SMOS DeX Station is a $40 DeX Pad Alternative for Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, & Note 8, and Other USB Type C Phones

Samsung-DeX-Station-Clone

DeX is the “Desktop Experience” on some premium Samsung Galaxy phones that allow you to run apps on an HDMI display or TV through Samsung Dex Pad that sells for $75 and up. But if you want to save some money, there’s an DeX Pad alternative with SMOS DeX Station going for $39.99 on Amazon, which should also work with other phones with a USB type C port, but obviously without Samsung DeX mode. The dock includes a USB type C port to connect your phone, as well as USB 3.0 type A ports for keyboard and mouse, or optional mass storage device, HDMI output port up to 4K @ 60 Hz according to the specifications, and a USB type C charging port. The dock ships with a 60cm USB type C cable, and a 1.5m HDMI cable. Amazon reviews are mixed with people really happy about their purchase, but […]

Linux 4.17 Release – Main Changes, Arm & MIPS Architectures

Linus Torvalds released Linux 4.17 last Sunday: So this last week was pretty calm, even if the pattern of most of the stuff coming in on a Friday made it feel less so as the weekend approached. And while I would have liked even less changes, I really didn’t get the feeling that another week would help the release in any way, so here we are, with 4.17 released. No, I didn’t call it 5.0, even though all the git object count numerology was in place for that. It will happen in the not _too_distant future, and I’m told all the release scripts on kernel.org are ready for it, but I didn’t feel there was any real reason for it. I suspect that around 4.20 – which is I run out of fingers and toes to keep track of minor releases, and thus start getting mightily confused – I’ll switch […]

Samsung Aurora Smart Speaker Prototype is Powered by a Smartphone, Features an Hologram-like Character

Samsung Electronics has showcased a smart / A.I. speaker prototype at SXSW 2018 trade show last month, that can be manufactured at low cost since it relies on a smartphone to provide a processor, microphone, and other equipment. The smart speaker also uses the smartphone’s screen to show an hologram to greet users. Meet Samsung “Aurora”. The smartphone is placed horizontally (blue above) in a slot in the upper part of the speaker, and a hologram-like character floats above the Bluetooth speaker included of the kit. The part on the top surface is an optical mechanism using the smartphone’s camera for image recognition. The smart speaker also charges the phone, but it’s unclear how you are supposed to answer phone calls once it is inserted in the speaker… The concept looks similar to Vinclu Gatebox which we covered in 2016, except it relies on a smartphone. Samsung is said to […]

Samsung Exynos 9610 (7 Series) Processor Unveiled with Full HD 480 FPS Slow-Motion Support

Samsung has announced yet another Exynos 7 series application processor with  Exynos 9610, built on Samsung’s 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET process, and supporting premium features such as deep learning-based image processing and slow motion video recording at 480 frames per second in full HD. The SoC includes four Cortex-A73 cores, four Cortex-A53, and Arm Mali-G72MP GPU, a sensor hub based on a Cortex M4F real-time core, an LTE Cat 13 modem, 802.11ac WiFi and more. Samsung Exynos 9610 key specifications: CPU – Quad core Arm Cortex-A73 @ up to 2.3 GHz, quad core Arm Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G72 MP3 Memory I/F – LPDDR4x Storage I/F – UFS 2.1, eMMC 5.1 Display – Up to WQXGA (2560×1600) Camera – Rear: 24MP; Front: 24MP,; Dual Camera: 16+16MP Video – 4K UHD 120fps encoding and decoding with HEVC/H.265), H.264, VP9 Connectivity LTE Modem –  LTE Cat.12 3CA 600Mbps […]

Eagleye 530s Board Features Samsung Artik 530s IoT Module, Leverages Raspberry Pi Form Factor

