CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

December 28, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

S21H Android 4.1.2 HDMI TV Dongle Comes with 2GB RAM

Following the comments I’ve read, many ask for more RAM in their mini PCs, and one even tried to make his own with 2 GB RAM. So I’m glad to say that a Rockchip RK3066 based mini PC is now available with 2GB RAM, and is called S21H. The rest of the specs are pretty standard and similar to MK809 II / MK802 IIIs: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 dual-core Cortex-A9 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB Nand Flash, microSD slot (up to 16GB???) Connectivity: WiFi – 802.11b/g/n Built-in Bluetooth Video Output – HDMI Video Codec – M-JPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, Xvid, RealVideo, VP6, Sorenson Spark support USB – 1x USB 2.0 Host, 1x microUSB OTG port. Power Supply – 5V/2A S21H comes with an HDMI cable, a USB cable, a power adapter, and a (probably useless) user manual. I’ve found the device on Aliexpress for […]

December 28, 2012December 28, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Gechic On-Lap Monitor 2501M Portable Battery Powered Display

Gechic is a relatively new company offering what it calls “On-Lap monitors”, i.e. light weight monitors that you can easily carry around. One of those monitors is the On-Lap Monitor 2501M that is peculiar thanks to its 9300 mAh Li-Po battery, which allow you to use it anywhere. You just need to connect your smartphone, camera, laptop (for 2nd display), etc… via the monitor’s HDMI/MHL/VGA inputs. Here are the specifications of this portable & battery-powered monitor: Screen size – 15.6″ HD LCD. Aspect Ratio – 16:9 Resolution – 1366×768 Inputs – MHL, HDMI-D, VGA (Optional Cable Required) and audio Jack Battery – Li-Po 9300mAh battery Speakers – 1.0W (Max.) x 2 Power – 5V/2.0A (Max.) Dimension – 387mm x 260mm x 12.8mm (without cover) Weight – 1088g (1312g with cover) The monitor is sold with a protection cover, a Micro HDMI cable, a VGA cable, a 5-pin MHL cable, a […]

December 27, 2012December 27, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

$56 MK809 II Android Jelly Bean mini PC based on Rockchip RK3066 Processor

Kimdecent announced it started to sell MK809 II mini PC with Rockchip RK3066, 1GB RAM, 8GB Flash and built-in Bluetooth. This HDMI TV dongle is very similar to Rikomagic MK802 IIIs in terms of specs, and I’ve been told the user interface is also nearly identical. Here are the specs of the device: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 Dual ARM Cortex-A9 processor clocked @ up to 1.6 GHz with Mali-400MP4 Quad-core GPU, System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32 GB) Connectivity: Wifi – 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 3G support via external 3G USB dongle USB – 1x USB 2.0 Host, 2x micro USB Host Video Output – HDMI Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, VC-1, Divx, Xvid, RM8/9/10, VP6 Video Containers – MKV, TS, TP, M2TS, RM/RMVB, BD-ISO, AVI, MPG, VOB, DAT, ASF, TRP, FLV etc full formats Audio Codecs […]

December 26, 2012December 27, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

$135 ARMBRIX Zero Exynos 5 Development Board Is Now Available for Pre-order

Ten days ago, I wrote about ARMBrix Zero, the cheapest Cortex A15 board (soon to be) available based on Samsung Exynos 5250 processor. It is now available for pre-order, and the company organizes a raffle to send a free ARMBRIX Zero board to the winner. I’ve received some updated specifications, although we don’t learn much more: CPU – Exynos 5 Dual ARM Cortex A15 Dual GPU – Mali T604 Embedded GPU Memory – 2GB DDR3 X32, 800MHz Storage – MicroSD slot Audio – ALC5631Q Line In/Out, SPDIF Coaxial type Video – HDMI A Type External Ports: 2x USB2.0 Host 1x USB3.0 Host 1x USB2.0 Device 1x SATA 1x Ethernet RJ45 Expansions – 3 Headers (Further details should be available later this week) CON16 – MIPI Master/Slave, 1x I2C, GPIO CON19 – 3x serial interfaces, 2x I2C, 2x ADC, JTAG, USB, MMC, and reset CON20 – I2S, Interrupt and GPIO pins, […]

December 26, 2012May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 38 Comments

MK802 II Mini PC Now Costs as Much as Raspberry Pi Model B. Let’s Compare Them!

