CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 28, 2013July 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tizen Developer Conference 2013 Presentation Slides, Audio Recording and Videos Are Now Available

The Tizen Developer Conference took place in San Fransisco, on May 22-24, 2013. We’e already seen a few Tizen demos from the conference, but slides and media files (mostly audio, but also some videos) are now available for keynotes and technical presentations. As this was just the second Tizen conference, there were still many sessions dealing with overall structure of the operating system, and explaining how to get started either with native or web development, such as: An Overview of the Tizen Native Application Framework Introduction of Tizen SDK minimal web development tools Tizen Design Guidelines and User Experience Tizen Overview and Architecture Tizen.org Web Infrastructure Tizen enters a mobile world dominated by Android and iOS, so several sessions targeted app developers used to work with either operating systems in order to show them how to port their existing apps to Tizen: Bringing Android Apps to Tizen From iOS to […]

July 27, 2013July 27, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Chromecast Open Source Code: Linux Kernel, Toolchain, Bootloader, and More

Google has made quite a stir by introducing Chromecast, and entering the HDMI TV Stick market. We already know the device is based on Marvell 88DE3005 SoC with 512 MB, and since the product are already been shipped to customers in the US, it was just a question of time before the release of the open source code, and everything you need appears to be available at https://code.google.com/p/chromecast-mirrored-source/ Let’s have a look at what we have in the different repositories: Wiki – Empty… Kernel – Linux 3.0.8 source code Prebuilt – Binary toolchain: arm-unknown-linux-gnueabi-4.5.3-glibc Toolchain – Source code for the toolchain above. External – Source code for alsa-libs, dnsmask, libexit and nss sdk – bootloader and DirecFB 1.6.1 vendor – Looks like qt source used in some netflix app (not sure) Chromium – README explaining how you can download Chromecast Chromium source code: 1.8GB tarball + you need to contact […]

July 27, 2013July 27, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Rockchip SoCs Comparison Table, RK32xx Quad Core Cortex A12 Coming Up in 2014

They guys at Linux Rockchip have setup a comparison table between Rockchip processors, but it’s not quite complete yet, and Rockchip noticed it, so they’ve just sent them the most recent Company Presentation that provides more details, including a roadmap. In this documentation, we can see the company targets different types of products with their SoCs: Android OTT dongle/box (aka mini PC, HDMI TV dongles…) – RK2928, RK3066, RK3068, and RK3188 Tablets – RK2926, RK2928, RK3028, RK3066, RK3168, and RK3188 EPD E-Book – RK2818, RK2906 and RK2918 MP3 player – RKnanoC On page 12 of the presentation, they have a convenient comparison table for the SoC used in mini PCs and Tablets. Series RK2926 /RK2928 RK3066 /RK3068 RK3168 RK3188 Process 55nm 40nm 28nm HKGM 28nm HKGM CPU Cortex A9 Dual Cortex A9 Dual Cortex A9 Quad Cortex A9 MAX CPU Frequency 1.0 GHz 1.6 GHz 1.2 GHz 1.6 GHz L1 […]

July 26, 2013July 26, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

149 Euros Geeksphone Peak+ Phone Running Firefox OS (B2G) is Available for Pre-order

The first Firefox OS phone, ZTE Open, has been selling in Spain since the beginning of the month, and Alcatel One Touch Fire has been available a few days later in Germany. Both of those phones have low hardware specs with a single core processor, and 256 MB RAM. There’s now a more powerful alternative, Geeksphone Peak+, based on Geeksphone Peak Developer Preview phone, featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8255 dual-core processor with 1GB RAM. Here are the specs of the phone: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (MSM8225) dual-core processor @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno GPU System Memory – 1 GB RAM Storage – 4 GB Flash + micro SD card slot Display – 4.3 inch, 960 x 540 pixel IPS display Camera – 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera Connectivity – WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS Networks – GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (2G EDGE), UMTS 850/1900/2100 (3G HSPA). Sensors – Light […]

