Hardware Packs for AllWinner A10 Devices and Easier Method to Create a Bootable Ubuntu 12.04 SD Card

Linaro has a tool called linaro-media-create to install Linaro Ubuntu to an SD card by passing the device, hardware pack file, the rootfs and the board as arguments. Hardware packs are files that contains hardware specific binaries and configs files (e.g. bootloader, kernel…). I’ve done something similar (albeit more basic) for AllWinner A10 devices so that you can easily install and run Ubuntu (and possibly other distributions) on an SD card. I’ve written 2 scripts for this: a10-hwpack-bld.sh – Script to generate evb.bin, build the latest u-boot and linux kernel, retrieve some config files and compress all this in an hardware pack file a1x-media-create.sh – Script to make a bootable SD card for AllWinner A10 devices. You can get the scripts with git:

I’ve only tested it with Mele A1000, but if you have other A10 devices such as MK802 mini PC or MINI X media player, it should […]

Geniatech Enjoy TV Stick ATV100: Amlogic AML8726-M3 Android 4.0 HDMI Dongle

Geniatech showcased the Enjoy TV Stick ATV100 at Computex 2012. This is yet another HDMI stick running Android 4.0, but instead of being powered by AllWinner A10 like most others, it is based on AMLogic AML8726-M3 (Single core Cortex A9) clocked at 800 MHz. The device also comes with 1 GB DDR3 memory, 2GB NAND Flash and features 2 USB ports (Standard USB 2.0 Host + mini USB OTG), a microSD slot and a port for an IR extension cable. Contrary to all HDMI dongles I have seen, there is also an external Wi-Fi antenna, as you can see on the picture above. An InfraRed remote with 6 keys is also included. The first part of the video below is about Geniatech ATV1200, an Android 4.0 set-top box based on AMLogic AML8726-MX (Dual Core Cortex A9), and the part about ATV100 starts at 2:23. I think there is a misunderstanding […]

Zero Devices Z900 Android 4.0 HDMI Stick

A reader (Thanks Javier!) tipped me about the Zero Devices Z900, an upcoming Android 4.0 mini PC, by one of the companies providing the MK802 / Z802 mini PC. Here are the unofficial specifications: ARM Processor @ 1Ghz with Mali-400 GPU (AllWinner A10 ?, Wrong guess. It’s Telechips TCC8925) 512 MB RAM 4 GB Flash and microSD slot HDMI video output Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 1x USB 2.0 port and 1x mini USB port (power) OS – Android 4.0 Dimensions – 89 x 32 x 18 mm Weight – 38 grams This little device also support 3D video playback. Availability and pricing are not available yet, but we can expect it to be in the same price range of his little brother (MK802 / Z802) that is around 70 to 80 USD including shipping. Since it has an HDMI male connector, it can be more convenient than the MK802 as you […]

Droid Stick KVD-13 Another Low Cost Android mini-PC

Following the steps of the $74 Android 4.0 mini PC (MK802), a couple more ARM based mini PCs have shown up, including Shenzhen Kimdecent Technology Droid Stick KVD-13 powered by a Renesas processor based on Cortex A9 with a PowerVR SGX530 GPU (possibly Renesas NEC EV2 processor), featuring 512 MB RAM, 4GB Flash and running Android 2.3. The good thing with this mini PC is that the HDMI connector is of the right gender: male. No offense to HDMI female connectors ;), but for this type of device, it’s just neat to plug it directly into the TV/monitor HDMI connector. Here are the device specifications: CPU Renesas Cortex-A9 Dual Core Processor @ 1GHz with PowerVG SGX530 GPU System Memory 512MB DDR3 Storage 4GB NAND Flash microSD card Connectivity WiFi 802.11b/g/n USB Ports 1x USB 2.0 Host 1x mini USB (for power) Video Output 1x HDMI 1.4 (Up to 1080p) Video Codecs […]

74 USD AllWinner A10 Android 4.0 Mini PC

A cheap white brand Android 4.0 USB/HDMI Stick based on AllWinner A10 has started to show up in Chinese websites. Initially, I thought it was like a low cost version of FXI Tech Cotton Candy (which will start shipping this month), but as you can see in the image below, the HDMI port is female so you’d still need a HDMI cable. The hole next to the USB port should be for the power supply, so this device is apparently not powered via USB (TBC). Connect a wireless mouse and keyboard to the device, the power supply, and an HDMI cable to your TV, and you’ve got yourself a cheap PC running Android 4.0. Since this is based on AllWinner A10, you could also insert a microSD card with Ubuntu, Debian or your other favorite Linux distribution and have yourself a Linux PC. Here are the specifications of the device […]

AMD Embedded G-Series mini-PC, motherboard and thin client

AMD announced its embedded processor G-Series at CES 2011. Here are some products that will be soon available based on this platform. Futjisu Mini-ITX mainboards – models D3003-S1 and D3003-S2 The D3003-S1 motherboard will feature an AMD Single-Core T44R (1.2GHz/9W) and the D3003-S2 an AMD Dual-Core T56N (1.6GHz/18W). Both models will have an onboard ATI graphics card with VGA, DVI, LVDS (D3003-S1 only) and diplayport  (D3003-S2 only) outputs, HD Audio,  dual GbE LAN, serial ATA III RAID, mSATA socket support, USB 2.0, 8 Bit GPIO connector and be designed for fanless operation. Mass production of the boards will start in April 2011. Check the preliminary specifications for details. CompuLab’s fit-PC3 mini-PC Compulab already manufactures the fit-PC2 and fit-PC2i based on the Intel Atom platforms running Linux, Windows XP and Windows 7. The Israel-based company  will embed AMD Embedded G-Series processor in its latest fit-PC3 mini-PC. This “miniature fanless industrial PC” […]