Linux 6.11 Release – Notable changes, Arm, RISC-V and MIPS architectures

Linux 6.11 release

Linux 6.11 is out with Linus Torvalds’ announcement on the Linux kernel mailing list (LKML): I’m once again on the road and not in my normal timezone, but it’s Sunday afternoon here in Vienna, and 6.11 is out. The last week was actually pretty quiet and calm, which is nice to see. The shortlog is below for anybody who wants to look at the details, but it really isn’t very many patches, and the patches are all pretty small. Nothing in particular stands out – the biggest patch in here is for Hyper-V Confidential Computing documentation. Anyway, with this, the merge window will obviously open tomorrow, and I already have 40+ pull requests pending. That said, exactly _because_ I’m on the road, it will probably be a fairly slow start to the merge window, since not only am I on my laptop, there’s OSS Europe starting tomorrow and then the […]

11.6-inch touchscreen display with In-Cell technology packs IPS panel and 10-point touch into a single layer

11.6-inch 1768x828 LCD Panel

Waveshare has introduced an 11.6-inch touchscreen LCD with in-cell technology and 1768 × 828 resolution. The display comes with an IPS panel, a 10-point capacitive touchscreen, and supports HDMI and Type-C interfaces. It includes brightness control through the OSD menu and DDC/CI software. The screen offers a 178° viewing angle and 72% NTSC color gamut, delivering 300cd/m² brightness. While we haven’t yet covered such a large screen with in-cell technology, we previously reviewed the Elecrow CrowVi VF156T, a 15.6-inch ultra-thin IPS touchscreen display. This portable display features mini HDMI and USB-C input ports, making it compatible with various devices, including Windows 11 and Linux mini PCs, laptops, SBCs like the Raspberry Pi 5, and smartphones that support USB-C with DisplayPort Alt mode. Other touchscreen displays with HDMI and/or USB-C input include Desklab ultrathin 15.6-inch display, DFRobot 7-inch display, and many others. Waveshare 11.6-inch touchscreen display specifications: Display Display Size – […]

xMEMS XMC-2400 is a 1mm-thin solid-state micro cooling fan-on-a-chip for ultrathin devices and SSDs

xMEMS XMC 2400 micro cooling fan on a chip

xMEMS Labs XMC-2400 is a vibration-free, solid-state micro cooling fan-on-a-chip that’s just 1mm thin and designed to cool the processor, other chips, and batteries on space-constraints devices such as smartphones, tablets, extended reality headsets, laptops, as well as SSDs. The XMC-2400 can deliver up to 39cc/sec airflow and up to 1,000Pa back pressure per instance while remaining inaudible and only consuming an estimated 30mW. It’s also rated IP58 for water and dust resistance. It leverages the manufacturing process the company has been using for its ultrathin MEMS speakers. xMEMS XMC-2400 specifications: Top-venting and side-venting packages for flexible integration in different system form-factors Bi-directional flow rate, adjustable up to 39cc/sec Inaudible; all mechanical operation is at ultrasonic frequencies Power consumption – 30mW (estimated) Dimensions –  9.26 x 7.6 x 1.08 mm Weight – 150 mg SMT-reflowable Ingress Protection – IP58 Two packages will be offered: XMC-2400-S – Side-Vented Package supports chip-stacking […]

The Blette Stick relies on Bluetooth 5.0 LE for off-grid messaging with up to 1.1km range

Blette Stick Bluetooth LE offgrid communication

The Blette Stick is a Bluetooth 5.0 LE USB-C dongle designed to be attached to an Android smartphone in order to provide off-grid messaging and GPS coordinates sharing capabilities with a range of up to 1.1km in case WiFi and cellular networks are down. CNX Software readers may also be familiar with Meshtastic devices relying on WiFi to connect to the smartphone with Bluetooth and to other nodes using LoRaWAN to enable off-grid messaging while trekking or during emergencies. The Blettle Stick does something similar to the Meshtastic project but with Bluetooth LE long-range communication instead of Bluetooth+LoRaWAN. While the range will be shorter and limited to around 1km (line-of-sight), the plug-and-play design will make it easier to use for typical users who are not technically savvy. Blettle Stick specifications: SoC – Nordic Semi nRF52 Bluetooth 5.0 LE microcontroller (exact part number not specified, possibly nRF52840) Wireless – Bluetooth 5.0 […]

Arm unveils Cortex-X925 and Cortex-A725 CPUs, Immortalis-G925 GPU, Kleidi AI software

