CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 22, 2017 by Steven - 5 Comments

THL Box 1 Pro TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

Today we will be taking a look at the THL Box1 Pro box. We will take this is two parts, first being the unboxing and teardown then software and performance. Let’s start with the unit’s specs. THL Box 1 Pro TV Box specifications CPU – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.51GHz GPU – Penta-core Mali-450MP GPU @ 750 MHz Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot (up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 fps, AV port Audio – HDMI, AV port (stereo audio) Video Codecs – VP9 4K @60fps, 10-bit H.265 4K @ 60 fps, H.264 4K @ 30 fps and more Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ac Dual Band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 Interfaces – HDMI port, RJ45 port (100Mbps Ethernet), 2x USB Host, micro SD Card Slot, AV Out, DC jack […]

June 22, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Inforce 6309 Snapdragon 410E micro SBC is Now Selling for $89 (Promo)

With its Snapdragon 410E processor, Inforce 6309 single board computer is similar to Qualcomm DragonBoard 410c board, except it adds a Gigabit Ethernet port with optional PoE/RS484 add-on, switches HDMI with micro HDMI, replaces Low and High speed connectors with LVDS, dual MIPI-DSI, and 26-pin IO onnector, as well as offering an extended temperature range. It’s also designed for production, rather than just development, but it normally costs $126 instead of $75 for Qualcomm’s 96Boards compliant board. Inforce is now bringing that price down with a summer promotion allowing you to buy the board for $89 using summer coupon, excluding potential taxes, and shipping. I’ll reproduce the specifications below for reference: SoC- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410/410E (APQ8016/APQ8016E) quad-core ARM CortexA53 @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU and Hexagon QDSP6 @ 700 MHz System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 @ 533MHz, single-channel 32-bit (4.2GBps) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (eMCP package with […]

June 22, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Samsung Announces Mass-Production of its Exynos i T200 WiFi Processor for the Internet of Things

Exynos i T200 is an ARM Cortex R4 + Cortex M0 WiSoC for the Internet of Things, potentially used in the Samsung ARTIK-053 IoT module, and the first Exynos IoT processor from Samsung. The company has just announced that mass production had started, so let’s have a closer look at the processor’s features. Samsung Exynos i T200 specifications: MCU Cores ARM Cortex-R4 @ 320MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ @ 320MHz (Very high frequency for an M0+ core, is that a mistake?) On-chip Memory – 1.4MB SRAM RF & WiFi Connectivity 802.11b/g/n WiFi; single band (2.4GHz) Integrated T/R switch, power amplifier, low noise amplifier Interfaces – SDIO, I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, I2S Security – WEP 64/128, WPA, WPA2, AES, TKIP, WAPI, PUF (Physically Unclonable Function) Process – 28-nanometer (nm) High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) The Cortex R4 core is used for system control, and the Cortex M0+ core for I/O and LED control. Cortex […]

June 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Olimex Launches 22 Euros ESP32-GATEWAY Board with Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth LE

Olimex has just launched ESP32-GATEWAY board, as cost-down version of their ESP32-EVB board, still with Ethernet, WiFi, and Bleutooth LE, but without any relays, CAN bus, nor IR control, less I/Os, and a smaller footprint. Olimex ESP32-GATEWAY specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROOM32 module with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth LE Wired Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet with RJ45 jack (via LAN8710A) External Storage – micro SD slot Expansion – 20-pin GPIO connector USB – 1x micro USB port for debugging (CH340T) and power Misc – Reset and user buttons Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions – 62 x 50 mm Another change is the lack of a LiPo charger to run the board from batteries. Just like most Olimex boards, ESP32-GATEWAY is open source hardware with KiCAD design files available on Github. The software directory is still empty, but Ethernet demo code using ESP32-IDF has been pushed for […]

June 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Lingmo Translate One2One Earpiece Can Interpret 8 Languages with IBM Watson Natural Language & Translation APIs

Automation are greatly reduce the number of workers requires to perform manufacturing, and now technology is moving forward with artificial intelligence applications writing financial & sports news, analyzing medical imaging or other data to speed up and improve accuracy of diagnostics, and more. Yesterday, I found out that pair programming, which normally combines two human programmer working together on the same program, may soon pair a human programmer with an AI programmer helping selecting the best code, and today I found out live interpreters may get some competitions with products like Lingmo Translate One2One earpiece that can interpret 8 languages nearly in real-time. The device was unveiled at the United Nations Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good Summit in Switzerland, as it combines IBM Watson’s Natural Language and Language Translation APIs, together with Lingmo’s proprietary hardware and machine learning applications. It’s said to be working as an independent device without the […]

June 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Mini Review of Nextion Enhanced NX8048K070 7″ Display with Enclosure for HMI Applications

I reviewed some Nextion touchscreen a while ago. Those were 2.4″ and 5″ serial TFT displays with optional resistive touch support that could be used in standalone mode, or connected to an MCU board over UART to control external hardware. The user interface could be designed and emulated in Windows based Nextion Editor program before uploading it to the display via UART or micro SD card. ITEAD Studio has recently launched Nextion Enhanced NX8048K070 family of 7″ displays with resistive or capacitive touch panels, and support for GPIOs. The company sent me the capacitive model with enclosure for evaluation, so I’ll have a quick look at the hardware and Nextion Editor in this mini review. Nextion Enhanced NX8048K070_011C Unboxing I received it in a package from “ITEAD intelligent solutions” with basic description with Model: NX8048L070_011C with enclosure Outside dimensions : 275 x 170 x 50 mm (That’s the package dimensions) […]

June 20, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

WeTek and Ugoos Release Android 6.0 Marshmallow Firmware for their Amlogic S905 TV Boxes

While there are many models of TV boxes on the market, there are only a few companies that will provide firmware updates over time for their products. Two of those companies are WeTek and Ugoos, both of which recently released Android 6.0 Marshmallow firmware for their Amlogic S905 TV boxes. I actually reported about WeTek working on Android 6.0 for Hub TV box last year, but at the time it was still a beta version. The company has now released weOS 3.1 firmware with Android 6.0 for both WeTek Hub and WeTek Play 2 with the following changelog: System Kernel Fixes Streaming apps in 4K Improved Auto refresh rate system for Kodi Improved DRM playback Apps Added Kodi 17.3, update Updted Aptoide Store, Google Apps and File Manager WeTV (Play 2 only) Added XMLTV for Sat PG Fixes for ATSC Now allows ATSC-T and ATSC-C Most people can get the […]

June 20, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

CHUWI LapBook 12.3 Apollo Lake Laptop with 2736 x 1824 Display Sells for $300 (Promo)

CHUWI LapBook 12.3 is a laptop powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 “Apollo Lake” processor, with 6GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a high-resolution display that ships with Windows 10 Home, and is supposed to support Ubuntu too. While the laptop was announced last April for $349, it has now started to sell for $299.99 on GearBest with coupon CHUWI123 valid for the first 100 orders only, after which you should be able to get it for $309.99 during flash sales. CHUWI LapBook 12.3 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core “Apollo Lake” processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz (Burst frequency) and 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz (Burst freq.); 6W TDP System Memory – 6GB DDR3 Storage – 64 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up to 128 GB + M.2 SSD up to 256 GB Display – 12.3″ IPS display […]