CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 21, 2014January 23, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Getting Started with LinkIt ONE Development Kit for Wearables & IoT

After going through WRTnode Quick Start Guide, it’s now time to play with LinkIt ONE, the IoT development board from Mediatek designed by Seeed Studio. LinkIt ONE is the first Hardware Development Kit (HDK) for Mediatek LinkIt, so there may be a LinkIt TWO, and/or other hardware platforms in the future. LinkIt ONE specifications Let’s quickly go through the specifications first: Processor – Mediatek MT2502A (Aster) ARM7 EJ-STM processor @ 260 MHz System Memory – 4 MB Storage – 16MB Flash for firmware + micro SD slot shared with SIM slot for up to 32GB additional storage Connectivity: Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n (MT5931) with external antenna Bluetooth – BR/EDR/BLE(Dual Mode) GPS – Mediatek MT3332 with external antenna GSM/GPRS – 850/900/1800/1900 MHz band, Class 12 GPS with external antenna Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack (including mic support) – Support for MP3, AAC, and AMR codecs. Serial – Software Serial (Serial), and […]

September 20, 2014February 3, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Unboxing of Eny EM6Q-MXQ Android TV Box Powered by Amlogic S805 Processor

EM6Q-MXQ is an Android TV box based on Amlogic S805 quad core Cortex A5 processor, with a quad core Mali-450MP GPU, 1GB RAM, and 8GB flash. The company sent me a sample for review, so today I’ll start with some pictures, and follow up with a full review in a few days. EM6Q-MXQ Unboxing Pictures The box comes with a brand-less “OTT TV BOX” package. The media player comes with an HDMI cable (1.2m), a remote control requiring two AAA batteries, a 5V/2A power supply, and a user’s manual in English and Chinese. The box features an LED and an IR receiver at the front, 3 USB 2.0 ports and an SD card slot on the side, with most ports on the rear panel: another full size USB port (OTG), coaxial S/PDIF, AV output, HDMI output, 10/100M Ethernet, and DC in. There’s also MAC address on the bottom of the […]

September 20, 2014September 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

$60 EC-U6D Android Media Player Powered by Realtek RTD1195 Supports 4K/HEVC, USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet

RTD1195 is only a dual core Cortex A9 A7 processor, but supports high speed interfaces like USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as 4K/H.265 hardware decoding, and Realtek has a long history with set-top boxes, so video playback might be better than some other platforms, such as the ones based on Rockchip processors. Egreat and Mele are both working on Realtek RTD1195 based Android media players, but none of the models from these two companies are available yet. EC Tech has listed their EC-U6D Android TV box on Aliexpress for $59.99 including shipping, so it competes on price with Amlogic S805 TV boxes powered by a quad core Cortex A5 processor, with H.265 hardware decoding, but that only support Fast Ethernet (for now), 1080p video output and decoding, and USB 2.0. EC-U6D specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1195 dual core ARM Cortex A9 A7 processor @ 1.4 GHz with Mali-400MP […]

September 19, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Linux based MOD Duo Multi-Effects Pedal is Powered by an AllWinner A20 SoM (Crowdfunding)

If you are both a maker and a musician, MOD Duo multipurpose pedal may be a fun “toy” to play with. It’s an embedded computer comprised of a Hi-Fi soundcard (baseboard) powered by the same ITEAD Studio A20-CORE system on module found in ITEAD Studio IBOX, fitted into an enclosure with a pedalboard interface, and two graphics displays. You can create and share your own effects, or download the one made by the community using LV2 sound plugins, an open sound processing standard. A MOD Arduino Shield is also available to create new peripherals. Some technical specifications of the MOD Duo: SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 processor @ 1GHz (AllWinner A23 is part of stretch goals) Two audio inputs Two audio outputs Stereo headphones output MIDI IN and MIDI OUT Cirrus Audio Codec USB – 1x USB Host for bluetooth, Wifi adapters and MIDI peripherals, 1x USB […]

September 18, 2014September 18, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Getting Started with WRTnode OpenWRT Development Board

Seeed Studio sent me two nice little boards that can be used for IoT development: WRTNode and LinkIt ONE. Today, I’ll show pictures of WRTNode and accessories, and go through the “starting guide“, and will test LinkIt ONE board a few days later. WRTnode Unboxing I’ve received WRTnode by Fedex, and the board is stored in a plastic box. Inside the box, you’ll find the board, a “special” USB used to power the board and as an OTG adapter, a piece of paper with useful links (Wiki), and some WRTnode stickers. Any micro USB to USB cable can be used to power the board, but this cable is useless to connect USB devices such as flash drives, webcams (OpenCV is supported), Bluetooth dongles, and so on. You could even connect a USB hub to connect multiple USB devices as shown below. I’ve also taken a picture of both sides of […]

September 18, 2014September 18, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Mediatek Releases Linux Source Code for Android One Smartphones

Android One is a program by Google aiming at bringing low cost smartphones to the emerging markets with firmware updates to the latest Android version guaranteed for two years. Three phones part of Android One program have recently been announced for the Indian market: Micromax Canvas A1, Karbonn Sparkle V, and Spice Dream Uno, and Android One phones will be available in Indonesia, the Philippines and South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) by the year of the year. The three phones currently available sell for $100, which based on the specs (quad core processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB flash, 4.5″ display) is not exactly an aggressive pricing compared to what is already available from Aliexpress, but the main advantage here is clearly Google support with promised firmware updates, and currently Android 4.4.4. All these phones appear to be powered by Mediatek MT6582, and company decided to release the Linux […]

September 18, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$39 PcDuino3 Nano ARM Linux Development Board Features HDMI, SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, Arduino Headers…

Linksprite recently announced PcDuino3 Nano development board powered by AllWinner A20 dual core processor. PcDuino3 Nano is, as you can expect, a smaller and cheaper version the company’s PcDuino3 board without Wi-Fi module, LVDS header, and I2S interface. The board does not appear to support Li-Po batteries either, but it adds one extra USB host port compared to its big brother. pcDuino3 Nano specifications: SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.0 GHz with Mali 400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DRAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash, SATA connector, and microSD card slot (up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with HDCP support Audio Out – 3.5mm analog audio interface Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 2x USB host, 1x USB OTG Expansion Headers – Arduino UNO extension interface with 14xGPIO, 2xPWM, 6xADC, 1xUART, 1xSPI, 1xI2C. Camera – MIPI camera support Misc – IR receiver Power […]

September 17, 2014November 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

MXQ S85 Android TV Box Based on Amlogic S805 is Available for $50

Android media players powered by Amlogic S805 quad core processor such as TV110 are already pretty cheap at around $60, but there’s currently a deal on Gearbest where you can get MXQ S85 for less than $50 without Bluetooth and about $55 with Bluetooth by using BackToSchool8 coupon to get 8% discount. Prices include shipping. MXQ S85 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S805 quad core ARM Cortex A5 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and optional Bluetooth 4.0. Video Output – HDMI 1.4, AV output Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports + 1 x micro USB OTG port Misc – IR sensor Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 11.4x 11.4 x 2.3 cm Weight – 137 grams […]