OMAP3 / OMAP4 Based Android Reference Designs for Smartphones and Tablets

Elektrobit (EB) announced their Specialized Device Platform (SDP), a reference design based on the Android operating system, targeted to Public Safety, Security and Defense, sectors with stringent compliance and regulatory requirements. The platform consists of form factor hardware that can be tailored to customer requirements. The current SDP has a TI OMAP 3 application processor, a high resolution touch-screen enabled display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 2G and 3G modems – LTE for Band 14 being an option and runs Android 2.2 (Froyo).  A version with TI OMAP 4 processor running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) will be available in H1 2012. Linux Angstrom will also be provided for the platforms. Here are the details specifications of both reference platforms: OMAP3xxx ARM Cortex-A8 core up to 1 GHz ARM TrustZone compatible security engine NEON™ SIMD coprocessor POWERVR™ SGX graphics accelerator TMS320C64x+™ DSP up to 600 MHz OMAP4xxx Dual ARM Cortex-A9 cores up to 1.5 […]

Skype Adds Video Calling Support for 17 Android Devices

Last week, Skype announced that it is adding video calling support for 17 Android devices that run Gingerbread (Android 2.3).  Previously, mobile video calling with Skype was only available on 4 Android devices namely: HTC Desire S Sony Ericsson Xperia neo Sony Ericsson Xperia pro Google Nexus S. Users can download Skype 2.1 for Android in order to make video calls with their smartphones and/or tablets if they are part of the following list: Acer A5 HTC Desire HTC Desire HD HTC Evo 3D HTC Evo 4G HTC Flyer HTC Incredible S HTC Sensation HTC Thunderbolt LG Revolution Samsung Droid Charge Samsung Galaxy S Samsung Galaxy S II Samsung Galaxy Tab Sony Ericsson Xperia mini pro Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Sony Ericsson Xperia ray. Skype also said that most users running Android 2.2 should still be able to enable video calling in their Skype settings.  Skype 2.1 for Android detects […]

Archos 80 and 101 G9 are now available on Amazon France

Archos Gen9 Android 3.1 Tablets are now available for pre-order on Amazon France. They come in four versions: Archos – 101 G9 – Tablet PC 10″ – OMAP 4 ARM Cortex Dual Core A9 – 250 Go Turbo – Wifi – Android – 399.99 Euros Archos – 101 G9 – Tablet PC 10″ – OMAP 4 ARM Cortex Dual Core A9 – 16 Go Turbo – Wifi – Android – 349.99 Euros Archos – 80 G9 – Tablet PC 8″ – OMAP 4 ARM Cortex Dual Core A9 – 8 Go – Wifi – Android– 249.99 Euros Archos – 80 G9 – Tablet PC 8″ – OMAP 4 ARM Cortex Dual Core A9 – 8 Go Turbo – Wifi – Android – 279.99 Euros If you are not yet familiar with the generation 9 products, have a look at the official Archos G9 presentation video below. There are also a […]

Ziilabs announced the ZMS-20 aimed at Android 3.0 Tablets

Here’s how Ziilabs describes their new dual core processor aimed at tablets running Android honeycomb: The ZMS-20 has been engineered for high-resolution tablet computing and combines ZiiLABS’ StemCell media processing array with dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processors (with Neon) to deliver stunning 1080p high profile video playback, immersive OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics, HD video calling and a rich desktop browsing experience including Adobe Flash Player. With multi-core application acceleration and dynamic power management for longer battery life the ZMS-20 delivers the efficient, high-performance platform required for the next generation of devices, including Android 3.0 based tablets. ZMS-20 Key Features: Dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores with Neon ZiiLABS flexible Stemcell media processing capabilities Low-energy SIMD architecture for high performance media acceleration 48 x 32-bit floating point media processing cores for 26GFlops of compute High Profile H.264 video playback at 1080p@30fps Wide range of accelerated video codecs including H.264, […]

RK2918 based Arnova 10 Tablet with Capacitive Touchscreen

Arnova, a subsidiary of Archos in Hong Kong, has already released the resistive touchscreen version of Arnova 10 based on Android 2.1 and powered by Rockchip RK2918 in March 2011. In May, they will start to sell the latest version of Arnova 10 with capacitive touchscreen and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The price should only be slightly higher then the first Arnova 10 with a retail price of 229 USD / 229 Euro. This device is very similar to Archos 101 except it has a more powerful processor (Rockchip RK2918 vs. OMAP 3) but it does not have kickstand and surprisingly no HDMI output. Watch the hands-on video by Charbax below. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Wysips Transparent solar charger built into displays

Wysips, a company based in the south of France, developed a thin transparent photovoltaic film that can be used to charge smartphones, e-book, tablet and even laptop. They were at CTIA 2011 and were interview by laptopmag. Their transparent photovoltaic strip is 100 micrometer thick and can be used with touchscreen and 3D displays. It can provide 250mW for smartphone by continuously charging the device (6 hours of outdoor light) and possibly removing the need for charger. The cost for smartphones would be 1 USD, which could potentially be offset by a smaller battery. They are currently working with handset manufacturer and expect products using their technology to hit the market within 12 months. The next version due in 2012 should provide enough power for 30 minutes of talk time after one hour of charging. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his […]

Archos Gen9 Tablets Coming in June 2011

During the investor conference on 18th March 2011, Archos announced they will release their Gen9 Android Tablets in June 2011 with 4 key differentiators compared to the competition: Plastic-overmolded stainless steel structure: Thinner, lighter and stronger tablet enclosure Better cost-effectiveness than competing solutions Patented techno used since Gen 7 in 2009 ARCHOS alone to use Hard Disks in tablets: Deep redesign of Android ARCHOS has a long experience in using HD’s for mobile devices Price: 250 GB HD = 32 GB Flash Memory ARCHOS 1st to use ARM Dual Core A9 @ 1.6 GHz Forefront competition limited to ARM Dual Core A9 @ 1GHz (iPad 2, Xoom All Gen 9 tablets targeted at 1.6 GHz All Gen 9 tablets targeted at 1.6 GHz New disruptive 3G modem solution for tablets Will allow ARCHOS to make headway into telcos Implemented in all Gen 9 tablets Patent pending Since Archos Gen8 were […]

Tablet Reference Design based on Samsung Exymos 4210

HardKernel, a Korean company, announced the ODROID-A, a tablet reference design based on Samsung Exymos 4210 (codename Orion), dual-core ARM Cortex-A9, Mali-400 GPU, 1GB Low Power DDR2, 10.1 inch 1366 x 768 TFT with capacitive multi-touch, Dual Camera, HSPA evolution, 9-axis sensor and running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. They will update it to Android 3.0 later on. This development kit will be available at the end of March 2011 for 749 USD (800,000 Won) for developers only. This should offer similar performance as the Motorola Xoom (except 3D maybe), and cost less which is a bit surprising for a development platform. They have an online community to support development on this hardware and they’ll provide the full source code and schematics free of charge. ODROID-A Specifications: Processor Samsung Exynos4210 Cortex-A9 Dualcore 1Ghz with 1MB L2 cache Memory 1024MB LP DDR2 800Mega data rate 3D Accelerator Mali-400 MP Core Micro-Sd slot 8GB […]

Exit mobile version