CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 25, 2019 by Ayo Ayibiowu - 4 Comments

ESP32-MeshKit is a Development Kit for ESP32 Mesh Networking

The ESP8266 was a jewel in its peak, it ruled the maker’s world in the need for creating a low-cost WiFi module. Being Arduino compatible also furthered its glory then the ESP32 came in. ESP32 offered so much more than the ESP8266, and most importantly it was also affordable. With support for Bluetooth and WiFi, ESP32 was to open a new frontier for the development of Internet of Things applications. A major drawback of the affordable ESP32 was the lack of official support of mesh network for the chip, something that was easily possible with the ESP8266. Mesh network allows you to build a network of nodes that can communicate with each other, self heal, and many more possibilities. But thankfully, back in 2018, Espressif Systems released the ESP Mesh Development Framework (ESP-MDF) which sits on top of the IoT Development Framework (ESP-IDF), the official development framework for the chip. […]

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 by Stephen Vicinanza - 8 Comments

Philips Crowdfunds PicoPix Max Android Pico Projector with Autofocus

PicoPix Extra Connectivity The latest entrant into the miniprojector market is the Phillips PicoPix Max Pico Projector in two versions, x10 and x100, a very versatile projector with many features and large aspirations. The mini projector is nothing new and we have reported on it in depth for units that came out some time ago such as the Rikomagic RKM R1 or Doogee Smart Cube P1. The fact that a major electronics manufacturer is launching a mini projector through a crowdfunding campaign is somewhat unusual, but let’s have a look at the details. Portable Native Full HD Phillips is calling the PicoPix Max Pro a premium, portable cinematic experience. The unit is made to go anywhere and not need a phone or laptop to function but has a large number of ports and options for each port. The LED light bulb is said to last 30K hours, and the source […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

iMars Black is an Inexpensive Bluetooth 5.0 USB Audio Transmitter & Receiver

Last year I wrote about a Bluetooth 5.0 audio amplifier board and the potential benefits of Bluetooth 5.0 for audio applications which include support for configurable periodic data broadcast which may improve power consumption, and reduction of reconnection times. It’s unclear to me whether those are clear advantages in practical terms but I’ve just noticed iMars Black, a Bluetooth 5.0 USB audio transmistter & receiver being sold on Banggood for $3.99. Bluetooth 5.0 (D00251) transmitter and receiver specifications: Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0 A2DP, and AVRCP (receiver mode only) Range – Up to 15m (line of sight) Pairing name: ZF-169 Audio ports – 3.5mm Tx and Rx audio jacks Misc – LED: red or Tx, blue for Rx; Button to switch between Tx and Rx modes Power Supply – 5V via USB connector Dimensions – 39x25x12mm The Bluetooth 5.0 USB audio dongle ships with two audio cables, and a user manual. There […]

August 23, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Project-X A1-Series Production-Ready Pico-ITX SBCs are Powered by Allwinner Processors (Crowdfunding)

We already have plenty of Allwinner single board computers thanks to companies such as Shenzhen Xunlong Software with their Orange Pi boards, FriendlyELEC NanoPi boards, and Libre Computer Tritium SBCs. Those boards are fine for hobbyist’s project but may fall short when integrated into consumer products, although some products have already been launched with those board such as RetroEngine Sigma retro game console (Orange Pi), or Firewalla firewall appliance (NanoPi neo) ActPower Taiwan Ltd’s Project-X is a little different as it relies on Pico-ITX form factor targetting mass production of low volume manufacturing. Their first Project-X A1-series focus exclusively on Allwinner H-Series (H2+, H3, and H5) processor, but if the concept takes off they may launch boards equipped with processors from other silicon vendors. There are currently three Project-X A1 boards with the following key features and specifications: SoC (one or the other) Allwinner H2+ quad-core Cortex-A7 processor Allwinner H3 […]

