Kodi 19 “Matrix” released with AV1, HDR, tvOS support

Kodi 19 add-ons

Kodi is an open-source media center that was initially designed for the XBOX game console, but was quickly ported to other platforms such as Windows and Linux, and eventually to low-cost Android TV boxes and single board computers such as Raspberry Pi. A new stable release of the software comes out every couple of years, and the developers have just announced the release of Kodi 19 “Matrix” a little over two years after Kodi 18 “Leia” release. The default user interface may look similar to the one for Kodi 18, but there have been many changes over the last two years with some of the highlights including: Skin/Look-and-Feel Screen redesign, especially for music with new metadata displays and changes to playlist views New “now playing” view Artwork and image file improvements Video Playback AV1 software decoding Windows 10 – HLG HDR and static HDR10 playback Android – Static HDR10 and […]

Engicam PX30.Core SoM & devkit run Ubuntu 20.04 with mainline Linux

PX30 Ubuntu 20.04 mainline Linux

Linux 5.11 was released a few days ago, and it’s always interesting to check out the changelog to find new hardware platforms that support mainline Linux. One of those is Engicam PX30.Core SoM based on Rockchip PX30 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 processor. Engicam also worked with Amarula Solutions to develop an Ubuntu 20.04 image with mainline Linux compatible with EDIMM 2.2 and CTouch 2.0 carrier boards for PX30.Core CPU module. Engicam PX30.Core SoM Specifications: SoC – RockChip PX30 quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 @ 1.2GHz with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0, and 3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan VX 1.0, 1080p60 video encoding/decoding System Memory – Up to 2 GB DDR4 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash (other capacities on request) Audio – Audio codec on module SO-DIMM edge connector Display Interfaces –  24-bit Parallel RGB, 18/24-bit LVDS Camera interface – 4-lane MIPI-CSI for up to 8MP camera Audio – I2S […]

Jetson AGX Xavier based Edge AI Platform supports 8 GMSL automotive cameras and 10Gbps Ethernet

Jetson Xavier AI Edge computer with 8 GSML cameras

Neousys Technology, a Taiwan-based provider of rugged embedded systems, has introduced the NRU-110V Edge AI inference platform powered by an  NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier SoM. It comes with eight FAKRA Z connectors to support up to eight GMSL automotive cameras, as well as one 10GbE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) port for real-time video data transfer. The system specifically supports GMSL cameras with 3-exposure HDR, LED flicker mitigation, good light-sensitivity, and IP67 waterproof characteristics,  and also comes with a synchronize mechanism to simultaneously capture high-quality images from 8 GMSL cameras while accepting GPS PPS signal to align image data with other sensors. That makes it suitable for various applications ranging from autonomous driving, mobile robots, precision agriculture, intelligent V2X, to teleoperation. Neousys NRU-110V specifications: System-on-Module – NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier SoM with SoC NVIDIA 512-core Volta GPU 8-core Arm Carmel CPU 2x NVDLA Engines 7-Way VLIW Vision Processor Memory – 32GB LPDDR4x […]

Beelink SEI Review – A Core i3-10110U Mini PC Tested with Windows and Ubuntu

beelink sei review

Beelink has launched a new range of mini PCs called the SEi Series. Similar in size and appearance to an Intel ‘NUC’ they are available in various configurations. Beelink sent a Core i3-10110U SEi model for review which is the version that has now replaced their i3-1005G1 model which they had to discontinue due to the lack of processor availability. There is also an i5-8259U model in the series. Beelink SEi Hardware Overview The SEi physically consists of a 124 x 113 x 41mm (4.88 x 4.48 x 1.61 inches) rectangular plastic case. It is an actively cooled mini PC and uses Intel’s 14 nm++ Core i3-10110U Comet Lake processor which is a dual-core 4-thread 2.10 GHz processor boosting to 4.10 GHz with Intel’s UHD Graphics for 10th Gen Intel Processors. The front panel has a power button, a headphone jack, a Type-C USB 3.0 port, and two USB 3.0 […]

