Tiny NanoPi Duo2 Board Comes with WiFi, a Camera Interface, an Optional 2G-IoT Dock

NanoPi Duo2 2G IoT Carrier Board

NanoPi Duo was launched last year as an ultra-cheap ($8+) Arm Linux board that fits into a breadboard. The board was powered by Allwinner H2+ processor coupled with 256 or 512MB RAM, and the infamous XR819 802.11b/g/n WiFi chip. FriendlyElec has now launched NanoPi Duo2, that’s still breadboard compatible, but with a slightly longer form factor, Allwinner H3 processor, 512 MB RAM, better WiFi thanks to an AP6212 module, and an extra camera interface. As we’ll see further below the company also developed a carrier board for 2G cellular IoT applications. NanoPi Duo2 specifications with highlights in bold showing differences again NanoPi Duo: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM Storage – micro SD card slot, footprint for SPI flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0 LE (Ampak AP6212  module) with chip antenna, […]

Geniatech XPI-S905X Board Leverages Raspberry Pi 3 Form Factor

Geniatech XPI-S905X

Geniatech is well known in the media player industry for their Amlogic based TV boxes, but in recent years, they’ve also launched some development board from other silicon vendors such as Qualcomm with Developer Board IV and Developer Board 8 powered by respectively Snapdragon 410E and 820E. The company has now launched the XPI family of single board computers that will allow closely follow Raspberry Pi 3 form factor while offering better performance and features. Geniatech will start with XPI-S905X board powered by an Amlogic S905X quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with 4K HDR video playback and output capability. Geniatech XPI-S905X board preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz (but they claim 1.6 to 2.0 GHz max…) with penta core ARM Mali-450MP GPU, and Amlogic Video Engine 10 System Memory – 1GB or 2GB (default) DDR3 RAM Storage […]

ODROID-H2 Intel Celeron J4105 Single Board Computer to Launch in November

ODROID-H2

There were talks about Hardkernel working on an ODROID x86 board since last year, as the CEO expected to launch such board later in 2017 in an interview published in ODROID magazine. Finally, it took them several iterations and processors considerations before being ready for launch, and ODROID-H2 should become available next month as the first ODROID x86 board. ODROID-H2 will feature an Intel Celeron J4105 Gemini Lake processor, two SO-DIMM slots for memory, two SATA ports and M.2 NVMe slot for storage, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, a mix of USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, and more. ODROID-H2 board specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad core processor @ up to 2.3 GHz (real frequency) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4-PC19200 (2400MT/s) supporting up to 32GiB RAM in total Storage – M.2 PCIe 2.0 x4 slot for one NVMe storage, 2x SATA 3.0 ports, […]

Raspberry Pi TV HAT Adds a DVB-T2 Tuner to Raspberry Pi Boards

Raspberry Pi TV HAT Kit

The Raspberry Pi foundation has just launched another official HAT for their maker boards with the Raspberry Pi TV HAT based on Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, and is equipped a DVB-T2/T tuner in order to convert your board into a Linux based digital TV receiver and recorder. Raspberry Pi TV HAT specifications: Sony CXD2880 TV tuner Supported TV standards DVB-T2 (1.7MHz, 5MHz, 6MHz, 7MHz, 8MHz channel bandwidth DVB-T (5MHz, 6MHz, 7MHz, 8MHz channel bandwidth) Reception frequency: VHF III, UHF IV, UHF V RF coaxial input for antenna connection RPi Interface – 40-pin RPi header Dimensions – 65 x 30 mm (half-size HAT) Operating temperature – 0–50°C The Raspberry Pi TV HAT is also known as the Raspberry Pi DVB TV μHAT based on the markings on the board’s silkscreen. The add-on boards follows a new HAT specification called the “half-size HAT” matching Raspberry Pi Zero board’s dimensions. Instructions to use […]

Arm Mbed Gets a Linux OS for Cortex-A Processors

Mbed Linux OS

Arm Mbed is known as a free, open source platform and operating system that makes it easier to design IoT products based on Cortex-M micro-controllers, but the company figured out it might be a good idea to make something similar for IoT devices based on Arm Cortex-A processor and that’s exactly what Mbed Linux OS is made for. Embedded & IoT devices normally need to be supported for many years,  often optimized for cost and battery life, and make sure security patchsets are applying to your products. Companies often managed to do all those themselves but it’s not the most cost-effective solution, so  instead Arm decided to leverage Linux and offer Mbed Linux OS optimized for IoT devices yo their customers. The solution comes with built-in security, device management (e.g. OTA firmware upgrades) via the Pelion IoT Platform, common development tools for faster time to market, and so on. Some […]

La Frite Amlogic S805X Board Runs Mainline Linux, Goes for $5 and Up (Crowdfunding)

AML-S805X-AC Board

Libre Computer first started with their AML-S905X-CC (aka Le Potato) board powered by Amlogic S905X processor last year, and they’ve since then launched several other boards based on Allwinner or Rockchip processor. But their latest “La Frite” board – also known as AML-S805X-AC – is an even lower cost version of the “Le Potato” board, with an Amlogic S805X processor limited to 1080p60 output and video decoding, a smaller footprint based on the one for Raspberry Pi Model A+, and price starting at just $5 on Kickstarter. AML-S805X-AC “La Frite” board specifications: SoC – Amlogic S805X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with penta core ARM Mali-450MP GPU @ 650 MHz, and Amlogic Video Engine 10 System Memory – 512 MB or 1GB DDR4 @ 2400 MHz Storage –   eMMC module connector, 128 Mb SPI NOR flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 port Video Codecs Decoding […]

THEC64 Mini Small Commodore C64 Replica is Now for Sale for $80

THEC64 Mini

Mini versions of retro computers and game consoles are now really a thing. After Nintendo NES Classic / SNES Classic, and Sony PlayStation Classic announcement, all of which are smaller versions of popular older consoles with modern interface like HDMI, Retro Games has now unveiled THEC64 Mini (apparently no typo) that is a small scale replica – half size to be exact – of Commodore C64 computer launched in 1982. THEC64 mini specifications based on Sunxi Wiki and official product page: SoC – Allwinner A20 dual core Cortex-A7 procesor System Memory – 512MB DDR3 Storage – TBD NAND flash Video Output – HDMI 1.4 output at 720p USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – Power button Power Supply – 5V/1A via micro USB port Dimensions – 205 x 105 x 35mm You may notice a keyboard on the photo, but that’s just for aesthetics, as the keys are […]

Beelink X55 Review – An Intel Gemini Lake mini PC Tested with Windows 10 and Linux

Beelink X55 board

The Beelink X55 is very similar in style to Intel’s NUC7PJYH NUC reviewed earlier except that it is not a kit but a fully functional Windows mini PC. It is physically small consisting of an approximately 4.5″ by 4” case about 1¾” tall with a front panel that includes the power button and a couple of USB ports and a headphone jack with the rest of the ports including two HDMI (2.0) ones at the rear: The specifications include: The key highlights are that the Beelink X55 comes a 128GB mSATA SSD with pre-installed Windows 10 Home together with 8GB DDR4 RAM (soldered and is non-expandable) and space plus a connector for an SSD. Starting with a quick look at the hardware information shows it is mostly aligned to the specification but see the note below about the memory: As usual I ran my standard set of benchmarking tools to […]

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