Google Chrome Notebook Cr-48 and Chrome OS Update

After unveiling Google Nexus S and Android 2.3, Google lifted the lid on its reference notebook codenamed “Cr-48″ and provided updates about Chrome OS. This notebook features a 12.1” monitor and runs Chrome OS on an Intel platform. The Cr-48 Chrome Notebook is only designed for Chrome OS pilot program and will be distributed free of charge to selected organization and users in the United States. Here’s an excerpt from Google Chrome OS website: Each participant in the Pilot program will receive a Cr-48 Chrome notebook; in return, we’ll expect you to use it regularly and send us detailed feedback. Sound interesting? Please note: Chrome OS is for people who live on the web. It runs web-based applications, not legacy PC software. The Pilot program is not for the faint of heart. Things might not always work just right. The Pilot program is open to individuals, businesses, schools, non-profits and developers based […]

Google Nexus S and Android 2.3 (GingerBread) Unveiled

After much speculation, Google and Samsung finally lifted the lid on the Nexus S, the successor of Nexus One. It will be available for sale (unlocked) in the US on the 16th of December (Best Buy – 529 USD)  and the UK on the 20th of December (Carphone Warehouse – 549.95 GBP) Samsung/Google Nexus S runs Android 2.3 (gingerbread) on a processor based on cortex A8 (Hummingbird) clocked at 1 GHz, with 512 MB RAM, 16 GB internal storage. The full specs are available on Google Nexus S page. One interesting new feature is Near Field Communications (NFC) that will allow the device to read RFIDs (e.g. for Interactive Advertising) and behave like a contact less card. So the phone might be used to make payments in the future and replace your credit/debit card. It could also be used as a contactless stored value smart card  similar to the Octopus […]

What is Augmented Reality ? How to develop Augmented Reality applications ?

Now, we start to hear many smartphones or tablet pc feature Augmented Reality (AR). But what is it exactly? Are there any applications right now? How to development application making use of Augmented Reality? Augmented Reality Definition Ronald Azuma’s definition says that Augmented Reality: combines real and virtual is interactive in real time is registered in 3D Augmented Reality Applications Augmented Reality usually involves a real-life background capture (image or video) which is then going through image recognition and finally, some data is overlaid on top of this background. Here are some of applications that are available today (commercially or experimentally): PSV Eindoven has created an application to track offside at football matches. Augmented Reality Business cards can be scanned, recognized and a video presentation of the person and/or the company on the business card can be played back. Augmented Reality can help you find your way (and your holes) […]

Resources for Intel Atom CE41xx: CE4100, CE4130, CE4150

Intel Atom CE4100 (Codename: Sodaville) is a System-on-Chip (SoC) media processor designed for use in set-top boxes, media player and internet TVs such as D-Link Boxee Box and Sony NSX-24GT1 Google TV. The Atom CE4100 is a 45nm-manufactured SoC running at 1.2 GHz. The Atom CE4100 supports hardware decode of up to two 1080p video streams (H.264, VC-1, MPEG-4/Divx..)  and advanced 3-D graphics. It is also able to handle Adobe Flash 10 and 3D gaming as well. For further details about the processor, please refer to Intel Atom CE4100 Product Brief. [ad#Google Adsense – Wide Banner] The Atom CE4100 custom linux kernel and SDK are not publicly available, and you’ll need to contact an Intel FAE if you want to develop on the platform. However, some development tools for Atom (i.e The Intel(R) Embedded Software Development Tool Suite for Intel(R) Atom(TM) Processor) including a C++ compiler (GCC compatible), performance primitives […]

In-Home Displays for Smart Grid – Atmel – Mentor Embedded

I’ve just attended a webinar organized by Mentor Graphics entitled “In-Home Displays: Enabling Smart Grid into every home” with Atmel and Mentor Embedded. This webinar is now available on-demand at http://go.mentor.com/hAz8 This webinar is divided into 2 parts: Frederic Gaillard – Product Marketing Manager at ATMEL – gave an overview of Smart Grid and its different components and presented Atmel Solutions: MCU/MPU, wireless chips (Zigbee/Wi-Fi) and touch screen chipset. Gordon Cameron – Business Development Manager at Mentor Embedded – focused on the difficulties in developing a user interface for In-Home Displays within a short time frame and how Mentor Embedded UI design solution Inflexion could help greatly reduce the development schedule. There was no external files for this webinar, so I created 2 PDF with the most relevant slides for your reference: Atmel Smart Grid and In-Home Displays Mentor Embedded In-Home Displays UI Development Tools Frederic Gaillard shortly explained the […]

Resources for Qualcomm Snapdragon: MSM7x30, MSM8x55, MSM8x60 and QSD8x50

The Snapdragon processors are the latest generation of Qualcomm mobile chips used in smartphones (e.g. Google Nexus One) and tablets (e.g. Dell Streak). There are currently 3 generations of Snapdragon chipsets: First-Generation: QSD8x50 chipsets consisting of QSD8250™ and QSD8650™ based on ARM11 core running at 1GHz, a 595 MHz DSP, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics with Adreno 200 GPU, integrated Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS capabilities, a 12-megapixel camera and 720p video encode / decode. Second-Generation: MSM8x55 chipsets consisting of MSM8255™ and MSM8655™ based on ARM11 core running at 1 GHz as well as MSM7x30 chipsets consisting of MSM7230™ and MSM7630™ running at 800 MHz. All second generation chipsets use Adreno 205 GPU. Third-Generation: MSM8x60 chipsets platform consisting of  MSM8260™ and MSM8660™, dual-core CPU running up to 1.2 GHz with Adreno 220 GPU.  The QSD8672 running at 1.5GHz will also be part of the third generation and samples will be shipped by the […]

Resources for Qualcomm MSM722x: MSM7225, MSM7227

Qualcomm MSM722x processors – part of MSM (Mobile Station Modem) series – are mainly used in mobile phones and to a lesser extend in tablets such as WellCoM A800. You won’t find any proper documents or information in Qualcomm website (see Qualcomm MSM page) except the following description: Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) chipset solutions enable cost-effective mobile handsets with advanced capabilities that leverage 3G technology yet minimize development time. Offered on four discrete platforms for tailored functionality, each chipset is integrated with a select set of features from Qualcomm’s multimedia suite of applications to enrich the user experience while maintaining cost-target objectives. So if you plan on developing on that platform, you’ll need to visit Qualcomm developer website to get most of the information you’ll need. There are two chipsets with similar characteristics. MSM7225 The MSM7225 chipset includes a 528 MHz ARM11 processor with a floating point unit (FPU).  […]

Resources for Telechips TCC890x: TCC8900 & TCC8902

Telechips TCC 890x is now widely used in low cost Android Tablets among other applications (automotive, portable media player..). Here’s the description provided by Telechips: The TCC890x is a system LSI for digital multimedia applications based on ARM1176JZF-S, an ARM’s proprietary RISC CPU core. It is designed for high-end multimedia entertainment devices such as car AVN, portable multimedia player and home entertainment. The TCC890x supports decoding and encoding various types of video and audio standards with software and dedicated hardware codecs including JPEG / MPEG1 / MPEG2 / MPEG4 / H.264 / VC-1 up to Full HD (1080p) and MP3 / WMA / EAAC+ / AC3, etc. In addition, TCC890x offers a hardwired 3D graphic accelerator to enrich next generation GUI and other graphical applications. Although, Telechips claims to support WinCE, Embedded Linux and Android, they now fully focus on Android development giving other OSes a lower priority. However, the development board […]

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