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February 16, 2026February 16, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

LR2021 LoRa Plus board combines Semtech LR2021 and Nordic nRF54L15 for high-speed FLRC and LoRa connectivity

Last year, Semtech released the LR2021 LoRa Plus transceiver chip, designed to address the low data-rate issue associated with LoRa, but surprisingly, they didn’t release a development board for the chip. Now, almost a year later, Seeed Studio and Semtech have partnered to introduce the LR2021 LoRa Plus development kit targeting long-range high-speed LoRa and FLRC applications up to 2.6 Mbps. Not only does the board support LoRa Gen 4 technology, providing Sub-GHz, 2.4 GHz ISM, and S/L-band operation, but a XIAO nRF54L15 board also adds dual-core processing (Arm Cortex-M33 + RISC-V) and supports other short-range protocols, including NFC, Bluetooth LE 6.0, Matter, Thread, and 2.4 GHz proprietary protocols. The development board also features a 0.96-inch 128×64 OLED, three Grove connectors for expansion, a USB Type-C for power, SWD debugging, and two Sub-GHz and 2.4 GHz SMA connectors. It is compatible with Arduino Uno, STM32 Nucleo, and Nordic DK boards. […]

February 11, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

ESP32 Marauder 5G – Apex 5 module for Flipper Zero combines ESP32-C5, two Sub-GHz radios, nRF24, and GPS

Designed by HoneyHoneyTrading, the ESP32 Marauder 5G – Apex 5 Module is an ESP32-C5-based hacking and penetration testing tool for the Flipper Zero, with dual-band WiFi 6 (2.4GHz and 5GHz), two Sub-GHz radios (868MHz and 433MHz), an NRF24 radio, and a built-in GPS. This new Flipper Zero module can be considered an upgrade from the ESP32 Marauder – Double Barrel 5G, as it does not rely on a dual-chip configuration for 5 GHz operation, leveraging the ESP32-C5 dual-band capabilities instead. A microSD card slot handles storage, and the device can also save data directly to the Flipper Zero’s microSD card. It also features five antennas, including WiFi, Sub-GHz, nRF24, and GPS, along with dedicated LED indicators for the Sub-GHz radios and nRF24 activity. There is also a hardware button to toggle 433 MHz and 868 MHz Sub-GHz operation, a USB-C port, and a side button for power management and firmware […]

February 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Texas Instruments to acquire Silicon Labs

Texas Instruments will acquire Silicon Labs for $231.00 per share, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $7.5 billion. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2027, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and other conditions. Silicon Labs wireless chips are fairly popular in Smart Home applications with Zigbee, Thread, and Matter connectivity, as well as low-power Bluetooth LE wearables and industrial Sub-GHz or 2.4 GHz IoT applications. I can still remember when Silicon Labs purchased Energy Micro in 2013, taking over the EFM32 Gecko MCU family, and about 13 years later, the company is changing hands again. Texas Instruments explains the rationale behind the solution as follows: The acquisition will create a global leader in embedded wireless connectivity solutions by combining Silicon Labs’ strong portfolio and expertise in mixed signal solutions with Texas Instruments’ leading analog and embedded processing portfolio and internally owned technology and […]

January 26, 2026January 25, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Infineon AIROC ACW741x Wi-Fi 7 ultra-low power tri-radio IoT SoC family support MLO, Wi-Fi sensing, BLE 6.0, and Thread

Infineon AIROC ACW741x family of Wi Fi 7 ultra low power tri radio IoT SoCs

Infineon has introduced the AIROC ACW741x tri-radio Wi-Fi 7 wireless SoC family designed for IoT and smart home devices. The company mentions it’s the first Wi-Fi 7 solution with a “20 MHz” 1×1 Wi-Fi 7 radio, Bluetooth 6.0 (including Channel Sounding), and an 802.15.4 radio for Thread and Matter support, in a 7×7 mm QFN package. When we think of Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), we usually picture high-end routers and smartphones with gigabits of data over the huge 320 MHz channels. But the standard also includes features specifically designed for low-power IoT devices. Infineon’s new AIROC ACW741x family, which they claim is the “industry’s first” Wi-Fi 7 SoC specifically optimized for IoT applications, including smart home, battery-powered sensors, access control systems, asset tracking, video doorbells, IP cameras, smart locks, thermostats, and other always-connected devices requiring secure, low-power wireless connectivity. Infineon AIROC ACW741x specifications : Wireless Connectivity Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 1×1 SISO, […]

January 21, 2026January 20, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

M5MonsterC5 hacking tool adds ESP32-C5 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi 6 support to M5Stack Cardputer ADV and Tab5

