Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments on HIGOLE PC STICK (J4125+WiFi 6) review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

HIGOLE PC STICK (J4125+WiFi 6) review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

HIGOLE PC STICK Review

HIGOLE PC STICK is a mini PC that looks like a large flash drive, is smaller than a regular mini PC, and is easier to carry around. You can connect it directly to a monitor or TV with an HDMI input, and use it like any computer right away. In part 1 of the HIGOLE PC STICK review, we will go through the specifications, unbox the design, check its hardware design with a teardown, and go through the first boot. HIGOLE PC STICK specifications The HIGOLE PC STICK is powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor with 8GB RAM, 128GB flash, and microSD card slot for storage expansion. The mini PC comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and supports two independent displays through the HDMI 2.0 port and USB Type-C port. The device also includes two USB 3.0 ports, one […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator transcodes up to 32 1080p60 AV1 streams in real-time

AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator transcodes up to 32 1080p60 AV1 streams in real-time

AMD ALVEO MA350 AV1 real-time encoding card

AMD Alveo MA35D media accelerator PCIe card is based on a 5nm ASIC capable of transcoding up to 32 Full HD (1080p60) AV1 streams in real-time and designed for low-latency, high-volume interactive streaming applications such as watch parties, live shopping, online auctions, and social streaming. AMD says the Alveo MA35D utilizes a purpose-built VPU to accelerate the entire video pipeline, and the ASIC can also handle up to 8x 4Kp60, or 4x 8Kp30 AV1 streams per card. H.264 and H.265 codecs are also supported, and the company claims its “next-generation AV1 transcoder engines” deliver up to a 52% reduction in bitrate at the same video quality against “an open source x264 veryfast SW model”. AMD Alveo MA350 highlights: Auxiliary CPU – 2x 64-bit quad-core RISC-V to perform control and board management tasks AI Processor – 22 TOPS per card for AI-enabled “smart streaming” for video quality optimization Memory – 16GB […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Beelink EQ12 mini PC features Processor N100 “Alder Lake-N” CPU, up to 16GB RAM

Beelink EQ12 mini PC features Processor N100 “Alder Lake-N” CPU, up to 16GB RAM

Beelink EQ12

Beelink EQ12 is a mini PC powered by an Intel Processor N100 “Alder Lake-N” quad-core processor offered with 8GB or 16GB DDR5 memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD for storage, as well as two 2.5GbE ports, and a WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module. The actively cooled computer also comes with two 4K capable HDMI ports, three USB 3.2 ports, and a 10Gbps USB Type-C that also supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode enabling the EQ12 to drive up to three 4K displays. Beelink EQ12 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 Alder Lake-N quad-core processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24 EU Intel HD graphics @ up to 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – 8GB or 16GB DDR5 4800 MHz RAM Storage 500GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD  upgradeable up to 2TB Support for 2.5-inch SATA SSD / HDD (CNXSoft: not shown in the specs, but a “scalable […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on PineTab-V RISC-V tablet devkit is based on StarFive JH7110 SoC, PineTab2 design

PineTab-V RISC-V tablet devkit is based on StarFive JH7110 SoC, PineTab2 design

Pinetab2 RISC-V motherboard

The PineTab-V is a RISC-V tablet, or rather a tablet development kit, based on StarFive JH7110 quad-core RISC-V SoC, and with the same design as the upcoming Arm-based PineTab2 tablet that’s scheduled to launch on April 11. Pine64 just launched the Star64 single board computer to help with software development on Linux-capable RISC-V hardware, and they took the opportunity to lay out a tablet board based on the same JH7110 to replace the Rockchip RK3566 board found in the PineTab2, so eventually, a working sample should look like that… PineTab-V preliminary specifications: SoC – StarFive JH7110 with CPU – Quad-core 64-bit RISC-V (SiFive U74 – RV64GC) processor @ up to 1.5 GHz GPU – Imagination BXE-4-32 GPU @ up to 600 MHz supporting OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 1.2, Vulkan 1.2 VPU 4Kp60 H.265/H.264 video decoder 1080p30 H.265 video encoder System & Storage Option 1 – 4GB LPDDR4, 64GB eMMC flash […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Queclink WR300FG – A 5G industrial router with GbE, Wi-Fi 6, GNSS, RS232 and RS485 interfaces

Queclink WR300FG – A 5G industrial router with GbE, Wi-Fi 6, GNSS, RS232 and RS485 interfaces

