Getting Started with MPLAB Xpress Board and Online IDE

Microchip launched MPLAB Xpress online IDE and board earlier this year, and as part of the launch they offered 2,000 free boards. I joined the program and received my board. The keyword for the board is “Xpress”, as you should be able to get started in mere minutes thanks to the operating system agnostic online IDE that works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. That also means you don’t need to install any other tool. All you need is a web browser. MPLAB Xpress Board Let’s start by quickly checking out the package, board, and offline documentation. Once you open the package, you’ll get the board, a folded sheet of paper for the schematics, and some information on the package itself with the pinout diagram, and a quick start guide explaining that the board acts as a mass storage device, and all you need is a web browser for […]

Chromium OS for SBC Aims to Turn Popular Development Boards into Chromeboxes

A team of developer has come together last December in order to provide Chromium OS, the open source project which Chrome OS is based on, to single board computers such as Raspberry Pi boards. So far, they’ve provided Chromium OS images for Raspberry Pi 2 & 3, but more boards should be supported in the future. The latest version 0.5 release is said to be usable, but WiFi, Netflix, and HTML5 video are not working. The installation procedure is standard. You simply need to download and uncompress the archive (e.g. SamKinison_v0.5_Pi3_16GB.tar.xz), and dump it on a micro SD card with Win32DiskImage or dd. They have released different images for Raspberry Pi 2 & 3, and different SD card sizes (2GB and 16GB). Chromium OS is using 12 partitions, so that may be why they don’t provide a single image and resize the file system during the first time. You can […]

Orange Pi Plus 2E Development Board with Gigabit Ethernet, 2GB RAM & 16GB eMMC Flash to Sell for $35

Shenzhen Xunlong has been pretty busy churning out new boards over the last few months and years, but is still not active on the software side. However these days, it’s not that bad thanks to Armbian community which provides Debian based images, and supports Allwinner H3 boards pretty well. The company is now about to launch Orange Pi Plus 2E, based on Orange Pi Plus 2 which comes with 2GB RAM, but at a lower cost, by removing SATA, the need for a USB hub chip, and the camera connector, while still managing to upgrade the eMMC flash capacity to 16 GB. Orange Pi Plus 2E specifications with differences in bold or stricken through: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.3 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC, micro SD card slot, SATA interface (via a […]

PINE A64+ Board Giveaway

PINE A64 and A64+ board are incredibly inexpensive, but still not free, so when PINE64 asked if they could give eight PINE64+ boards with 1GB RAM and the WiFi & Bluetooth module to CNX Software readers, I thought it was not a bad idea, and I’ve decided to organize a giveaway. The eight boards given away will have the following specs: SoC – Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD slot supporting up to 256 GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K resolution @ 30 Hz, and 4-lane MIPI DSI connector and touch panel connector Audio – HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet + WiFi & Bluetooth module USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Camera – MIPI CSI camera interface Expansion – 40-pin Raspberry Pi 2 compatible […]

Boardcon’s Rockchip RK3288 Single Board Computer Runs Android 4.4/5.1, Supports 3G, GPS, 5 Display Interfaces and More

Rockchip RK3288 is back in the news this month, and after the announced of MiQi low cost board a few days ago, an high-end Rockchip RK3288 SBC has come to market with Boardcon EM3288 comprise of MINI3288 CPU module, and a features-packed baseboard with multiple ports and connectivity options, including SATA and a 3G modem. EM3288 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core ARM Cortex A17 processor up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU System Memory – 2G DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, SATA, and micro SD slot Video I/O HDMI 2.0 up to 3840×2160@60p (provided your TV/monitor support YUV444) VGA 1x 26-pin MIPI connector, 1x 40-pin LVDS (multiplexed with VGA), 1x 40-pin TTL LCD connector Audio Output / Input – HDMI, Line IN and OUT 3.5mm jacks, and built-in MIC Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet Optional 8021.11b/g/n and Bluetooth4.0 via Ampak AP6212 module Optional 3G via ZTE MF210 […]

$20 MediaTek LinkIt 7687 Arduino Compatible WiFi IoT Board Runs FreeRTOS

MediaTek Labs has already launched several WiFi boards for IoT applications starting with LinkIt ONE, and later LinkIt Smart 7688 running OpenWrt, and the company is now about to launch LinkIt 7687 HDK (Hardware Development Kit) powered by Mediatek MT7687F Cortex-M4 SoC,  running FreeRTOS, and developed & produced by Silicon Application Corp (SAC). LinkIt 7687 (WS3489) board specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT7687F ARM Cortex-M4F MCU @ 192MHz with 352 KB SRAM, 64KB ROM, and 2 MB serial flash in package, integrated security engine, and built-in 802.11n WiFi. 8×8 mm 68-pin QFN package Connectivity – 1×1 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with on-module PCB antenna and U.FL connector. USB – 1x micro USB for power, debugging (Coresight Debug Access Port + Virtual COM) Expansion Arduino Uno Rev. 3 headers + an extra 8-pin extension connector. Mass Storage Device (MSD) flash programming interface. Reserved headers for power consumption (current) measurement. Misc – LEDs for […]

Android and Linux Benchmarks on MiQi Development Board

MiQi is an upcoming low cost development board powered by Rockchip RK3288 SoC that will sell for $35 with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage, and $69 for the version with a  2GB / 32GB combination. Since Rockchip RK3288 was launched in 2014, most available benchmarks were made on Android 4.4, and since MiQi is the first low cost board based on the processor, other RK3288 based board such as FireFly have not been that popular. So I’ve decided to run updated benchmarks in MiQi both in Android 5.1 and Linux (Lubuntu 14.04), which was easy since a dual boot image is pre-installed. But since I received an early sample without heatsink, I found a spare heatsink added some thermal paste and placed it on top of the processor and partially on RAM and eMMC flash. MiQi Board Android 5.1 Benchmarks I ran Antutu both using 1080p60 and 2160p30 video output, […]

MiQi Rockchip RK3288 Development Board using Raspberry Pi Form Factor to Sell for $35 and Up

Rockchip RK3288 processor may have launched in 2014, but it’s still one of the most powerful processor found in TV boxes for example, and in the past we’ve seen higher end board based on the processor such as Firefly-RK3288 or Radxa Rock 2 Square selling for well above $100. But MQMaker, the company that previously made WiTi router board, is bringing a smaller and cheaper RK3288 development board with MiQi, which definitely looks similar to the Raspberry Pi. MiQi board specifications: SoC – Rockchip 3288 quad core ARM Cortex A17 up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T764 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 1 or 2G DDR3 depending on model Storage – 8 or 32 GB eMMC flash depending on model + micro SD slot Video & Audio output – HDMI 2.0 up to 3840×2160@60p Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB port Debugging […]

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