CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 24, 2021August 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

NVIDIA Jetson Nano/Xavier NX carrier board offers 5 SATA, 6 CSI camera, dual GbE, and more

Leetop A205 Jetson Nano/Xavier NX carrier board

Leetop has introduced two carrier boards for NVIDIA Jetson Nano or Xavier NX modules, with Leetop A205 a full-featured carrier board offering five SATA ports, six MIPI CSI camera interfaces, an M.2 Key E slot, dual Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 3.0 ports, dual HDMI output and more, as well as the more compact Leetop A203 about the size of the modules themselves and offering Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI output, USB 3.0/2.0 ports, a camera interface, and an M.2 slot for optional WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. We’ll focus on the former in this article, as it offers more features, and the smaller board provides less functionality than the NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit at a much higher price, although I understand it can still be useful for space-constrained applications. Leetop A205 specifications: Supported SoMs – NVIDIA Jetson Nano and Jetson Xavier NX Module Compatibility Storage – 5x SATA ports, MicroSD card slot […]

September 23, 2021March 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Zidoo M6 Arm mini PC review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

I’ve just received my first Rockchip RK3566 platform with Zidoo M6 Arm mini PC that supports Ubuntu 18.04, Android 11, and Station OS. I was sent the standard version with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash that will be suitable for most applications. I’ll start Zidoo M6 review with an unboxing and a teardown to check the hardware design and “hidden” features before reviewing with the device with Android 11 and/or Ubuntu 18.04. Zidoo M6 Unboxing There’s nothing special about the package (and that’s a good thing in order to go more easily through customs), so let’s check out the package content. Beside the box, it’s there’s an HDMI cable, a 5V/2A power adapter with a removable US plug, an IR remote control, and a user manual. The remote control comes with an IR learning function to record some of your TV keys like volume, power, and source selection without […]

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Kano PC 11.6-inch Windows 10 Laptop for kids sold for $99.99 (Promo)

Kano PC is a laptop designed for kids with an 11.6-inch touchscreen display, a Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and 64GB eMMC flash, and running Windows 10. Nothing really special here, except for the price. Kano PC would normally sell for $299.99, but BestBuy offers it for just $99.99, which makes it an incredible deal, at least if you are based in the US, or you purchase through a forwarder. Let’s see what you could get for just under $100 with Kano PC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.10 GHz with Intel UHD graphics; 6W TDP System Memory – 4GB DDR3L RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, MicroSD slot Display – 11.6″ touchscreen display with 1366 x 768 resolution Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, 3.5mm speaker level jack, 1x microphone Video – 1x HDMI port Connectivity – Dual-band Wi-Fi […]

September 23, 2021July 9, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe module

GW16146v3 802.11ah WiFi Halow mPCIe module

Gateworks GW16146 is an 802.11ah WiFi HaLow Mini PCIe card designed to provide long-range wireless to IoT applications utilizing the company’s Venice and Newport single board computers. We first noticed 802.11ah WiFI LPWAN standard operating at 900 MHz for the Internet of Things in 2014, followed by Newracom NRC6101 chip in 2015, and the following year the Wi-Fi Alliance decided to call the new standard “Wi-Fi HaLow“. I was expecting it to compete with the likes of LoRa and NB-IoT, but I have not heard much about it, and when I asked a WiFi module and board supplier earlier this year, they seemed surprised I would even be interested in this type of hardware and, obviously, did not have any… So it’s good to see some new hardware coming out. Gateworks GW16146 specifications: 802.11ah Halow connectivity Silex SX-NEWAH 802.11ah Module based on Newracom NRC7292 System-on-Chip (US only) Compliant with IEEE […]

September 23, 2021February 27, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

DIY Spotify Box features custom-designed Allwinner V3s SBC

The Spotify Box is a small DIY device based on an Allwinner V3s single-core Cortex-A7 camera SoC and a wooden enclosure designed to play Spotify songs, and not much else… The device serves as a bridge between the official Spotify app and your home audio system connected through the RCA jacks of the box. and allowing you to connect your smartphone to your audio setup and stream music throughout your house. Spotify Box specifications: SoC – Allwinner V3s single-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with on-chip 64MB DDR2 Storage – MicroSD card slot for OS Audio – 2x RCA jack for left and right audio Connectivity 10/100M Ethernet RJ45 port 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 via RTL8723DS module Misc – Push button, RGB LED Power Supply – 5V via USB-C port Evan Hailey selected Allwinner V3s over other processors such as NXP i.MX233 or Microchip SAM9N because […]

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

PiKVM v3 Raspberry Pi HAT offers KVM over IP on the cheap (Crowdfunding)

Last December, we wrote about the inexpensive DIY Pi-KVM board to add KVM over IP to the Raspberry Pi board mentioning PiKVM v3 was in the works with extra features such as onboard ATX power control. It turns out PiKVM v3 HAT has been on Kickstarter for about a month and raised close to $600,000 US from over 2,500 backers with just about two days to go at the time of writing. PiKVM v3 hardware features and specifications: Video & audio capture port – 1x HDMI input up to 1080p50 MIPI CSI-2 interface to Pi to visualize HDMI input USB 1x USB-C console port 1x USB-C power input port USB-OTG pins USB-C OTG port doing the emulation of a USB keyboard, mouse, Virtual CD-ROM or USB Flash Drive, USB-Ethernet, USB-Serial port, etc… Console – RJ45 console port Debugging – UART access pins Expansion SPI and an extra GPIO for the […]

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit supports 5G, WiFi 6, Myriad X AI accelerator cards

UP! Bridge the Gap, a brand belonging to AAEON Technology, has started taking pre-orders for the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit, a mini PC based on the UP Xtreme i11 Edge Tiger Lake SBC that was first introduced last year, and formally launched last month. The mini PC is offered with Celeron 6305E up to Intel Core i7-1185GRE processor, optional DDR4 and SSD, M.2 sockets for 5G, WiFi 6, or an AI accelerator card based on Movidius Myriad X VPU., serial ports, as well as a Phoenix terminal connector to access some of the GPIOs. UP Xtreme i11 Edge Compute Enabling Kit specifications: Tiger Lake “E”/”GRE” SoC (one or the other) Intel Core i7-1185G7GRE quad-core/8-thread processor @ up to 4.4 GHz with 96 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics; up to 28W TDP (cTDP 15W) Intel Core i5-1145G7GRE quad-core/8-thread processor @ up to 4.1 GHz with 80 EU Intel […]

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$25 “Raspberry Pi 3 mini” board comes with a camera interface, USB & I/Os headers

TPCast-VR, aka “Raspberry Pi 3 mini”, is a compact board based on Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, and that should come as part of Element14’s Raspberry Pi customization program, just like the custom Raspberry Pi 3 SBC with eMMC flash designed for laundry gateways that I noticed a few months ago. The board was initially integrated into the power box of the TPCAST Wireless Adaptor for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets, but eventually found its way into other applications notably FPV drones, and it’s now sold separately, as we’ll see further below. I found about the board via a tweet from Will Whang who purchased it for under $20 at the beginning of the year, and discovered the connection with the TPCast wireless adapter. TPCast-VR board specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2837 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.2GHz with Videocore IV GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – […]