CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

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

DealExtreme 50% Discount on Mini PCs, Class 10 SD Cards, RF Remote Controls and More

DealExtreme has started a promotion that is taking place on May, 15-20 offering 50% discount on selected products. I’ve gone through the list, and found several RK3066 Android mini PCs all priced between $23 and $27, as well as some other items that may be of interest to readers of this blog. [Update: Sorry, in just a couple of hours, all items listed below are already sold out] Android Mini PCs: MK808 – $25.00 – One of the most used Android mini PC. Powered by Rockchip RK3066 with 1GB RAM, 8GB Flash. The version in DX runs Android 4.1.1, but a beta Android 4.2.2 firmware is also available. MK808B – $23.50 – Same as MK808, but with Bluetooth, and somehow it’s cheaper… Rikomagic MK802 IIIS – $27.10 – Rockchip RK3066 powered mini PC with 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash. Contrary to the previous 2 that feature a HDMI female connector, […]

May 14, 2013May 19, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments

Tronsmart T428 mini PC Review

Geekbuying was kind enough to send me another RK3188 mini PCs for review. Tronsmart T428 is very similar to MK908 I reviewed earlier, with 2GB RAM and 8GB flash, but the latest device runs Android 4.2.2, its Wi-Fi module supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, and T428 can also be used as a Miracast Display. Geekbuying sells for the device for $96.99 including shipping, but before to buy the device I strongly recommend you read the review. I’ll post some unboxing pictures first, then carry on with my first impressions, video playback capabilities, Wi-Fi performance and some benchmarks. Tronsmart T428 Unboxing I received the device is in the package below. T428 comes with a short HDMI cable, a 5V/2A power supply, and a USB to microUSB cable for power. A close look at this mini PC shows the casing is made of plastic and metal (on the lengths), comes with […]

May 13, 2013May 15, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 34 Comments

Mele F10 Fly Mouse Review and Hands-on Video

Up to now, I always connected USB keyboard and mouse to Android mini PCs I tested. It works but it’s not always fun to use. Mele F10 Fly mouse is a dual sided 2.4GHz remote control with one side being somewhat of a standard remote, while the other side is a QWERTY keyboard. A gyroscope is also integrated in to the remote, which allows it to be used as a “magic” remote and mouse the mouse pointer. I’ve bought one on DealExtreme for $25.20, and I’ll do a short review about the remote today, even though it’s not exactly a new device. Mele F10 Unboxing I’ve received the F10 in a slightly damaged package. This happens often as to save on costs packages are often sent in bubble mailers, but all items I’ve received have usually worked fine. The other sides of the package indicate Mele F10 can be used […]

May 13, 2013May 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Energy Micro Launches EFM32 Wonder Gecko Cortex M4 MCUs and Starter Kit

After having announced EFM32 Wonder Gecko MCU family in February, Energy Micro has just officially launched their new family of high performance, low power MCUs. These micro-controllers come with an ARM Cortex-M4 CPU with floating-point unit (FPU) and DSP instruction set that helps reduce the processing time of your application in active mode. All MCUs come with 32KB SRAM, and between 64 to 256KB flash. Energy Micro expects their new chips to be used in applications such as gas metering, energy metering, water metering, smart metering, alarm and security systems, health and fitness applications, and industrial and home automation. One key advantage of this new MCU family is the implementation of TSMC’s eLL (Extreme Low Leakage) technology that dramatically reduces power consumption at high temperatures. There top of range MCUs (EFM32WG995FXXX) feature the following specifications: ARM Cortex-M4 CPU platform @ up to 48 MHz with DSP instruction support and floating-point […]

May 13, 2013May 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Notion Ink Adam II Android Tablet Features a Secondary Notification Display

We’ve previously seen a smartphone with dual display with the Yota phone featuring both a standard LCD display on one side and an E-ink display on the other. Notion Ink Adam II brings dual display capabilities to tablet, but instead of featuring an E-Ink display on the other side, it comes with an STN Black & White display on the side of the device to show you notifications. Here are the specs of this Android 4.2.2 tablet : SoC – TI OMAP4470 dual-core Cortex-A9 @ 1.5 GHz CPU + PowerVR SGX544 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Displays 10.1″, 1280 x 800 pixel IPS display Secondary STN (black and white LCD display) for notifications Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth Camera – 2MP cameras on the front and back Video Output – HDMI Battery – 6000mAh (Up to 10 hours battery life) The secondary display will certainly help prolonging battery […]

May 11, 2013August 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 50 Comments

List of RK3188 mini PCs / HDMI TV Dongles

The first HDMI TV stick based on Rockchip RK3188 that I noticed was CloudnetGo CR9, and since then many more similar products have hit the market. I did not write about most of them as “it’s just more of the same” most of the time, but listed some in CloudnetGo CR9 post’s comment section. Today, I’ll provide a (non-exhaustive) list of devices, in no particular order, with a summary of the hardware specifications. I won’t mention Android versions since all of them already run Jelly Bean (Android 4.1 or 4.2). Retail price information, which I got from Aliexpress, Geekbuying, W2COMP, and some other sites, is provided for reference, and includes shipping unless otherwise stated. CloudnetGo CR9 – 2GB RAM, 8/16 GB Flash, HDMI male, 1x USB, 1x microUSB – Price Unknown – See review Tronsmart T428 – 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, HDMI male, 1x USB, 1x microUSB – $99 Rikomagic MK802 […]

May 10, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Jesurun A19 and Mele M5 Android STBs Powered by AllWinner A20

After Cloudsto A20 Media PC, and GV-17, we’ve now got more choices for AllWinner A20 based Android set-top boxes with Jesurun A19 and Mele M5, both featuring 1GB RAM, and running Android 4.2, with the former fitted with 4GB NAND flash and the latter 8GB. Those are ones of the few devices featuring SATA support, and optical SPDIF. Jerusun A19 also comes with VGA output. Jesurun A19 Specifications: SoC – Allwinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 up to 1.2 GHz + Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash + SD card slot (up to 128GB) + SATA interface Video Output – HDMI up to 3840 X 2160 (UHD), VGA and AV Video Decoding – Up to 1080P@60fps Audio Output – HDMI + SPDIF (Optical) Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n USB – 4x USB ports IR sensor Power Adapter – 5V/2A Weight […]

May 9, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

AllWinner A31 Mele Media Player Pictures, Screenshots and Antutu Benchmark

Mele A1000G Quad is an Android set-top box featuring AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash. You can check the full specifications in my previous post. Eddy Lab got hold of an engineering sample with a similar model but without SATA that looks like A3700 [Update: Model name is apparently G39A04], and he, or they, took a few pictures, and tested the device (Link in Korean). I’ll re-post some of their unboxing pictures, and share some of their screenshots and benchmarks in this post. The device comes with a 5V/2.4A power adapter, an HDMI cable, and an IR remote. The device features an Audio out jack, a micro USB socket, a power jack, and HDMI connector, an RJ45 Ethernet connectors, 3x USB host ports, SPDIF output (Optical), and an SD card slot. It’s very similar to the original Mele A1000 except VGA and AV […]