CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

October 1, 2019March 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

X96 Air Amlogic S905X3 Android 9.0 TV Box Sells for $30 and Up

Amlogic S905X3 is the first Arm Cortex-A55 processor from the company, and we’ve seen it does not differ that much from the previous generation in our S905X3 vs S905X2 comparison. The Cortex-A55 cores have similar performance compared to Cortex-A53 cores., but S905X3 SoC does provide support for DDR4 memory up to 3200 MHz which may improve 4K HDR video playback and 3D gaming, as well a 1.2 TOPS NPU for AI workloads such as voice recognition. The first Amlogic S905X3 TV box launch we covered was Beelink GT2 Mini with price starting at just under $50 for the 2GB/16GB version and $70 with 4GB and 64GB RAM. Prices have now somewhat come down, but if you’re looking for a cheaper model X96 Air is now offered on Aliexpress for $29.39 including shipping with 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, while the 4GB/32GB variant is sold for $38.01, and up to $40.95 with […]

October 1, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Teclast P10S 10.1″ Android LTE Tablet Features UNISOC SC9863A Octa-core Cortex-A55 SoC

We reported about Spreadtrum SC9863 processor for 4G LTE smartphones last year, as it was the first SoC we had seen made only of Cortex-A55 cores. Since then several phones have launched with the processor, now sold under UNISOC company name, such as the $83 Doogee N10 smartphone, but today I also noticed a tablet based on the processor. Teclast P10S comes with a 10.1″ display, 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC storage, and 4G LTE connectivity for $109.99 shipping. Teclast P10S specifications: SoC – UNISOC SC9863A octa-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.6 / 1.2 GHz (two clusters) with Imagination IMG8322 GPU; 28mn HPC process System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot up to 128GB Display – 10.1″ multi-touch IPS capacitive screen with 1280×800 resolution Camera 2.0MP front-facing camera 5.0MP rear camera with auto-focus Audio – Built-in microphone and stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac […]

October 1, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Atomic Pi x86 SBC Meets Intel Neural Compute Stick 2 in $99 Neural Computing DevKit (Crowdfunding)

Atomic Pi Neural Computing Development Kit

IoT Team launched the $34 Atomic Pi SBC powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor via a Kickstarter campaign last December. At the time, it only ships to the US, and looked too good to be true. But the thing is real coming from a failed robotics project, and the low-cost x86 board went back for sale via Amazon and other channels with worldwide availability last spring. The price has even gone a bit lower as you’ll find it for $32.95 on Amazon. Note that it requires some technical skills to get started and with 16GB eMMC flash it only supports Liux distributions such as Ubuntu 18.04, and installing Windows 10 is possible, but you’ll be seriously limited. Atomic Pi is back in the news, as IoT Team has now launched another Kickstarter campaign for the board, except it’s not sold standalone, but instead as part of a $99 neural […]

September 30, 2019June 30, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

OneMix 3Pro Mini Laptop is Powered by Intel Core i5-10210Y Amber Lake-Y Processor

One Netbook has launched several mini laptops in the last couple of years including One Mix 2S Yoga, and more recently One Mix 3 Yoga powered by an Amber Lake-Y Core m3-8100Y processor. The company is now about to launch another model with a faster Amber Lake-Y Intel Core i5-10210Y processor with a 7W TDP. Meet OneMix 3Pro mini laptop. OneMix 3Pro specifications: SoC – Intel Core i5-10120Y Amber Lake-Y (10th gen) 4-core/8-thread processor @ 1.0 GHz (base) / 4.0 GHz (turbo one core) / 2.7 GHz (turbo all cores) with 24 EU Intel UHD Graphics @ up to 1.05 GHz; 6MB cache; 7W TDP System Memory – Dual-channel 16GB LPDDR3 RAM Storage – 512GB NVMe SSD, MicroSD card reader Display – 8.4″ IPS 2K (2560×1600) “retina” display with 10-point touch, support for 4096-level stylus Video Output – 1x micro HDMI port Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, digital audio via […]

