Introducing the Intel NUC 9 Compute Elements, Mini PC Kits, and 3rd-Party Ecosystem

Intel NUC 9 Mini PC

Intel’s NUC mini PC range is familiar to anyone who has looked for a very small compact and functional PC. But they, and similarly sized mini PCs in general, have a notable limitation when compared to desktops and also many high-end laptops in that the graphics performance is somewhat restricted because it is typically provided by the processor’s integrated graphics. Whilst these integrated graphics are suitable for browsing, video playback, and the office style applications that the devices have been marketed towards, they are normally insufficient for gaming as only low framerates are obtainable. Intel initially tried to address this gaming shortfall through the introduction of the Intel Skull Canyon (NUC6i7KYK) NUC which came with a 6th-gen Skylake Core i7-6770HQ that included Iris Pro Graphics 580 and at the time with their 72 EUs (Executions Units) was Intel’s most powerful integrated GPU. Additionally, the Skull Canyon also featured a (USB-C) […]

MediaTek Helio G70 & Helio G70T Processors Targets Mainstream Gaming Smartphones

MediaTek Helio G70 & G70T

Announced last summer, MediaTek Helio G90 & Helio G90T processors are specifically designed for gaming on smartphones and ideals for titles such as Fornite, PUBG, or KOG. Both are higher processors with Arm Cortex-A76/A55 cores coupled with an Arm Mali-G76 3EEMC4, but MediaTek has now announced two more cost-effective processors with Helio G70 & Helio G70T SoCs aimed at mid-range/mainstream gaming smartphones. MediaTek Helio G70 specifications: Processor – 2x Arm Cortex-A75 @ 2GHz, 6x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.7GHz with “large L3 cache” GPU – Arm Mali-G52 2EEMC2 up to 820MHz Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4x @ 1800MHz Storage – eMMC 5.1 flash Display – Up to 2520 x 1080 resolution Video Decode – H.264, H.265 / HEVC, VP-9 up to 2K @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 60 fps Encode – H.264, H.265 / HEVC up to 2K @ 30 fps, 1080p @ 60 fps Camera ISP support 16MP+16MP, or […]

$55 ODROID-GO Advance Linux based Retro Game Console is Powered by Rockchip RK3326 Processor

Last year, Hardkernel took some time away from Arm and x86 Linux SBCs with the launch of ODROID-GO retro game console powered by Espressif Systems ESP32 processor. The console could be programmed with the Arduino IDE, and the $32 price tag made it a popular item despite the limited processing power fo the ESP32 dual-core processor. The good news is that the console got an upgrade with ODROID-Go Advance equipped with a Rockchip RK3326 quad-core Cortex-A35 processor coupled with 1GB RAM to run Linux, and featuring an upgraded 3.5″ wide-viewing angle color display. ODROID-GO Advance specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3326 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.3GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3L @ 786Mhz, 32 Bits bus width Storage – 16MB SPI Flash for bootloader, Micro SD Card slot (UHS-1 Capable interface) Display – 3.5″ 320×480 TFT LCD (Wide-viewing angle display, MIPI-DSI interface) Audio – 3.5mm earphone […]

Rikomagic R6 Mini Projector Review – Part 2: Android 7.1

Rikomagic R6 Android Projector Review

We’ve already quickly checked out Rikomagic R6 mini projector in the first part of the review with an unboxing and first boot,  but now I’ve had more time to play with the device, so I’ll report about my experience. Android Launcher and Default Apps Here’s the launcher pre-installed in the projector. Media Center The Media Center app allows you to display images, play audio files as well as videos. It will show thumbnails of images present in the current folder… and as soon as you select one image in the folder it will start a slideshow with classic music playing the background. You’ll be able to see what it looks like in the video at the end of this review. Happy Cast It’s an app in Chinese, that apparently allows you to cast from other Chinese apps, but I have not used it. WiFi Display WiFi Display will be one […]