July 26, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

LG Optimus L4II is a Triple SIM Smartphone Powered by Mediatek Technology

There’s already an impressive number of mobile phones with dual SIM card slots, but LG and Mediatek went a step further with the Optimus L4II that sports triple SIM card support thanks to Mediatek 3G Triple-SIM technology. All three SIM cards can be “used simultaneously, and receive calls, transmit data, send SMS messages and remain in standby mode concurrently without consuming excessive battery life”, according to Mediatek. If case you wonder why people would ever need multiple SIM card use cases include roaming between different countries (e.g. Hong Kong, Macau and China) where you don’t want to change SIM cards each time you cross the border, using prepaid SIM cards from different telco to benefit from promotion, etc… I could not find the other specs for the device, but the company has recently launched LG Optimus L4II Dual (dual SIM card support) which may be similar, with the following specifications: […]

July 26, 2013July 26, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Rikomagic Announces MK802III LE and MK802IV LE mini PCs Preloaded with Linux (Picuntu)

If you’ve been following the ARM based mini PC space, you may already know about Rikomagic MK802 III and MK802 IV HDMI TV Sticks, respectively based on Rockchip RK3066 and RK3188, running Android Jelly Bean. Rikomagic and Cloudsto Electronics have just announced they will launch a “Linux Edition” (LE) for those two devices called MK802III LE and MK802IV LE Quad Core, running Picuntu (Ubuntu) Linux. Since Linux on RK3188 is still work on progress, Cloudsto MK802III LE will be available first, with the following specs: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 dual core Cortex A9 @ 1.6Ghz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 16GB Micro SD card preloaded with PicUntu, but no word about NAND flash Video Output – HDMI (1080p) Connectivity – Wifi 802.11 b/g/n USB – 2 x USB ports It’s not very clear if the hardware will be slightly tweaked (e.g. smaller NAND flash, […]

July 25, 2013December 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

Borderless Electronics Sells $9 Arduino Compatible Starter Kit

The Raspberry Pi fundation, a nonprofit organization, has brought a low cost ARM Linux platform to the masses, and Arduino already did that with electronics, but Harold Timmis, an engineer, found out it was still not cheap enough as he worked as a volunteer teaching electronics at his library. So he (and others) decided to clone Arduino Leonardo, setup a website called Borderless Electronics, and sell it without profit via Indiegogo for just $9 ($12 including shipping). The board is indeed the same as Arduino Leonardo with different color, logo, and name: Microcontroller – Atmel ATmega32u4 @ 16 MHz SRAM – 2.5 KB onchip (ATmega32u4) Flash Memory – 32 KB onchip (ATmega32u4) of which 4 KB used by bootloader EEPROM – 1 KB onchip (ATmega32u4) Operating Voltage – 5V Input Voltage – (recommended) 7-12V | (limits) 6-20V Digital I/O – 20 pins PWM – 7 channels Analog Input – 12 […]

July 25, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 53 Comments

Wandboard Quad Unboxing, Getting Started with Android and Linux (via The Yocto Project)

After my review of the Wandboard Dual in February, I’ve now received Wanboard Quad development board powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad Cortex A9 processor, with 2 GB RAM, HDMI output, Gigabit Ethernet, and SATA. The board is available from several distributors including Mouser ($139), DigiKey ($144.38) and FutureElectronics ($125). I’ll start by showing some unboxing pictures of the board, as well as pictures of Wandboard Dual and Quad side-by-side. Then I’ll explain how to install Android and Linux on the board, build the images from source, run some benchmarks, and test different features. Wandboard Quad Unboxing Ive received the board via UPS in a large box that contained the package below. This is exactly the same as Wandboard Dual, except for the sticker. There’s just the board inside the package, and it would just look like Wandboard Dual with all connectors on the top, and the EDM module at the back, […]