smart speaker News - Page 4 of 16 - CNX Software

March 6, 2026March 8, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Echo Pyramid enables smart voice interaction applications on M5Stack Atom ESP32 IoT controllers

Designed for M5Stack Atom, AtomS3, and AtomS3R series IoT controllers based on ESP32 or ESP32-S3 wireless SoC, the Echo Pyramid base enables smart voice interaction applications such as far-field voice recognition, voice assistants, voice control, and more. The device features a built-in speaker, a MEMS microphone, an ES8311 HD audio codec for playback and capture, and an STM32 MCU for touch areas and RGB LED management. It’s powered via a USB Type-C port and can be expanded through a 4-pin connector for I2C modules. Echo Pyramid specifications: Supported IoT controllers – M5Stack Atom, AtomS3, and AtomS3R Microcontroller – STMicro STM32G030F6P6 32-bit Arm Cortex-M0+ CPU @ 64 MHz with 8KB SRAM, 64 KB flash Audio HD Codec – ES8311, handles playback and recording Microphone – LMA3729T381-0Y3S MEMS microphone ADC – ES7210 for microphone input Built-in speaker on the bottom of the pyramid Amplifier – AW87559 Class-D speaker driver for the speaker […]

February 27, 2026February 28, 2026 by Debashis Das - 3 Comments

M5Stack Unit PoE-P4 – A tiny PoE-powered ESP32-P4 development kit with MIPI DSI/CSI and USB-C connectors

The M5Stack Unit PoE-P4 is a tiny, PoE-powered development kit built around the ESP32-P4NRW32 SoC. The module integrates a 10/100Mbps Ethernet PHY, supports IEEE 802.3at PoE for single-cable power and data, and provides MIPI DSI/CSI display and camera interfaces. It’s designed as a network-enabled node with built-in PoE (up to 6W output), a USB Type-C host port, and a separate USB Type-C OTG/download interface, along with an RGB LED, IR transmitter, user button, Grove (HY2.0-4P) port, Hat expansion header, and SDIO/ISP expansion interfaces, making it suitable for industrial HMI panels, PoE smart terminals, camera/vision acquisition nodes, smart home controllers, and edge computing devices. M5Stack Unit PoE-P4 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4NRW32 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 KB […]

February 6, 2026February 6, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

$199+ M5Stack AI Pyramid Computing Box Linux AI mini PC is based on Axera AX8850 SoC

Axera AX8850 Linux Mini PC 4GB RAM Transparent case

M5Stack has just launched the “AI Pyramid Computer Box” AI mini PC powered by an Axera AX8850 octa-core Cortex-A55 SoC with a 24 TOPS NPU and featuring an unusual design since it’s housed in a pyramidal enclosure. The mini PC features 4GB or 8GB of RAM, 32GB eMMC flash, a microSD card slot, two HDMI 2.0 ports (see specs for details), a 4-mic array, a built-in speaker, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 3.2 ports, and two USB-C ports for data and power. It serves as a desktop-grade Edge AI computing platform for systems such as AI vision gateways, smart security systems, and local smart photo albums. M5Stack AI Pyramid Computing Box 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, […]

February 1, 2026February 1, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Fusion HAT+ Review – Adding AI voice and servo/motor control to Raspberry Pi for robotics, Smart Home, or education

Fusion HAT+ review LLM servo control camera

SunFounder has sent me a review sample of the Fusion HAT+ Raspberry Pi expansion board designed for motor and servo control using audio interactions with its built-in microphone and speaker, as well as LLM models. It can be used as an AI-enabled robot controller, a smart home hub, a voice assistant, or an interactive learning platform. In this review, after an unboxing and going through the installation of the Fusion HAT+ on a Raspberry Pi 5 2GB, I’ll mainly focus on the voice interaction part using text-to-speech (TTS), speech-to-text (STT), and local and cloud-based LLMs and VLMs, and also quickly test servo control to wave a flag using voice commands. SunFounder Fusion HAT+ unboxing I received the sample in the retail package reading “SunFounder Fusion HAT+ for Raspberry Pi” and detailing the key features, namely rechargeable battery, 12x PWM, onboard speaker and microphone, 4x 12-bit ADC, safe shutdown, 4x DC […]

