CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 25, 2018March 25, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

MintBox Mini 2 / Mini 2 Pro Apollo Lake Mini PCs to Ship with Linux Mint 19

While there are plenty of low power x86 mini PCs running Windows 10, and although in most case it’s always possible to install a Linux distributions yourself, it’s much more difficult to find products that ships with Linux by default. Launched a few years ago, MintBox Mini and MintBox Mini Pro mini PCs are such options being powered by AMD A4 Micro-6400T and AMD A10 Micro-6700T processor respectively, and running Linux Mint. The Mint team has now announced upgraded versions with MiniBox Mint 2 and MiniBox Mini 2 Pro, both based on Intel Celeron J3455 quad core Apollo Lake processor, and just differing by the amount of memory and storage. Just like the previous model, they collaborated with Compulab for the hardware, and went with a design based on Fitlet2 fanless mini PC with the following specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.5 / 2.2 GHz with […]

March 24, 2018March 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

GIGABYTE ThunderXStation Workstation is Powered by Cavium ThunderX2 32-Core ARMv8 Processor(s)

Earlier this week, I wrote about the availability of Linaro “Synquacer” Developerbox that had been designed by GIGABYTE, but not using their brand, and I was pointed out to a possible reason: the company launched their own ARMv8 workstation based on Cavium ThunderX2 processor. Meet GIGABYTE ThunderXStation. Main specifications: SoC – Single or Dual socket ThunderX2 32x custom ARM64 cores / 128 threads processor clocked at 2.2 GHz (other models of the processor may become available depending on demand) System Memory – Up to 16 DDR4 Channels (8x DIMM per CPU) Storage 4 x NVMe + 2 x 2.5” U.2/SATA III combo bay 2.5″ drive bay supports up to 2 drives, an optional 3.5″ storage bay holds 4 drives. Graphics – Nvidia GeForce GT710 with dual monitor support Networking – 2x 1/10 GbE QLogic NIC Expansion – 6x PCIe 3.0 Slots and 2x OCP (Open Compute Project) x16 slots BMC – […]

March 23, 2018May 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 39 Comments

Orange Pi 4G-IoT Development Board Launched for $45

Last year, Shenzhen Xunlong Software launched Orange Pi 2G-IoT board for just $9.90. Pricing was incredibly aggressive for a cellular board, but AFAIK the RDA Micro processor used in the design had never been used with Linux so for many people using the board was a challenge (and maybe still is), and some countries have already started to sunset 2G networks. So it only made sense for the company to work on a 4G board, and that’s exactly what they have done with Orange Pi 4G-IoT now launched for $45 + shipping on Aliexpress. Orange Pi 4G-IoT specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT6737 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.1/1.3 GHz with Arm Mali-T720MP1 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI, LCD display interface with touch panel support Audio – 3.5mm earphone jack, built-in microphone Cellular Connectivity nano SIM […]

March 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E based Geniatech Developer Board 8 Runs Debian, Follows 96Boards CE Extended Form Factor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E processor was recently launched a version of Snapdragon 820 without LTE modem, easier to source, and targeting the embedded market. The long expected DragonBoard 820c is the first board to feature the new processor, but Geniatech has also been working on their own Developer Board 8 that follows 96Boards CE Extended form factor, and is very similar to DragonBoard 820c. Developer Board 8 (DB8) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E quad core Kryo processor up to 2.35 GHz with Adreno 530 GPU System Memory – 3 GB LPDDR4-1866 (PoP) Storage – 32 GB UFS Flash + micro SD 3.0 (UHS-I) slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Audio – Via HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS (TBC) USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x micro USB 2.0 device port Camera – Support for up […]

March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

RushUp KITRA Board Family is based on Samsung Artik 020, Artik 520/530, or Artik 710 Modules

Samsung first announced their Artik IoT modules almost three years ago, and until recently most Artik related products or development kits came from Samsung themselves, with no third party involved. But this has started to change recently with announcements such a Seeed Studio Eagleye 530s low cost development board based on Artik 530 module, and Resin.io Project Fin combining RPI CM3L module with an Artik 020 module for low power Bluetooth connectivity. But as I flicked through Resin.io supported hardware, I discovered they also supported Linux powered Artik 520 and Artik1020 module, as well as some new “KITRA” boards I had never heard of, and if we visit RushUp company website, we can see they have a bunch of Kutra boards and one IoT gateway based on Artik modules: KITRA 520 – Samsung ARTIK 520 product accelerator for advanced IoT KITRA 710 – Samsung ARTIK 710 product accelerator for advanced multimedia […]

March 22, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Samsung Exynos 9610 (7 Series) Processor Unveiled with Full HD 480 FPS Slow-Motion Support

Samsung has announced yet another Exynos 7 series application processor with Exynos 9610, built on Samsung’s 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET process, and supporting premium features such as deep learning-based image processing and slow motion video recording at 480 frames per second in full HD. The SoC includes four Cortex-A73 cores, four Cortex-A53, and Arm Mali-G72MP GPU, a sensor hub based on a Cortex M4F real-time core, an LTE Cat 13 modem, 802.11ac WiFi and more. Samsung Exynos 9610 key specifications: CPU – Quad core Arm Cortex-A73 @ up to 2.3 GHz, quad core Arm Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.6 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G72 MP3 Memory I/F – LPDDR4x Storage I/F – UFS 2.1, eMMC 5.1 Display – Up to WQXGA (2560×1600) Camera – Rear: 24MP; Front: 24MP,; Dual Camera: 16+16MP Video – 4K UHD 120fps encoding and decoding with HEVC/H.265), H.264, VP9 Connectivity LTE Modem – LTE Cat.12 3CA 600Mbps […]

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

IDC Expects Smartwatches Shipments to Double by 2022

The smartwatch market has been growing steadily over the last few years, but smart wearables have not become a must-have items like smartphones are for most people. The International Data Corporation(IDC) expects the growth of wearable devices to continue at around 13.4% over the next five years, with a forecast 219.4 million units to be shipped in 2022, and smart watches will grow even faster, as the company expect the number of shipped units to nearly double to 84 millions in five years. The biggest growth is expected to be for earwear growing 48% per annum, following by smart clothing, both of which start from a lower user base. Basic wristbands and watches will still grow, but not quite as fast especially for wristbands. In case you wonder that the “others” category includes, the company explains those are devices “that can be clipped to different parts of the body or […]

March 22, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rigado Vesta IoT Gateway Runs Linux and Zephyr OS, Supports Bluetooth 5, 802.15.4, WiFi, Ethernet and Cellular Connectivity

I’ve recently read several open source software news related to Rigado IoT gateway, starting with Canonical announcement last month, that the gateway would ship with Ubuntu Core starting in summer 2018, and a few days ago it popped up again during Linaro CEO keynote at Linaro Connect HK 2018, as one of the first commercial devices to run the Zephyr OS, specifically its fully open source Bluetooth stack on a Nordic nRF52 chip. Rigado Vesta IoT gateway is not exactly new, as it was first announced in December 2016. The hardware relies on an NXP i.MX 6UL Cortex A7 processor, up to 256MB RAM, 4GB eMMC flash, and includes built-in support for dual band WiFi, Bluetooth Smart, Bluetooth 5/4.2, 802.15.4 (Thread), Fast Ethernet with PoE, as well as optional support for a cellular LTE Cat 1 modem. Rigado gateway hardware specifications: Processor – NXP i.MX6 UltraLite (G3) Arm Cortex A7 […]