5G industrial router

Queclink Wireless Solutions WR300FG is a dual SIM 5G industrial router with five Gigabit Ethernet ports, WiFi 6, GNSS, RS232 and RS485 interfaces designed for factory automation, smart energy infrastructure, and Internet of Vehicles (IoV). TheWR300FG is based on a Qualcomm IPQ8072 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 networking processor running OpenWrt, supports both 5G SA/NSA modes, backward-compatibility with 4G/3G, and its dual SIM features enabled automatic switchover for interrupted 5G connectivity.   WR300FG specifications: SoC – Qualcomm IPQ8072 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 2.2 GHz part of Qualcomm Networking Pro 1200 Platform System Memory – TBD Storage – 1GB flash (described as “hard disk” in the press release!)  Connectivity Cellular 5G SA, 5G NSA, 4G LTE, 3G UMTS Operating bands 5G NR – n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n12/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n48/n66/n71/n77/n78/n79LTE-FDD: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28/B32 LTE-TDD: B34/B38/39/B40/B41/B42/B43 WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19 2G GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz Data rates 5G SA: DL 2.1Gbps; UL 900Mbps 5G NSA: DL 2.5Gbps; UL 650Mbps LTE-FDD: Max 150Mbps (DL)/Max 50Mbps (UL) […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on $15 Adafruit Feather RP2040 with DVI Output Port connects to your HDMI TV or monitor

$15 Adafruit Feather RP2040 with DVI Output Port connects to your HDMI TV or monitor

Adafruit Feather RP2040 DVI port

“Adafruit Feather RP2040 with DVI Output Port” is another Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with an HDMI port that can output DVI video signal (no audio) to most TVs or monitors with an HDMI input port thanks to the PicoDVI project. The board builds upon the company’s Adafruit Feather RP2040 with the HDMI port adding just a few dollars. Adafruit Feather RP2040 with DVI Output Port specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ microcontroller ~125 MHz (but it should be overclocked for DVI output) with 264 KB RAM Storage – 8MB SPI flash Video Output – 1x HDMI port for DVI output up to 320×240 or 400×240 resolution with 16-bit pixels, I2C signals to read EDID data, plus CEC and Utility pads broken out USB – 1x USB Type-C port I/Os Adafruit Feather compatible headers Up to 21x GPIOs 2x I2C, 2x SPI, 2x UART 4x 12-bit ADC […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Tiny ESP32-C6 IoT board supports 2.4 Ghz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy, and 802.15.4 radio

Tiny ESP32-C6 IoT board supports 2.4 Ghz WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 Low Energy, and 802.15.4 radio

01Space ESP32-C6 board

01Space has designed a tiny ESP32-C6 IoT board with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth LE 5.0 connectivity built around the ESP32-C6-WROOM-1 wireless module, and exposing I/Os through two 10-pin headers. Espressif launched their ESP32-C6 modules and development kits last January, and the 01Space is the first third-party ESP32-C6 board we’ve covered. It’s a minimal board with a wireless module, a USB Type-C port for power and programming, and Reset and Boot buttons. 01Space ESP32-C6 board specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-C6-WROOM-1-N4 module with Espressif Systems ESP32-C6 single core 32-bit RISC-V processor @ 160 MHz with 2.4 Ghz WiFi 6 1T1R, Bluetooth LE 5.0, and 802.15.4 radio for Zigbee/Thread/2.4GHz proprietary Storage – 4MB SPI flash Onboard PCB antenna USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming I/Os – 2x 10-pin headers with UART, I2C, I2S, RMT (TX/RX), LED PWM, USB Serial/JTAG controller, etc… 5V, 3.3V, VBAT, GND Misc – Reset and […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Add Z-Wave LR (Long Range) to Raspberry Pi or Home Assistant Yellow with Zooz 800 Series USB stick or GPIO Module

Add Z-Wave LR (Long Range) to Raspberry Pi or Home Assistant Yellow with Zooz 800 Series USB stick or GPIO Module

Z-Wave Long Range Raspberry Pi Home Assistant Yellow

We wrote about the new Z-Wave Long Range (LR) standard aka “Z-Wave Plus LR” promising four times the range and 10-year battery life in September 2020 but hadn’t heard much about it since then, at least until now, as Zooz has launched the ZST39 LR USB Stick and ZAC93 LR GPIO module based on a Z-Wave 800 Series chip, with the GPIO module compatible with Home Assistant Yellow and Raspberry Pi SBCs. Zooz 800 Series Z-Wave Long Range GPIO Module ZAC93 LR ZAC93 LR specifications: Z-Wave Frequency  – 908.42 MHz (US, CA, MX) / 921.4 MHz (AU, NZ) / 868.42 MHz (EU) Wireless Range – Up to 1 mile/1.6 km in open space with Long Range enabled (up to 300 meters in open space, up to 76 meters indoors in traditional mesh networks) Support for up to 200 devices in a single network Host interface – 10-pin header to Raspberry […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications