Android News - Page 268 of 375 - CNX Software

May 8, 2014May 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

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 […]

May 7, 2014May 7, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

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 […]

May 6, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Olimex Introduces Low Cost AllWinner A13, AllWinner A20 and TI Sitara AM3352 Systems-on-Module

About a year ago, Olimex reported working on an AllWinner A20 System-on-Module. But after some unexpected delays, Olimex A20-SOM is finally available, and they’ve even announced A13-SOM and AM3352-SOM, respectively based on AllWinner A13 and Texas Instruments Sitara AM3352 ARM Cortex A8 SoCs, with price starting at 12 Euros for 1K orders. Olimex A20-SOM and A20-SOM-4G There are actuall two versions of the SoM, A20-SOM-4G including 4GB NAND flash, and A20-SOM without. Here are the specifications: SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core ARM Cortex A7 processor with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 memory Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (A20-SOM-4G only) + microSD slot Debugging – UART console connector (at the back) PMIC – AllWinner AXP209 PMU IC Misc – Status LEDs, RESET, RECOVERY buttons Connectors – 6x 2×20 pin 0.05″ female headers Dimensions – N/A The SoM is said to support Android and Debian, but you could also […]

May 4, 2014May 5, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

XBMC 13 “Gotham” Released

After month of development, alpha releases, beta releases, RC releases, XBMC 13 “Gotham” is finally out. This is the first official release that supports hardware video decoding for ARM and x86 based Android 4.0+ devices. Support is not available for 100% of devices, as for instance, AllWinner A1X/A20 and Amlogic SoCs do not support the standard Android StrageFright or MediaCodec APIs, but most others should. There’s one XBMC Android version for ARM, one for x86. Android hardware video decoding is obviously not the only feature or improvement brought about by XBMC 13. Here are the key ones: Raspberry Pi and Android speed improvements – Overall system performance improvements, but optimizations are said to be particularly noticeable when opening and browsing libraries, loading images and starting videos. Stereoscopic 3D Rendering – SBS, TAB, anaglyph, and interlaced are supported. XBMC cannot yet support 3D blurays and cannot provide hardware acceleration for FullSBS/TAB […]

April 30, 2014April 30, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Dimple NFC Sticker Adds Four Hardware Buttons to Your Android Device (Crowdfunding)

If you’d like to add one button to your Android smartphone, you could use pressy. But what if you wanted or needed more. Dimple may provide a solution if your Android smartphone or tablet supports NFC. It is a thin NFC sticker, about 0.5mm thick, that you can attach to the back of your device to add 4 hardware buttons. The sticker is compatible with devices running Android 4.0 and above, not made out of metal, and with NFC support. This means HTC One M7 and M8 smartphone are not compatible due to their metallic bodies. Using the NFC sticker appears to be extra simple. Once you’ve sticked your Dimple to the back of your device (or your case), simply install Dimple.io app to configure the buttons to do what you want to: launch your favorite apps, take a picture, turn on & off the flash light, call your mum, […]

April 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Kankun KK-SP3 is a $20 Wi-Fi Smart Socket for Android and iOS

I’ve already featured Broadlink SP1 and SP2 smart socket on this blog. The former is a simple Wi-Fi smart socket for Android and iOS, and the later adds support for motion sensing and energy monitoring. They cost respectively about $30 and $45 including shipping. I’ve discovered another cheaper option with Kankun KK-SP3 via DealExtreme ($23.75), but it can also be found on Aliexpress for as low as $19.99 including shipping. If you live in China, It’s available on Taobao for 99 RMB ($15.82). Here are the specs of this smart socket: Power Plug – Three flat-pin plug (Australia type) Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n, 15 dbm. Texas Instruments Wi-Fi module (CC3000?) Input Voltage – 90~265V @ 50-60 Hz Output Current – 10A Maximum Power – 2200W Dimensions – 5.3 cm x 5.3 cm x 2.8 cm Temperature Range – -10 to 55°C Unless you live in Australia, China, Argentina, New Zealand, […]

April 29, 2014April 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

HOWCHIP 5420-DVK is a Mobile Development Kit with Samsung Exynos 5420 SoC, an OLED Display

With Arndale Octa already shipping, and the upcoming ODROID-XU2, we already have two low cost boards with Samsung Exynos 5420 big.LITTLE processor for less than $200. But if you want a more complete kit, HOWCHIP 5420-DVK with a 4.65″ OLED display and capacitive touchscreen, 2GB RAM, 4GB eMMC, and various connectors, could be an option. There’s also a Lite version without the OLED display. The board is composed of a CPU module, a baseboard, and a phone like display. Here are the specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 5420 Octa with 4x ARM Cortex A15, and 4x ARM Cortex A7 in big.LITTLE configuration, with Mali-T628 GPU. System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 (POP with CPU) Storage – 4GB eMMC 4GB on board, SD card Slot Video Output HDMI type A connector MIPI DSI header up to 1980×1080 eDP (Embedded Display Port) header up to 2560×1600 Display – 4.65″ OLED (1280×720) with touch […]

April 29, 2014April 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Samsung Galaxy K Zoom Camera Phone Powered by Exynos 5 Hexa SoC

After Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, Samsung has just introduced a new camera-specialized phone called the Galaxy K Zoom with a faster processor, an hexa core processor, which has not been named, but can only be Exynos 5260 hexa core big.LITTLE SoC, a larger 4.8″ display, and a better camera with a 20.7 Megapixel CMOS Sensor and a 10x Optical Zoom. Let’s go straight through the specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 5260 Hexa core processor with four Cortex A7 cores @ 1.3GHz, two Cortex A15 cores @ 1.7GHz, and ARM Mali-T624 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 8GB Flash + micro SD slot up to 64GB Display – 4.8″ HD Super AMOLED Display (1280×720) Cellular Network LTE – Cat4, HSPA+ 42Mbps, LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100/2600, HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 3G – 5-band HSPA+ 42Mbps, HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100,EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 Connectivity – Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, NFC, A-GPS + GLONASS Camera […]