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May 11, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Mind xPlay display and keyboard review using Khadas Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs

Khadas xPlay connected to Crowview USB C display

In this review, I’ll report my experience with the Khadas Mind xPlay display and keyboard using the Mind and Mind 2 mini PCs, as well as a CHUWI CoreBook Air Plus 16 laptop to test it as a standard external display. Using Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 mini PC I received the Mind xPlay with the Mind 2 Meteor Lake mini PC, and I already showed how to connect it and get started in the first part of the review. So I’ll continue the review with it initially. I used the EIZO monitor test website to evaluate the display panel itself. I went through all 13 tests, including dead pixel and gradients tests. The pattern above looks fine too, so I compare the Mind xPlay monitor to the 16-inch display of the ASUS Vivobook 16 to find differences. Both were set to maximum brightness. The xPlay delivers noticeably more […]

May 10, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

My experience upgrading the BIOS of a Windows 11 mini PC (with BitLocker) in 2026

I don’t always update the BIOS of my system, but when I do, I always make sure to waste several hours doing so. Last time I did that was in 2020, but this happened again when I updated the BIOS for the Khadas Mind 2 to test it with the Mind xPlay display and Mind Graphics 2 dock. Khadas provides the BIOS with instructions to update the Mind 2 mini PC, and it’s supposed to take five minutes, but I ended up wasting two about hours… The first step is to download and extract a zip file (mind-2-bios-v1.07-260122.zip), then start the Flash_BIOS upgrade program, and finally wait for the upgrade to complete. That part went great. No problem, but when the system rebooted, I was greeted by a BitLocker window asking me to enter a recovery key to carry on with the boot process. There’s no way to avoid this, […]

May 8, 2026May 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Arbor ARES-2100 Wildcat Lake fanless box PC targets industrial automation, machine vision, and Edge AI applications

Arbor ARES-2100 fanless box PC is another industrial platform based on the new Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” processor family, which specifically targets industrial automation, machine vision, and lightweight Edge AI applications. The fanless computer supports up to 64GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory, UFS 3.1 and/or M.2 NVMe/SATA storage, and offers up to three video outputs, up to three 2.5GbE ports, optional WiFi, Bluetooth, and 4G LTE via M.2 expansion slots, an RS232/RS485 RJ45 connector, and two optional CAN Bus interfaces through a terminal block. As an industrial machine, it’s designed to operate in the -20 to +60°C temperature range, takes 9 to 36V DC input, and received MIL-STD-810H certification for shock and vibration. Arbor ARES-2100 specifications: SoC – Intel Core Series 3 Wildcat Lake processors with five or six cores, Intel Xe3 Graphics, and up to 40 TOPS of combined AI performance. TDP: 15W System Memory – Up to […]

May 7, 2026May 7, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Khadas Mind Graphics 2 and Mind xPlay display + keyboard review – Part 1: Unboxing, teardown, and first try

Khadas has sent us the Mind Graphics 2 dock, Mind xPlay portable display and keyboard, as well as the Mind 2 mini PC for review. In the first part of the review, I’ll start by listing specifications, an unboxing of all three packages, a teardown of the graphics dock, and a first try of the xPlay and Mind Graphics 2 with the mini PC. While the Mind 2 will be used for testing, I won’t go into details here since it’s quite similar to the Mind 2 AI Maker Kit we reviewed last year. Instead, in the next parts, I’ll do a review of the xPlay with it, the first-generation Mind, and maybe another platform with USB-C video output. I’ll follow that by detailed testing of the Khadas Mind 2, including graphics and AI performance with the built-in NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB card, and check all its features. […]

May 5, 2026May 5, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Congatec conga-TC300 COM Express module features up to Intel Core 7 350 Wildcat Lake processor

