CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Three 5W Intel Amber Lake Processors Coming Soon: Core m3-8100Y, Core i5-8200Y, Core i7-8500Y

When I talk about low power Intel processors, I usually think about atom-based families like Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, Apollo Lake or Gemini Lake with 2W to 10W processors that delivers entry-level performance at a reasonable price. But Intel has also been selling more powerful Core-m processors with a similar power budget, but with much better performance, at the cost of a significantly higher price tag. The company is now prepping to launch a new family of such processor with Amber Lake Y-series (aka Amber Lake-Y) family. Three Amber Lake processors are expected to be officially announced very soon: Core m3-8100Y dual core/quad thread processor @ 1.1 GHz (base) / 3.4 GHz (turbo) Core i5-8200Y dual core/quad thread processor @ 1.3 GHz (base) / 3.9 GHz (turbo) Core i7-8500Y dual core/quad thread processor @ 1.5 GHz (base) / 4.2 GHz (turbo) All three processors are manufactured with a 14 nm […]

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Build an ESP8266 IR Remote Control with LOLIN IR Controller Shield for D1 Mini Board

Infrared remote control are still widely with TVs, set-top boxes, air conditioners, and all other sort of appliances with the end result of having many remote control around the house. If you want to cut on the number of remote controls, there are several solutions: Get a smartphone with a Built-in IR transmitter like Xiaomi Mi A1. Add an IR transmitter to your smartphones’s headphone jack using ZazaRemote or USB type C port with ROCK USB type C IR transmitter. Get a WiFi IR blaster in order to control devices remotely, or maybe buy several try control any IR devices from anywhere DIY your own solution for more flexibility, for example using ANAVI Infrared pHAT and a Raspberry Pi board. The smartphone solutions (1 & 2) works as long as you are in the room, but the WiFI IR blaster allows you to control devices even if you are not […]

July 19, 2018December 30, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Faytech 15″ to 17″ Capacitive Touch PCs Ship with Ubuntu 16.04

Although many can support Ubuntu or other Linux distributions, most Intel based products ship with some version of Windows by default, and the end users may have to install Linux by themselves. While watching a Computex 2018 video on Armdevices.net, I found out FayTech, a company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing and marketing of touchscreen monitors & PCs, showed a 15″ Touch PC powered by an Intel Celeron J1900 “Bay Trail” processor and running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. So I had a look on the company website, and the 15″ capacitive touch PC (FT15J1900W4G64GCAP) showcased in the video – embedded at the end of this article – comes with the following key features and specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J1900 quad core processor @ 2.0 / 2.4 GHz with Intel HD Graphics; 10W TDP System Memory – 4GB DDR3L-1333 via 1x SO-DIMM slot, expandable to 8GB Storage – Industrial 64GB […]

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

$400 UGEE UG-2150 21.5″ Drawing Monitor Comes with a 2048-Level Pressure Sensitivity Pen

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a 7″ HDMI touchscreen display, and today when I first come across UGEE UG-2150 monitor, I thought I had found something similar but with a bigger display size. However, the 21.5″ monitor has a different target applications, and is specifically designed for drawing as it ships with a 2048-level pressure sensitivity stylus. UGEE UG-2150 monitor specifications: Display Resolution – 1920 x 1080 Colors – 16.7M Drawing / touch Pressure Sensitivity – 2048 levels Accuracy – 0.25 mm Report Rate – 220 reports/per second Response Time – 14ms Video Input – VGA, DVI, HDMI USB – 1x USB 2.0 port Power Supply – Yes… Dimensions Full device – 517x 321.89 x 30mm excluding the stand Active Area – 476.64 x 268.11mm The monitor ships with a P50S rechargeable pen, two pen holders, 8 different tips, a remove ring, a USB cable, a power adapter […]