January 27, 2026January 27, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

MaixCAM2 modular 4K AI camera is based on Axera AX630 SoC with 3.2 TOPS NPU (Crowdfunding)

Designed for makers and researchers, Sipeed’s MaixCAM2 is a modular AI camera built around an Axera AX630 AI SoC with 3.2 TOPS (INT8) to 12.8 TOPS (INT4) of AI performance, yet delivering 10 to 20x higher performance on OpenMV-N6 and Raspberry Pi 5, and about the same performance (140 FPS) as a 33 TOPS Jetson Orin Nano 4GB Super in YOLO11n. The camera comes with 1GB or 4GB RAM, a 32GB eMMC flash, and a microSD card slot for storage, a 2.4-inch touchscreen display, and an 8MP / 4Kp30 camera sensor with LED flash, as well as two microphones and a speaker, making it suitable for local LLM and VLM applications. It also features two PMOD connectors for expansion, such as a thermal imager and a Time of Flight (ToF) ranging sensor. MaxiCAM2 specifications: SoC – Axera Tech AX630 CPU Dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 GHz running Ubuntu Linux 32-bit […]

January 27, 2026January 26, 2026 by Debashis Das - 2 Comments

Hiwonder WonderLLM – An ESP32-S3 smart chat module with 2-inch touch display, 2MP camera, and dedicated voice chip

Hiwonder has introduced the WonderLLM, an ESP32-S3-based smart chat module that combines a 2MP camera, a 2.0-inch touch display, a speaker, and a microphone array to support both offline computer vision tasks and cloud-based Large Language Models (LLMs) via the XiaoZhi AI platform. The device ships with a dedicated voice chip (CI1302) that enables always-on wake-word detection, and a 4-pin I2C interface allows it to act as a smart vision/voice sensor for external controllers like Arduino, STM32, or other ESP32 boards. Typical applications include small robots, STEM education kits, interactive assistants, and vision-enabled projects where this device handles perception and interaction, and another MCU manages motion and control logic. Hiwonder WonderLLM specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz with vector extension for AI/ML workloads RAM – 512KB SRAM Storage – TBD Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth LE 5 […]

January 23, 2026January 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

M5Stack StickS3 ESP32-S3 Mini IoT Dev Kit features 1.14-inch color display, speaker and mic for voice interaction

M5Stack StickS3 is a miniature ESP32-S3 WiFi and BLE IoT development kit/controller powered by an Espressif Systems ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 system-in-package with 8MB flash and 8MB PSRAM, and equipped with a 1.14-inch display, built-in microphone and speaker, as well as an integrated IR receiver and transmitter. It’s an update to the ESP32-PICO-V3 based StickC-Plus2 with a more powerful ESP32-S3 module, a USB Type-C OTG port, improved audio integrating an ES8311 mono audio codec, a slightly larger 250 mAh battery, as well as a 4-pin Grove connector and a 16-pin female GPIO header for expansion. M5Stack StickS3 specifications: SiP – Espressif ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8 as found on the M5Stack ATOMS3R and ATOMS3R Cam IoT controllers SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 up to 240 MHz Memory – 512KB SRAM, 16 KB RTC SRAM Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 LE + Mesh Memory – 8MB QSPI PSRAM Storage – 8MB QSPI […]

January 6, 2026 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

ESP32-S3 development board features 4.2-inch Reflective LCD (RLCD), dual microphone array, onboard speaker

Waveshare ESP32-S3-RLCD-4.2 is a 4.2-inch Reflective LCD (RLCD) development board built around ESP32-S3 wireless SoC for DIY projects, rapid prototyping, and smart display devices that need a paperlike experience with a higher refresh rate compared to e-paper displays. The ESP32-S3 provides 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 LE connectivity, and the board also includes a dual microphone array with ES7210 ADC and ES8311 audio codec, as well as an onboard speaker for AI voice interaction. Other features include an SHTC3 temperature and humidity sensor, a PCF85063 RTC, a microSD card slot for storage, along with multiple GPIO, UART, and I²C expansion headers. Power, programming, and battery charging are done through the USB Type-C port connected to an optional 18650 battery. Applications include electronic calendars, desktop displays, voice-based devices, environmental monitoring, and low-power indoor or outdoor display systems. ESP32-S3-RLCD-4.2 specifications Core module – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core […]