Developed by Laboratorium in Poland, the M5MonsterC5 is an ESP32-C5-based “Marauder” hacking tool designed to work with M5Stack Cardputer ADV or M5Stack Tab5. It gets connected to the Cardputer ADV or Tab5 via a Grove connector and runs JanOS and Project Zero for wireless security research, experimentation, and rapid prototyping with minimal setup. Built around the ESP32-C5, the device supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (2.4/5-GHz) and 802.15.4 (Thread/Zigbee) to the M5Stack devices. Key features include multi-channel deauthentication with 5 GHz support, Evil Twin and phishing captive portals, WPA3 SAE overflow attacks, wardriving with GPS logging and WiGLE-compatible exports, passive sniffing, Karma attacks, whitelist management, and persistent “blackout” modes. The platform uses a two-stage web-based flashing process (JanOS on the Monster board and a Cardputer app flasher), offers microSD card and optional GPS support, and is intended strictly for authorized Wi-Fi auditing, offensive security research, and educational use under the Project Zero […]

January 20, 2026January 19, 2026 by Debashis Das - 1 Comment

Waveshare ESP32-C6-GEEK – A USB flash drive-like ESP32-C6 development board

After releasing the RP2040-GEEK and RP2350-GEEK, Waveshare has now released the ESP32-C6-GEEK, another USB flash drive-like development board featuring an ESP32-C6 wireless MCU with support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE, and IEEE 802.15.4 for Zigbee and Thread connectivity, an onboard 1.14-inch 240 × 135 IPS color LCD, and a USB-A male connector. The board also includes a microSD card slot for external storage, an onboard ceramic antenna, a BOOT button, and UART, GPIO, and I²C connectors for expansion. These features make it suitable for IoT nodes, smart displays, wireless sensors, protocol experimentation, beginner firmware development, and compact embedded UI projects. Waveshare ESP32-C6-GEEK specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V clocked up to 160 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ up to 20 MHz Memory/Storage – 512KB SRAM, 320KB ROM Wireless – 2.4 GHz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and 802.15.4 radio for Thread/Zigbee Storage 16 MB external NOR flash MicroSD […]

January 16, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

XIAO ESP32-C5 – A tiny USB-C IoT board with dual-band WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity

Seeed Studio has just added a new member to its XIAO USB-C board family with the XIAO ESP32-C5 offering dual-band WiFi 6 (2.4 and 5.0 GHz), as well as Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Zigbee, and Thread connectivity for IoT projects and products. It still features a u.FL antenna connector, Reset and Boot buttons, two 7-pin GPIO headers, and 8 pads for JTAG or GPIOs on the back. Compared to the earlier XIAO ESP32C6, the new model is clocked higher (240 MHz vs 160 MHz), supports dual-band Wi-Fi, and offers more memory (384KB SRAM + 8 MB PSRAM vs 512KB SRAM) and storage (8MB vs 4MB flash), but exposes fewer analog pins (5 vs 7). XIAO ESP32-C5 specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-C5HR8 CPU Single-core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ up to 240 MHz Low-power RISC-V core @ 48 MHz acting as the main processor for power-sensitive applications Memory – 384 KB […]

January 16, 2026January 15, 2026 by Debashis Das - 7 Comments

ESP32-S3 multi-radio Smart Home gateway features Ethernet, Zigbee, Thread, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, BLE, and optional 4G LTE connectivity

SLZB Ultima multi radio smart home gateway with ESP32 S3 Zigbee Z Wave, Matter or Thread

SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima is an ESP32-S3-based, multi-radio smart-home gateway with dual Zigbee/Thread radios, optional Z-Wave 800, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Ethernet with PoE, USB host expansion, and optional 4G LTE connectivity designed for advanced Home Assistant and DIY applications. The device also integrates an IR receiver and transmitter for controlling legacy appliances, GPIO and I²C for hardware expansion, a buzzer, physical buttons, service LEDs, and 12 on-board WS2812B RGB LEDs on the front for status indication. These features make it suitable for an all-in-one smart-home and IoT gateway rather than a simple coordinator. SMLIGHT SLZB-Ultima specifications: Main SoC – ESP32-S3 CPU – Dual-core LX7 microprocessor @ up to 240 MHz with Vector extension for machine learning Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5 with LE/Mesh Audio – Built-in buzzer and optional microphone for ESPHome Voice Assist Networking Wireless Dual Zigbee / Thread radios (Texas Instruments CC2674P10 + Silicon Labs EFR32MG24) Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n […]