smart speaker News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 25, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Khadas Mind Graphics 2 review – A powerful NVIDIA Geforce RTX 5060 Ti eGPU dock for the Mind 2 mini PC

Earlier this month, I received the Khadas Mind 2 (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) mini PC with two accessories connecting through the Mind Link (PCIe x8) connector: The Mind xPlay Display and Keyboard combo, and the Mind Graphics 2 dock, adding a range of interfaces and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU with 16GB of VRAM. After going through the specifications, an unboxing, and a partial teardown in the first part of the review, I tested the Mind xPlay using the Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs running Windows 11 and Ubuntu 24.04. I’ve now had time to test the Khadas Mind Graphics 2 dock with the Mind 2 mini PC running Windows 11, so I’ll report my experience with the NVIDIA GPU (3D graphics and AI), and test all features, including 2.5GbE networking, the built-in speakers, microphone array, and so on. A few gremlins and system info When […]

May 22, 2026May 25, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ESP32-S31 development boards unveiled for IoT, Smart Audio, and HMI applications

Two ESP32-S31 development boards are currently in the works, and the documentation is already available. The ESP32-S31 was unveiled last March, and it’s the most feature-rich ESP32 wireless microcontroller so far with two RISC-V cores, Gigabit Ethernet, 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth, and 802.15.4 connectivity, LCD and camera interfaces, and more. The ESP32-S31-Function-CoreBoard-1 development board is based on the ESP32-S31-WROOM-3 wireless module, and offers Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 OTG, and onboard audio peripherals for connected IoT applications. The ESP32-S31-Korvo-1 is a multimedia-focused development board based on the same ESP32-S31-WROOM-3 module, but featuring a dual-microphone array for speech recognition and near/far-field wake-up, two speaker connectors, a 4.3-inch LCD, a 3MP camera module, and a microSD card slot. It targets low-cost, low-power, connected audio/video and HMI applications. ESP32-S31-Function-CoreBoard-1 development board Specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-S31-WROOM-3 SoC – ESP32-S31NRV16 CPU RISC-V HP (High-performance) RV32IMAFCP CPU @ 320 MHz with FPU, SIMD, etc. RISC-V […]

May 22, 2026May 22, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

M5Stack StopWatch ESP32-S3 devkit offers 1.75-inch touch AMOLED, microphone, speaker, and GPIO expansion

M5Stack Core StopWatch is an ESP32-S3-powered WiFi and Bluetooth development board with a 1.75-inch round AMOLED touch display, 16MB flash, and 8MB PSRAM designed for portable IoT devices, electronic badges, and wearables. The device also features a 1W speaker and a MEMS microphone for voice interaction, two programmable buttons, a vibration motor, a 6-axis IMU sensor, an RTC, and expansion capabilities through a Grove connector and GPIO headers. It’s powered by a 450 mAh battery managed by an “M5PM1 multi-level power management” solution and charged over a USB-C port. M5Stack Core StopWatch 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 flash Display – 1.75-inch AMOLED round touch display with 466 x 466 resolution Audio 1W speaker MEMS microphone ES8311 […]

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

reComputer RK3576/RK3588 Edge AI computers are supported by reComputer AI Lab one-click deployment platform

Seeed Studio has just launched the reComputer RK3576/RK3588 Edge AI computers designed for developers, embedded AI innovators, robotics, industrial AI, vision AI, local LLMs, and real-world edge deployment. Rockchip RK3576 and RK3588 computers are pretty common these days, and the Seeed Studio models offer triple video output, dual Ethernet (GbE or 2.5GbE), several USB ports, and M.2 expansion. But the most interesting part is probably the software with Armbian-based Linux OS and support for the reComputer AI Lab platform that enables one-click deployment of AI-accelerated computer vision, audio, and LLM/LVM demos. reComputer RK3576/RK3588 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Rockchip RK3576 Octa-core CPU – 4x Cortex-A72 cores at 2.2GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 cores at 1.8GHz GPU – ARM Mali-G52 MC3 GPU NPU – 6 TOPS (INT8) AI accelerator with support for INT4/INT8/INT16/BF16/TF32 mixed operations. VPU Video Decoder: H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, and AVS2 up to 8K at 30fps or 4K at […]