MK802 mini PC quickly went viral as it launched in May 2012 for $74 US, and since then many Chinese manufacturers have jumped into the market bringing both new faster devices, and the price down. AllWinner A10s, a low cost version of AllWinner A10 used in MK802, was also launched specifically for this market to bring costs even lower. Today, I’ve been informed an HDMI TV dongle based on AllWinner A10s that sells for $36.55 on Tinydeal.com which is a very good price, but decided to check on Aliexpress to look for comparable deals, and found one shop selling MK802 II for $34.91 including shipping via China Post, which makes it cheaper than the Raspberry Pi model B selling for $35 excluding shipping. Both products target 2 different markets, as MK802 is oriented to the consumer market, and Raspberry Pi targets the educational market, but in practice, it appears people […]

December 24, 2012December 24, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

$6.80 Easycap DC60 USB Video Capture Card

You may have some old VHS tapes that you want to digitize to play on your computer or media player, or don’t feel like spending money on an HD recorder for your satellite or cable TV box, but still would like to record your favorite programs. It’s actually possible to do so for less than $7 thanks to USB video grabbers. Those USB capture cards are nothing new, but I did not know the price had come down that much. One of the cheapest capture card is Easycap DC60 (clone?) that sells for $6.80 on Aliexpress, and runs on Windows, and (if you are lucky) in Linux. The device provides stereo audio input, composite input and S-Video input. It is sold with a USB cable to connect it to your computer. CD is normally provided with Windows drivers and program. All you need is a Windows 2000/XP computer with a […]

December 23, 2012December 24, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Toradex Open Sources Oak USB Sensors & Interface Boards

Toradex Oak product family is a range of USB sensors enabling measurement of humidity, temperature, motion, orientation… and USB expansion boards with relays, digital I/O and more. Following feedback from customers who needed to customize the designs, Toradex decided to fully open source those sensors and interfaces by releasing hardware files and the source code under Creative Commons License ‘Attribution CC BY’. This release brings 13 USB sensors to the open source community: Oak USB Sensor Atmospheric Pressure Oak USB Sensor 3 Axes Acceleration Oak USB Sensor Angular Rotation Oak USB Sensor Humidity Oak USB Sensor IR Distance Triangulation (10-60cm) Oak USB Sensor IR Motion Detection Oak USB Sensor Luminosity (LUX) Oak USB Sensor Orientation (3-Axes Accelerometer & Magnetometer) Oak USB Sensor 3 Axes Tilt/Inclination Oak USB Sensor IR Distance Triangulation (10-80cm) Oak USB Sensor 2 Channels Thermocouple Oak USB Sensor 4 Channels Capacitive Proximity Switch Oak USB Sensor RGB […]

December 22, 2012 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Ramos W32 Android Tablet Powered by Intel Atom Z2460

One of my reader, Alex, pointed me to Ramos W32 Tablet, which appears to be the first Android tablet built around Intel Atom Z2460 (Medfield), although the processor has been unveiled in January 2011, and smartphones such as Lenovo K800 have been available for nearly half a year. I suppose the delay between tablets and smartphones releases is because whereas the first smartphones could be based on Android 2.3.x (gingerbread), tablets would have to use Android 4.0.x (ICS) or greater to have a proper large screen interface. Here are Ramos W32 Tablet PC specifications: SoC – Intel Atom Z2460 @ 1.6GHz with PowerVR SGX540 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 16GB Nand Flash, microSD card socket (Up to 32GB) Display – 10.1″ Capacitive Screen IPS Display (1280×800) Connectivity: Bluetooth WIFI 802.11 b/g/n 3G via external 3G dongles such as E1916, ZTE AC2736, HUAWEI E1750, HUAWEI EC122, HUAWEI EM770W […]