Simblee Low Latency Bluetooth LE IoT Module Loads Its App to Your Smartphone on Demand

RF Digital launched RFDuino Bluetooth Low Energy board in 2013/2014, and the company has now developed Simblee module, whose name is derived from “Simple”  and “BLE”, and offers low latency (3ms) and integrates a user application that’s automatically and temporary loaded to your smartphone or tablet upon connection. The module is also part of an add-on board (RFD77201) for RFDuino board. Simblee RFD77101 module specifications: MCU – ARM Cortex M0 micr-controller (Nordic nRF51822???) Memory/Storage – 24KB RAM and 128KB flash for user application Bluetooth Smart / LE Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Stack Simblee interference immunity 3ms latency (for connection); 10us accuracy (jitter) -93dBm receiver sensitivity -55dBm to +4dBm TX power Physical range adjustable from a few inches to hundreds of feet Integrated antenna, integrated shield I/Os 29 GPIOs (flexible pin configuration) 6x ADC inputs 4x PWM outputs 2x SPI master/slave, 2x I2C, 1 x UART Security – Built in AES […]

NanoPi is a $16 WiFi and Bluetooth LE Linux Development Board

NanoPi is a new Linux development board powered by Samsung S3C2451 ARM9 processor with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity, connectors for a camera and an LCD display, as well as two expansion headers including a 40-pin “Raspberry Pi compatible” header. NanoPi specifications: Processor – Samsung S3C2451 ARM9 @ 400Mhz System Memory – 64M DDR2 Storage – micro SD slot Connectivity – AP6210 module for 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 1.1 host port, 1x micro USB OTG port for power and data (serial or Ethernet) Display I/F – LCD Interface: 0.5mm pitch SMT FPC seat, support full-color LCD (RGB: 8-8-8) Camera I/F – DVP Camera Interface: 0.5mm pitch FPC connector, including ITU-R BT 601/656 8-bit, I2C and GPIOs Debugging – Serial Port Expansion Headers “GPIO1” – 40-pin header including UART, SPI, I2C, GPIO pins (Raspberry Pi compatible) “GPIO2” – 12-pin header including I2S, I2C, UART pins Power – […]

BBC Micro Bit Educational Board Features nRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 MCU

The BBC announces its intention to give away 1 million Micro Bit to British schoolchildren a few months ago, but at the time, the specifications were not completely frozen. The broadcaster has now finalized the design which is based on an ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller.   Micro Bit board specifications: ARM Cortex M0 micro-controller (Nordic Micro nRF51822 Bluetooth SoC) 5x holes for 3V, GND, and 3 GPIOs 2x user buttons, 1x reset button 25x red LED indicator lights in a 5×5 matrix Connectivity – Bluetooth LE Sensors – Compass, magnetometer, accelerometer USB – 1x micro USB port for port and programming Power – 5V via USB or battery port to connect two AAA batteries Dimensions – 4cm x 5cm On the software side, the BBC has partnered with Microsoft to develop a web based, drag and drop interface for programming called TouchDevelop. Samsung is also involved in the project as […]

Mediatek LinkIt Assist 2502 Open Source Hardware Board Targets Wearables and IoT Applications

After LinkIt ONE, Mediatek Labs has introduced a new IoT development kit based on their Aster M2502 ARM7 processor with LinkIt Assist 2502 comprised of AcSiP MT2502A IoT SiP Core module, a 802.11b/g/n module, a GNSS module, and an exchangeable 240×240 16-bit color capacitive touch LCM Board. The AcSiP module can also be purchased separately, so you could use LinkIt Assist 2502 board for early development, because moving to your custom hardware based on AcSiP MT2502A module. LinkIt Assist 2502A specifications: MCU – AcSiP AI2502S05 module with  MT2502A (Aster) ARM7 EJ-STM processor @ 260MHz, 4MB RAM, 16MB flash Display – 240×240 LCD module; 16-bit color depth; transflective; based on ST7789S driver IC. Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n via AcSiP CW01S module based on MT5931 SoC Bluetooth 2.1 SPP and 4.0 GATT dual mode (part of MT2502A) GPS via AcSiP CW03S module based on MT3332 chip supporting GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou. GSM […]