May 15, 2026May 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

M5Stack PaperColor ESP32-S3 devkit features 4-inch E Ink Spectra 6 color display

M5Stack PaperColor, or M5Paper Color, is an ESP32-S3 development kit with a 4-inch E Ink Spectra 6 full-color display with a resolution of 600×400, designed to offer both low power consumption and high visibility under strong lights. While the color ePaper display is the start of the show, the devkit also features a microSD card slot for storage, a microphone with echo cancellation, a 1W speaker, a temperature & humidity sensor, a few buttons, two RGB LEDs, an IR transmitter, and a Grove connector for expansion. With regards to power, a 1250 mAh battery is included, rechargeable through the device’s USB Type-C port. M5Paper Color ESP32-S3 Dev Kit 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 – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh connectivity Storage 16MB SPI flash […]

May 4, 2026May 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ESP32-P4 + ESP32-C5 board features Raspberry Pi-compatible MIPI connectors for official displays and camera modules

We’ve come across an ESP32-P4 + ESP32-C5 board that looks similar to the Wireless Tag WTDKP4C5-S1 board, but is even more compact and features four MIPI connectors, including two whose pinout is compatible with Raspberry Pi camera modules and displays. Maker Go calls it the “ESP32P4C5 core board” and features an “ESP32-P4-Module” with ESP32-P4 MCU with 32MB PSRAM, an ESP32-C5 dual-band WiFi 6 SoC, nd a 16MB NOR flash. Besides the MIPI connectors, the board features three USB ports, one for debugging, and two Type-C/A ports sharing a USB 2.0 data connection, a built-in MEMS microphone, a speaker connector, and two 34-pin headers for expansion. ESP32P4C5 Core Board specifications: Main 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 with 8KB of zero-wait TCM RAM […]

April 29, 2026April 29, 2026 by Debashis Das - 11 Comments

MiciMike’s open-source drop-in PCB converts Google Home Mini into a local voice assistant (Crowdfunding)

The MiciMike Home Mini Drop-In PCB is an open-source replacement mainboard designed to convert a 1st Gen Google Home Mini into a fully local, privacy-focused voice assistant running Home Assistant Voice. Built around an ESP32-S3 MCU and an XMOS XU316 audio processor, it removes cloud dependencies without any case modifications or soldering. The board offers on-device wake word detection, echo cancellation, and noise suppression via two MEMS microphones, and comes pre-flashed with ESPHome for easy Home Assistant integration. The PCBA fully supports local voice processing, optional cloud LLM integration, media playback, and Snapcast. It’s released as open hardware under the CERN-OHL-S v2 license, with complete design files available, making it suitable for privacy-focused smart-home automation, DIY voice assistants, and hardware-reuse projects. MiciMike Home Mini Drop-In PCB specifications: Compatibility – Google Home Mini 1st generation Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 […]

April 29, 2026April 29, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

SONOFF NSPanel Pro Gen2 – A 86-Type Smart Home control panel with two relays, dual-band WiFi, Zigbee 3.0, Matter support

SONOFF NSPanel Pro Gen2 is an 86-type Smart Home control panel featuring a 3.95-inch touch display, two relays supporting up to 10A, and dual-band WiFi 4, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee 3.0 connectivity. The device also integrates a 1.5W speaker and a microphone for voice interaction, light and proximity sensors, and runs Android on a Rockchip RK3326-S SoC paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash. SONOFF NSPanel Pro Gen2 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3326-S CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.5 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G31 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 32GB eMMC 5.1 flash Display – 3.95-inch capacitive touchscreen color TFT display with 480×480 resolution Audio – 1.5W speaker, digital microphone for two-way communication (intercom) Connectivity Zigbee 3.0 support via EFR32MG24 Dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi + Bluetooth Matter support Relay – Dual-gang relay up to 5A per gang, or 10A in total (resistive […]