$6 LicheePi Zero ARM Board Runs Linux 4.10, Supports Lots of Add-On Boards (Crowdfunding)

We’ve already covered LicheePi One board powered by Allwinner A13 processor, but it was not for sale out of China, and the developers are now back with LicheePi Zero board/module, slightly bigger than an SD card, featuring Allwinner V3s processor, and offered for as low as $6, or $8 with WiFi via an Indiegogo campaign. LicheePi Zero specifications: SoC – Allwinner V3s ARM Cortex A7 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with an ARM Mali-400 GPU, 512Mbit (64MB) DDR2 on-chip Storage – micro SD card slot, SPI flash (not 100% clear if it will be populated when shipped to backers) Display – FPC40 RGB Connector with support for 800×480 RGB LCD Audio – Audio codec USB – micro USB OTG port Expansion 2x 15 headers with 2.54mm pitch, breadboard friendly with GPIOs, 2x UART, 1x SPI, 2x I2C,ADC, 1x PWM 2x  30 half-holes with 1.27mm pitch with OTG USB,MIPI CSI,EPHY,RGB […]

GOLE 360 Video Camera Review & 360 Degrees Videos Desktop Experiments

GOLE has designed GOLE 360 video camera to connect to your smartphone via its micro USB, or USB type C port, and let you shot 360 degrees videos or photos.  The company has sent me a review sample with a USB type C port in order to test it with Vernee Apollo Lite Android smartphone. I’ve spent about two days playing with it, so I’ll report my experience with the 360° camera, and my attempts at playing the videos back on my computer. GOLE 360 Unboxing The camera is sent in a white retail box with “Micro USB” or “Type C” option, and as requested I got the latter. The camera comes with a pouch, a useful user’s manual in English, and a USB to USB type C cable. I did not use the latter since I instead charge the camera with my phone’s power adapter and cable. One side […]

Raspberry Pi Zero W Adds WiFi & Bluetooth, Sells for $10

The first Raspberry Pi was launched 5 years ago on February 29, 2012, and the Raspberry Pi foundation has made an habit of announcing new products on the anniversary of the board. This year is no exception, as the foundation has just announced Raspberry Pi Zero W, based on the popular Raspberry Pi Zero, but potentially much more useful, as they added a WiFi and Bluetooth LE module to the board. Raspberry Pi Zero W specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 1GHz with VideoCore IV GPU System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – microSD slot Video Output – mini HDMI port and composite video (via 2 unpopulated  pins) Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 (same Cypress CYW43438 wireless chip as Raspberry Pi 3 Model B) USB – 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB port for power only Camera – 1x CSI camera connector Expansion […]

Oppo’s Ultra-Thin Smartphone Dual Camera Comes with a 3x Optical Zoom, Supports 5x “Lossless” Zoom

Smartphones allow you to zoom in when taking a picture, but most of the time it’s achieved using a software based digital zoom, and quality suffers greatly as a results. Oppo has however designed a new smartphone camera module with a 3x optical zoom, and “image fusion” technology to bring the level of “lossless” zoom to 5 times. Some phones such as Asus Zenfone Zoom come with a 3x optical zoom, and you can purchase detachable zoom for your smartphone, but none of those are as quite as compact as Oppo solution, which from the outside looks like a standard dual camera since it’s so thin (5.7 mm). They’ve managed to keep the module compact by designing a periscope-style structure that divert light through a prism and into a telephoto lens nested inside the smartphone, set at a 90° angle to a rear-facing wide-angle lens. The camera also comes with […]

Dride is a Voice Controlled Dashcam Driving Assistant Powered by a Raspberry Pi Board (Crowdfunding)

