Mini PC Polls: Networking Connectivity, Video and Audio Outputs

It’s always interesting to find out how people use their devices, and I recently discovered Google+ support Polls as Droidmote posted a poll to find out whether people used Wi-Fi or Ethernet with their mini PCs, and I followed up with polls about video and audio outputs. Around 50 people have answered to each poll up to now, so even if it may not representative, let’s have a look at the results so far. About half of the people are connected via Ethernet, and the other half are using Wi-Fi after 43 votes. Wi-Fi is normally more convenient, but may not be as reliable, and for users playing high bitrate videos Ethernet is a must, unless you find buffering enjoyable…. After 58 votes, most people still connect their mini PC to a Full HD television via HDMI, with a few connecting it to a 4K UHD TV, and nobody using […]

Mackerel Wi-Fi IoT Board Connects to goHACK.me Cloud Services

ACKme Networks, a start-up specializing in embedded wireless solution, launched Mackerel evaluation board based on their AMW004 Wi-Fi networking module. The module is intend to interface to objects in standalone mode (SOLO), or controlled by a micro-controller (SLAVE), and features WiConnect software to interface with goHACK.me cloud services powered by sensors.com “OEM cloud solution”. Mackerel (AMW004-E03) board specifications: AWM004 (Wallaby) Wi-Fi module: MCU – ARM Cortex M4 @ 120MHz with integrated 1MB flash and 128kB RAM, onboard 8Mbit (1MByte) SPI-serial flash Networking Standards – IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/d/e/h/i/j 802.11 data rates – 802.11b: 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps; 802.11g: 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps; 802.11n: MCS0 – MCS7 Wi-Fi Security – Open, WEP-40, WEP-104, WPA, WPA2-PSK, WPA/WPA2-mixed  Network Protocols –  ARP, ICMP, DHCP client/server, DNS, NTP, SMTP, UDP, TCP, HTTP client/webserver, Sensors.com Network Security –  SSL3.0/TLS1.1, HTTPS I/Os – UART (up to 4Mbit/s), SPI (up to 10Mbit/s), […]

MXQ S85 Android TV Box (Amlogic S805) Review

MXQ S85 (aka MXQ OTT TV box) and EM6Q-MXQ are two main Full HD H.265 Android media players based on Amlogic S805 currently selling on Chinese online stores. I’m lucky enough to have received both, and I’ve already completed the review for EM6Q-MXQ, so today I’ll complete MXQ S85 review and compare both devices. I’ve already taken picture of the device, accessories, and checked out the board’s components in my unboxing post, so in this post, I’ll focus on the user interface, evaluate performance, and test most hardware features of this media player. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve started by a quick test of the IR remote control, and it works as expected after inserting two AAA batteries, before switching to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse for convenience. I’ve connected all ports of the device except the S/PDIF output: Ethernet cable, HDMI and AV cables, micro SD card, […]

ZSun Wireless USB Flash Drives Add up to 32GB to Your Mobile Device

Yesterday, I wrote about the Egg personal cloud storage device which allows you to easily store and share your files without having to rely on cloud services, and also includes a touchscreen display. But it might be possible to achieve the main selling point of that product, that is keeping your data private, while accessing it from anywhere, at a fraction of the cost, by using a Wireless USB flash drive instead. Some well known companies such as Kingston (rather expensive), and Sandisk (much more affordable) already offer such products, but I’ve been informed Zsun, a Chinese company, was also manufacturing such devices with up to 32 GB capacity. The company calls its wireless flash drive “Apple Disks” showing how much money you could save with their device, by showing the ridiculous price different between apple devices with difference storage capacity, but they can also work with Android devices, as […]

Review of Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta 4K/H.265 Android TV Box

It’s been a little while since I unboxed Tronsmart Orion R28 Meta Android TV box, but since the product was still consider “beta” by GeekBuying, I wanted to wait for a OTA firmware update (109k4), which was released at the beginning of the week. Since I’ve already listed the technical specifications, and showed pictures of the board and device, I’ll focus on feature tests and benchmarks results in the review. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I quickly tried the basic infrared remote control, inserting two AAA batteries, and it does the job, but for Android, you really need a pointing device, so I switched to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse during testing. I’ve connected a whole bunch of cable, and peripherals to the box including an HDMI cable, a USB hard drive, an Ethernet cable, a USB webcam, and a USB hub with RF dongles for my air mouse […]

Review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 Android Mini PC Powered by RK3288 with 4GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage

Last week-end, I finally received TP-Link TL-WDR7500 router (Chinese variant of Arched C7) router, so I could complete my review of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 including 802.11ac Wi-Fi. I’ve already listed the specifications, and taken a few pictures of the device and the board, and today I’ll focus on the test results. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, going through the user interface and settings, before testing video playback, as well as benchmarking networking, storage and overall system performance, playing some games, and testing most hardware features of this mini PC. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions A simple infrared remote control is provided with the device, and I’ve quickly tried it by inserting two AAA batteries, and it works fine, but for the rest of testing I switched to Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse to control the device, as it’s much more user friendly than any IR remote. Before […]

openPicus Introduces Wi-Fi and GPRS IoT Kits Powered by Microchip PIC24 MCU

openPicus has launched two new development kits for the Internet of Things with either Wi-Fi or GPRS connectivity, based on their FlyportPRO modules featuring a 16-bit Microchip PIC24 MCU, and sharing the same baseboard. These kits can be used as a Web server with firmware update over the air (FOTA) (Wi-Fi version only) among other things, and support TCP, UDP, FTP, & HTTP protocols, as well as MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), a light weight messaging protocol running on top of the TCP/IP protocol, used when a small code footprint is required and/or network bandwidth is limited. openPicus FlyportPRO Wi-Fi and GPRS modules share mostly the same specifications: MCU – Microchip PIC24FJ256GB206 16-bit MCU @ 32 MHz with 256KB Flash,  96KB RAM External Storage – 16Mbit Flash memory (for FOTA), 64Kbit EEPROM Connectivity GPRS Module – SAGEM HILONC GPRS Transceiver (quad band: 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) with uFL connector for external […]

Review of EM6Q-MXQ Android Quad Core Media Player

After taking a few pictures of Eny EM6Q-MXQ Android media player, it’s time for a full review. I’ll first give my first impressions and go through the user interface, test video playback, test the system, network, and storage performance, try a few games, and check various hardware ports are working as they are supposed to do. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve inserted two AAA batteries in the provided infrared remote control to check it’s working, and it’s usable in the main user interface and XBMC, but once you start using most Android apps it’s useless, so I quickly switched to  Mele F10 Deluxe air mouse. Before powering up the device, I’ve connected an HDMI cable, an Ethernet cable, and made with use of the 4 USB ports by connecting two RF dongles (Air mouse and gamepad), a USB hard drive, and a UVC USB webcam. The box lacks […]

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