artificial intelligence (AI) News - CNX Software

April 12, 2026April 12, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UmbrelOS – A Debian-based personal home cloud OS with a slick user interface

UmbrelOS is a Debian-based home cloud OS with a neat web-based interface that works on devices like Raspberry Pi SBCs, mini PCs, old computers, and more. Having been first released in 2020, the OS is not exactly new, but I only discovered it today after noticing it was one of the supported operating systems for the Pironman 5 Pro Max enclosure for the Raspberry Pi 5. It initially launched as a tool for running a Bitcoin full node on a Raspberry Pi easily, but eventually turned into a home cloud OS that competes against other open-source solutions such as OpenMediaVault or CasaOS/ZimaOS. UmbrelOS highlights: Intuitive web dashboard at umbrel.local or your device’s IP. Umbrel App Store — Over 300 apps, including Nextcloud or Immich for media and document storage, Jellyfin for media streaming, Home Assistant automation framework, Vaultwarden password manager, Bitcoin and Lightning nodes, AdGuard Home adblocker, and AI-related tools […]

April 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Bee Write Back – A Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-based DIY writerdeck with 5.5-inch OLED and mechanical keyboard

Based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the Bee Write Back writerdeck is another DIY project that should be relatively easy to reproduce, since it relies on off-the-shelf parts, including an OLED and mechanical key switches and caps, as well as a 3D printed enclosure. Simon (shmimel) had trouble falling asleep and found out that journaling helped him a lot, but he was not so fond of writing in a physical journal. So instead, he created the Bee Write Back journal/writerdeck as a distraction-free writing machine, and the result looks pretty neat. Bee Write Back key components: Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W SBC with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC, 512 MB RAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 Display – 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 resolution($52 on AliExpress) Keyboard accessories 47x switches 47x keycaps YMDK Air40 keyboard PCB (about $30 on AliExpress) Power – Seengreat Pi Zero UPS USB HUB […]

April 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

ASUS Zenbook A16 – A $1699 Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme CoPilot+ laptop

ASUS Zenbook A16 is one of the first Copilot+ PCs/laptops based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme 18-core Armv9 SoC and is now available for $1,699 on BestBuy or $1,999 on the ASUS website. The laptop features a 16-inch “3K” OLED with touchscreen, 48GB of RAM, a 1TB NVMe SSD, HDMI 2.1 video output, WiFi 7 and Bluetooth connectivity, and a few Thunderbolt and USB ports. ASUS Zenbook A16 (UX3607) specifications: SoC – Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme (X2E-96-100) CPU – 18x Armv9 cores with 12 Prime cores up to 5.0 GHz (single/dual core) / 4.4 GHz (multicore), and 6 Efficiency cores up to 3.6 GHz GPU – Adreno X2-90 @ 1.85 GHz with support for DirectX 12.2 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, OpenCL 3.0 VPU Encode: HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K UHD @ 30 FPS, AV1: 8K UHD @ 15 FPS, UHD @ 60 FPS Decode: AV1, HEVC, AVC: Dual 8K @ 60 […]

April 8, 2026April 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 eATX motherboard supports up to 576GB DDR5 memory for Edge AI applications

IBASE MBB1002 eATX motherboard 576GB DDR5 RAM

IBASE Technology MBB1002 eATX (Extended ATX) motherboard is powered by AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 series processors and takes up to 576GB DDR5-4800 ECC memory for next-generation edge AI and data-intensive applications in manufacturing, transportation, and edge computing infrastructure. The “embedded” motherboard features five PCIe Gen5 x16 slots for integrating various GPUs and AI accelerators, dual 10GbE networking, NVMe and SATA storage, and USB 3.2 ports with PDPC (Peripheral Device Power Control). IBASE MBB1002 specifications: SoC – AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 series processor with up to 64x Zen4 cores (128 threads) via AMD SP6 LGA 4844 socket System Memory – Up to 576GB DDR5-4800 via 6x RDIMM slots with ECC; note: 576 GB = 6 x 96GB Storage 4x SATA III ports NVMe SSD via M.2 Key-M 2280 (PCIe Gen.5) socket NVMe SSD(s) via 2x MCIO (Mini Cool Edge IO) x4 sockets Networking – 2x 10GbE RJ45 ports via Intel XC710-AT2 […]

