CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 18, 2020July 26, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Beelink GS-King X Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

Beelink GS-King X is a 3-in-1 media center that works as an Android 9.0 TV box, a NAS with support for two 3.5″ hard drives, and a HiFi audio system with two ESS9018 audio DACs powering RCA and balanced audio outputs. The company sent a review sample, and I’ll start by checking out the hardware and accessories, show how to install the hard drive(s), and attempt to tear down the device to check what it’s really made of. Beelink GS-King X Unboxing There’s no mention of TV box nor Android on the package, just “STORAGE” and DTS plus Dolby Audio… The bottom of the package lists the Beelink GS-King X specifications which we already discussed in our previous articles. There’s a red ribbon that helps to take the device out of its package. I wish more companies would do this. Accessories include the voice remote control, an HDMI cable, a […]

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G Processor Brings 5G, Cortex-A77 to Mid-Range Smartphones

Qualcomm launched Snapdragon 855, the company’s first 5G mobile processor, in December 2018, before following up the next year with Snapdragon 865, 765, and 765G 5G mobile platforms still targetted to higher-end and premium smartphones. Qualcomm has now introduced its first 5G mobile SoC part of the mid-range Snapdragon 600-series with Snapdragon 690 5G octa-core processor featuring Cortex-A77 and Cortex-A53 cores, and a Snapdragon X51 5G modem delivering up to 2.5 Gbps download speed. Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G (SM6350) specifications: CPU – Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU @ up to 2.0 GHz, specifically 2x Cortex 77 cores @ 2.0 GHz and 6x Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.7 GHz GPU – Qualcomm Adreno 619L GPU with support for OpenCL 2.0 FP, OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, and DX12 APIs DSP – 2x Qualcomm Hexagon 692 with Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Scalar Accelerator Qualcomm Sensing Hub – Ultra-low-power […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

June 17, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

AirTab 15.6″ Portable Display Provides 2x USB-C Inputs (Crowdfunding)

While portable displays have been available as far back as at least 2012, they’ve become more popular in recent years as they can both offer a secondary display to your laptop, or add a larger screen to your smartphone. In the last two years, we’ve already covered BlitzWolf BW-PCM1, T-bao T15A, TAIHE Gemini (which ended up being a failure), Airview, and Desklab among others. But apparently, there’s room for more with the launch of AirTab, a 15.6″ portable touchscreen or non-touch monitor, on Kickstarter that’s already surpassed its $10,000 funding target. AirTab specifications: 15.6″ display with 1920×1080 resolution up to 60 Hz refresh rate; 4ms response time; 256 cd/m2 brightness Touchscreen – Air Touch model only USB – 2x USB-C ports Power Supply – Dimensions – 335 x 245 x 4.9 mm Weight – 500 grams AirTab comes with a foldable magnetic cover that allows the display to be used […]

June 17, 2020June 18, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

Looking for an Android Phone with Long Term Support? Fairphone 2 Gets Android 9 Five Years After Launch

When you use a laptop or computer with Windows or Linux, you’re pretty much assured to get regular security updates. That’s partially why I prefer to do things like online banking on my computer rather than a phone, despite banks pushing for mobile apps. Why? Because most mobile phones get limited support. I selected an Android One phone, namely Xiaomi Mi A2, because I would get updates for at least 18 months. When you think about it it’s quite pathetic, but that’s about the best Android has to offer. It’s quite better on Apple side with updates for 4 to 5 years for iPhones, while Google Pixel phones are said to get updates for about 3+ years. How you deliver updates also matter, as I recently heard Samsung users complain about frequent updates, while they had somehow no such complaint about their iPhone. But if you’re not quite ready to […]

June 16, 2020August 24, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Laptop Doubles as Electronics Learning Kit (Crowdfunding)

CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Laptop with Detachable Keyboard

