keyboard News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 9, 2024December 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Raspberry Pi 500 review with Raspberry Pi Monitor and teardown

Raspberry Pi 500 review with Monitor Speaker

The Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard PC is just out along with the 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi Monitor and received samples from Raspberry Pi for review a few days ago. I’ve had time to play with both, so in this review, I’ll go through an unboxing of the kit I received and report my experience with both the keyboard PC and monitor. Unboxing I received two packages. The first one with the Raspberry Pi Monitor, and the second with a Raspberry Pi 500 (UK layout), a 27W USB-C power adapter, and a micro HDMI to HDMI cable. So not quite a full Raspberry Pi 500 Desktop Kit since there’s no mouse and beginner’s manual but close to it. Let’s start with the keyboard PC. The bottom side of the package has some specs and a logo for the keyboard layout, in this case “UK”. There’s only the keyboard PC in the package. […]

December 9, 2024December 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard PC launched together with 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi Monitor

The Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard PC is now available with the guts of a Raspberry Pi 5 including a Broadcom BCM2712 quad-core Cortex-A76 SoC, 8GB LPDDR4x and a 32GB microSD pre-loaded with Raspberry Pi OS. But the company also took the opportunity to launch the 15.6-inch Raspberry Pi Monitor that was first showcased at Embedded World 2024. That means Raspberry Pi launched 22 products this year including kits, and we’re promised that would be the last launch for 2024! But Pi fans can expect a small surprise in the first half of January… Raspberry Pi 500 keyboard PC Raspberry Pi 500 specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 CPU – Quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4GHz GPU – VideoCore VII GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.1 graphics, Vulkan 1.2 VPU – 4Kp60 HEVC decoder System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4X-4267 SDRAM Storage – 32GB microSD card preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS […]

August 30, 2024September 2, 2024 by Debashis Das - 12 Comments

LILYGO T-Deck Plus – A Blackberry-like ESP32-S3 devkit with QWERTY keyboard, trackball, LoRa, GPS, battery, and more

LILYGO T Deck Plus handheld development board

The LILYGO T-Deck Plus is an ESP32-S3 based handheld development kit that resembles a Blackberry phone with a QWERTY keyboard and trackball. The device features a 2.8-inch IPS LCD, a GPS module, a LoRa transceiver, and a 2,000mAh battery which means you can take it outside and do some pen-testing and research. Additionally, the board features a microphone, a speaker, and a microSD card slot for storage. Just last year, LILYGO introduced the LILYGO T-Deck ESP32-S3 development board with LoRa and a 2.8-inch display, and the T-Deck Plus builds on the earlier design but also adds a GPS module and a higher capacity battery. LILYGO T-Deck Plus specifications ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module SoC – ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash PCB antenna Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – […]

December 19, 2023December 18, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

T-Keyboard-S3 4-key USB mechanical keyboard features keycaps with 0.85-inch color display

LILYGO T-Keyboard-S3 is an ESP32-S3 powered USB mechanical keyboard with four keys each equipped with a keycap featuring a 0.85-inch 128×128 color display to show different icons or characters. We have already covered several programmable small mechanical keyboards/keypads or macropads, so the first time I saw the T-Keyboard-S3 I did not think much of it until I read the $65 price tag on Aliexpress which I found excessive for this type of device. That’s only until I realized that each resin keycap has its own color display that the price made sense, and it makes quite a versatile macropad as you could easily program multiple layouts depending on the use case. T-Keyboard-S3 specifications: Wireless module ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 MCU – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Memory – 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash Connectivity – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with LE/Mesh […]

November 24, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

WP-DLC01 USB RGB LED controller supports dynamic lighting (in Windows 11 for now)

WisdPi WP-DLC01 dynamic lighting controller is a small USB board that can drive RGB LED strips and supports the Dynamic Lighting feature just introduced in the latest Windows 11 23H2 release. The board comes with a WisdPi RGB213-5 chip, a button, a USB-C port for control, and a 3-pin header designed to connect an ARGB LED strip which the user can place inside a PC or along a desk or table to personalize the user experience beyond the screen. Right now this works in Windows 11 23H2, but as we’ll see further below it should (eventually) work with other operating systems. The first step is to connect the controller either externally via a USB-C to USB-A/C cable or internally using the 15cm USB 2.0 internal motherboard header to USB Type-C cable provided with the WP-DLC01 board by default. WisdPi also offers a full kit that adds a 1-meter USB 2.0 […]

November 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MessengerPi – A LoRa messenger and walkie-talkie based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 (Crowdfunding)

SB Components MessengerPi is a DIY messenger and walkie-talkie based on a Raspberry Pi RP2040 that relies on LoRa communication for P2P messaging over distances of up to 5 kilometers and calls up to 300 meters away. The company actually provides two boards: the MessengerPi itself for both calls and messaging with a keyboard, and the smaller “Walky Talky” board for audio communication only and without a LoRa module. Messenger Pi specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Wireless Ebyte E22-900T22S LoRa module (also used in the company’s LoRa HAT for Raspberry Pi) Based on the Semtech SX1262 transceiver Operates in the 850 MHz to 930 MHz band Up to 5km LoRa text messaging SB Components marked Walkie-Talkie module 16 FRS channels Tx Power – Up to 17 dBm Rx sensitivity – Up to -98dBm Audio communication […]

October 14, 2023October 13, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

M5Stack Cardputer – A $30 card-sized ESP32-S3 computer with display and keyboard

M5Stack Cardputer is a card-sized portable computer based on the ESP32-S3-powered M5Stamp S3 wireless module and equipped with a 56-key keyboard and 1.14-inch TFT display, plus some sensors and peripheral expansion ports. At first, it’s hard to imagine what it could be used for apart from being a hardware hacking toy, but the company says the card-sized WiFi computer can be used for rapid functional verification, industrial control, and home automation systems. M5Stack Cardputer specifications: Wireless MCU module – M5Stack M5Stamp S3 with SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3FN8 dual-core 32-bit Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with AI vector instructions up to 240MHz, RISC-V ULP co-processor, 512KB SRAM, 2.4GHz WiFi 4 (802.11b/g/n), Bluetooth 5.0 BLE + Mesh, 8MB flash 2.4GHz 3D antenna USB – 1x USB Type-C port Expansion connectors for I/Os such as SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, and more Storage – MicroSD card socket Display – 1.14-inch IPS LCD with 240×135 resolution […]

September 7, 2023September 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Haxophone – A Raspberry Pi-based electronic saxophone with mechanical keys (Crowdfunding)

The Haxophone is an unusual Raspberry Pi expansion board that transforms the popular SBC into a travel saxophone using mechanical keys. The hackable musical instrument is open-source hardware and OSHWA certified and comes with mechanical keys which makes it easily repairable, customizable by changing keycaps or the firmware, and at a price point cheaper than commercial digital saxophones with custom molded keys. Haxophone key features and specifications: Custom Raspberry Pi HAT PCB Tactile-feedback 5-pin mechanical switches Mechanical keycaps Airflow pressure sensor Built-in audio amplifier compatible with Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero W Serial console for hacking Weight – 180 grams OSHW certifications – PT000005 You’ll find KiCAD hardware design files, assembly instructions, documentation, and the software and firmware used with the Haxophone on GitHub. There are two main software components, first haxo-rs Rust-based driver for detecting key presses and breath in order to convert them into notes, and fluidsynth synthesizer […]