Khadas VIM3L SBC Review with Android 9 Firmware

Khadas VIM3L Android Review

Khadas VIM3L is the first and so far only Amlogic S905D3 SBC on the market, so I first ran some benchmarks and checked system info. But it is also designed to be an HTPC, I’ll continue the review with some 4K video and audio playback testing, some gaming, and I/O benchmarks. Khadas VIM3L Unboxing As you may remember (or not), VIM3L ships either as a bare board pre-loaded with Android 9 or as an HTPC kit with the board running CoreELEC. I’ve received the bare board which also comes with two WiFi antennas. It can do much more than a simple TV box however, since it also comes with an M.2 NVMe socket (extra adapter board required), and sockets with MIPI DSI + touchscreen, and MIPI CSI camera. It’s one of the few boards with a low profile Ethernet connector, so if you ever wanted to build a farm of […]

Intrinsyc Unveils Open-Q 845 µSOM and Snapdragon 845 Mini-ITX Development Kit

Open-Q 845 µSOM Development Kit

Intrinsyc introduced the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 hardware development platform last year with its Open-Q 845 HDK designed for OEMs and device makers. But the company has now just announced a solution for embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) products with Open-Q 845 micro system-on-module (µSOM) powered by the Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor, as well as a complete development kit featuring the module and a Mini-ITX baseboard. Open-Q845 µSOM Specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon SDA845 octa-core processor with 4x Kryo 385 Gold cores @ 2.649GHz + 4x Kryo 385 Silver low-power cores @ 1.766GHz cores, Hexagon  685 DSP, Adreno 630 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2 + AEP (Android Extension Pack),  DX next, Vulkan 2, OpenCL 2.0 full profile System Memory – 4GB or 6GB dual-channel high-speed LPDDR4X SDRAM at 1866MHz Storage – 32GB or 64GB UFS Flash Storage Connectivity Wi-Fi 5 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2.4/5Ghz 2×2 MU-MIMO (WCN3990) with 5 GHz […]

A95X Max Plus S922X TV Box Targets Gaming with Wii-like Motion Sensing Remote & Bluetooth Gamepad

Amlogic S922X Android Gaming Console TV Box

Unless a new processor is out, we don’t cover most TV boxes as they mostly provide the same features with little differentiation between products. But the manufacturer of A95X Max Plus TV box has decided to leverage the excellent gaming performance of Amlogic S922X processor, by bundling the device with a Wii-like motion-sensing remote control and a Bluetooth gamepad. The mechanical design is quite different from competing products as well. A95X Max Plus TV box specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with 4x Arm Cortex A73 cores, 2x Arm Cortex A53 cores, Arm Mali-G52MP GPU; 12nm process System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 75 Hz, AV port (composite) Video – AVE-10 engine with 4K UHD H.265/VP9/AVS2 video decoding up to 60 fps, Dolby Vision, Advanced HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and PRIME HDR […]

PIS2 DIY Handheld PS2 Game Console Uses Raspberry Pi 2 SBC as SMB Server

It’s a Handheld PS2 Game Console The PIS2 is a handheld PS2 game console that has the chopped-up insides of PS2 game system stuffed into a small console, along with a display, controllers and a Raspberry Pi 2 to access the games from the Ethernet to load directly to the hardware.  Sony has officially discontinued all handheld PSs as of March 2019, so these DIY consoles are popping up regularly. This one is quite an accomplishment. It Took a Long Time The creator of the PIS2, a hacker named Darkwing, started work on the unit in 2013. He stopped for some time, then started documenting his work on the system in 2017.  The ambitious first design specs looked like this PS2 scph-79002 5.6″ Dalian Good Display and VGA chip Genius MaxFire Blaze 2 controller 11.1V 6200mAh made of 6 ncr18650a cells Texas instrument ptn78020 switching regulator IBM Lenovo 05K5494 Laptop […]