Samsung Artik 530 is a module designed for the Internet of Things based on a quad core Arm Cortex A9 processor, and supporting Ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and 802.15.4/Zigbee/Thread connectivity, as well as exposing display and camera interfaces, and of course various I/Os. The module was launched about one year ago with a developer kit that cost $189 and up, but Samsung has now worked with Seeed Studio to launch a cheaper developer board – called Eagleye – based on the secure version of the module (Artik 530s) and mostly following Raspberry Pi form factor in order to take advantage of its hardware ecosystem. Eagleye 530s board specifications: SoC – Unnamed quad core Arm Cortex A9 processor @ 1.2GHz with 3D graphics accelerator System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, SD card slot Connectivity 802.11a/b/g/n dual band SISO (2.4G/5G)  Bluetooth 4.2(BLE+Classic) Zigbee/Thread 802.15.4 Gigabit Ethernet […]

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ Smartphones Launched with Snapdragon 845 or Exynos 9810 SoC

After various leaks on the web, Samsung has now officially launched their flagship smartphones – Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ – at Mobile World Congress 2018. The phones look very much like last year’s Samsung S8/S8+ smartphones, but include faster processors with either Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 or Samsung Exynos 9810, better cameras (e.g. super slow motion mode @ 960 fps, low light improvements), some design tweaks (fingerprint scanner under the camera instead of on the side), and some new software features, like AR Emoji that creates your own virtual avatar based on your photo. Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ specifications: SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor with four Kryo 385 cores @ up to 2.8 GHz, four Kryo 385 cores @ up to 1.7 GHz, Adreno 630 GPU; 10nm Samsung Exynos 9810 oct-acore processor with four Exynos M3 core @ up to 2.7 GHz (Anandtech claims the max frequency can only be achieved when […]

Samsung Exynos 7885 Processor Launched for Mid-Range LTE Smartphones

After unveiling Exynos 7872 Series5 hexa core processor in January, Samsung has now introduced a higher end Series7 octa-core processor with Cortex A73 and 53 cores, and a Mali-G71 MP2 GPU named Exynos 7885. The new processor also supports 18:9 Full HD+ displays, LTE Cat 12 for download up to 600 Mbps, dual camera, 4K 30 fps video decoding/encoding, and comes with an LPDDR4x memory interface. Samsung Exynos7 7885 processor specifications: CPU – Dual-core Cortex-A73 @ up to 2.2 GHz, and Hexa core Cortex A53 @ up to 1.6GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G71 MP2 Memory I/F – LPDDR4x Storage I/F – eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0 Display – Up to WUXGA (1920×1200), Full HD+ (2220×1080) LTE Modem – LTE Cat.12 3CA 600Mbps (DL) / Cat.13 2CA 150Mbps (UL) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11ac Dual-band, Bluetooth 5, FM Radio GNSS –  GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo Camera –  Rear 21.7MP, Front 21.7MP, Dual camera: 16MP+16MP […]

Samsung Unveils Exynos 7872 Hexa-core Arm Cortex A73/A53 Mobile Processor

Samsung has introduced a new hexa-core Exynos 5 series processor with Exynos 7872 featuring two Cortex A73 cores, four Cortex A53 cores, a Mali-G71 MP1 GPU, and an LTE modem that supports Category 7 with 2CA for 300Mbps downlink speed and Category 13 with 2CA for 150Mbps. The new processor claims to bring premium performance to mid-tier device with a doubling of single core performance compared to its predecessor, which should be Exynos 5430 or Exynos 5422 octa-core Cortex A15A/7 processor. Samsung Exynos5 7872 processor specifications: CPU – Dual-core Cortex-A73 @ up to 2.0GHz, and Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G71 MP1 Memory I/F – LPDDR3 Storage I/F – eMMC 5.1, SD 3.0 Display – Up to WUXGA (1920×1200) LTE Modem – LTE Cat.7 2CA 300Mbps (DL) / Cat.13 2CA 150Mbps (UL) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11n Dual-band, Bluetooth 5, FM Radio GNSS –  GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo […]