CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 22, 2018June 22, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

WAHE Home is an Android Keyboard PC Powered by Rockchip RK3288 Processor

We’ve previously covered a couple of Android keyboard PCs in the past. First the ill-fated Coolship keyboard PC that never show the light of the day, and later on, Intel based dual boot Android + Windows 10 T20 keyboard computer. The latter sold at the time, but is no longer available. But in the unlikely case you are still looking for an Android keyboard PC, Rockchip RK3288 powered WAHE Home should soon become available. Wave Home specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 processor with Mali-T760MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio – Via HDMI, built-in speaker, 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 User Input – Removable 83-keys QWERTY keyboard and touchpad USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports Power Supply – Dimensions – […]

June 21, 2018June 19, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Firewalla is a Tiny Firewall Appliance Based on NanoPi NEO Board

FriendlyELEC Nanopi NEO and NEO2 boards are really cool and inexpensive little Arm Linux boards suitable for all sort of headless application. I’ve reviewed one with their NAS Kit, and run one around the clock as a Domoticz/MQTT server. So it should come as no surprise that some people want to leverage the hardware in their own products, and Firewalla most likely relies on a NanoPi NEO board for their cute firewall/parental control/VPN appliance.Firewalla specifications: SoC – Unnamed quad-core Arm processor @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512 Megabyte DDR RAM Storage – 16GB MicroSD Storage Connectivity – 100 Mbit Software Packet Processing Power – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 2.8 cm thick The device ships with a flat Ethernet cable, a USB power cable and US type power adapter, and a one year limited manufacturer warranty. The company does not actually mention NanoPi NEO board anywhere, but the specifications […]

June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Cenava P14 Apollo Lake Laptop Comes with a 512GB SSD

Most Intel Apollo Lake laptops come with just 32 or 64GB SSD or eMMC flash storage, and if you need much more storage we previously covered DERE A3 Air laptop with an Intel J3455 processor, 64GB eMMC flash, and a 512GB hard drive. But if you don’t need any mechanical storage in your laptop, while still wanting more capacity, Cenava P14 laptop comes with a large 512GB SSD, 6GB RAM, and a 14″ display. Cenava Ultrabook P14 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.10 GHz / 2.20 GHz (Turbo) and 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500; 6W TDP System Memory – 6 GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 512 GB M.2 SATA SSD flash, micro SD card slot up to 128 GB Display – 14.1″ IPS display with 1920 x 1080 resolution Video Output – micro HDMI port Audio – micro HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack, […]

June 21, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SIM7020E 4G NB-IoT Mini Development Board Sells for Just $14

We now have plenty to choose from when it comes to NB-IoT development boards or shields, but so far pricing has not been very attractive, and the cheapest NB-IoT solution I found so far was probably Dragino NB-IoT Bee, a XBee compatible board going for $23. But this morning, I saw an even cheaper NB-IoT board with SIM7020E 4G NB-IOT Mini development board selling for $14.30 on Electrodragon. Not quite the price of 2G solutions, but we’re getting there. Board specifications: NB-IoT Module – SIMCom SIM7020E module working globally with B1/B3/B5/B8/B20/B28 bands supported Nano SIM card holder and u.FL connector for NB-IoT Expansion – 9-pin unpopulated 2.54mm pitch header with 2x UART (3.3V / 5V), ADC, Boot, 3.3V, 5V and GND USB – 1x micro USB port that can be recognized by PC, but as Electrodragon puts it: “not sure how to use it”. Misc – Net LED, power key […]

June 20, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Semtech SX1261/SX1262 LoRa Development Kit Now Available for $305

Semtech announced SX1261, SX1262 and SX1268 LoRa chips in January as updates to their current LoRa solutions with a lower footprint, better efficiency, and even longer range. Mass production and development kits were expected in March 2018, and today I found out Semtech SX1261/SX1262 development kit is sold on Mouser for $305. The SX126xDVK1CAS kit comes with the following items: 2x SX126xMB1xAS RF modules including an ST Nucleo Mbed board and a touchscreen 2x Mini-USB / USB connection cables 2x 868/915MHz antennas 2x Mini-USB cables 2x touchscreen styluses Read-Me Note The SX1261/SX1262 LoRa Transceivers offer continuous frequency coverage from 150MHz to 960MHz. You’ll find information to get started in the user guide. Basically, the two boards will show a menu on the touchscreen with radio test modes, settings and utilities (e.g. firmware update) as well as two demos: DEMO Ping Pong performs a bidirectional range test between the two radio […]

June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi 3 and Movidius Neural Compute Stick to the Rescue Against Child Pornography

Warning note: While there won’t be any NSFW photos in this post, there will be some photos of ladies in light clothing (e.g. bikini) and “naked” animals for testing purpose… Intel released Movidius Neural Compute Stick allowing low power image recognition at the edge earlier this year, and we’ve seen it work just fine with Raspberry Pi 3 board delivering three times the performance against an inference solution leveraging VideoCore IV GPU. Christian Haschek owns a photo hosting site (PictShare) which happens to run open source code with the same name, and allows user to upload images anonymously. However, he soon found out that at least one user uploaded some child pornography. He contacted the authorities, but then wondered whether there may be others? Since there are simply too many photo on the website to look it up manually, he decided to look for a solution, and went with a […]

June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 by Karl Johnson - 1 Comment

YouTube Streams 1 & 2 Update, Plus Quick Fix for Uneven X Gantry

Hey Karl here with an update on the YouTube Live streams from last week. Live Streams Update The 1st stream went about as well as I expected….Not very well. I was really nervous and I broke the live link that was posted on here at the last minute. My whole reasoning for the Livestream was to show the processes in real time and not do too much footwork ahead of time. On the first one I was planning on migrating from Marlin 1.1.6 to Marlin 1.1.8 but I had already done lol… So I ended up migrating to the bugfix branch which presented additional challenges. Overall it was successful and I hope I conveyed the process. I was able to get it to print but I ended up going back to 1.1.8 due to some error in the bugfix branch that caused weird jittery movement. I will in the future […]

June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Dual Display Laptop Made Possible with DUO Add-on Display (Crowdfunding)

I’m using a dual monitor setup at home since it’s just more convenient and increases productivity, but when I’m on the go, I have to revert to the single screen on my laptop. The guys at Mobile Pixels decided it was not good enough, and worked on providing a solution that allows you to take that dual display setup on the go. This gave birth to DUO, a screen that attaches to the back of your laptop, and that you can slide to the left or right of your laptop’s screen to add another display whether you may happen to be. DUO display specifications: Display Size & Resolution – 12.5″, 1920×1080 pixels Rotation – 270º full rotation, 180° presentation mode Connection – USB type C for power and video signal Power Consumption – 1.6 Watts; 0.3W in “rest mode”. Dimensions – 32.5 x 21.8 x 1.2 cm (ABS plastic) Weight […]