CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 15, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

H2-RK3229 is a Rockchip RK3229 TV Box with a 2.5″ SATA Drive Bay

Rockchip RK3229 is a quad core Cortex A7 for entry-level 4K TV boxes, and usually found in the cheapest TV boxes with factory price (MOQ) starting at around $18, and the bare minimum of 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. Sometimes, it’s also found in higher quality models, for example Zidoo X1 II, and some models have more memory and/storage such as R-Box 4K. So I was a little surprised when I saw H2-RK3229 TV box with comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and a SATA bay for 2.5″ drives, that’s sold for around $61 shipped on Aliexpress. H2-RK3229 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3229 quad core ARM Cortex A7 processor @ 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash. 2.5″ SATA bay, micro SD slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K2K @ 60 fps & AV port […]

January 14, 2018January 13, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

ECS LIVA Z2, LIVA Q2 & LIVA One SoC Gemini Lake Mini PCs Introduced at CES 2018

ECS (Elitegroup Computer Systems) was another company introducing their Gemini Lake mini PC at CES 2018, or as they call them “ultra-compact form-factor” (UCFF) PCs. They had three models with two upgrade from Apollo Lake systems: LIVA Z2 & LIVA Q2, and another system called “LIVA One SoC” which instead offers an entry-level version of their barebone LIVA One mini PC based on Core i3/i5/i7 processors. ECS LIVA Z2 LIVA Z2 specifications: SoC – Intel Gemini Lake processor System Memory – 2x DDR4 SO-DIMM slots Storage – 32 or 64GB eMMC flash, 1x 2.5″ SSD/HDD bay Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 1.4 ports (dual HDMI) Audio Output – Via HDMI, 3.5mm audio jack, digital microphone Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 USB – 3x USB 3.0 ports, 2x USB 2.0 ports, 1x USB 3.0 type C port Misc – Power button, Kensington lock Power Supply – 19V/3.42A […]

January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

HiKey 960 Android Development Board Gets a 4GB RAM Version for $250

Hikey 960 development board is one of the most powerful Arm boards on the market thanks to Huawei/Hisilicon Kirin 960 octa-core processor with four ARM Cortex A73 cores, four Cortex A53 cores, and a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, fast storage with 32GB UFS 2.1 flash, and 3GB LPDDR3 memory. Like the earlier Hikey (620) board, the board is also an official reference board for AOSP, so you should be able to run the latest Android version, and also play with sensors using Neonkey SensorHub 96Boards mezzanine board. If you are somehow limited by the 3GB RAM on the board, you can rejoice as Seeed Studio has just launched a 4GB RAM version selling for $249, or about $10 extra. Note that shipping is only scheduled for February 2, 2018, so those are pre-orders. The rest of the specifications for Hikey 960 4GB RAM version are unchanged: SoC – Huawei Kirin 960 […]

January 12, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Variscite DART-MX8M is a Compact NXP i.MX 8M System-on-Module

NXP has recently launched their i.MX 8M evaluation kit and released documentation, so we can expect multiple products based on the family in 2018. The new NXP i.MX 64-bit processors include three families with i.MX 8, i.MX 8X, and i.MX 8M, but so far it looks like many companies are launching products based on the latter. The Embedded World Conference 2018 at the end of February should be the occasion for many product launches, especially systems-on-module and related development kit, but several companies have already posted information about their i.MX 8(M) modules minus pricing, and one of those is Variscite DART MX8M a company (55x30mm) module with i.MX 8M processor, up to 4GB LPDDR4, up to 64GB eMMC flash, as well as 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. Variscite DART-MX8M specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX8M with dual or quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz, Cortex-M4 real-time core […]

January 12, 2018January 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Zidoo Unveils Poster Wall 2.0 App, High-end Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Coming Soon

Zidoo has some news for their Realtek RTD1295/RTD1296 powered devices such as Zidoo X8, X9S, or X10. First, the company will soon release a firmware update that includes Poster Wall 2.0, an app that display movie posters and information in a concise and eye-pleasing way. The company is also working on a higher-end player called Zidoo X20 Pro powered by RTD1296 expected to launch in a few weeks, once beta testing is complete, and firmware looks stable enough. Zidoo X20 Pro RTD1296 Media Player Zidoo X20 Pro specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR4 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, 2x SATA 3.0 bays for 2.5 or 3.5″ drives Video 2x HDMI 2.0a output ports with HDCP 2.2, 4K 60 Hz 1x HDMI 2.0 input with HDCP 2.2 supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite […]

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Quokka IoT FPGA Board is Programmable with C# Language (Crowdfunding)

Quokka FPGA IoT Controller is a board based on Altera Cyclone IV FPGA with a WiPy module for connectivity, and various I/Os that allows you to make robotics projects for example. While you could program the FPGA using VHDL, the developer – Evgeny Muryshkin – also designed Quokka Development Toolkit (QDT), a cloud-based SaaS, allowing to program FPGA with a high-level programming language, currently C#, so that software people can more easily become involved in FPGA development. Quokka IoT (preliminary) hardware specifications: FPGA – Intel Altera Cyclone IV, 6K logic elements, EP4CE6E22C8 Clock – 50MHz Connectivity – WiFi via WiPy module Expansion 40x GPIO (3 banks by 8 pins, with direction and voltage (3.3V or 5V) configuration, 16 raw IO pins 3.3V) 2x Dual Channel 10 bit ADC (3.3V) 2x Dual Channel 10 bit DAC (3.3V) H-Bridge for DC motors with support for external power Power Supply – 5-24V DC input […]

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

WeTek Unveils Hyperion 4G LTE Set-Top Box & Nix OTT TV Box Running Android TV OS

When Geniatech announced Android TV certification for their ATV598Max set-top box with digital TV tuners compliant with DVB-T2, DVB-C, ATSC, or ISDB standards earlier this week, we noticed how few official Android TV STB there was on the market. But more may be coming, as Wetek will showcase two Android TV products at CABSAT in Dubai on January 14-16 with Wetek Hyperion Amlogic S905D 4G LTE set-top box, as well as WeTek Nix OTT box powered by Amlogic S905X processor. WeTek Hyperion Specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905D quad core ARM Cortex-A53 SoC up to 1.5 GHz, with penta-core ARM Mali-450 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.0 flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a (CEC, HDR, HDCP 1.4/2.2), mini jack analog AV output Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet Dual band 802.11 ac/b/g/n WiFi (optional 802.11ac MiMo) Bluetooth 4.0 4G LTE modem – LTE-FDD: B2/B4/B5/B12/B13/B17/B25/B26; LTE-TDD: B41; […]

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

$1 RDA5981 WiFi IoT Arm Cortex-M4 SoC is Designed for Smart Home Devices, Smart Speakers

RDA Microelectronics processors are found in a few cheap smart and not-so-smart phones, as well as the even cheaper Orange Pi i96 board. But the company does not only design cellular chips, but their portfolio also includes solutions for the Internet of Things and TV & radio tuners. RDA5981 is a WiFi IoT chip specifically designed for smart home & audio application, such as smart speakers, and it’s found in devices running Baidu DuerOS, the Chinese equivalent of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The company explains it can be widely used in televisions, set-top boxes, smart appliances, wireless monitors, and other products. RDA5981 A/B/C processor specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M4 @ up to 160 MHz with integrated MPU and mbed uvisor System Memory – Up to 448 KB SRAM for network stack and application, external PSRAM interface Storage – Up to 32Mbit SPI flash Connectivity WiFi 2.4 Ghz 802.11b/g/n WiFi […]