games News - Page 7 of 17 - CNX Software

February 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Crowdfunded Projects Use Raspberry Pi and ODROID Boards into Home Theater PCs and Retro Game Consoles

I’ve been tipped about two separate projects launched on Indiegogo and Kickstarter that integrate Raspberry Pi or ODROID boards into their products. indieGO! retro gaming console and distribution leverages Raspberry Pi 2, ODROID-C1+, or ODROID-XU4 to play older games, while Pi2Media HT1 relies on either Raspberry Pi2, and later the upcoming UP Board or ODROID-C2 boards in order to offer a Surround 7.1 Home Theater PC. indieGO! Retro Game Console Beside the development board, indieGo! also includes a DVD-RW drive, an SD card reader, a mini-ITX case, a 3D-Printed I/O-shield and ARM board holder, a USB joypad, and two USB ports. indieGO!-OS is also a Linux distribution based on AEROS running Exagear which means both ARM (native) and x86 (emulation) executables will run on the device. Pre-isntalled programs include Wine, Kodi, Moonlight, AmiCloud, and EmuLA. The many emulators installed allow support for games running Playstation, C64, Dreamcast, Game Boy, Atari, Sega, PC, […]

February 9, 2016February 16, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Ugoos AM1 4K TV Box Review

Ugoos AM1 is yet another TV box based on Amlogic S905. I’ve already published specifications and uploaded some pictures of the nice looking cyan box and its board, so today I’ll report on my experience after actually playing with the device, where I mostly focused on known problems found on other S905 mini PCs, and some extra features added to Ugoos firmware. First Boot, Settings, and First Impressions I filled all three USB ports with a USB webcam, a USB hard drive, and a USB hub with RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse, Tronsmart Mars G01 wireless gamepad, and a USB keyboard (convenient for screenshots), and connected Ethernet, HDMI and power cables. A boot will usually take around 30 seconds. Before going through the user interface, I’ll mention that OTA firmware upgrade worked very well, and it was one of the first thing I did before the […]

January 30, 2016March 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Mini Review of G9C Android Media Player

Shenzhen Tomato sent me their G9C Android TV box at the beginning of December, but as Google Play was not working reliably in the first firmware, I decided to delay the review a little, and the company has provided a new working firmware a few weeks ago, and I’ve now taken the time to test some the main issues I normally find on Amlogic S905 Android TV box. I’ve also ready shown pictures of the device and the board, so today, I’ll only report my experience with the firmware. First Boot and First Impressions I’ve connected all necessary cables, and several USB devices include an harddrive and RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad. The device started automatically upon connecting the power, and on average the boot takes between 25 to 30 seconds. Not bad at all for an entry-level device. The launcher […]

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SDK Released for Steam Link Based on Marvell ARMADA 1500 Mini Processor

Steam Link is a small $50 device that streams PC Games played from Steam PC or Steam Machine to your TV up to 1080p resolution through your home network, and Valve has recently released an SDK to allow developers creating their own apps. But before getting into the SDK features, let’s check out the hardware. The company (Valve) did not provide many details, but some users torn it down, so the hardware specs are not a secret anymore. SoC – Marvell DE3005-A1 ARMv7 processor @ 1.0 GHz with OpenGL ES2.0 capable GPU System Memory – 512MB RAM (Micron MT41K256M16LY-107) Storage – 4GB NAND flash (Micron MT29F32G08CBAC) Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p60 Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0 LE via Marvell 88W8897 wireless chip USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports Power Supply – 5V via power barrel Dimensions – N/A Marvell DE3005-A1 is also […]

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

GPD HK is Working on a Windows 10 Portable Game Console Powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8500 SoC

GPD and JXD are two companies specializing in portable game consoles, and in recent years, they seem to have focused on ARM based platforms running Android, but GPD has consulted with Dingoonity community (registration required to access pictures) for an upcoming Windows 10 hand-held console powered by Intel Atom x5-Z8500 processor. The company has also released preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8500 / Z8550 quad-core Cherry Trail processor System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash (It could change to 32 or 128GB however) + micro SD slot up to 128GB Display – 5.5″ capacitive touch screen; 1280×720 resolution; Corning Gorilla Glass 3; In-Cell technology. Video Output- micro HDMI Audio Output – micro HDMI + 3.5mm headset jack Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth USB – 1x USB Type-C port, 1x USB 3.0 host Battery – 6000 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery, good for 6 to 8 hours of […]

January 19, 2016January 26, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Ugoos UT4 Android 5.1 TV Box Review

Ugoos UT4 is one of many Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes available on the market today, but it’s one of the model with higher-end specifications including 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB flash, as well as Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi, Ugoos offers regular firmware updates for their devices, and as I found out in Ugoos UT4 specs and teardown post, the mini PC features a fan to keep the device cool at all times. Today, I’ll focus on reviewing the firmware including video playback capabilities, performance and whether advertised features work as they should. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions Before powering on the device, I connected some cables (Ethernet, HDMI, optical audio, AV to speakers), and made use of all four USB ports with a USB hard drive, a webcam, a keyboard, and a USB hub with two RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart […]

January 13, 2016June 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

FOSDEM 2016 Schedule – Open Source Hardware and Software Event in Europe

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting) is a 2-day event that usually takes place on the first week-end of February in Brussels, but this year it will be on January 30-31. The event brings thousands of developers, hackers, and other person interested in open source technology who present their projects and share ideas. FOSDEM 2016 schedule is now available, and There will be 557 speakers, 612 events, and 50 tracks this year including 7 main tracks: Distros, Enterprise, Hardware, Communications, Miscellaneous, Office, Systems Administration, and Virtualization. So I’ve had a look at some of the talks, especially out of “Embedded, Mobile and Automotive” and “IoT” devrooms, and prepared my own virtual schedule although I won’t be able to attend. Saturday 10:30 – 10:55 – MIPS, the other side of the embedded by Alexjan Carraturo For many years MIPS processors have been involved in the embedded market, particularly […]

December 14, 2015March 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

Review of MINIX NEO U1 Media Hub

We’ve already seen that MINIX NEO U1 has some impressive hardware to offer with a good thermal solution, and high-end chips for storage and WiFi, as well as some neats additions like RTC support. But obviously the most important is to find out how the box performs, so I’ve put it through it spaces with video playback and features testing, as well as some benchmarks. First Boot, OTA Firmware, Settings and First Impressions The device has three full-sized USB 2.0 ports, which become four once we had the provided USB OTG adapter to the remaining micro USB port. So I’ve connected a USB 3.0 hard drive, the RF dongle for NEO A2 Lite air mouse, a USB hub with a USB webcam, a USB keyboard, and the RF dongle for Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as USB powered speakers to the micro USB port. After inserting HDMI, optical audio […]