Hardware Category - Page 467 of 1203 - CNX Software

November 2, 2020November 4, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 222 Comments

Giveaway Week – MINIX NEO Storage Plus USB-C Hub with 480GB SSD

There have been “giveaway weeks” every year since 2014 on CNX Software where I send some of the samples I reviewed in the last year to seven lucky readers. With COVID-19 this year, I thought it might not happen, but it looks like shipping is working normally except for a $1.4 surcharge, so Giveaway Week 2020 will still take although I’ve tweaked the rules a bit. I’m using “Small Packet” to ship parcels at an affordable price, and if the option is not available, shipping may end up being two to four times more expensive. I’ve (naively?) assumed the Thai post office website is up-to-date, and checked “Small Packet” shipping was indeed available for the USA, France, Japan, and Australia. But out of caution, I’ll ask people to write the country where I’m supposed to ship the parcel. This will allow me to check shipping options before contacting the winners. […]

November 1, 2020November 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Novasom M9 RK3399(K) SBC offers DSI, eDP and HDMI display interfaces, M.2 SSD storage

We’ve previously seen compact Rockchip RK3399 powered single board computer with support for dual displays with the likes of Rock Pi 4 and NanoPi M4B thanks to HDMI and MIPI DSI interfaces. Novasom M9 is another compact RK3399 SBC with both HDMI and MIPI DSI, as well as DisplayPort or embedded DisplayPort (eDP) for a wider choice of display interfaces, although as I understand it is still limited to dual independent display configurations. Another differentiating feature is the option for a wider -20 to +85°C operating temperature meaning it can be equipped with Rockchip RK3399K processor instead of RK3399, and the board also happens to come with an M.2 socket for NVMe SSDs just like Rock Pi 4 board. SBC-M9 board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 or RK3399K hexa-core processor with two Cortex A72 cores, four Cortex-A53 core, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – LPDDR3 up to 4GB @ 64bit […]

October 30, 2020November 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

PolarBerry is a Compact, Linux-capable RISC-V FPGA SBC and module (Crowdfunding)

SiFive may just have announced a mini-ITX motherboard for RISC-V PCs, but if you’d like a RISC-V Linux platform in a more compact form factor, Sundance PolarBerry may better fit your requirements, albeit the board will target different use cases. Powered by Microchip PolarFire RISC-V SoC FPGA, PolarBerry is both a single board computer with Gigabit Ethernet and 40-pin GPIO header, as well as a system-on-module thanks to three Samtec board-to-board connectors. PolarBerry specifications: SoC – Microsemi PolarFire FPGA MPFS250T-FCVG484 penta-core processor with 1x RV64IMAC monitor core, 4x RV64GC application cores, FPGA fabric with 254K x logic elements (4LUT + DFF), 784 x math blocks (18 x 18 MACC), and 16 x SERDES lanes at 12.5 Gbps; 12 W maximum power consumption System Memory – 4 GB of 32-bit wide DDR4 memory Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, 128 Mbit SPI Serial NOR flash for boot image Networking – Gigabit Ethernet […]

October 30, 2020November 3, 2020 by Abhishek Jadhav - 17 Comments

SiFive launches HiFive Unmatched mini-ITX motherboard for RISC-V PC’s

When it comes to RISC-V based SoC, SiFive has always set a benchmark in the RISC-V ecosystem. On 29th October 2020, SiFive confirmed the first-ever RISC-V PC. After an increased demand for AI-focused RISC-V microarchitecture, targeting all applications from artificial intelligence, the internet of things, high-performance computing, and now even desktop PCs. SiFive Freedom U740 powered HiFive Unmatched mini-ITX motherboard comes with a complete development environment which allows developers to create RISC-V based applications from bare-metal to Linux-based systems. “HiFive Unmatched ushers in a new era of RISC-V Linux development with a platform in a PC form factor. Powered by the SiFive Freedom U740, a high-performance multi-core, 64-bit dual-issue, superscalar RISC-V processor.”, SiFive says. It is the world’s fastest native RISC-V development platform. SiFive HiFive Unmatched Board At the heart of the SiFive board is a SiFive FU740 processor coupled with 8 GB DDR4 memory and 32 MB SPI Flash. It […]

