CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 29, 2018August 12, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

Orange Pi RK3399 Development Board Launched for $109

Orange-Pi-RK3399-Board-Description-Large

Last Friday, I wrote there was already a decent choice of Rockchip RK3399 boards, and added AAEON RICO-3399 pico-ITX board to the list. I forgot about Shenzhen Xunlong’s own Rockchip RK3399 board that was spotted as early as last spring and was told Orange Pi RK3399 was now up for sale for around $110 (699 CNY) in Taobao. The board is now also for sale on Aliexpress for $109 plus shipping ($4.35 here), and the company has released the specifications, so we can have a better look at what the board has to offer. Orange Pi RK3399 specifications: SoC – Rockchip K3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with two ARM Cortex A72 cores up to 2.0 GHz, four Cortex A53 cores, and an ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL, and DX 11 System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash, […]

January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

$2 USB “18650 Battery Shield” Powers Arduino, ESP32, and Other Low Power Boards with a 18650 Battery

If you’re looking for battery power for one of your projects, you may consider a “18650 battery shield” – going for just above $2 on Aliexpress or eBay – for powering Arduino boards, Espressif ESP8266 or ESP32 boards, or any board that can be powered by 5V up to 2A via USB or headers, or by 3V up to 1A via headers. Specifications listed on eBay/Aliexpress: Power Input – 5 to 8V via micro USB port up to 0.5A charging Power Output 5V via Type A USB port 3V up to 1A via 3x 2-pin header 5V up to 2A via 3x 2-pin headers Misc – 1 switch control USB output, LED for charging status (green = full, red = charging) Battery protection (Over-charge or Over-discharge) Dimensions – 9.8 x 2.9 cm You’ll need to add your own 18650 battery, and be careful about polarity while installing it, since putting […]

January 28, 2018 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 4 Comments

Intel Compute Cards Review – Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04 on CD1C64GK, CD1P64GK and CD1M3128MK

The Intel Compute Stick revolutionized the mini PC market through the introduction of x86 based processors making Windows available as an OS option. However, for Intel the biggest target market turned out to be business rather than consumer with digital signage being a key user. As a result Intel have responded with the introduction of the Intel Compute Card. So far they have released four versions of card: and they they differ from compute sticks by no longer being standalone mini PCs but dependent on a dock or host device. The card itself is relatively small with a footprint slightly larger than a standard credit card: and is distinguished by the back being printed with details about the card including the model: The lack of emphasis on the consumer market is also evident in the rather unobtrusive plain packaging: On the end that inserts into the dock or host device […]

January 27, 2018January 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Mycroft Mark II Smart Speaker / Voice Assistant Works with Open Source Software (Crowdfunding)

Smart speakers have gain a lot of traction over the last few years, but many of the solutions are based on Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa voice services, with both companies likely tracking your voice searches the same way they track your online searches to provide a “personalized experience” and sell you products or server ads that match your interests. If you don’t like being tracked that way, a solution is to use an open source voice assistant such as Mycroft, and install it on a Linux computer, Raspberry Pi 3 board, or Android device. The company also introduced Mark I reference hardware platform based on Raspberry Pi 2 in 2015, and while all those hardware options should be fine for the technically inclined, but not really suited to the typical end user, and AFAIK they all lack a microphone array for better hot word detection. So Mycroft has come […]

January 26, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

AAEON RICO-3399 Pico-ITX Board is Powered by Rockchip RK3399 / OP1 Processor

We now have a fair amount of boards powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with Firefly-RK3399, Rockchip Sapphire, VideoStrong VS-RD-RK3399, the upcoming 96boards compliant Rock960, among others. But AFAIK, none of those are designed to fit in a standard enclosure. AAEON will soon change that with an update of their RICO-3288 pico-ITX board, called RICO-RK3399 featuring Rockchip OP1/RK3399 processor combined with 2GB RAM, 16GB eMMC flash, HDMI 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet and more. AAEON RICO-3399 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 (OP1) hexa-core processor with two Cortex A72 cores up to 1.8 GHz, four Cortex A53 cores, and an Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, micro SD card slot Video Output / Display HDMI 2.0 port up to 4K UHD @ 60Hz eDP connector for LCD display up to 4K UHD @ 60 Hz I2C/USB header for touch panel Audio – Via HDMI, 2.5W (by 4Ω) speaker/ […]

January 26, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

A Wheeled Computer Cart Could be Useful for Desktop PC Towers

I may be writing a lot about low power mini PCs, but I’m still using a fully fledged desktop tower as my main computer since from time to time I edit videos, build large code bases like the Linux kernel or Android, or even run demanding simulators. I’ve placed the tower under my desk, but from time to time I have to move it up for example while USB devices that misbehave while connected to one of my USB hub, possibly because of the one meter cable used between my tower on the hubs. I’ve also put some actual bricks under the tower to elevate it and make the USB ports more accessible to me. But I’ve just come across something called a “Wheel Thickening ABS Computer Host Moving Bracket” by some sellers, but that I would likely call a wheeled computer base, wheeled computer cart, or wheeled computer case […]

January 26, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Imagination PowerVR Series8XT GT8540 GPU Can Drive up to Six 4K Screens, Supports Hardware Virtualization

Imagination Technologies introduces PowerVR Furian architecture last year with improved performance, power and density, as well as dual cluster PowerVR Series8XT GT8525 GPU based on the new architecture, and targeting high-end smartphones, virtual reality and automotive products. The company has now introduced a quad cluster Furian GPU called PowerVR Series8XT GT8540 that can simultaneously drive up to six 4K screens at 60fps thanks to an 80% fillrate density improvement, and supports virtualization providing separation of services and applications. The new GPU mostly targets the automotive market with some new cars now requiring multiple screen support with high resolution displays for cluster, Head-Up Display (HUD) and infotainment. Hardware virtualization is equally important for automotive application, as you’ll want to separate safety-critical code, from infotainment applications for example, so if the latter crashes, the safety-critical code can still run unhindered. Each would run on separate shaders processing unit, with up to 8 […]

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

MeLE A1000 TV Box is Back! Cost: $29.99 Shipped

MeLE A1000 is an Android TV box powered by Allwinner A10 Arm Cortex A8 processor that was launched in 2012 with Android 2.3, and was featured prominently on this blog, as arm-netbook then linux-sunxi community was working on porting Linux to the platform at that time. I discovered the device after the launch of the first Raspberry Pi board, and its subsequent unavailability due to extreme demand, and was looking for an alternative which became MeLE A1000, since there was an active around the box that included a real SATA port as a bonus. Why am I writing about this today? Because the TV box just showed up in GeekBuying new arrivals feed for $29.99. The device’s appearance has not changed, and the hardware specifications are the same too: SoC – Allwinner A10 Arm Cortex A8 processor with Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 512MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND […]