CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 9, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

33 Euros Olimex A20-OLinuXino-LIME Open Source Hardware Board Supports Linux and Android

Last year, Olimex launched A10-OLinuxXino-LIME powered by AllWinner A10, and it became quite popular due to its Linux and Android support, its open source hardware, and a price tag of just 30 Euros that made it cost competitive with BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi boards. The company has now designed an upgrade with A20-OLinuXino-LIME powered by AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 processor, that sells for just 3 Euros more. A20-OLinuXino-LIME specifications: SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 512MB DDR3 Storage – microSD card slot, SATA, and optional 4GB NAND Flash Video Output – HDMI 1080p USB – USB-OTG + 2x USB Hosts Connectivity – 10/100Mbit Ethernet Expansions – 200 GPIOs on 0.05″ connectors Misc – Lipo battery management and connector, buttons Power – 5V Dimensions – 84 x 60 mm The specifications are exactly the same expect for the […]

July 8, 2014July 9, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Eny Technology Introduces EM6Q-MXQ Android STB Based on Amlogic S805 SoC

In the last few months, we’ve seen a few Amlogic S802 powered Android media players such as Tronsmart Vega S89, SZTomato/Eny M8, and MINIX NEO X8(-H), which have the fastest Cortex A9 processor on the market with a relatively powerful octa core Mali-450MP6 GPU, as well as 4K decoding and output capabilities. But if you’d like something a little more affordable, don’t care about 4K, and would do with a quad core SoC that’s not quite as powerful, but more power efficient, and still supports HEVC, you may consider one of the upcoming devices based on Amlogic S805. Eny Technology is one of the first company to announce an S805 media player with their EM6Q-MXQ. You can check S802 / S805 / S812 comparison for details. The enclosure and remote control both look pretty familiar, and the hardware specifications are quite similar to GBox Midnight MX2, except for the Amlogic […]

July 8, 2014July 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Hardkernel Unveils $179 ODROID-XU3 Development Board Powered by Samsung Exynos 5422 SoC

Remember ODROID-XU2 development board based on Exynos 5420? The bad news is that it apparently got scrapped, but the good news is that it gave birth to ODROID-XU3 development board powered by the latest Samsung Exynos 5422 octa core big.LITTLE SoC with support for Ubuntu 14.04 and Android 4.4, including GPU 3D acceleration with the company promising a full desktop experience in Ubuntu. ODROID-XU3 specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 5422 quad core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0GHz+ quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz with Mali-T628 MP6 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1 Full profile System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP (933Mhz, 14.9GB/s memory bandwidth, 2x32bit bus) Storage – Micro SD slot (up to 64GB) + eMMC 5.0 module socket (16, 32, or 64GB module available) Video Output – micro HDMI (Up to 1080p) and DisplayPort (up to 2160p) Audio Output – micro HDMI and […]

July 8, 2014July 8, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

HiMedia Q5 Quad Core is an Android TV Box based on HiSilicon Hi3798C SoC with SATA, USB 3.0, 4K Support

HiMedia has been releasing and manufacturing Android TV boxes with SATA interfaces based on Hilison processors including Q5 (single core) and Q5II (dual core) for a couple of years. The company is about to release another one with the same enclosure, based on a new Hilicon Hi3798C quad core SoC, that they’ve aptly named “Q5 Quad Core”. HiMedia Q5 Quad Core specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Hi3798C quad core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz + ARM Mali-450MP6 Octa core GPU. System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash, SATA connector, and MMC/SD 2-in1 card reader Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet, and 802.11 b/g/n/ Wi-Fi with external antenna Video Out – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K30 and composite Audio Output – HDMI, L/R stereo (RCA), and optical & coaxial S/PDIF Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4 up to 4K30, H.264/AVC up to 4K30, H.265 up to 4K30, VC-1, REALVIDEO 8/9/10 up to […]

July 7, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

VidOn.me AV200 Android TV Box Review

After providing some pictures of VidOn.me AV200 media player, and its PCBA, it’s now time for a review. I’ll start by giving my first impressions, and checking out the system settigns and user’s interface, go through my library of video test files, and cover most hardware features. As usual, I’ll also test Wi-Fi performance, but I’ve now added more tests including Ethernet performance, and USB hard drive support and performance with NTFS, FAT32, EXT-4, and BTRFS partitions. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions The device comes with an IR remote control with lots of buttons, including shortcuts, D-Pad control, digit keys and trick modes (play/pause, fast forward and rewind, next and previous), but the two required AAA batteries were not included, and I did not have spare batteries, so I did not use the remote control, which looks pretty OK for XBMC, and just control the device with my Mele […]

July 7, 2014November 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 36 Comments

Microsoft is Giving Away Intel Galileo Arduino Compatible Boards to Developers

Microsoft has already launched several initiatives to reach the maker movement and app developers with .NET Gadgeteer supported by platform like Bambino 200, as well as Intel Shark Cove development board for Windows development. The company has now launched a website called windowsondevices.com where they currently have a signup page for developers to send a kit based on Intel Galileo, an Arduino compatible board powered by Intel Quark processor. There’s currently very little information on the software and documentation part of the development kit, but there are links to Visual Studio Express, Windows Embedded’s Internet of Things page, and a link to Maker Faire, so it gives what the kit will be for. Apparently they’ll send the kit to selected candidate whether “you are an experienced Windows developer looking to jump into the Internet of Things or you are new to Windows development and want to build the next big […]

July 6, 2014September 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Inforce Computing IFC6540 Pico-ITX Board Features Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, High Speed Interfaces

Inforce Computing has been working the successor of their IF6410 development board based on Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC with IFC6540, another tiny board for Linux and Android, yet with interesting features such as 802.11ac, SATA III, USB 3.0 host and device connectors, and powered by the latest Snapdragon 805 quad core krait processor. IFC6540 specifications: SoC- Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 APQ8084 Quad core Krait 450 @ 2.5GHz with 2MB L2 cache, Adreno 420 GPU with OpenGL ES 2.0 and 3.0, OpenCL, and RenderScript support. System Memory – 2 GB LPDDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC 4.5 (eMMC 5.0 also supported), 1 micro SD slot, and 1x SATA 3 interface Connectivity 802.11ac WiFi /ac (2.4 GHz/5 GH) + Bluetooth 4.1 via QCA6174 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet via AR8151 GPS via QCA1530 + GPS antenna connector Video and Audio Interfaces 1 x HDMI (Type D) Dual MIPI-DSI and Touch Screen 3.5mm headphone and Line In […]

July 5, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Unboxing of VidOn.me AV200 Android Blu-Ray Box

I had only reviewed on device based on AllWinner A31 before, namely CS868 mini PC which turned out to be disappointing. And recently I’ve reviewed quite of few Amlogic and Rockchip TV boxes, so I’m happy to get a change and try again with another AllWinner A31 based device thanks to VidOn.me AV200 Android Blu-ray Box. I’ll start by listing hardware specifications and showing pictures of the device and the board today, and I’ll write a complete review in a few days. VidOn.me AV200 Specifications AV200 is an Android TV box with a metallic enclosure very similar to the one used for Mele X1000 Android Blu-ray box, and with the following specifications: SoC – AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex-A7 @ 1.3GHz with PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage: 8GB + SD/SDHC card reader Video Output – HDMI Audio Output – HDMI, optical S/PDIF, and 3.5mm headphone jack […]