CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 5, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

MIPS Creator CI20 Development Board is Now Available for $65

When Imagination Technologies first announced their developer program for MIPS Creator CI20 board, they did not disclose the price, but based on the specifications I estimated that a decent price would be $70 o $80. The company has now announced broad availability of the board, which can be pre-ordered for just $65 or 50 GBP depending on the continent you live in, with shipping scheduled for the end of January 2015. This development board is based on Ingenic JZ4780 dual core MIPS processor with 1GB DDR3, 8GB flash, and features an HDMI output up to 1080p, Audio in and out, a Fast Ethernet RJ45 port, a Wireless module with Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi, an IR receiver, and expansion headers. Several projects have already been ported by developers who got their free board a few months, ago including XBMC/Kodi, several games such as Spiral Episode 1, and beside Android 4.4 and […]

December 4, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

CX-S806 Android Media Player with 4K UHD, H.265 Codec Support Goes for $63 and Up

CX-S806 is one of the first Android TV boxes powered by Amlogic S812, providing both 4K UHD video output, and H.265 codec support. It started selling for about $80 with 2GB RAM at the end of October, but now you can get the 1GB RAM version for $62.90, and the 2GB version for $73.10, both prices including shipping from an Aliexpress seller with excellent feedback, albeit from only 22 sales. As a reminder, I’ll list the full specs again: SoC – Amlogic S812 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2.0 GHz with octa-core Mali-450MP6 GPU up to 600+ MHz System Memory – 1 to 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB flash. No SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6330 wireless module) Video Output – HDMI 1.4b up to 2160p @ 30 Hz (Summary says HDMI 2.0, specs 1.4b), 3.5mm AV jack (composite + […]

December 4, 2014May 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

e-con Systems Unveils eSOMiMX6 SoM based on μQ7 Form Factor, and Ankaa Development Kit

QSeven is one of the many standards for system-on-modules, and it defines both Qseven (Q7) 70x70mm modules, and smaller μQSeven (μQ7) 70x40mm modules. While there are quite a few SoMs following the larger form factor, few modules are based on micro Q7, and e-con Systems eSOMiMX6 has just launched one of these tiny modules with eSOMiMX6 system-on-module powered by Freescale i.MX6 processors, as well the corresponding Ankaa development kit comprised of the SoM and a baseboard. eSOMiMX6 module specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 single, dual or quad Cortex A9 processor @ 800MHz to 1.2 GHz with Vivante GPUs System Memory – 256MB/512MB (Solo only), 1GB (default), or 2GB (dual/quad only) LVDDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB (default) to 64GB eMMC flash, 2MB SPI NOR flash, and SD/MMC + SATA II interfaces via MXM connector Display / Video Output: HDMI up to 1920 x 1080 Dual channel 24-bit LVDS 24-bit LCD RGB MIPI […]

December 4, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SGET Releases embedded NUC Standard Version 1.0 for Embedded Boards

SGET (Standardization Group for Embedded Technologies) had previously released system-on-module standards such as Qseven and SMARC. The group has now published the new “embedded NUC” (eNUC) standard around NUC (Next Unit of Computing) developed by Intel, that defines mechanical and basic technical parameters for multifunctional, small sized and cost effective embedded computer boards. The standard specifies both required and optional features. Minimal requirements are summarized as follows: PCB outline & PCB mounting concept – 10.16 x 10.16 cm (4 x 4 “) board. Other dimensions as shown above. PCB and connectors height are also defined, respectively with 18.6 mm and 24.25 mm maximum heights. Predefined Board Types with minimum interface and feature set: Type 1 (Basic) – At least 1x LAN, 2x USB. and an external single power connector. Recommended features include video out (HDMI, DP,…), 1x SATA, 1xSD slot, audio interfaces, mini PCIe, etc… Type 2 (Connectivity) – At […]

December 4, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Applied Micro XC-1 Server Development Board (Mustang) is Now Available to Developers for $895

