CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 15, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

EPICT EPP-100 Android 4.2 Mini Projector

EPICT EPP-100 is a tiny Android 4.2 device with features similar to many Android mini PCs or set-top boxes, and is based on AllWinner A20 SoC with 512MB RAM and 4GB Flash, but the features that makes it different is a 35-lumens pico-projector capable of outputting an 80″ picture. Here are the specifications of the devices listed on Pandawill: SoC – AllWinner A20 Dual core ARM Cortex-A7 Dual-Core with ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Projector – Resolution 800 x 480, 35 Lumens, Up to 80″ Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth USB – 1x USB 2.0 Host, 1x micro USB OTG Audio – 3.5 mm jack for headphone Power – Standby Time: Up to one week Dimensions – 68 x 62 x 57mm Weight – 210g (without the stand) The package includes a […]

August 15, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$249 Terasic SoCKit Development Kit Features Altera Cyclone V SX Dual Core A9 + FPGA SoC

There seems to be a lot a development going on around dual core A9 + FPGA SoCs from Xilinx or Altera these days, and Terasic has recently announced SoCKit, a development board based on Altera Cyclone V SX SoC with 2GB RAM (1GB for ARM cores, 1GB for FPGA), 110K logic elements, etc… Here are the specifications listed on Terasic website: FPGA Device – Cyclone V SX SoC—5CSXFC6D6F31C8NES: 110K LEs, 41509 ALMs 5140 M10K memory blocks 6 FPGA PLLs and 3 HPS PLLs 2 Hard Memory Controllers 3.125G Transceivers ARM-based hard processor system (HPS) @ 800 MHz, Dual-Core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore Processor with 512 KB of shared L2 cache, 64 KB of scratch RAM, Multiport SDRAM controller (DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR1, and LPDDR2), and 8-channel direct memory access (DMA) controller Configuration and Debug: Quad Serial Configuration device – EPCQ256 for FPGA On-Board USB Blaster II (micro USB type B connector) Memory […]

August 15, 2013August 15, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

$20 Boogie Board is an “Etch a Sketch” LCD Tablet

If you’re old enough (or have followed the US 2012 presidential race), you must know an Etch a Sketch is a drawing board that you can erase by shaking it. The Boogie Board LCD eWriter has basically the same functionality, but instead of using aluminum powder, it’s using a Reflex LCD display and a stylus, and instead of shaking it to erase content, you’ll just press a button. Like E-Ink, reflex LCD displays do not use power when content remains unchanged. The first version was released in 2010, and appears to be relatively easy to find in the US (online retailers, Wallmart…), but not so in the rest of the world. There are 5 versions of the Boogie Board, but the last 2 that will only be available for Xmas 2013: Original 8.5 – 8.6″ display, external adhesive magnets Original 10.5 – 10.5″ display, replaceable batteries Jot 8.5 – 8.6″ […]

August 13, 2013May 25, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

EZCast Is a Wi-Fi Display Solution (Miracast, DLNA, etc..) to be Used With Actions Micro HDMI TV Dongles

This morning I’ve come across an interesting video via Google+ (in Chinese) that showcases the features of EZCast, an application that can be installed on Android or iOS, and supports screen mirroring, DLNA, and Miracast with HDMI TV Dongles designed by Actions Micro. The company is not to be confused with Actions Semi The company is a subsidiary of Actions Semi, an IC company that provides ATV6003 SoC used in HDMI TV Dongles such as iPush. If you’ve watched the video above, beside DLNA and Miracast, you’ve found out it can also be a nice presentation tools, allowing for PowerPoint slideshows, and notes writing via your smartphone. After further research, I found the application has recently been published on both Apple App Store and Google Play. The App description is only available in Chinese, but here’s the (unedited) Google Translation of the description: EZCast is a powerful home media sharing […]

August 13, 2013August 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

How to Buy an Arduino Leonardo (Clone) Kit for Less than $20

Borderless Electronics Indiegogo campaign for their $9 electronics kit with an Arduino Leonardo clone went so well that the owner of the campaign decided to limit the total number of boards to 15,000, and basically stop the campaign early to avoid production delays. For $12 ($9 + shipping), you could get a full kit with: Arduino Leonardo clone A mini breadboard with 10 Jumper wires A plug for a 9V battery A few components: 6 LEDs, 10x 330 Ohm resistors, 10x 1 KOhm resistors, 3x push buttons, 2 NPN transistors, 5 diodes, a light sensor, and a sound buzzer A micro USB to USB cable Although they may start a new one campaign in a few months, the campaign is over, and you can’t get this cheap Arduino kit anymore. But one of my reader (onebir) let me know that for less than $20, you can get an Arduino Leonardo […]

August 13, 2013August 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Lantronix Unveils xPico Wi-Fi Module For the Internet of Things

With Texas Instruments SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 and Qualcomm Atheros AR4100P embedded Wi-Fi processors that fully handle Wi-Fi internally, and transfer data to an MCU with an SPI interface, and solutions such as Electric Imp, there are already ways to add Wi-Fi at relatively low cost to appliances. There’s now another solution available on the market with Lantronix xPico Wi-Fi Module. Listed features and specification of xPico Wi-Fi: SoC – ARM Cortex M3 class processor with 1MB on-chip Flash and 128 KB SRAM Storage – SPI Flash storage Wireless LAN Interface IEEE 802.11 b/g and IEEE 802.11n (single stream) WLAN interface (2.4 GHz only) IEEE 802.11 d/h/i/j/k/w/r WPS 2.0 support u.FL connector for external antenna Serial Interface Two Serial CMOS Ports (3.3V, 5V tolerant) 300 to 921.6 Kbps Flow control XON/XOFF, RTS/CTS (SPort 1 only) Lantronix tunneling application (SPort 1 only) Host Interface – Dual Serial Port, SPI, USB 2.0 (device), […]

August 12, 2013August 16, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

CheapCast Chromecast Emulator for Android (Beta) is Available for Download

Yesterday, I wrote developers were working on making any media App and any Android device compatible with Chromecast. Sebastian Mauer has taken care of the latter, by publishing CheapCast (Beta) in Google Play. Several people have been trying it successfully, including in iMito MX1 mini PC. I’ve been less lucky. I’ve tried it by running YouTube App in Zopo ZP900S smartphone (Android 4.0.4) with 4 devices: Tronsmart T428 – “Works” but the video won’t start playing. (Bug reported in Github’s issue tracker) [Update: It now works with the latest version in Google Play]. MK908 – Refused to install anything in Google Play today… (Older Android 4.1 firmware) Wandboard Quad – “Works” but the video won’t start playing. CX-01 – CheapCast will crash when playing video I can’t really play YouTube videos over 360p without buffering here, so the reason the video won’t start in T428 or Wandboard Quad might be […]

August 12, 2013October 12, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$275 HackRF Open Source Software Defined Radio (SDR) Platform

HackRF is an open source hardware project to build a Software Defined Radio (SDR) supporting a frequency range between 30 MHz and 6GHz in both directions (Tx and Rx, half-duplex) with a maximum bandwidth of 20MHz. Jawbreaker (shown below) is a beta hardware that has been tested by several developers and beta testers, and applications such as Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), Bluetooth monitoring, spectrum sensing, wireless microphones, AIS, FM radio, etc.. have already been ported to the platform. In order to lower the cost of the hardware, Michael Ossmann has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund mass production. There seems to be many SDR enthusiasts as the campaign has already reached its funding target ($80,000) and received for over $300,000 in ledges. What is Software Defined Radio (SDR) and What Can it Be Used for? Before providing details about the hardware and software, it may be useful to provide some […]