CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Freescale i.MX6 Development Boards (Wandboard, Cubox-i and HummingBoard) Get Android Kitkat Firmware and SDK

Several Freescale i.MX6 development boards have gotten a KitKat treat this month with the release of Android 4.4 firmware and SDK. The boards involved include Wandboard Solo/Dual/Quad, as well as Solidrun Cubox-i boards, and the Raspberry Pi like HummingBoard. Thanks to the “magic” of device tree, a single firmware image is now provided for all the boards provided by a given company. For Wandboard Solo, Dual, and Quad: Demo firmware image – android-4.4.2-wandboard-20140815.zip SDK with source code – wandboard_android-4.4.2_fullsource_20140815.tar.xz For CuBox-i and HummingBoard: Firmware image – android-4.4.2-1.0.1b-ga-aaf118bb78-gapps.img.xz Android 4.4 KitKat souce code and build instructions are available on github. Thanks to … Harley!

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

WRTNode is a Hacker-Friendly Open Source Hardware OpenWRT Wi-Fi Module Selling for $25

There are now some tiny and low cost ($15 to $20) Wi-Fi modules supporting OpenWRT such as VoCore and AsiaRF AWM002. However due to their small size they may not be that hacker’s friendly as they can’t have 2.54mm headers due to heir small size, and I’ve recently received AsiaRF AWM002 only to find out it not only needs 3.3V supply voltage, but also 1.8V and 1.2V. So I’d need to make my own power circuit with the required LDOs, or purchase a $20 base board to use the module. Here comes WRTnode another larger Wi-Fi module but with more usable 2.54mm headers, and based on the more powerful Mediatek MT7620N processor @ 600MHz. WRTnode hardware specifications: Processor – Mediatek MT7620N 600MHz MIPS CPU (MIPS24KEc) System Memory – 64MB DDR2 Storage – 16MB SPI flash Connectivity – Wi-Fi 2T2R 802.11n 2.4 GHz up to 300Mbps Expansion Headers – 2x with […]

August 20, 2014August 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Raspberry Pi Based Slice, and EzeeCube Quad Media Players Support Internal Hard Drives (Crowdfunding)

Slice is a media player based on Raspberry Pi Compute Module, and EzeeCube Quad is media hub powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad, and an upgrade to EzeeCube based on i.MX6 dual, which was successfully funded. The underlying hardware between Slice and EzeeCube is much different, but both devices have a lot in common. They are both media players currently being crowd-funded respectively in Kickstarter and Indiegogo, both comes with an internal hard drive, run XBMC, targets typical end-users (rather than tinkerers) and are somewhat pricey. Slice Media Player When I first saw Slice, all I could see was an Raspberry Pi module, put in a case with an internal hard drive bay, and lots of pretty RGB LEDs, and with an air mouse sold for an inflated price of 114 GBP ($190 US) without hard drive or 179 GBP ($300 US) with a 1TB drive, with admittedly some cheaper early […]

August 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$79 STACK Box Home Automation / IoT Gateway Supports Wi-Fi, Ethernet, BLE, XBee, X10, Z-Wave and More (Crowdfunding)

Cloud Media (Syabas) is better known for their Linux based “Popcorn Hour” media players, and last year I reviewed their FreeOTT streaming media player powered by a Cavium ARM11 processor. The company is now entering the home automation market with the STACK Box (aka XuanBox) also powered by a Cavium ARM11 processor, and supporting various connectivity options to interface with popular smart “things” such as Belkin Wemo and Philips Hue, as well as a Raspberry Pi Bus (26-pin header) to support add-ons. STACK Box specifications: Processor – Cavium ARM11 processor @ 640 MHz (possibly Cavium CELESTIAL CNC1800L. TBC) System Memory – 256MB DDR3 Storage – 512 MB flash + SD card slot Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet Wi-Fi 802.11n with WPS Bluetooth LE 4.0 (included) Z-Wave (included) Dust Networks (extra module required) XBee (extra module required) X10 (extra module required) Insteon (extra module required) RF433/315 (coming soon) EnOcean (coming soon) ZigBee(coming soon) DCLink(coming […]

