open source News - Page 73 of 91 - CNX Software

January 10, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

$60 MarsBoard Rockchip PX2 Development Board Runs Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, or Android 4.4

Haoyu Electronics has made a new board similar to their MarsBoard RK3066, but instead of using a CPU module with Rockchip RK3066, they’ve used the industrial version of the chip called Rockchip PX2 dual core Cortex A9 processor. The board is also comprised of a baseboard and CPU module (CM-PX2), and based on the name of the pictures it’s using the exact same PCB: CM-RK3066 SoM, and SOM-RK3066 baseboard, but they simply replaced RK3066 by PX2, and increased the NAND flash capacity to 8GB. CM-PX2 Computer-on-Module: SoC – Rockchip PX2 dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.4 GHz + Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND Power Management Unit – TPS659102 Misc – TX indicator LED use for debug, Power Indicator LED 10/100M Ethernet PHY – LAN8720A Connectors – 2x 100- pin for baseboard connection, 40-pin connector (unsoldered) Dimensions – 70 x 58 mm SOM-RK3066 […]

January 2, 2015January 2, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Fernvale Open Source Hardware IoT Board Based on Mediatek MT6260 SoC with GSM Connectivity

Andrew Huang (Bunnie), an hardware engineer, known for hacking the original XBOX, and more recently for Novena open source laptop, has decided it could be interesting to reverse-engineer Mediatek MT6260 processor, as in China, it’s difficult to get documentation, SDK, and tools if you don’t commit to purchase X chips, where X is a rather large number. He and others also checked whether their work could be open sourced legally, and assert their “fair use” rights to reverse-engineer hardware and firmware. And so Fernvale project was born both as a technical challenge and to make a point. MT6260 is a $3 ARM7EJ-S processor clocked at 364 MHz with 8MB built-in RAM, interfaces such as I2C, SPI, PWM, UART, as well as LCD and touchscheen controller, and audio codec, battery charger, USB, Bluetooth, and GSM support, which make the $6 Atmel MCU used in Arduino board look expensive. The main differences […]

December 10, 2014February 2, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 87 Comments

Hardkernel ODROID-C1 is a $35 Development Board Powered by Amlogic S805 Quad Core Processor

Amlogic S805 is a quad core Cortex A5 processor which has found it way into low cost devices such as MK808B Plus TV Stick which can be purchased for as low as $30, or full-sized TV box such as MXQ S85 or MINIX NEO X6. All this low cost devices are nice, but the full source code is not available in your want to adapt them to your need. Luckily, Amlogic releases both an Android SDK, and a buildroot for Linux with GPU and Video Processing Unit (VPU) support, so Hardkernel decided to go ahead, designed a board, and has just launched ODROID-C1 quad core development board for just $35, or the exact price of a Raspberry Pi Model B+, but with much greater specs. ODROID-C1 specifications: SoC- Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex-A5 processor with a Mali-450MP2 GPU (2x fragment cores + 2x vertex shader cores) System Memory – 1GB […]

December 5, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

MIPS Creator CI20 Development Board is Now Available for $65

When Imagination Technologies first announced their developer program for MIPS Creator CI20 board, they did not disclose the price, but based on the specifications I estimated that a decent price would be $70 o $80. The company has now announced broad availability of the board, which can be pre-ordered for just $65 or 50 GBP depending on the continent you live in, with shipping scheduled for the end of January 2015. This development board is based on Ingenic JZ4780 dual core MIPS processor with 1GB DDR3, 8GB flash, and features an HDMI output up to 1080p, Audio in and out, a Fast Ethernet RJ45 port, a Wireless module with Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi, an IR receiver, and expansion headers. Several projects have already been ported by developers who got their free board a few months, ago including XBMC/Kodi, several games such as Spiral Episode 1, and beside Android 4.4 and […]

November 20, 2014November 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$249 Jolla Tablet Runs Sailfish OS 2.0 on a Quad Core Intel Processor (Crowdfunding)