IP67 mini PC targets harsh environments and marine applications

IP67 mini PC

We’ve covered plenty of Whiskey Lake-based mini PC‘s and SBC‘s, but most of them are made for the home or the office, except for some designed with a wider temperature range for industrial and factory environments. But Stealth is going further with WPC-905 IP67 waterproof mini PC that’s completely sealed and fanless making it suitable for harsher environments, including marine applications. The rugged computer comes with a choice of Intel Celeron and Core processors and supports variable DC input from  9V to 48V DC via an M12 connector. Stealth WPC-905 IP67 mini PC specifications: SoC (one or the other) – all from the Whisky Lake Embedded family Intel Celeron 4305UE dual-core processor @ 2GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 610; 15W TDP Intel Core i3-8145UE dual-core/quad-thread processor @ 2.2GHz / 3.9GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 620; 15W TDP Intel Core i5-8365UE quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.6GHz / 4.1GHz (Turbo) with Intel […]

Ubuntu Core 20 released for secure Linux IoT devices and embedded systems

Ubuntu Core 20 secure Linux IoT

Canonical has just released Ubuntu Core 20, a minimal, containerized version of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS for IoT devices and embedded systems. The company highlights several security improvements and features of the new version of the Linux-based operating system with secure boot, full disk encryption, secure device recovery, and secure containers. Ubuntu Core 20 is said to come with all benefits from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS such as regular, automated updates, the ability to manage custom app stores, and offers a longer 10-year support window. Ubuntu Core is available and certified on popular32-bit and 64-bit x86 and Arm single board computers such as Intel NUC or Raspberry Pi 4. Minimum requirements include a single-core processor @ 500 MHz, 256MB RAM, and 512MB storage. Alternatively, it’s also possible to run it in a virtual machine on your PC. Security is further enhanced with apps running in containers, and since only the necessary software […]

Cluster Server R2 2U rack cluster server ships with up to 72 Rockchip RK3399/RK3328 SoMs

Firefly Cluster Server R2

Rockchip RK3399 and RK3328 are typically used in Chromebooks, single board computers, TV boxes, and all sort of AIoT devices, but if you ever wanted to create a cluster based on those processor, Firefly Cluster Server R2 leverages the company’s RK3399, RK3328, or even RK1808 NPU SoM to bring 72 modules to a 2U rack cluster server enclosure, for a total of up to 432 Arm Cortex-A72/A53 cores, 288 GB RAM, and two 3.5-inch hard drives. Firefly Cluster Server R2 specifications: Supported Modules Core-3399-JD4 with Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex-A72/A53 processor up to 1.5 GHz, up to 4GB RAM, and optional on-board 2.8 TOPS NPU (Gyrfalcon Lightspeeur SPR5801S) Core-3328-JD4 with Rockchip RK3328 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.5 GHz, up to 4GB RAM Core-1808-JD4 with Rockchip RK1808 dual-core Cortex-A35 processor @ 1.6 GHz with integrated 3.0 TOPS NPU, up to 4GB RAM Configuration – Up to 9x blade nodes with 8x […]

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi Pico using MicroPython and C

Raspberry Pi Pico Blink LED

Raspberry Pi Pico board was just launched last Thursday, but thanks to Cytron I received a sample a few hours after the announcement, and I’ve now had time to play with the board using MicroPython and C programming language. I went to the official documentation to get started, but I had to look around to achieve what I wanted to do, namely blinking some LEDs, so I’ll document my experience with my own getting started guide for Raspberry Pi Pico using a computer running Ubuntu 20.04 operating system. The instructions will be similar for Windows and Mac OS. Preparing the hardware In theory, we could just get started with the board alone, but since I got some headers with my board, I also took the opportunity to try out Pine64 Pinecil soldering iron powered by MINIX NEO P2 USB-C power supply. The soldering iron worked great for about one minute, […]