CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

pcDuino Acadia 1 is a Freescale i.MX6 Quad Development Board with Arduino Headers

Linksprite has been pretty busy recently. After announcing the $39 pcDuino3 Nano, they’ve now unveiled a new board named pcDuino Acadia 1 powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor with 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC, a few common ports, and Arduino headers in order to connect Arduino shields to their Linux/Android board. pcDuino Acadia 1 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Quad with four ARM Cortex A9 cores up to 1.2GHz, and Vivante GC2000 GPU with support for OpenGL/ES 2. x, OpenCL EP support, and OpenVG 1.1. System Memory – 1GB DRAM Storage – 8GB eMMC, 2x micro SD card slots (up to 128GB), and SATA Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with HDCP support, LVDS Audio Output – 3.5mm analog audio interface Camera – 1x MIPI, 1x CSI Connectivity – 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet (limited to 470Mbps) USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG Expansion Headers – Arduino UNO compatible […]

September 23, 2014March 13, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 45 Comments

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 […]

September 22, 2014September 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

Unboxing of Nagrace HPH NT-V6 Android TV Box with HDMI In, Rockchip RK3288 Processor

Thanks to Nagrace Times Technology, I’ve got a new Rockchip RK3288 Android mini PC to play with. HPH NT-V6 model is higher end compared to the other ones I’ve received including Uyesee G1H, Kingnovel R6 and Orion R28 Meta, because it comes with 32GB eMMC, HDMI In, and a AP6335 Wi-Fi module providing 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity. I’ll start by listing the device specifications, take some pictures of the device and the board, and I’ll write a full review probably next week as I have some other hardware to test first. Nagrace NT-V6 specifications The company provides various memory and storage options for this product, and if Linux based operating systems such as Ubuntu or Chrome OS end up being properly supported on Rockchip RK3288, Nagrace NT-V6 could end up bring a very nice mini PC: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core ARM Cortex A12/A17 processor @ 1.8 GHz with ARM […]

September 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

The New Radxa Rock Lite Rockchip RK3188 Development Board Sells for $59

You may have heard about Radxa Rock Lite development board before, so let’s clear up the different versions of the Radxa Rock first. There’s a total of four Radxa Rock models: Radxa Rock (2013) – The original version with 2GB RAM, 8GB NAND Flash, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Radxa Rock Lite (2013) – 1GB RAM, 4GB NAND Flash, and Wi-Fi only Radxa Rock Pro (2014) – An evolution of the Radxa Rock still with 2GB RAM, 8GB NAND flash, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth but adding LVDS and camera interfaces. Radxa Rock Lite (2014) – 1GB RAM, no NAND flash, and Wi-Fi only The fist two versions appear to have been phased out, as they are not listed for sale on Radxa Rock website, and today, I’ll write about Radxa Rock Lite (2014). Radxa Rock Lite (2014) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 ARM Cortex-A9 quad core @ 1.6Ghz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB […]

September 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Mediatek Releases Android SDK with APIs for HotKnot, Video & Image Processing, Multi-SIM, etc…

Mediatek seems motivated in getting involved with maker and open source communities. Thanks to its works on Android One with Google, the company recently released the Linux kernel source for MT6582 processor, and with a separate endeavour, launched Mediatek Labs bringing LinkIt ONE platform for IoT and wearables to market, as well as a preview release of an Android SDK for its mobile processors. Features of the SDK includes: Set of libraries for MediaTek feature APIs with full API documentation. x86 MediaTek emulator based on a reference implementation of an Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) device powered by a MediaTek chip, adding capabilities to test and debug telephony and multi-SIM features, a vibrator indicator and a hot-swappable SD card. Customized version of the DDMS (Dalvik Debug Monitor Server), which adds support for testing telephony features, such as plugging and unplugging a headset, sending telephony commands to test call and SMS features, etc… […]

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 […]