August 20, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

AllWinner A31 Android & Linux SDKs, and Documentation Leaked

AllWinner A31 software development kits (SDK) for Android 4.2 / 4.4 and Linux can now be downloaded, and relevant documentation has also been made available, including HummingBird A31 system brief and system manual. Part of the documentation is in English, but lots of it, is in Chinese only. Download links to AllWinner A31 SDKs for HummingBird A31 development board, but they may be useful for other hardware platforms based on AllWinner A31: Android 4.4 SDK (password: 5ck9) – a31_v4.5_hummingbird_kfb_ok.tar.gz (6.04 GB) Android 4.2 SDK (password: tz17) – a31_hummbingbird_V3.3_v2_kfb_0k.tar.gz (3.99 GB) Linux SDK (password: kdcw) – A31_MerriiLinux_V3.3_v1.tar.gz (1.17 GB) There are also links to firmware files specific to HummingBird: Android 4.4 firmware LCD output (password: w1s6) Android 4.2 firmware LCD output (password: b7de) Android 4.2 firmware VGA output (password: nfqw) Linux firmware (password: ibal) It takes a very long time to download the SDKs, so I haven’t checked the files, and […]

August 19, 2014August 19, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

XBMC 13.2 Gotham Final Release

XBMC developers have just released XBMC 13.2, which could be one of the latest, if not the latest release, under the name XBMC, before Kodi 14 makes it debut. Since it’s only a minor release (13.x), there aren’t any new features, only bug fixes, and it should be safe to upgrade from older 13.x release on various supported operating systems and probably, except possibly in some Android TV boxes where you may have a custom version of Android specific to your hardware / SoC. List of changes against XBMC 13.1: Fix audio problems with pass-through on OSX Crash in Android if an app is favourite, then uninstalled from system. Fix crash in Android when entering programs menu in some skins Bitstream conversion fix for some BD mkv iso rips Fix labelcontrols with autowidth set were always marked as dirty (re-render) Update included PVR add-on Set “remote as keyboard” default to […]

August 19, 2014August 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Review of Probox2 EX Quad Core Android TV Box and Remote+ Air Mouse

Probox2 EX is an Android TV box powered by Amlogic S802-H processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB eMMC, an hardware very similar to MINIX NEO X8-H, and an upgrade to the Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite and Shenzhen Tomato EM8 / Enybox M8 TV boxes I’ve reviewed previously, with more storage (16GB vs 8GB), dual band Wi-Fi, and S802-H instead of S802 for hardware DTS and Dolby audio decoding. I’ve already published an unboxing post for Probox2 EX, so today I’m going to test the firmware, including overall performance and stability, video playback, gaming, and most hardware features, as well as Remote+ air mouse with audio and gaming capabilities, which comes with the device. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I’ve found two AAA battery to insert into Remote+ air mouse, connected an HDMI cable, an Ethernet cable, the Wi-Fi antenna, the RF dongle for Remote+, and the power adapter to […]

August 18, 2014October 11, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

$122 MK903V May Be the First Android HDMI TV Dongle Powered by Rockchip RK3288 SoC

Most of currently announced Rockchip RK3288 based Android mini PCs comes in box form factor, rather than in HDMI stick form factor, but I’ve been informed that MK903V is one of the first HDMI stick based on the latest Rockchip quad core Cortex A17 SoC. MK903V specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core CortexA17 @ 1.8 GHz (likely 1.6 GHz or lower) + Mali-T764 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 /3.0, and OpenCL 1.1 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot (up to 32 GB) Connectivity – dual band WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz/5GHz) with external Wi-Fi antenna, and Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6330) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 output (male) up to 4k2k @ 60 fps USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 2x micro USB ports (1x OTG, 1x for power) Misc – Firmware update button (pinhole). Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions […]