CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

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 […]

August 18, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

UyeSee T1H 4K Android TV Box Features USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI In

Shenzhen UyeSee Technology, a company specializing in audio / video products, has announced UyeSee T1H Android TV box powered by Mstar MSO9810 quad core processor, with 1 to 2GB RAM, 8 to 32GB eMMC flash, and featuring high speed ports such as Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0, as well as HDMI In supporting PiP (Picture-in-Picture) thanks to the dual decoder found in the processor. T1H is not the first Mstar 9810 STB I mention here, as Kaiboer already has a few models with Q5, Q6, and F5, but the latter focuses on the Chinese market, whereas Uyesee plans to expand to oversea markets, and the firmware is available in English, and other languages supported by Android, too. UyeSee T1H specifications: SoC – Mstar MSO9180 quad core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with a quad-core ARM Mali-450 MP2 GPU @ 500MHz. System Memory – 1GB to 2GB DDR3 @ 1866MHz? Storage […]

August 17, 2014August 17, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

XBMC / Kodi 14 Ported to Tizen 3.0 Wayland

XBMC, soon to become Kodi with version 14, is now supported in Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Android, and iOS. But Kodi 14 may soon support Tizen, as Phil C., a Tizen developer, ported the alpha version of Kodi 14 to Tizen 3.0, and showcased it on an Intel “Bay Trail” NUC powered by Intel Atom E3815 single core processor. Intel 3815 NUC is officially supported by Tizen and an image is available for download, so most of the work was to build Kodi 14 Alpha, install required packages, and configure some scripts. The video below shows XBMC/Kodi 14 UI running on Tizen 3.0, and a video played from YouTube, and after about 3 minutes, he explains how to modify the BIOS to have the system boot and work properly for the rest of the video. If you happen to own an Intel E3815 NUC, but it could also work […]

August 16, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 42 Comments

AllWinner A80 OptimusBoard Octa-core big.LITTLE Development Board is Now Available … for $169

A80 OptimusBoard powered by AllWinner A80 octa-core processor with four Cortex A15 and four Cortex A7 in big.LITTLE configuration had been announced at the end of 2013, and after numerous delays, several boards have recently been sent to developers and companies such as miniNodes, Linuxium, and others. The company behind the board is actually Shenzhen Merrii Technology (aka WITS), which had done all earlier development kits for AllWinner, and they’ve now made the board available for purchase on Aliexpress. Unfortunately the company has decided to leave to low cost development boards market to the likes of Cubieboard8 and PCDuino8, as A80 OptimusBoard sells for $345 plus about $30 for shipping by courier.[Update: they now offer it for $169] SoC – AllWinner Ultra Core A80 4x Cortex 15, 4x Cortex A7 big.LITTLE processor with Imagination Technologies PowerVR GC6230 GPU with 64-cores, and support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.0, Directx 9.3 System Memory […]

August 16, 2014December 29, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Review of WeTek Play Android DVB-S2 Satellite Receiver

[Update, December 29, 2014: You may want to read the updated WeTek Play Review with newer firmware including IPTV services, and bug fixes] I’ve already posted pictures of WeTek Play and its boards, and now it’s time to do a full review of this Android DVB-S2 receiver / media player. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, going through the system settings, testing my library of video test files, as well as DVB-S2 support via WeTek Theater, and check most of hardware features. I’ll also test network and storage performance, before running Antutu benchmark to make sure the device runs at optimal speed. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions Contrary to the vast majority of devices, WeTek Play does not come with a basically useless infrared remote, but instead an RF air mouse with an IR transmitter in order to provide true power ON/OFF capabilities. The remote is very nice […]

August 15, 2014August 27, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Probox2 EX Android TV Box and Remote+ Unboxing

W2COMP sent me their Probox2 EX Android TV Box (click link for full specs) powered by Amlogic S802-H processor with DTS and Dolby hardware decoding, 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC, and the usual USB ports, and wired and wireless connectivity. Probox2 EX is a direct competitor to MINIX NEO X8-H with similar features, and it also comes with an air mouse called Remote+ with gaming and voice control functions. Today, I’ll post some pictures, and videos about the device and its internal, following by a full review sometimes next week. Probox2 EX Unboxing I’ve received not one, but two boxes in the package I received via Fedex. The first package contains Probox2 EX Android media player, and the smaller one Probox2 Remote+ air mouse. The device comes with a few accessories including a 5V/2A power supply, HDMI and AV cables, an external Wi-Fi antenna, a micro USB to USB cable, an […]

August 14, 2014August 15, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

Unboxing of WeTek Play DVB-S2 Android / Linux STB

WeTek Electronics, a company based in Hong Kong, has sent me an Android TV powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 processor. Nothing new here, but I was very very interested in reviewing it because it includes a DVB-S2 tuner, and on top of their stock Android firmware, the company provides various Android and Linux firmware files such as CyanogenMod, ParanoidAndroid, OpenELEC, Linux with Enlightenment desktop environment, Lubuntu 14.04 and so on. Today, I’ll list the hardware specifications of the device, show some unboxing pictures and video, and as usual, open the device to see what’s inside. I’ll provide a full review in one or two more posts. WeTek Play Specifications Apart from the DVB-S2 tuner are the serial port, the hardware specifications sound familiar: SoC – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4 GB NAND flash […]