Intel Wildcat Lake COM Express Compact module

congatec conga-TC300 is an entry-level edge AI COM Express Type-6 Compact module powered by 15W Intel Core Series 3 “Wildcat Lake” SoCs up to the Core 7 350 hexa-core processor. The module supports up to 64GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and features optional on-board UFS 3.1 storage, an Intel i226 2.5GbE controller, and two standard 220-pin board-to-board connectors exposing I/Os such as SATA, DDI and LVDS or eDP display interfaces, USB4, USB 3.2, USB 2.0, PCIe Gen4/Gen3, and more. congatec conga-TC300 specifications: Wildcat Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core 3 305 6-core CPU – 2x P-cores @ 1.5/4.3 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.3 GHz (Turbo) GPU – 1-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.3 GHz (9 TOPS) NPU – N/A Intel Core 5 320 6-core CPU – 2x P-cores @ 1.5/4.6 GHz (Turbo) + 4x LPE-cores @ 1.4/3.4 GHz (Turbo) GPU – 2-core Intel Xe3 Graphics @ 2.5 […]

April 24, 2026 by Debashis Das - No Comments

Axiomtek PICO570 – An Intel Core Ultra Meteor Lake Pico-ITX SBC with DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM memory, HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp120

Axiomtek PICO570 Pico ITX SBC with Intel Core Ultra Processors

Axiomtek has recently introduced the PICO570, a high-performance Pico-ITX SBC built around Intel Core Ultra (Series 1) Meteor Lake-U processors. Measuring just 100 x 72 mm, this ultra-compact board with its 11 TOPS NPU is designed for edge AI applications. The PICO570 board is very similar to the AAEON PICO-MTU4 Pico-ITX SBC, but it features a physical 262-pin DDR5 SO-DIMM slot that allows users to upgrade or replace the RAM instead of solder-on LPDDR5 memory, and features an HDMI 2.1 supporting up to 4K resolution at 120Hz. The SBC also features an RS-232/422/485 serial interface, two USB 3.0 ports, and a dedicated SMBus connector for system management. With an operating temperature range of -20°C to +60°C, a watchdog timer, hardware monitoring, and a 12V DC input, it can be used for AI inference nodes, automation controllers, medical systems, and intelligent infrastructure. Axiomtek PICO570 specifications: Meteor Lake-U SoC (one of the other) […]

April 23, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL – A slim Twin Lake embedded PC for semiconductor manufacturing and digital signage

AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL is a slim (30mm thin) embedded PC powered by Intel Processor N150 or N250 Twin Lake processor, paired with up to 32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM memory and NVMe SSD storage. The fanless mini PC also features HDMI and VGA video outputs, four USB ports, dual GbE networking, two DB-9 ports for RS-232/422/485, and three M.2 slots for storage (NVMe SSD), WiFi and Bluetooth, and 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity. Its slim design, ports, and ability to operate in the -20°C ~ 60°C temperature range make it suitable for space-constrained applications such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment and digital signage installations. AAEON BOXER-6407-TWL specifications: Twin Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N150 quad-core processor @ up to 3.6 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD graphics @ 1.0 GHz; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N250 quad-core processor @ up to 3.8 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 32EU Intel UHD graphics @ […]

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

Intel Core Ultra X7 358H-powered open robotics development system targets humanoid robots and autonomous vehicles

AAEON CEXD-INTRBL is an “open robotics development system” powered by a 16-core, 180 TOPS Intel Core Ultra X7 Processor 358H (Panther Lake) SoC and designed for the development of AI-enhanced humanoid robots and autonomous vehicle platforms. The Edge AI computer features four 2.5GbE ports with support for IEEE1588 PTP (Precision Time Protocol), two FAKRA connectors for up to eight GMSL2 cameras, four USB 3.2 Type-C ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a CAN Bus connector, and a 40-pin HAT connector with 22 GPIOs. AAEON CEXD-INTRBL specifications: SoC – Intel Core Ultra X7 358H CPU – 16-core (4P + 8E + 4LPE) Panther Lake processor @ up to 4.8 GHz Cache – 18 MB Smart Cache GPU – 12-core Intel Arc B390 GPU @ up to 2.5 GHz (122 TOPS) AI accelerator – 50 TOPS; CPU + GPU + NPU combined: 180 TOPS PBP – 25 Watts System Memory – Up to […]