mini pc News - Page 97 of 139 - CNX Software

October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Orbbec Persee Android & Ubuntu Mini PC Comes with a 3D Camera and SDK (Crowdfunding)

Orbbec is a startup working on 3D cameras which can be used for gesture recognition, 3D scanning, research purpose, and more. The company has now embedded their Astra 3D sensor into an ARM based mini PC running Android and/or Ubuntu which they call Orbbec Persee. Persee hardware specifications: SoC – Quad core Cortex A17 processor up to 1.8GHz with a Mali-T7xx GPU @ 600 MHz (They did not name it, but it must be Rockchip RK3288) System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, 1x micro SD card slot up to 64GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 Audio Input – 2x microphones Camera – Built-in Astra Pro 3D camera RGB image size – 1280×720 @ 30 fps (UVC support) Depth image size – 640×480 @ 30 fps (16-bit) Range – 0.4 to 8 meters Depth accuracy – 0.5 centimeters at 2 meters Field of view – […]

October 3, 2015October 31, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 37 Comments

Review of Voyo V2 Intel Atom Z3735F mini PC with Battery and SSD

Voyo V2 is another Intel Atom Z3735F mini PC pre-installed with Windows 10 Home, but it has some interesting features such as a 64GB SSD connected via a USB to SATA bridge on top of the regular 32GB eMMC, and a 5,000 mAh battery acting as a UPS. Since I have already received several of such platforms including MeLE PCG01, Wintel W8, and MeLE PCG03 and that there are usually few differences in regular benchmarks, I’ll focus on what varies between platforms: Windows activation status, storage and network performance, as well as power consumption. System Info and Windows Activation One of the shortcoming of this mini PC is that it only comes with a full sized USB port, and a micro USB port. So if you plan to use it as a PC with USB keyboard and mouse, you’ll need to use a USB hub, or at least a USB […]

September 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Android TV Box and OpenELEC Video Tutorials

WeTek has released several video tutorials explaining how to configure WeTek TV boxes such as WeTek Play or WeTek OpenELEC, as well as the upcoming WeTel Core. The tutorials includes instructions for both Android and OpenELEC available in 6 languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and German. Some tutorials are clearly specific to WeTek products, such as “How to Activate WeTek Play membership”, but many of the tutorials are more generic starting from simple configurations steps like configuring HDMI output resolution and framerate, or configuring the network, to more advanced tasks such as configuring a DVB-S2 tuner on TVHeadend in OpenELEC. I’ve embedded the latter video tutorial below for reference. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

September 23, 2015November 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

MagicStick TV Sticks Powered by Intel Atom x5 or x7 Processors Feature up to 8GB RAM, HDMI 2.0, 802.11ac… (Crowdfunding)

Several Cherry Trail Atom x5 MegooPad TV sticks are on the way, but they mostly have similar specs to the previous generation Bay Trail sticks, except with a slightly faster processor, and in some models, USB 3.0 support. An Indian company is currently developing some Cherry Trail TV sticks with impressive specifications including processors such as Intel Atom x7-Z8700, up to 8GB RAM, up to 64GB storage, 802.11ac connections, HDMI 2.0, and USB 3.1 type-C connector. These products are called MagicSticks, and three models will soon be available. [Update 30/9/2015: The indiegogo campaign is up, but the Wave is not shown, and instead MagicStick Power has been renamed to Wave, changes are reflected in the table below] MagicStick One MagicStick Wave MagicStick Power Wave Processor Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor up to 1.83 GHz, with 12 core Gen8 GPU Intel Atom x5-Z8500 processor up to 2.24 GHz, with 12 core Gen8 […]

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

A Look at Android and Windows Mini PCs’ Power Consumption in Power Off, Standby, Idle, and Video Playback Modes

I’ve previously measured power consumption of Amlogic S812 and Rockchip RK3288 based TV boxes using a multimeter. This provides relatively accurate measurements, as well as neat power consumption profiles of devices, but it’s a little complex and time-consuming, so it’s not something I would do for all devices. The easiest way to measure power consumption is to use a kill-a-watt type of device, but my first one broke after only 3 months last year. I purchased a new one recently, so I run run some power measurement tests on several devices. I selected five devices for this test: MeLE PCG01 HDMI stick with Intel Atom Z3735F processor running Windows 10 Zidoo X9 TV box with Mstar MSO9810 running Android 4.4 Open Hour Chameleon TV box with Rockchip RK3288 processor running Android 4.4 Tronsmart Orion R68 Meta TV box with Rockchip RK3368 processor running Android 5.1 Tronfy MXIV TV box with […]

September 21, 2015September 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

MeegoPad T05, T06, T07 HDMI TV Sticks Feature Intel Atom X5 Processors, 2 to 4 GB RAM

Most low cost mini PCs based on Bay Trail or Cherry Trail processor come with only 2GB RAM, which may limit what you can do on such device, and limits multi-tasking abilities. MeegoPad T05 and T06 HDMI sticks will allow you to do more thanks to 4GB RAM connected to a quad core Intel Atom x5-Z8500 a x5-Z8500 processors, while MeegoPad T07 is still limited to 2GB RAM, and features the same x5-Z8300 processor found in Tronsmart Ara X5. MeegoPad T05, T06, T07 preliminary specifications [Update: the specs appear to change daily, see https://plus.google.com/+IanMORRISON/posts/T6MtT6PfVvV]: SoC T05, T06 – Intel Atom x5-Z8500 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Turbo frequency: 2.24 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) T07 – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Turbo frequency: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) System Memory – T05, T06: 4GB […]

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Ruach A20s-H is a $50 RK3368 Android TV Box

Rockchip RK3368 may be the first 64-bit ARM processor, but it’s been designed to be an entry to mid-level SoC for 4K TV boxes, and has been found to significantly underperformed Rockchip RK3288 processor. However, so far many of the products launched on the market have a price very similar to RK3288 TV boxes for equivalent hardware specifications, but Ruach A20s-H brings the price level of HDMI 2.0 capable TV boxes to around $50 shipped. Ruach A20s-H specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – 1 GB RAM Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash Video Output – HDMI 2.0, and composite RCA Audio Output – HDMI, and stereo RCA Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n USB – 2x USB host ports Misc – Recovery pinhole, mechnical power switch Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 195 x 120 […]

September 11, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments

Amlogic S905 Android TV Boxes, Sticks, and Digital TV Receivers Are Coming Soon

Amlogic S905 is the first 64-bit ARM processor of the company, with four Cortex A53 cores, a Mali-450MP GPU, as well as support for HDMI 2.0, and 10-bit HEVC video decoding. It will come to market before S912 processor featuring a Mali-T7xx GPU, and compete with Rockchip RK3368 octa-core processor. I’ve already features two Amlogic S905 TV boxes a few months ago with Acemax G9C and Eny EM95, but these two products were announced several months before the actual release, and now several other products have been announced, and should become available very soon. Geniatech unveiled two products based on Amlogic S905: ATV495 Android TV box, and ATV1950 Android digital TV receiver with dual ATSC, DVB-T, or ISDBT tuners, while Guleek A8 is an Amlogic S905 Android TV stick. Geniatech ATV495 TV Box ATV495 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 2.0GHz with a quad […]