CrowPi portable learning kit for Raspberry Pi 3 B+ and Pi Zero boards was launched in 2018. It comes with a 7″ display, several sensors, buttons, a breadboard, and more all packed in a small suitcase. Elecrow has now started a new crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to fund the second generation portable electronics learning kit: CrowPi2 which looks much more like a laptop than a suitcase found in the first model thanks to a large display, and a detachable keyboard placed on top of the electronic prototyping/learning area. It’s also more powerful thanks to the latest Raspberry Pi 4 SBC. CrowPi2 specifications: Compatible Raspberry Pi boards – Raspberry Pi 3B/B+, Raspberry Pi 4 Display – 11.6-inch 1920×1080 IPS screen Camera – 2MP camera Audio – Built-in microphone and stereo speaker; 3.5mm audio jack Keyboard – 2.4GHz detachable wireless keyboard (QWERTY only) with touchpad Sensors and Modules under the keyboard: Displays […]

June 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

NVIDIA Jetson Nano Powered Edge AI System Supports one PoE Camera, Operates in -30 to +60°C Temperature Range

NVIDIA Jetson Nano PoE Camera edge AI system

Axiomtek AIE100-903-FL is a fanless edge AI System powered by NVIDIA Jetson Nano system-on-module and designed to connect a single 15W PoE camera for AI computing, edge computing, smart retail, smart city, and more. The solution can operate in a wide range of temperatures from -30°C to +60°C and comes with an optional IP42-rated waterproof cover kit that makes it suitable for use in moist places and “semi-outdoor environments” including freezers and under eaves (edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall) and other outdoor locations with some protection against rain. Axiomtek AIE100-903-FL specifications: SoM – NVIDIA Jetson Nano with quad-core Arm Cortex-A57 processors, 128 CUDA core NVIDIA Maxwell GPU, 4GB 64-bit LPDDR4 and 16GB eMMC flash Storage – 1x M.2 Key M 2280 with PCIe x4 NVMe SSD slot, 1x Micro SD slot Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 Hz Connectivity […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

June 16, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

ASUS PN50 – The World’s First AMD Ryzen 4000U Mini PC

AMD Ryzen 4000-U Series family was announced in January with the 15W processors targetting ultra-thin laptops. It’s already been found in laptops and the first reviews of Acer Swift 3 were positive with the laptop being slim, fast, and offering long battery life. But I had yet to see an AMD Ryzen 4000U mini PC until today, with ASUS PN50 mini PC shipping with a choice of five processors from AMD Ryzen 3 4300U to Ryzen 7 4800U, and a design identical to the company’s PN60 mini PC powered by Intel Kaby Lake Refresh processors. ASUS PN50 specifications: SoC (one or the other) AMD Ryzen 7 4800U 8C/16T processor up to 1.8 / 4.2 GHz with 8-core Radeon Graphics; 12MB L2/L3 cache AMD Ryzen 7 4700U 8C/8T processor up to 2.0 / 4.1 GHz with 7-core Radeon Graphics; 12MB L2/L3 cache AMD Ryzen 5 4600U 6C/12T processor up to 2.1 […]

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

WCH CH32V103 General-Purpose RISC-V MCU Offers an Alternative to GD32V RISC-V Microcontroller

Last year, WCH introduced their first RISC-V MCU with CH572 Bluetooth LE microcontroller which came with 10KB SRAM and a not so convenient 96KB OTP flash. But I’ve just been informed the company has introduced their first general-purpose RISC-V MCU family with several CH32V103 microcontrollers featuring up to 64KB Flash and 20KB SRAM, and all sort of peripherals you’d expect from a general-purpose MCU. WCH CH32V103 key features and specifications: CPU Core – 32-bit RISC-V (RV32IMAC) core @ up to 72/80 MHz called ” RISC-V3A” Memory – 10KB or 20KB SRAM Storage – 32KB or 64KB flash Peripherals 1x USB 2.0 Full Speed Host/Device Up to 2x SPI (master/slave), up to 2x I2C, up to 3x USART Up to 16x 12-bit ADC/touch key 37x or 51x GPIOs Up to 3x general-purpose timers, 1x advanced timer, 2x watchdog timers, 1x Systick Supply Voltage – 2.7 to 5.5V Package – LQFP48, QFN48 […]