802-H quad core SoC. The advantage of the former is that it fully supports DTS and Dolby decoding and pass-through. Let go through the hardware specs of both devices: SoC NEO X8 – Amlogic S802 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU NEO X8s – Amlogic S802-H quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2 GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU including Dolby and DTS support. System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB (X8) / 16GB (X8s) eMMC + SD/MMC card reader Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, dual band support for X8s, Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 4K @ 30 fps, with […]

Review of Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite Amlogic S802 TV Box

Tronsmart Vega S89 is an Android TV Box based on Amlogic quad-core Cortex A9 processor. You can refer to Tronsmart Vega S89 specs for more technical details, and check out my Tronsmart Vega S89 Unboxing post for pictures of the device and the board. As a reminder, there are two models of the device: Tronsmart Vega S89 with 16GB flash and dual-band Wi-Fi (AP6330 module), and Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite with 8GB flash and 2.4 WiFi (AP6220 module). I’ve been sent the Elite version, but both versions should have similar performance. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, going through the user interface and settings, then I’ll switch to video and audio tests, Wi-Fi performance, and perform some other tests for Bluetooth, gaming, external storage, USB webcam, etc.. trying to cover most of the hardware features available on this device. First Boot, Settings, and First Impressions Vega S89 (Elite) comes […]

Ugoos UT3 Rockchip RK3288 based Android TV Box (Board Pictures and Specs)

We’ve already seen RK3288 based Android TV boxes and sticks started to be advertised on Alibaba, and today Ugoos contacted me and shared some pictures and specs of their PCBA for Ugoos UT3 Android 4.4 TV box based on Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 + Mali-T764 GPU SoC. Here are the specs of the board and product: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core CortexA17 @ 1.8GHz + Mali-T764 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB DDR3  (Option: 4GB) Storage – 8GB NAND Flash (Options: 16, 32 or 64GB) + micro SD card slot (up to 32 GB) Connectivity – 100M/1000M Ethernet, dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) and 802.11 a/c using external Wi-Fi antenna, Bluetooth 4.0 (option?) Video I/F HDMI 1.4a output (female) up to 4k2k @ 30 fps, 1080p60 AV output (3.5mm jack) HDMI input (female) up to 1080p Audio I/F […]

Tronsmart Vega S89 (Elite) Android 4.4 Media Player Unboxing

Last review, I wrote an unboxing post about M8, an Android TV Box powered by Amlogic S802 quad core Cortex A9r4 processor with a Mali-450MP6 GPU. I’m still waiting for the firmware to test this device. In the meantime, Geekbuying sent me Tronsmart Vega S89 (Click for full specs), another Android Kitkat TV box powered by S802. There are actually two versions: Tronsmart Vega S89 (16 GB Flash, dual band Wi-Fi), and Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite (8GB Flash, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi) which is the model I received. I’ll write an unboxing post today with the device and the board, and test the firmware in the next few days. Tronsmart Vega S89 (Elite) Unboxing Geekbuying sent me the sample via DHL which I received in the package below. There are quite a few accessories included with the board. From left to right: IR remote control (2x AAA batteries not included), HDMI […]