CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 17, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

WRTnode2P, WRTnode2R and WRTnodeHi OpenWRT Boards to Feature M.2 & mini PCIe Edge Connectors, H.265 Camera Support, and More

WRTnode is a small and low cost development board powered by Mediatek MT7620N and running OpenWRT. The developers have been working on three new OpenWRT boards based on Mediatek or Hisilicon processor and featuring either an M.2 connector, a mini PCIe connector, or support for H.265 camera. The first board is WRTnode2P with the following specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT7628an MIPS 24KEc processor @ 575 MHz System Memory – 256 MB RAM Storage – 32MB Flash Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi @ 300 Mbps (2T2R) I/Os via NGFF M.2 connector: PCIe X1, USB 2.0 host, SD-XC 5x 100M Ethernet switch I2S up to 192K/24-bit 2x UART, SPI, I2C 20x GPIO Dimensions – 42 x 22mm The second board, WRTNode2R, features a processor and a micro-controller, and can be connected to a mini PCIe port: SoC – Mediatek MT7688an MIPS24K Processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 256 MB DDR2 Storage […]

August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Rockchip RK3288 vs RK3368 Benchmarks Comparison

Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes are now shipping, and I’ve just reviewed Beelink i68, so it’s a good time to compare the latest octa-core Cortex A53 processor with its predecessor, RK3288, featuring four ARM Cortex A17 cores, as well as a Mali-T764 GPU. To compare both processors, I’ve used Antutu 5.x, Vellamo 3.x and 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme benchmarks results for Beelink i68 (RK3368) and Tronsmart Orion R28 (RK3288). The ratio divides the scores, and a ratio greater than 1 indicates RK3368 outperforms RK3288. Rockchip RK3288 Rockchip RK3368 Ratio CPU Quad core Cortex A17 @ 1.8 GHz Octa core Cortex A53 @ 1.2GHz GPU ARM Mali-T764 PowerVR G6110 Antutu 5.x Overall 36865 34171 0.93 Multitask 5753 4041 0.70 Runtime 1976 2949 1.49 RAM Ops 2475 2346 0.95 RAM Speed 3153 2601 0.82 CPU Integer (multi-thread) 2433 2973 1.22 CPU float-point (multi-thread) 3565 2930 0.82 CPU Integer (single thread) 1432 1536 1.07 […]

August 16, 2015January 18, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 41 Comments

Beelink i68 (Rockchip RK3368) TV Box Review

Beelink i68 is one of the first 64-bit ARM Android mini PCs available on the market, and could offer an update to Rockchip RK3288 TV boxes thanks to its eight Cortex A53 cores and support for HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60Hz. I’ve already taken a few pictures of the device and RK68 board, so today I’ll report about performance, stability, features and video playback capabilities in the full review. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The box has three USB 2.0 host ports and a micro USB OTG port, so for once I did not have to use a USB hub to connect all my devices and cables. I’ve inserted an Ethernet cable, an HDMI cable, an optical cable to the S/PDIF output, a Class 10 micro SD card, a USB hard drive, a USB webcam, an RF dongle for Tronsmart Mars G01 wireless gamepad, and finally MeLE […]

August 15, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Touchjet WAVE Adds Android and Touchscreen Capability to Your TV (Crowdfunding)

There are already ways to convert your TV into a smart TV running Android with touchscreen support, but you’d need to buy an Android mini PC and a infrared touch frame overlay for your TV both of which should cost several hundred dollars in total, and the larger your TV the costlier the price, and once you get the hardware, you may also need to modify your kernel source code to enable USB touchscreen… A US start-up is now working on a much cheaper and easier way to achieve this with Touchjet WAVE, a quad core Android mini PC that integrates an infrared sensor to track finger movements and taps across the screen of your existing TV. Touchjet WAVE specifications: SoC – Quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 2.0 GHz (Likely Amlogic S802 or S812) System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash Video Output – HDMI 1.4 Touchscreen […]

August 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Fitlet H mini PC is Powered by AMD A10 Micro-6700T SoC

