smart speaker News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 18, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MIPI SoundWire I3S (SWI3S) targets high-bandwidth, low-latency audio applications

The MIPI Alliance has recently released the SoundWire I3S (MIPI SWI3S v1.0) specification for high-bandwidth, low-latency audio applications which unify control and data over a single, power-efficient interface. SWI3S builds upon the two-pin, multi-drop architecture of MIPI SoundWire released in 2014, and offers higher bandwidth, low power consumption, much better noise immunity, and support for scalable multi-device topologies to meet the increasing requirements of embedded audio systems. MIPI SWI3S v1.0 supports data rates up to 76 Mbps against 24 Mbps for the earlier SLIMbus and SoundWire audio interfaces, and improves noise immunity by operating in “forwarded clock” or “differential low voltage signaling”. It also implements a range of new features such as Hubs, multiple PHY support, control CRC, power-saving techniques, and more. MIPI SoundWire I3S key features: Transports audio data, control commands, interrupt signals, and synchronization information over a unified two-pin link Forwarded bit clock single-ended (FBCSE) and differential low-voltage […]

October 13, 2025October 13, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Ubo Pod – A Raspberry Pi 4/5-based personal AI assistant (Crowdfunding)

The Ubo Pod Developer Edition (DE) is an open-source AI vision and conversational voice assistant platform built around the Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, and designed for developers who want more control over their AI experiences. The device aims to replace black boxes like Amazon Echo or Google Next AI assistants, with an open hardware smart speaker running open-source software, and offering features such as speech-to-text, LLMs/VLMs, text-to-speech, tool calling, and various multiple trigger mechanisms, among others. The Ubo Pod supports both cloud-based and fully local private AI, and features an embedded GUI on the integrated display and a WebUI for no-code setup. Ubo Pod specifications: SBC Ubo Pro 4 – Raspberry Pi 4 Ubo Pro 5 – Raspberry Pi 5 Storage 32GB MicroSD card included and preloaded with OS. Ubo Pro 5 – M.2 PCIe socket for NVMe SSD (or AI accelerator) Display – 1.54-inch color TFT IPS display […]

October 3, 2025October 2, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

M5Stack LLM-8850 card – An M.2 M-Key AI accelerator module based on Axera AX8850 24 TOPS SoC

M5Stack LLM‑8850 card is an M.2 M-Key 2242 AI acceleration module powered by an Axera AX8850 SoC delivering 24 TOPS ( INT8) of performance, and suitable for host devices such as Raspberry Pi 5, Rockchip RK3588 SBCs, and even x86 PCs like mini PCs with a spare M.2 Key-M socket. The card ships with 8GB RAM, a 32Mbit SPI NOR flash, and also supports H.265/H.264 8Kp30 video encoding and 8Kp60 video decoding, with up to 16 channels for 1080p videos. It is also equipped with an active cooling system to maintain stable temperatures and prevent thermal degradation inside enclosures. M5Stack LLM‑8850 card specifications: SoC – Axera AX8850 CPU – Octa-core Cortex‑A55 processor at 1.7 GHz NPU – 24 TOPS @ INT8 VPU Video Encoder – 8K @ 30 fps H.264/H.265 encoding, supports scaling / cropping Video Decoder – 8K @ 60 fps H.264/H.265 decoding, supports 16 channels 1080p parallel decoding, supports scaling / cropping Memory – 8GB 64‑bit LPDDR4x @ 4266 Mbps Storage – 32Mbit QSPI NOR […]

September 26, 2025September 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Espressif’s EchoEar ESP32-S3 voice-controlled AI chatbot runs esp-brookesia firmware

Espressif EchoEar Smart AI Development Kit

Espressif Systems’ EchoEar is a compact ESP32-S3 AI chatbot designed for voice interaction and edge AI applications, for smart toys, voice-enabled speakers, and control systems. It features a 1.85-inch circular touch display, a dual microphone array with local wake-word detection, and support for large AI models from OpenAI, Xiaozhi AI, and Gemini. The kit is built around the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 module, and also integrates a 3W speaker for audio interaction, and a microSD card slot for data storage. Other hardware features include a BMI270 IMU, a green LED, a USB-C port, a magnetic connector, and a battery management chip. Espressif EchoEar Specifications Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM ROM – 284KB Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 Storage – 16MB […]