XBAND is a Tiny $10 Bluetooth Low Energy Sensor Module (Crowdfunding)

ZX Tek‘s XBAND is a board about half the size of a micro SD that comes with a Bluetooth LE radio and a 6-axis MPU6500 motion sensor that can be integrated into wearables and IoT applications such as a remote controlled robot with a camera., a wireless smart light-bulb, and iBeacon device and so on. There seems to be two versions of the module XBAND 061-N51822 and XBAND 1018-CY8C4247 with the following specifications: SoC (one or the other) Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 MCU @ 16 MHz with 256KB Flash, 16KB RAM, and Bluetooth Low Energy support Cypress PSoC4 BLE core ARM Cortex M0 MCU @ 48 MHz with 128KB flash, 16KB RAM, and Bleutooth Low Energy support Bluetooth – 4.0/4.1 with high gain ceramic chip antenna Sensors – On-board 6-axis MPU6500 motion sensor + an extra configurable sensor (not idea what that is…). Connectors – Board-to-board connectors with […]

Intel Curie Board Designed for Wearables is Powered by Quark SE SoC

Intel announced the Edison board at CES 2014, a board targetting wearables and IoT applications about the size of an SD card. At CES 2015, the company has gone smaller, by unveiling the button-sized Intel Curie module powered by a new Intel Quark SE SoC with a motion sensor, Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity and battery charging capabilities. Intel Curie specifications: Low-power, 32-bit Intel Quark SE SoC 384kB Flash memory, 80kB SRAM Low-power integrated DSP sensor hub with a proprietary pattern matching accelerator Bluetooth Low Energy 6-axis combo sensor with accelerometer and gyroscope Battery charging circuitry (PMIC) The module runs an unnamed open source RTOS, and the company will provide IQ software kits for references applications for wearables, such as counting steps, apps for mobile device, and so on. Intel Curie is  expected to be found in smart products such as rings, bags, bracelets, pendants, fitness trackers and buttons. There’s basically no […]

Review of CX-S806 TV Box Powered by Amlogic S812 Processor

I’ve already reviewed one Android media player based on Amlogic S812 processor with MINIX NEO X8-H Plus. Today, I’m going to have a look at another S812 TV box, namely CX-S806, with lower specs, and less support, but that sells for half price compared to the MINIX device. I’ve already published pictures of CX-S806 media player and board, so today I’ll focus on testing the performance and features of the device. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The package include a simple IR remote control, so I inserted two AAA batteries to give it a try, and it seemed to work OK, but as usual I switched to use Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse for the rest of the review. Since I’ve connected Ethernet and HDMI cables, a USB hard drive, a USB webcam, and a USB hub with two RF dongles for the air mouse and wireless gamepad, and […]

Nordic Semi Announces nRF51 DK Arduino Compatible Board, and nRF51 Dongle with Bluetooth Smart, ANT, and 2.4GHz Connectivity

Nordic Semiconductor has introduced two new low cost development boards supporting Bluetooh LE, ANT/ANT+, and proprietary 2.4GHz applications based on their nRF51 series SoCs: nRF51 DK, an Arduino UNO Rev.3 compatible board that can be used for various IoT and wearables applications, and nRF51 Dongle, a USB dongle to connect to a PC or board, which can be useful for packet sniffing and BLE peer connection. nRF51 DK Development Board Key features listed for the board: SoC – Supports nRF51822 (BT/2.4Ghz) and nRF51422 (BT/ANT) SoCs based on an ARM Cortex M0 processor, with 128kB or 256kB flash memory, and 16kB or 32kB RAM. Connectivity Bluetooth Smart, ANT/ANT+ and 2.4GHz proprietary Integrated PCB antenna Connector for RF measurements Expansions Headers Arduino Uno Rev. 3 compatible connector for use with 3rd party shields All I/O and interfaces available via connectors Debugging Segger J-Link OB and ARM CMSIS-DAP Program/Debug supported Support for Program/Debug […]

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