CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 18, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Olimex Announces 30 Euros A10-OLinuXino-LIME Development Board for December

The Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone Black and Cubieboard are probably the best selling ARM Linux boards in the sub $50 category, but they’ll soon be joined by Olimex A10-OLinuXino-LIME powered by AllWinner A10 ARM Cortex A8 SoC with 512MB RAM that will sell for 30 Euros (About $40) when it becomes available in December. Another version of the board based on AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 SoC, called A20-OLinuXino-LIME will also be sold, adding Gigabit Ethernet, and scheduled for Q1 2014. Pricing has yet to be disclosed for the A20 version. A10-OLinuXino-LIME specifications: SoC – AllWinner A10 ARM Cortex-A8 @ 1GHz with Mali-400 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, […]

November 18, 2013November 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

$90 JynxBox M1 Pure Linux XBMC Network Media Streamer

After The Little Black Box (TLBB), there’s now another ARM based media player that comes pre-installed with XBMC Linux: Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux. The device is based on AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 processor @ 800MHz, and comes with 2GB flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, HDMI output, and more. Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux specifications: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 @ 800MHz with ARM Mali-400 GPU System Memory – N/A (but likely 512 MB) Storage – 2 GB Nand Flash + micro SD/SDHC memory slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.3 Audio Output – HDMI Video container formats – AVI, RM/RMVB, MKV, WMV, MOV, MP4, WEBM, DAT(VCD format), VOB(DVD format), MPEG, MPG, FLV, ASF, TS, TP, 3GP Audio formats – MP3, WMA, WMV, APE, OGG, FLAC, AAC, etc… Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – […]

November 17, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

ZGPAX S5 Android 4.0 SmartWatch Features a Dual Core Processor, a SIM Card Slot

The newly introduced Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch all work as a smartphone companion, and have limited use if you don’t carry your smartphone with you. The Samsung watch also requires a recent smartphone running Android 4.3 and supporting Bluetooth Low Energy, which current seriously reduces the list of compatible smartphones. There are already standalone smartwatches in the market that include a SIM card slot, and allow you to make phone calls without a phone such as Z1 watch and WiMe NanoWatch. However, these watches feature low-end hardware with ARM9 processor, so the interface may feel a bit sluggish. ZGPAX S5 smartwatch with its Mediatek MT6577 dual core Cortex A9 processor, and 512 MB RAM, will be much more snappier. It runs Android 4.04 with Google Play Store, and comes with features such as a camera, GPS, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. SGPAX S5 Specifications: SoC – […]

November 16, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

$80 SJ1000 Waterproof Sports Camera is a Low Cost Alternative to GoPro Hero Cameras

I’ve recently learned about GoPro action cameras, waterproof cameras with lots of mounting options and a wide angle lense which allows to shot amazing action full HD videos, and the best selling cameras in the world. Since yesterday I wrote about low cost waterproof smartphone, I thought It might be a good idea to write about other waterproof devices, and look at low cost alternatives to the GoPro. The GoPro Hero3 comes in 3 editions: White Edition, Black Edition, and Silver Edition with prices ranging from $199.99 to $399.99. All camera can record @1080p and come with WiFi connectivity. The more expensive model, Gopro Hero3+ Silver Edition, can also record in UHD, and comes with a WiFi remote. The original GoPro still seem to be good values, but if you have a tight budget, SJ1000 action camera (aka F10) offers similar functionalities (1080p30 recording, wide angle, mounting options, waterproofness, but […]

November 15, 2013November 18, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Low Cost Rugged, Waterproof and Dustproof Smartphones Powered by Mediatek Processors

If you need a truly waterproof and dustproof smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, compliant with IP67 standard, is probably the most popular phone with this particular feature. However, the phone sells for nearly $600 on site like Amazon, and it may be nice to have some lower cost options. Today, I’ve come across two smartphones powered by Mediatek dual and quad core SoC that are both compliant with IP67 standard, and although their specs do not match the Galaxy S4 Active, the features found in these phones are still pretty good, and they can be purchased at a much lower price. The smartphones I’ll feature in this post are also rugged, which is not really the case for the Samsung device. IP67 standard? What does that mean in practice? The IP Code, Ingress Protection Rating, aka International Protection Rating, classifies and rates the degree of protection provided against the […]

November 15, 2013November 15, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Coin is a Smart Card that Replaces All Your Other Cards (Credit, Debit, Loyalty…)

You may have a few cards in your wallet: credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, membership cards, … and it’s just convenient to carry them around all the time. There will soon be a solution with Coin, a smart card where you can store all your other cards data, and use this smart card instead. In order to register your physical cards (up to 8 cards for one Coin), you’ll need to install an application in your Android smartphone, or your iPhone, take a picture of both sides of the cards, and swiping the Coin though a small device provided with the card. Then, when you want to make a purchase, you just click on the button of the Coin to select the card to use, and carry on with your purchase are you would normally do. You may worry about security concerns, but the company behind the Coin has […]

November 15, 2013August 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Terasic’s Altera DE1-SoC Board Based on Cyclone V Dual Cortex A9 + FPGA SoC Sells for $150 Up

A few months ago, Terasic unveiled its SoCKit powered by Altera Cyclone V dual Cortex A9 + FPGA. They’ve now announced a cheaper version will a less powerful Cyclone V SoC and lower specs (e.g. less RAM, only one sensor, etc…) that sells for as low as $150 for educational or academic purposes, and $199 for the rest of us. Altera DE1-SoC Board specifications: FPGA Device Cyclone V SoC 5CSEMA5F31 Device Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 (HPS – Hard Processor System) 85K Programmable Logic Elements 4,450 Kbits embedded memory 6 Fractional PLLs 2 Hard Memory Controllers Configuration and Debug Quad Serial Configuration device – EPCQ256 on FPGA (EPCQ = Erasable Programmable Configurable Quad-SPI device) On-Board USB Blaster II (Normal type B USB connector) Memory Device 64MB (32Mx16) SDRAM on FPGA 1GB (2x256Mx16) DDR3 SDRAM on HPS 128MB QSPI Flash on HPS (QSPI Flash does not come pre-installed out of factory) Micro SD […]

November 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

XBMC on ARM News: Updated XBMC Image for i.MX6 Boards, Geniatech Releases XBMC for Android Source Code

Stephan Rafin has recently released a new XBMC image for Freescale i.MX6 based Wandboard development boards (dual and quad only) and Utilite computers. The images have been built with Yocto 1.5 (Dora) released last month, and are based on XBMC Gotham Alpha 9, the latest alpha before feature freezes. That means this is not a stable image just yet, but features won’t change, and this version of XBMC is now going though bug fixes. Stephan’s XBMC image includes the following: iMX6 hw accelerated decoding (VPU) for most standard formats iMX CEC support (for utilite only as wandboards are not properly wired) WIFI configuration thanks to network manager addon Support for HDMI/SPDIF/Analog sound outputs (including pass-through for HDMI and SPDIF) SMB/NFS/uPNP network shares and other standard XBMC features Bug fixes against previous version – No more transient black screens, trick modes (ffwd, frwd, ..) are now working, and smoother video playback. […]