April 3, 2026April 3, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Sentinel Core – A Raspberry Pi CM5 mini-ITX carrier board with a PCIe x16 slot (Crowdfunding)

Sanctuary Systems’ Sentinel Core is a Raspberry Pi CM5 mini-ITX carrier board with a PCIe x16 slot to easily connect a graphics card to accelerate 3D graphics, video transcoding, or AI workloads. It’s basically a larger Raspberry Pi CM5 IO board with a prototyping area, a PCIe slot, and a 24-pin ATX power connector. The Sentinel Core also comes with two HDMI ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports, MIPI DSI/CSI connectors, and the usual 40-pin GPIO header. Sentinel Core specifications: Supported module – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 via 2x 100-pin B2B connectors Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0 ports Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port Optional WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.x on Raspberry Pi CM5 USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 2.0 Type-C port PCIe – High-speed, full-length PCIe x16 slot with PCIe 2.0 x1 signal (PCIe 3.0 unofficially supported) Expansion 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO […]

March 25, 2026March 28, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Alibaba XuanTie C950 – A powerful, RVA23-compliant 64-bit RISC-V core for Edge AI computing

Xuantie C950 high performance 64-bit RISC-V CPU

Alibaba has introduced the XuanTie C950 high-performance, 64-bit multi-core CPU IP with an out-of-order superscalar microarchitecture, RVA23 profile compliant, and support for “all optional extensions” such as Vector Crypto, Zacas, and Zama16. The company also says the XuanTie C950 supports the proprietary XuanTie AME (Attached Matrix Extension) ISA and supports integration with the company’s XuanTie TPE (Tensor Processing Engine) IP. The new 64-bit RISC-V core will be found in SoCs with up to eight cores per cluster, targeting high-performance applications, such as cloud computing, edge computing, and AI computing. XuanTie C950 specifications: Architecture – RVA23 Profile Up to 8x cores clocked at 3.2 GHz; 22+/GHz Specint2006 base, or a score of around 70 at 3.2 GHz Pipeline – Superscalar out-of-order microarchitecture with 8-wide decode Floating Point – RISC-V F/D Extension Vector – RISC-V Vector Extension v1.0 with Vector Crypto support Matrix – XuanTie TPE coprocessor integration (AME v0.5) Hypervisor – […]

March 25, 2026March 25, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

LooperRobotics Insight 9 standalone spatial AI camera features D-Robotics RDK X5 SoC, supports ROS 2 (Crowdfunding)

LooperRobotics Insight 9 is an autonomous plug-and-play spatial AI camera designed for embodied intelligence, quadruped robots, and dynamic mobile platforms. Compared to typical USB depth cameras like Intel RealSense D435i or Luxonis OAK-D, which rely on a host PC for processing, the Insight 9 integrates a D-Robotics RDK X5 octa-core Cortex-A55 processor with a 10 TOPS AI accelerator, allowing it to run Visual SLAM (V-SLAM) and depth mapping entirely on-device. The camera features a “Tri-Eye Perception Matrix,” which includes an 8.4MP Sony Starvis IMX415 RGB sensor with an ultra-wide 188° field of view, and two SmartSens SG0132 global shutter sensors for stereoscopic depth. Encased in a passively cooled CNC aluminum chassis, it is also equipped with an automotive-grade Bosch BMI088 IMU capable of 24g high-G tracking, making it suitable for the heavy vibrations of legged locomotion. LooperRobotics Insight 9 specifications: SoC – D-Robotics RDK X5 octa-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.5 GHz; […]

March 24, 2026March 24, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Hugging Face’s Reachy Mini is an open-source AI robot for your computer or Raspberry Pi CM4

Better known for its artificial intelligence software solutions, Hugging Face unveiled the Reachy Mini open-source desktop robot last year. It is designed to deploy AI applications that interface with the physical world. The robot features a camera, four microphones, and a speaker, and can move its 6 DoF (degrees of freedom) head, rotate its body, or wave its antennas thanks to nine servo motors. Two versions are available: the Reachy Mini Lite designed for computers running Mac, Linux, and Windows, and the Reachy Mini Wireless autonomous robot, powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4, adding WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, an accelerometer, and battery support. Both models share most of the same specifications: Reachy Mini’s SDK can be found on GitHub. It’s based on Python, but also supports JavaScript and Web apps, and can integrate with LLMs to easily build apps and publish them to Hugging Face. The SDK also features several […]