August 23, 2019August 27, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

GigaDevice Releases GD32V RISC-V MCU and Development Boards

A few years ago, we came across GigaDevice GD32 microcontroller compatible with STMicro STM32F103, but with a higher 108 MHz clock, and zero wait state internal flash. The MCU was also a drop-in replacement for the STMicro alternative since beside being software compatible, it was also pin-to-pin compatible. The company is now back with a new microcontroller, but it’s not Arm-based. Instead, GigaDevice GD32V is based on RISC-V open source architecture. GD32V General Purpose RISC-V MCU GigaDevice GD32V is a 32-bit RISC-V general-purpose MCU that targets industrial and consumer applications such as IoT, edge computing, artificial intelligence and “vertical industries”. The new GD32VF103 series RISC-V MCU family features 14 models with the following key specifications: Core – GD32VF103 32-bit rv32imac RISC-V “Bumblebee Core” @ 108 MHz Memory – 8KB to 32KB SRAM Storage – 16KB to 128KB flash Peripherals – USB OTG and CAN 2.0B I/O – 3.3V, 5V tolerant […]

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Intel Introduces 10th Generation Comet Lake Y and U-Series Processors

10th Generation Ice Lake processors for 2-in-1 laptops and tablets, and other low-power devices have just started shipping, but Intel has now launched another 10th generation family, namely Comet Lake, that is also designed for the same type of products. But instead of being manufactured using a 10nm process, Comet Lake processors will rely on Intel’s “highly optimized” 14nm process technology leveraging “improvements in intra-node optimizations”. There will be Y-Series and U-Series like in other low-power high-performance Intel processors with respectively 7W and 15W TDP, and those processors will come as Core i3/i5/i7 parts Intel Comet Lake family is the first to offer a 6-core processor in the U-series family and will provide faster CPU frequencies, faster memory interfaces, support for Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and Thunderbolt 3. The new processors are said to deliver up to 16% overall performance gains, and over 41% better productivity and multitasking on Microsoft […]

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

August 22, 2019August 24, 2019 by Siji Sunny - 15 Comments

Qt for MCUs – Qt Announces support for Microcontrollers

[Update August 24, 2019: Added information about expected release date and license] About Qt for MCUs Qt- The well known opensource toolkit for creating graphical interface announced their new release: Qt for MCUs, targeting MCU’s. The new graphical toolkit will be capable of running on devices without operating system. This may be a game changer in the entire MCU world, since Qt for MCUs allows developers to create fluid user interfaces on cost-effective micro controllers. This means we will be able to see smartphone like GUI’s which are running on low-end MCU’s with limited resources. With reference to their press release, assuring that Qt-GUI will consume less power to save the battery life. Qt for MCUs Software Stack While developing any applications for MCU, developers still can use their powerful declarative UI language QML and rich set of ready-made Qt Quick controls. And the C++ APIs, helps the user interface […]

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Compulab CL-SOM-iMX8X SoM & SBC Feature NXP i.MX 8QuadXPlus Quad Core Cortex-A35 Processor

NXP i.MX 8X Cortex-A35 processor designed for automotive infotainment and a variety of industrial applications was officially announced in early 2017 with three parts: i.MX 8QuadXPlus with four Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 4-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU and a HiFi 4 DSP i.MX 8DualXPlus with two Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 4-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU and a HiFi 4 DSP i.MX 8DualX with two Cortex-A35 cores, a Cortex-M4F core, a 2-shader GPU, a multi-format VPU, and a HiFi 4 DSP In 2018, several companies unveiled i.MX 8X systems-on-module including Toradex Colibri iMX8X and Phytech phyCORE-i.MX 8X, and the processor was launched at the end of that year. There’s now another option with Compulab introducing CL-SOM-iMX8X module powered by NXP i.MX 8QuadXPlus processor, as well as SBC-IMX8X single board computer fitted with the module. CL-SOM-iMX8X System-on-Module Key features and specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX 8QuadXPlus quad-core Arm […]