CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 19, 2013July 19, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

A Preliminary XBMC Image is now Available for Wandboard, GK802

Yesterday, Stephan Rafin left a message on Wandboard mailing list saying he had released a preliminary (Linux) XBMC image that can run on Wandboard Quad development board. GPU and VPU acceleration work, but this is still work in progress, so if you want something that just works, this is not for you. But if you just want to give it a try, it should work on any hardware based on Freescale i.MX6, such as Wandboard Dual or GK802 mini PC, with some minor modifications. If you’ve got a Wandboard Quad board, the installation is straightforward from a Linux machine: Download the SD card image Decompress it with xz or 7x:

 7z x wand.bin.xz

1	7z x wand.bin.xz

Dump the resulting to a 2GB or greater microSD card:

dd if=wand.bin of=/dev/sdx bs=4M

1	dd if=wand.bin of=/dev/sdx bs=4M

Where /dev/sdx is the sdcard device (e.g. /dev/sdc). You can check with lsblk command. If you’ve got a machine running Windows only, you can use Win32DiskImager for step […]

July 18, 2013August 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Enter Wearable Tech Innovation World Cup 2013 for Cash Prizes and Free Development Kits

The Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup is a yearly competition open worldwide, with prizes worth a total of $200,000, “designed to inspire and stimulate excellent next generation solutions with the potential to become real marketable products for Wearable Technologies on the subjects Sports & Fitness, Healthcare & Wellness, Security & Prevention, Gaming & Lifestyle”. This year, the contest is open between June 1, 2013 and November 30, 2013, and the good news is that even if you don’t win a cash prize, you can still purchase relevant devkit at a discount, or even get them for free. There are 3 companies involved who participate in the program from which you can get development kits: ST Microelectronics: STEVAL-IDB001V1(100% discount for the first 100 registrants) – STEVAL-IDB001V1 is a demonstration board based on STBLC01 low power Bluetooth low energy (BLE) controller and powered by STM32L MCU. Regular price: $159. STEVAL-MKI119V1 (No discount) – […]

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

$10 Rockchip RK2928 Miracast/DLNA Adapter Video Demo

Rockchip showcased an ultra low cost Linux-based Miracast adapter at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair in April, and we learned the device was powered by Rockchip RK2928 with just 16 MB RAM, a small NOR flash, and would just cost around $10. Rockchip demonstrated the device to Charbax at Computex 2013 in early June, and he uploaded the video yesterday. The demo includes showing off Miracast and DLNA support, with the device connected to an HDTV @ 720p. The adapter as a latency as low as 80ms. Rockchip representative explains that as long as it’s below 100ms it’s not noticeable for typical use (but it might be different for games). They used AMOI N828 smartphone for the demo, but Miracast is supposed to work with any Android 4.2 devices supporting Wi-Fi direct, although I’ve read several users’ reports indicating that may not be the case in practice. The price is […]

July 18, 2013July 18, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Nuvola NP-1 Android Media Player Powered by Nvidia Tegra 4

NanoTech Entertainment is preparing to launch Nuvola NP-1, and its commercial version Nuvola MP-C, an Android 4.2 set-top box powered by Nvidia Tegra 4 SoC with 2GB RAM and 16GB Flash, and capable of streaming 4K2K videos. The company also promised to upgrade the box to support HEVC (H.265). Novula NP-1 Specifications: SoC – Nvidia Tegra 4 quad core processor with 72-core GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB Flash Memory + microSD slot Connectivity 10/100/1000M Ethernet Dual Band 802.11n 2×2 Mimo Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.0 Video Output – HDMI 1.4 Supported Video Formats – MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, OOG (H.264) Supported Audio Formats – AAC, FLAC, MP3, WAV Video Streaming Support – 4K UltraHD (3840×2160), HD (1920×1080), SD (720×480) USB – 1x USB 2.0, and 1x USB 3.0 Power Supply – 5V Dimensions – 90mm (w) x 100mm (l) x30mm (h) The device runs Android 4.2, comes with […]

July 17, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Waxberry Pi2 Development Board Based on Rockchip RK3066

The other days I announced CubieTech and Olimex were working on low cost Rockchip development boards, but it turns out there’s already one on the market called Waxberrry Pi2, or WB-RK3066, made by Waxberry, a Chinese company. Here are the specifications of this development board: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 dual core Cortex-A9 processor @ 1.6GHz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot USB – Standard USB OTG + Micro USB OTG; Connectivity: 10/100M Ethernet; WIFI 802.11b/g/n (MediaTek MT5931) Bluetoothv2.1+EDR (MediaTek MT6622) Video Output – HDMI + AV Debugging – Serial port Misc – IR Sensor Dimensions – 72mm x72mm The board comes with a Mini HDMI cable, a 5V/2A power supply, a USB Data cable, and a USB-serial board for debug. There’s also a CD with the board schematics, Android 4.1.1 SDK and Linux Kernel 3.x source […]

July 16, 2013July 16, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Risun D05 is an Android TV Stick Powered by Rockchip RK3068 SoC

I’ve just discovered another dual core Rockchip SoC called RK3068, but it may not be new, as I can find some references as far back as September 2012. Amazingly, I can’t seem to find any announcement, and details are scarce. Very few products feature this chipset, but Risun D05, an Android mini PC, is one of them, so let’s have a closer look. Risun D05 specifications based on Alibaba listing: SoC- Rockchip RK3068 dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.6 GHz with dual core Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 4 GB NAND Flash, with option for 8GB or 16GB, + micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.4 male Video Codecs – MPEG 1, MPEG-2, MPEG 4,H.263, H.264, AVS, VC 1, RV, VP6 VP8, Sorenson Spark, MVC 1920x1080P 60FPS. Video Encoder – H.264,VP8,MVC(1080P) Audio Formats – MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, […]

July 15, 2013July 16, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Freescale SABRE Lite i.MX6 Development Board Unboxing, Wandboard Quad Comparison, and Quick Start Guide

Freescale SABRE Lite is a development board powered by i.MX6 Quad processor with 1GB RAM, SATA, GbE Ethernet, and more. You can get SABRE Lite specifications in my first post about the board. I recently participated in Element14’s “brainteaser” competition for the 4th birthday of their community, where the company offered 9 SABRE Lite development kit to randomly selected participants, and I got lucky. The board can be purchased for $179 from Element14 (MCIMX6Q-SL). I’ll start by showing what in the package, followed by a side-by-side comparison with Wandboard Quad, and show how to getting started by following the Quick Start Guide provided with the board. SABRE Lite i.MX6 Development Kit Unboxing I received the board about 5 days after I provided my address in a large staple carton box with a few goodies. Beside SABRE Lite devkit, the package comes with Element14’s T-Shirt (not my size), double walled tumbler, […]

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

$99 (and up) Compulab Utilite ARM based Computer Runs Ubuntu or Android

If you’re ready to tinker it’s possible to run Linux in one of the low cost ARM based set-top boxes or mini PCs currently available, although if you need Linux with 3D acceleration and video playback, your only realistic option is to go with solutions based on Freescale i.MX6. Compulab has been developing a mini desktop computer based on Freescale i.MX6 Solo, Dual or Quad that will run either Ubuntu or Android, so you don’t need to mess around to run Ubuntu on cheap ARM hardware. The device is expected to sell for $99 and up starting in August according to Fanlesstech. Compulab Utilite will have the following specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 single / dual / quad core Cortex-A9 up to 1.2GHz, with Vivante GPU, and Video Processing Unit supporting multi-stream 1080p H.264, VC1, RV10, DivX HW decoding System Memory – Up to 4GB DDR3-1066 Storage – 1MB SPI […]