Arm SoC with Cortex-X925 Cortex-A725 Cortex-A520 CPU with Immortalis-G925 GPU

Arm has just announced new Armv9 CPUs and Immortalis GPUs for mobile SoCs, as well as the Kleidi AI software optimized for Arm CPUs from Armv7 to Armv9 architectures. New Armv9.2 CPU cores include the Cortex-X925 “Blackhawk” core with significant CPU and AI performance improvements, the Cortex-A725 with improved performance efficiency, and a refreshed version of the Cortex-A520 providing 15 percent efficiency improvements. Three new GPUs have also been introduced namely the up-to-14-core Immortalis-G925 flagship GPU which delivers up to 37% 3D graphics performance improvements over last year’s 12-core Immortalis-G720, the Mali-G725 with 6 to 9 cores for premium mobile handsets, and the Mali-G625 GPU with one to five cores for smartwatches and entry-level mobile devices. Arm Cortex-X925 The Arm Cortex-X925 delivers 36 percent single-threaded peak performance improvements in Geekbench 6.2 against a Cortex-X4-based Premium Android smartphone, and about 41 percent better AI performance using the time-to-first token of tiny-LLama […]

/e/OS v2 privacy-focused, Google-free Android mobile OS released with improved UI, Android Auto support, etc..

/e/os v2 release

The e Foundation has just announced the release of the /e/OS v2 Android-based Google-free open-source mobile operating system with an improved launcher, support for Android Auto, a “Wall of Shame” to identify the most leaking apps and tracker, QR Code scanning support in the camera app, and more. Most Android smartphones come with Google services which may be convenient (and help keep Android free), but come at the loss of the users’ privacy. That’s why the e Foundation started offering e/OS over five years ago to offer a privacy-focused version of Android without Google services on specific phones. The project has evolved over the years, over 200 mobile devices are supported officially and unofficially, and Murena, a for-profit company, has also been established to sell e/OS smartphones and cloud services. /e/OS v2 highlights and changes: Based on LineageOS 20 with the latest bug fixes and security updates (itself based on […]

Convert your tablet or smartphone into a touchscreen display for your PC, motherboard, etc… with the AURGA Viewer

AURGA Viewer Raspberry Pi 3

The AURGA viewer is an HDMI and USB dongle with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity that plugs into any system with HDMI output and can convert any smartphone, tablet, or laptop with a touchscreen display into a KVM solution by sending video data, as well as keyboard and mouse events wirelessly. We’ve recently written about Openterface Mini-KVM KVM-over-USB device that allows users to use their laptop to control another device with HDMI output locally without any additional display, keyboard, and mouse. But I’ve just been informed the AURGA Viewer, launched in 2022 on Kickstarter, can do something similar wirelessly. AURGA Viewer specifications and features: SoC – Allwinner S3 Cortex-A7 processor with 128MB DDR3 HDMI input – Male HDMI port with Toshiba TC35874x HDMI to MIPI CSI-2 bridge internally (See comments section); Works with VGA, mini HDMI, micro HDMI, etc… using adapters Wireless – Broadcom BCM4345C5 SDIO 802.11AC WiFi 5 and Bluetooth […]

Xtherm II TS2+ review – A 256×192 thermal imager tested with an Android smartphone

Xinfrared Xtherm II TS2+ Review Android

Shortly after I wrote about the Mustool MT13S 2-in-1 thermal imager and multimeter, Xinfrared asked me if I wanted to review the Xtherm II TS2+ thermal imager for smartphones. They offer versions that work for Android or iOS smartphones, so the company sent me the Android version of the Xtherm II TS2+ for review. After listing the key features and specifications, I’ll go through an unboxing, and report my experience using the thermal imager with the OPPO A98 5G smartphone running Android 14. Xtherm II TS2+ specifications Minimum focus – 8mm Resolution – 256×192 Pixel Pitch – 12μm FOV – 44.9° x 33.4° Image Frame Rate – 25Hz NETD (Noise Equivalent Temperature Difference) – ≤40mK@25°C, F#1.0 MRTD (Minimum Resolvable Temperature Difference) – ≤500mK@25°C,F#1.0 Temperature Range Measurements- -20°C ~ +450°C with ±2°C or ±2% reading accuracy Operating – -20°C ~ +50°C Temperature Correction – Manual/automatic Power Consumption – <350mW Dimensions – […]

Exit mobile version
UP 7000 x86 SBC