July 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

LAPIS ML62Q1622 is a General Purpose 16-bit MCU with an LCD Driver

So this morning I received an email about some seminar & workshop about LAPIS microcontroller, including a free ML62Q1622 evaluation board. OK, good. But wait. Who is LAPIS? I have certainly never seen any projects with Lapis MCUs, and probably have never heard of them. It turns out OKI SEMICONDUCTOR Co.,Ltd. established in 2008 from a spin-off of Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd, changed the company name in to LAPIS Semiconductor Co.,Ltd in 2011. LAPIS is also part of ROHM Semiconductor group. Anyway, it was a good opportunity to find out more about ML62Q1622 micro-controller, and related evaluation boards & tools. Lapis Semi ML62Q1622 is part of ML62Q1600 group of 16-bit microcontrollers whose block diagram is shown above. ML62Q1622 MCU key features & specifications: CPU – 16-bit RISC CPU (CPU name: nX-U16/100) clocked @ up to 32 MHz Coprocessor for multiplication and division Program Memory – 64Kbyte Data Memory – […]

July 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Alldocube X Tablet with a Super AMOLED Display to Launch for $199 and Up (Crowdfunding)

Allcodube has been making Android tablets at least since 2012, although recently they’ve launched an Intel Gemini Lake Tablet with their Knote5 model running Windows 10. The company is still working on Android tablets however, as they are about to launch Alldocube X tablet with a Mediatek processor, and a 10.5″ Super AMOLED display on Indiegogo. Alldocube X tablet preliminary specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT8176 hexa core processor with 2x Arm Cortex A72 cores @ 2.1 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex A53 cores @ 1.7 GHz, and Imagination PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 4GB Storage – 64GB flash Display – 10.5″ Samsung Super AMOLED display with 2560×1600 resolution Audio – AKM Hi-Fi chip Camera – 8MP front-facing camera, 8MP rear camera Connectivity – 802.1ac WiFi and Bluetooth USB – 1x USB Type-C port Sensor – Fingerprint scanner Battery – 8,000 mAh with Pump Express 2.0 quick charging Dimensions – 6.9mm […]

July 17, 2018July 18, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MediaTek Introduces Helio A-Series Processors for Mid-Range Smartphones, Starting with Helio A22 SoC

MediaTek started their Helio processor portfolio with X-series processors such as Helio X20 in 2015, with X standing for eXtreme performance. Since then the company has mostly stopped aimed at the top of the market, and launched P-Series (Premium) the next year with Helio P20 processor among others, which do not quite offer the same level performance, and can be found in smartphones that are sometimes referred to as mid-range premium mobile devices. The company has now launched another Helio family of processor with Helio A-Series, with A standing for “Advanced” but it could also be read as “Affordable” since the new series targets the mid-range market. The first member of the family is Helio A22 system-on-chip (SoC) with the following key features and specifications: CPU – Quad core Arm Cortex-A53 processor at up to 2.0 GHz GPU – Imagination PowerVR GE8320 GPU Memory I/F – LPDDR3 up to 4GB […]

July 17, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Espruino Pixl.js is a Bluetooth LE Display Programmable with JavaScript, Compatible with Arduino Shields

Espruino is an open source firmware that allows you to control micro-controllers board with JavaScript, and used in hardware such as Wio LTE GPS tracker, some STM32 Cellular IoT Discovery Kits, and other platforms. I have actually tried Espruino and JavaScript programming in an ESP32 board myself, and it worked reasonably well. But Espruino developers also provide hardware platforms for Espruino, which – as one should expect – are normally better supported than other third-party board. One of their latest platforms is Espruino Pixl.js a Bluetooth smart display powered by Nordic Semi nRF52832 WiSoC. Espruino Pixl.js specifications: WiSoC – Nordic Semi nRF52832 Arm Cortex-M4 @ 64MHz with 64kB RAM, 512kB Flash, Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity (via a Raytac Corportation module) Display – 54mm diagonal, 128 x 64 sunlight readable monochrome display with white backlight Connectivity – Bluetooth LE and NFC tag I/Os 20x GPIO in Arduino footprint with PWM, SPI, […]