October 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Station P1 & M1 fanless mini PCs run media or desktop-optimized Android OS

Firefly Station OS Multimedia & Desktop Modes

T-Chip has recently introduced two fanless “Geek” mini PCs under their Firefly brand with Station P1 & M1 respectively powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor, and RK3328 quad-core processor. Both mini PCs can run Firefly’s Station OS in either desktop or media mode, as well as Android or Ubuntu. There are also some community efforts to port Armbian and LibreELEC to the devices. Station P1 specifications Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with two Cortex A72 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores, Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0/3.1, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, DX11, VPU with support for 4K H.265 10-bit 60fps video decoding, multi-channel 1080p video decoding and encoding System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 dual-channel 64-bit RAM Storage – 32GB eMMC flash (16GB/64GB/128GB Optional), onboard 16MB SPI flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output HDMI 2.0a up to 4Kp60, HDCP 1.4/2.2 DisplayPort 1.2 up to 4Kp60 […]

October 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

STMicro unveils VL53L5 multi-zone ToF ranging sensor

We’ve previously covered or even tested STMicro Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging sensors with devices like VL53L0X with up to 2-meter range or VL53L1X extending the range to a maximum of 4 meters to measure the distance to one object aka region of interest (ROI). Those are used in various applications including the autofocus function in smartphones for example. The company has now introduced a new model with VL53L5 ToF laser-ranging sensor boasting increased camera Field-of-View coverage and 64-zone spatial resolution to enable new features such as touch-to-focus, multiple-target identification, flash dimming, or video tracking assistance. VL53L5 highlights: 940 nm invisible Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and integrated analog driver 61° diagonal square system field of view (FoV) using diffractive optical elements (DOE) on both transmitter and receiver Receiving array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) Parallel multi-zone output – Either 4×4 (16 zones @ 60 fps) or 8×8 (64 zones @ […]

October 29, 2020October 29, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

NuMaker-IoT-M263A board is the Swiss army knife of IoT development

If you’d like an MCU board to experiment with various wireless (and wired) protocols used for Internet of Things applications, the Nuvoton NuMaker-IoT-M263A development board may be worth a look. Powered by a NuMicro M263KIAAE Arm Cortex-M23 CPU microcontroller, the board offers WiFi, Bluetooth, and LoRa connectivity, plus an mPCIe socket for 3G, 4G, or NB-IoT cellular connectivity. It also comes with various sensors, as well as CAN and RS485 transceivers for industrial control applications. NuMaker-IoT-M263A key features and specifications: MCU – Novoton NuMicro M263KIAAE Arm Cortex-M23 microcontroller @ 64 MHz with 96KB SRAM, 512 KB dual-bank flash for OTA upgrade, 4 KB LDROM; LQFP128 package Storage – MicroSD card connector On-board wireless modules ESP12-F (ESP8266) 802.11b/g/n module MDBT42Q-PAT Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 LE module APC1278 (for 408 / 433 / 470 MHz) LoRa module plus antenna Serial – CAN and RS485 transceiver USB – 1x Micro USB OTG connector (to M263 […]

October 29, 2020November 11, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$54 Xiaomi Mijia Paipai wireless HDMI system connects your computer to your TV

A few years ago, we covered plenty of cheap Miracast adapters that plugged into your TV and used to mirror your Android or iOS smartphone display to a larger TV screen. It’s also possible to use Miracast on computers with WiFi, and since many TVs implement Miracast, extra hardware is often not needed. But in case your TV and computer are not compatible, Xiaomi Mijia Paipai wireless HDMI system [Update Nov 2020: actually called “Mi Wireless Casting Adapter” in English] solves this issue with a wireless HDMI receiver connected to your TV and a wireless HDMI transmitter connected to a USB port from your computer or laptop. Both the receiver and transmitter have similar dimensions (149.6 x 61 x 12.5 mm vs 152 x 60 x 11.9 mm) and weigh 38.5 grams in a form factor similar to Google Chromecast. The company says Windows 7 to 10 and Mac OS […]