64-bit ARM server boards such as Applied Micro XC-1 Mustang and AMD Opteron A1100 development kit have been available since the beginning of the year, but only to selected companies, and at a price of several thousand dollars per board. Applied Micro is now offering their X-Gene based XC-1 development board to individual developers for $895, or about ~40% discount to the $1495 company now have to pay for the board. It may also be available from distributors (part number: EV-883208-X1-PRB-1). XC-1 board (codenamed Mustang) technical specifications: SoC – Applied Micro X-GeneAPM883208-X1 8-core ARM 64-bit @ 1.6 GHz System Memory – 2x DDR3 UDIMM memory slots up fitted with 2x 4GB sticks (8 GB), upgradable to 16GB Storage – 1x 128Mbit SPI NOR Flash for booting, 1x SATA 3 ports, SD card slot, 1024Kb and 256Kb I2C EEPROM Connectivity – 2x Gigagit port (SGMII), 10 GbE SFP+ cage, 1x Gigabit […]

December 3, 2014December 5, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Olimex Introduces Open Source Hardware ESP8266 Wi-Fi Modules, Evaluation Board Coming Soon

ESP8266 has become popular as module based on this SoC make it incredibly cheap to add Wi-Fi to all sort of things, the SDK available, and a community has gathered around the solution. Olimex has jumped on the bandwagon, and is now provided two open source hardware ESP8266 modules: MOD-WIFI-ESP8266 which makes it easy to interface to other Olimex boards thanks to its UEXT connector, and MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-DEV with two rows of 0.1″ connectors and an unsoldered UEXT pad, is better suited if you want to integrate it with your own baseboard, or experiment with a breadboard. An evaluation board called MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-EVB will be launched a little later. Both modules share most specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP8266 32-bit RISC processor with 802.11 b/g/n support(32-pin QFN package), Wi-Fi – 802.112 b/g/n with WEP, TKIP, AES, and WAPI engines, Wi-Fi direct (P2P), and soft-AP. On-board antenna and u.FL connector Expansion MOD-WIFI-ESP8266 – […]

December 3, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Free Firefly-RK3288 Boards Available to Developers

Firefly-RK3288 is a development board powered by Rockchip RK3288 processor, and for a board that’s just gone into mass production, I have written about it often enough, so I won’t go into specifications details, Android & Linux SDK, and schematics availability. T-chip has now launched a developer program to give away the board to people with interesting projects. The board normally costs $160 shipped, but if you are selected all you’ll have to pay is shipping. In order to apply for this contest, send an email to apply@t-firefly.com with the following information: Name, country/region Personal website/blog, and projects (better with project homepage) Usage/project plan of the board You have until December 5, 2014 to apply. Good luck 🙂

December 3, 2014December 3, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Huawei Introduces Kirin 620 Octa Core Cortex A53 LTE SoC for Smartphones

Huawei / Hisilicon has announced a new 64-bit ARM processor with Kirin 620 featuring eight ARM Cortex A53 cores coupled with a Mali-450MP GPU, as well as an LTE Cat4 modem. Key specifications of this application processor include: CPU – 8x ARM Cortex A53 @ 1.2 GHz GPU – Mali-450MP4 GPU Memory – LPDDR3 Camera – 13MP, ZSL (Zero Shutter Lag), HDR Video – Decode & Encode: 1080p30 H.264 Cellular connectivity – LET Cat4 150M/50M, HSPA+ Cat24 42M / Cat6 5.76M, TDS R7 2.8M/2.2M, GSM R6 Class33 Voice Solution – VoLTE/eSRVCC, CSFB, SGLTE, DSDA, DSDS Peripherals – USB, HSIC, SD/MMC, DMAC Process – 28 nm That’s about all I know so far. Hisilicon mobile SoCs have not found their way in many handsets in the past, apart from Huawei smartphones. We’ll see if that one becomes more popular. Via AndroidPC.es and Android Headlines.