September 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Arm introduces Lumex platform with SME2-enabled C1 CPU for Edge AI, Mali-G1 GPU

Arm Lumex CSS (Compute SubSystem) platform for mobile devices combines high-performance Arm C1 CPUs with Scalable Matrix Extension version 2 (SME2) and Mali-G1 GPUs to enable real-time on-device AI use cases like assistants, voice translation, and personalization. Lumex is part of Arm’s new product naming architecture announced last May, and targets specifically mobile devices. Arm says SME2-enabled Arm CPUs can deliver up to 5x faster AI performance, 4.7x lower latency for speech-based workloads, and 2.8x faster audio generation. Lumex components: Next-generation SME2-enabled Armv9.3 CPU cluster: C1-Ultra for flagship peak performance with +25% single-thread performance vs Cortex-X925; suitable for large-model inference, computational photography, content creation, generative AI C1-Premium with C1-Ultra performance, but greater area efficiency (35% smaller area than C1-Ultra); suitable for sub-flagship mobile segments, voice assistants, multitasking C1-Pro for sustained efficiency; +16% sustained performance vs Cortex-A725; ideal for video playback, streaming inference C1-Nano for maximum efficiency, smaller area for wearables, […]

August 30, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board smart speaker devkit features a dual mic array, LCD/camera connectors, RGB LEDs

ESP32 S3 AI Smart Speaker Development Board

Waveshare’s ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board is an ESP32-S3-based low-cost smart speaker development kit with a dual microphone array, a speaker header, echo cancellation, surround RGB lighting, RTC, microSD card storage, and expansion interfaces for LCDs and DVP cameras. The board integrates an ES8311 audio DAC and an ES7210 4-channel audio ADC, along with a PCF85063 RTC for timekeeping. It also supports Wi-Fi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE with both ceramic and IPEX antenna options, and takes power from a USB Type-C port or an optional 3.7V Li-ion battery with a charging circuit. The ESP32-S3 audio board offers GPIO/I²C/SPI expansion and seven programmable RGB LEDs. Waveshare ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity Storage – 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card socket Display – Onboard LCD […]

August 26, 2025August 25, 2025 by Debashis Das - No Comments

LILYGO T-Circle-S3 – An ESP32-S3 devkit with 0.75-inch circular touch display, microphone and speaker

The LILYGO T-Circle-S3 is a circular touch display development board built around the ESP32-S3 MCU and designed for smart gadgets, IoT devices, and wearable applications. The board integrates Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0, a MEMS microphone, a 3W Class-D audio amplifier with speaker support, an RGB LED, six rear GPIO pins, a Qwiic interface, and USB-C for charging. The board is very similar to the Waveshare RP2350-LCD-1.28, with its round display design, but it does not support wireless connectivity and audio. It also resembles SB Components’ Dual Roundy (ESP32-S3), but compared to that, the T-Circle-S3 is smaller and features a touch display, a microphone, a speaker amplifier, and an RGB LED. LILYGO T-Circle-S3 specifications: Wireless SoC – ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instruction Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Storage – 384KB ROM Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE Storage […]

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH development board supports Ethernet and PoE

Waveshare ESP32 P4 ETH Edge AI dev baord with ESP32 P4 and Ethernet

Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH is a compact ESP32-P4 development board with Ethernet and PoE support, which looks very similar to the Olimex ESP32-P4-DevKit minus the pUEXT connector. However, we’ve also covered other ESP32-P4 boards with Ethernet (and other features) such as the ESP32-P4-Module-DEV-KIT, the ESP32-P4-NANO board, and the GUITION JC-ESP32P4-M3-DEV. Design wise, the board also looks very similar to the Wiznet boards based on Raspberry Pi RP2xxx microcontroller such as the W55RP20-EVB-Pico, the W6300-EVB-Pico2, and the W5100S-EVB-Pico2 boards, but you can also run multimedia workloads with MIPI camera and display interfaces, hardware video encoding, audio processing, AI speech functions, and advanced security features on the ESP32-P4-ETH board. Waveshare ESP32-P4-ETH specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4 CPU Dual-core 32-bit RISC-V HP (High-performance) CPU @ up to 400 MHz with AI instructions extension and single-precision FPU Single-RISC-V LP (Low-power) MCU core @ up to 40 MHz Memory 768 KB HP L2MEM (for dual-core CPU), 32 […]