Next Thing introduced Dashbot Car Dashboard Assistant based on CHIP Pro module late last year, and it will get some competition with Dride, a driving assistant powered by Raspberry Pi, that can also be voice controlled like Dashbot, but includes a Pi camera to record videos, and alert the users of dangers using computer vision, for example when they drive too close to the car in front. The system leverages Raspberry Pi board and Pi Camera, and adds an outer shell, Dride’s Raspberry Pi HAT, and a car charger & cable. Some of the key features listed for the Dride include: Cloud support – Upload and store driving videos to your Dride profile ADAS – Safety alerts in case of lane deviation or frontal collision Voice – Voice commands for navigation & messaging Connectivity – Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS The developers also provide “Dride – Passenger Seat Driver” app for […]

Sony Has Developed a Smartphone Camera Sensor Capable of Recording 1080p 1000 fps Slow Motion Videos

Sony has announced what it claims to be the first 3-layer stacked CMOS image sensor with DRAM for smartphones, which allows for fast data readout speeds making possible still images capture of fast moving objects with minimal focal plane distortion, and recording of Full HD (1920×1080) slow motion movies at 1000 fps, which compares to current solutions capable of only 720p @ 240 fps such as Google Pixel phones. Sony CMOS camera key specifications as listed in the press release: Effective pixel count – 5520 (H) x 3840 (V) 21.2 megapixels Image size Diagonal – 7.73mm (Type 1/2.3) Unit cell size – 1.22μm (H) x 1.22μm (V) Frame rate Still images – 30fps; 4:3 19.3 megapixels / 16:9 17.1 megapixels Movies – 60fps @ 4K (3840 x 2160); 240fps @ Full HD / 720p Image format – Bayer RAW Reading speed – 8.478 ms (4:3 19.3 megapixels) / 6.962 ms (16:9 […]

GOLE360 360 Degrees Video Camera Works with Android Smartphones and in Standalone Mode

GOLE is better known for their mini PC tablet combos like GOLE1 and GOLE1 Plus, but the company is about to launch GOLE360 360 Degree Panorama VR Action Camera looking very similar to Insta360 Nano camera, but instead of being designed for iPhones, they made is for Android smartphones with either a micro USB port, or a USB type C port. GOLE360 camera specifications: SoC – InfoTM C23 32-bit processor @ up to 600MHz with 128MB RAM on-chip Storage – micro SD slot up to 128GB Camera 4 MP sensor Camera lens: aperture F2.4,  focuses: Efl 0.94, angle: 210o Video – H.264/MOV up to 1920×960@30fps /1472×736@30fps Photo – JPEG @ 3008×1504 /1920×960 USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 port, or 1x USB 2.0 type C port depending on model Battery – 3.7V/800mAh Dimensions – 11.68 x 3.7 x 2.2cm The camera runs Linux 3.10. This is not the first 360 […]

e-con Systems Launches e-CAM130_CUTX1 Ultra HD Camera for Nvidia Jetson TX1 Development Board

e-con Systems, an embedded camera solution company, has just announced the launch of e-CAM130_CUTX1 MIPI camera board for NVIDIA Jetson Tegra X1 development kit. The 13MP camera is based on On Semiconductor AR1820 CMOS image sensor, connects to TX1 board via its 4-lane MIPI CSI-2 connector, and supporting up to 3840 x 2160 @ 30fps/ 13MP@ 20 fps video streaming in uncompressed YUV format. e-CAM130_CUTX1 4K camera board features & specifications: Sensor – 1/2.3″ Optical form factor AR1820HS sensor with on-board high performance ISP. Focus Type – Fixed focus Resolution: – 13MP on e-CAM130_CUTX1 (The sensor is capable of 18MP) Pixel size – 1.25μm pixel with Aptina / ON Semiconductor A-PixHS with BSI technology and advanced pixel architecture Sensor Active Area – 4912(H) x 3684(V) Responsivity – 0.62 V/lux-sec (545nm); SNR: 36.3 dB; Dynamic Range: 65.8 dB Output Format – Uncompressed YUV422 format and compressed MJPEG format. YUV422 resolutions: VGA @ […]

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