After launching the Jolla phone last year, Jolla has now unveiled the Jolla Tablet running the company’s Sailfish OS, and just like Nokia N1, powered by a quad core Intel processor. Instead of directly using a pre-order system like with the Jolla smartphone, they’ve decided to launch an Indiegogo campaign, and price the tablet much more aggressively than the phone, as perks started at just $189 for early backers. Jolla tablet specifications: SoC – Unnamed Intel 64-bit quad core processor @ 1.8 GHz, which should be Z3740(D), Z3745(D) or Z3560 processor. System Memory – 2GB DDR3L-RS Storage – 32GB eMMC + micro SD slot up to 32GB Display – 7.85″ IPS display, 2048 x 1536 resolution, 5-point capacitive touch Camera – 5.0MP rear camera, 2.0MP front-facing camera Audio – 3.5mm audio jack + speaker(s)? Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, GPS Sensors – Accelerometer, light sensor, and proximity sensor. […]

October 24, 2014October 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Radxa Rock Pro / Lite Development Boards are Now Open Source Hardware

Many projects claim to be “open source hardware” (OSHW) after they’ve released the schematics in PDF format, and source code. But the definition of OSHW has a few more requirements, which is practise means you’ve got to release schematics and PCB layout in the native format, not only in PDF, as well as the gerber files, and the bills of materials. Open Source Hardware can also truly be useful, if you can source the components. and for example, Broadcom BCM2835 processor might be impossible to procure, especially in small quantities, and that makes the Raspberry Pi unsuitable as an open source hardware platform. Existing companies / associations dedicated to OSHW include Arduino, Beagleboard.org, Olimex, etc.., and today Radxa has joined the club by releasing all hardware designs files for Rockchip RK3188 based Radxa Rock Pro and Lite development boards (2014 version) under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This […]

October 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

USB Armory is an Open Source Hardware Freescale i.MX53 Dongle for Security Applications

Most computers-on-a-stick come with an HDMI port, and a few USB ports, but Inverse Path’s dongle is quite different. USB Armory is a flash drive sized computer powered by Freescale i.MX53 Cortex A8 processor with only a USB port and a micro SD slot, that targets security applications such as mass storage devices with automatic encryption, virus scanning, host authentication and data self-destruct, VPN routers, electronic wallets, password managers, portable penetration testing platforms, and so on. USB Armory specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX53 ARM Cortex-A8 @ 800Mhz with ARM TrustZone System Memory – 512MB DDR3 RAM Storage – microSD card slot USB – 1x USB host port. USB device emulation: CDC Ethernet, mass storage, HID, etc. Expansion Header – 5-pin breakout header with GPIOs and UART Misc – customizable LED, including secure mode detection Power – 5V via USB (<500 mA power consumption) Dimensions – 65 x 19 x 6 […]

October 1, 2014July 28, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

HydraBus is an Open Source Hardware STM32 Devkit with Support for NFC via HydraNFC Shield

Recently, I wrote about the public availability of a MicroPython board based on STMicro STM32F4 Cortex M4 support that can easily be programmed with Python. It turns out there’s another STM32 board called HydraBus, also supporting Micro Python firmware, or another embedded firmware based on ChibiOS, together with an optional HydraNFC shield capable of sniffing, reading/writing or emulating any 13.56MHz NFC tags. HydraBus Specifications: MCU – STMicro TM32F405RG micro-controller @ 168 MHz with 1MB flash, 192KB SRAM, and an FPU. External Storage – Micro SD card slot up to 48MHz (~24MB/s) Expansion Headers – 4 headers with access to 44 I/Os (some already used by micro SD and USB 1 & 2). USB – 2x micro USB connector including 1x OTG port, and 1x device/host port, both with ESD protection. Misc – Reset and user button, user LED, Power – 5V via micro USB port. Dimensions – 60mm x […]