At the beginning of the year, Compulab announced several Fitlet mini PCs powered by AMD Mullins processors. Missing from the original offering was the top of the line A10 Micro-6700T quad core processor, but the company’s latest Fitlet H integrates the more powerful, yet still low power, processor. Fitlet H specifications: SoC – AMD A10 Micro-6700T 64 bit quad-core processor @ up to 2.2 GHz with AMD Radeon R6 Graphics (4.5W TDP). System Memory – 2x SODIMM slots for up to 16 GB DDR3L-1333 Storage – Internal 2.5” HDD/SSD (SATA 3.0) + mSATA 3.0 + micro-SD Video Output – 2x HDMI 1.4a up to 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz Audio – Realtek ALC888-VC2 HD audio codec; S/PDIF 7.1 input/output + stereo line-out / MIC in Connectivity 2x Gigabit Ethernet (Intel i211 Ethernet controllers) WLAN 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz dual band Intel 7260HMW) + Bluetooth 4.0 with two external antennas Cellular – mini-PCIe for […]

August 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 40 Comments

Updated Ethernet & WiFi HDD Enclosure Supports 300Mbps with Mediatek MT7620N Processor

I featured an HDD enclosure with WiFi and Ethernet on CNX Software a few months ago, and several people were interested, bought one, and found out it was running OpenWRT, and easily to adapt to your needs, although some people complains it was not able to connect as a client. There’s now a new model, looking similar, by powered by Mediatek MT7620N and supporting 300 Mbps WiFi. While hardware specifications were not published with the first model, the manufacturer decided to release the full specifications for the new model: Processor – Mediatek MT7620N MIPS processor @ 580 MHz System Memory – 64MB DDR1 Storage 16MB SPI flash for firmware SATA interface for 2.5″ HDD up to 2TB (10TB is shown in the description) File systems – FAT32, NTFS, EXT64 (Sic.). Connectivity 2.4GHz WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2×2 up to 300 Mbps with 2 internal antennas Wireless security – WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK/AES encryption, Intelligent […]

August 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$12 Semlamp SL-012 Lamp Controller Let You Wirelessly Control Lights with Android or iOS Devices

WiFi smart sockets have come down in price with products like Orvibo Wiwo S20 selling for $16, but if all you want to do is control your lights, there’s an even cheaper option with Semlamp SL-012 lamp controller selling for just $11.92 on DealExtreme and allowing to control two lights independently with Android or iOS mobile devices. Specifications listed for Semlamp SL-012 : Voltage – AC 220-240V Max Current – 10A Dimmable – Yes Control Range – 10 meters Dimensions – 9.5 cm x 4.5 cm x 2.4 cm Weight – 59.5 g Material – Plastic Right, not that much information, and nothing about wireless connectivity. But the description also mentions that the device does not use Bluetooth, nor WiFi. So how is that possible? The answer lies with another picture shown on the right…. A microphone is attached to that yellow cable, and they are using audio to control […]

August 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

VIA Introduces AMOS-3005 Fanless Rugged Computer with Eden X4 x86 Processor, and VX11 Media Processor

VIA Embedded Store has just sent a newsletter to announce the launch of the company’s latest rugged embedded computer, AMOS-3005, powered by VIA Eden X4 processor and VX11 media processor and chipset, supporting temperature ranges from -10°C to 60°C, and featuring a flexible 9V-36V DC input. AMOS-3005 specifications: Processor – VIA Eden X4 quad core 64-bit x86 processor @ 1.2 GHz (NanoBGA2 package) with 2MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz front side bus Chipset – VIA VX11 Media System Processor with an integrated VIA Chrome 640/645 graphics processor supporting DirectX 11, and OpenCL, as well as a VIA ChromotionHD 5.0 video engine supporting dual 1080p HD decoding of H.264, MPEG-2, WMV9, and VC-1 codecs. System Memory – 1x DDR3 1333 SDRAM SODIMM socket (Up to 8GB memory size) Storage – 1x mSATA slot, 32Mbit Flash memory for AMI BIOS. Video Output- 1x HDMI, 1x VGA up to 2048×1536, with dual independent […]