September 30, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

MUSTOOL MT99 is a $14 Smartphone-shaped Digital Multimeter

About a year ago we covered MUSTOOL MT8206, an inexpensive 2-in-1 multimeter & oscilloscope, and today we noticed another product from the company on Banggood. MUSTOOL MT99 is yet another cheap digital true RMS multimeter, but what’s different is the form factor. The tool looks like a smartphone and as such is more portable than competing multimeters. MUSTOOL MT99 specifications: Display – 3.5″ EBTN LCD with 3-line for voltage, frequency and analog bar… Mesurements DC voltage – 0.5 to 600V/0.1V ±(0.8%+3); input impedance: 10M Ohm AC Voltage – 1V to 600V/0.1V ±(1.2%+5); input impedance: 10M Ohm Resistance – 1Ω-10MΩ (1.2%+3); overload protection 250V AC/DC Capacitance 0.5 uF to 1000uF/0.1uF (3.5%+8) Up tp 6000uF/1uF (4.5%+10) Overload protection 250V AC/DC Frequency – 10Hz-1000Hz (2%+10); RMS above 1V AC Automatically identify diode and continuity Maximum display value – 9999 Live/neutral wire check Data hold, automatic power off Misc Automatic shutdown Portable hanging hole […]

September 30, 2019October 28, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

NanoPi M4V2 Metal Case Kit Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Assembly

Earlier this month FriendlyELEC released two new products namely NanoPi M4 metal case with heatsink and optional NVMe SSD adapter, and NanoPi M4V2 SBC, a minor upgrade to the original Rockchip RK3399 powered NanoPi M4 board with faster LPDRR4 memory, the addition of power & recovery buttons, and microphone input is now inside the audio jack instead of solder pads. I received both this weekend, in the first part of the review I’ll show the items part of the package and then show how to assemble the kit. In the second part, I’ll focus on the new features of the board like memory bandwidth, as well as the thermal performance of the complete solution in both Android and Linux. Unboxing Instead of one kit, I actually received two. One kit basically includes NanoPi M4V2 board with internal antennas (which we won’t use here), and the metal case which comes with […]

September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

TechNexion XORE is a tiny NXP i.MX 8M Mini LGA System-on-Module

There are several ways to design a system-on-module to carrier board interface, and the most common solutions are edge connectors (e.g. SO-DIMM), board-to-board connectors (placed under the module), and castellated holes where the board is soldered directly to the baseboard. Another less common method is to design an LGA (Land Grid Array) module, which also have to be soldered straight unto the carrier board, but enables much more compact system-on-modules, and that’s exacty what TechNexion has done with their XORE family of LGA system-on-module currently powered by the 14-nm NXP i.MX 8M Mini processor. XORE-IMX8M-Mini Module TechNexion XORE module specifications: SoC (one of the other) NXP i.MX8M Mini Solo single Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz + M4 processor, Vivante GC7000Lite 3D GPU NXP i.MX8M Mini Dual 2x Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz + M4 processor, Vivante GC7000Lite 3D GPU NXP i.MX8M Mini Quad 4x Arm Cortex-A53 @ 1.8 GHz + M4 […]

September 28, 2019December 14, 2019 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 23 Comments

Beelink J45 Mini PC Review – Windows 10 Works as Expected, but Linux is Unstable

[Update December 14, 2019: We’ve now found out that Ubuntu 18.04 can work fine on Beelink J45, but the Realtek Ethernet driver needs to be manually installed] Beelink has added a new mini PC to their ‘Gemini’ range (X45 and X55) namely the Beelink J45 (aka Beelink Gemini J45). What is rather unusual about the naming of this mini PC is that it uses the slightly older Intel Apollo Lake Pentium J4205 CPU which is a quad-core 4-thread 1.50 GHz processor boosting to 2.60 GHz with Intel’s HD Graphics 505. The J45 is another ‘NUC’ style mini PC and physically consists of a 115 x 102 x 43 mm (4.53 x 4.02 x 1.69 inches) box case with a front panel that includes the power button, a headphone jack and a couple of USB 3.0 ports and then on the rear, two more USB 3.0 ports, two HDMI (1.4)ports up […]