CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

April 5, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Alcatel Flash Android Smartphone Comes with 4 Cameras (Dual front, Dual rear Cameras)

In recent years, we’ve seen smartphones with dual camera systems most of the time placed on the rear side of the phone, but Alcatel Flash smartphone features both a dual front-facing camera for better selfies, and a dual rear camera, both coming with one color and one monochrome sensors. Alcatel Flash specifications: SoC – Mediatek Helipo X20 (MT6797) deca-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 @ 2.3 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.9 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.4 GHz System Memory – 3GB RAM Storage – 32GB flash, micro SD slot up to 128 GB Display – 5.5” IPS display; 1920×1080 resolution; Dragontrail Glass; fingerprint-resistant Oleophobic coating Cellular Connectivity GPRS/EDGE – 850/900/1800/1900 MHz UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA – 850/900/1900/2100 MHz 34/39 band LTE – FDD: B1/3/5/7/8/20; TDD: 38/39/40/41 Dual Nano SIM Dual Standby Wireless Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, FM radio, GPS with A-GPS/Glonass/Beidou Cameras Dual rear cameras Dual 13MP Mono+RGB, Sony IMX258 1/3.06 sensor […]

April 4, 2017April 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Solar Powered CAREUD U800WF Monitoring System Checks Your Car’s Tires Pressure

Every few months, we inflate (or deflate) our car tires at the gas station to match the pressures for front and rear tires given by the manufacturer. But if you want to make sure the pressures are always at their optimal levels, or close to it CAREUD U800WF pressure monitoring system might be a useful little gadget. The monitor that you can place on your dashboard comes with the following specifications: Display showing pressure with +/- 1.5 PSI accuracy and temperature with +/- 3 °C accuracy for all four tires; data updated every 3 seconds. Connectivity – 433.92 MHz RF Power Supply Solar Panel 5V via micro USB port 900 mAh Li-ion Battery Temperature Range – Storage: -30 to 85 °C; operating: -20 to 80 °C IP Rating – IP5K4K (The “K” in the ingress protection rating means it complies with ISO 20653:2013 Road Vehicles-Degrees of protection) Dimensions – 76 […]

April 4, 2017April 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

New Espressif ESP32 Single and Dual Core Processors in 5x5mm Package, Optional Embedded Flash Coming Soon

Espressif ESP32 was launched last year as a dual core Tensila processor with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, relying on external flash for storage, and packaged into a QFN48 6x6mm package. Espressif recently updated ESP32 datasheet, and the guys at ESP32net noticed three new versions of the processor with a QFN48 5x5mm package, one version including 2 MBytes embedded flash, and another version with a single core. The three new versions of ESP32 all come with the same WiFi 802.11b/g/n ad Bluetooth 4.0 LE connectivity and a QFN 5×5: ESP32-D0WD dual core processor without embedded flash ESP32-D2WD dual core processor with 16 Mbit embedded flash ESP32-S0WD single core processor without embedded flash ESP32-D0WD different with ESP32-D0WDQ6 is only the smaller package, while ESP32-D2WD brings 2MB embedded flash too possibly lowering the price of current solution with external flash, and ESP32-S0WD might be closer to ESP8266 price thanks to its single core, […]

April 4, 2017May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Shenzhen Xunlong Releases Two Orange Pi Boards with 64-Bit ARM Processor, 2GB RAM

Shenzhen Xunlong has already been selling 64-bit ARM development board with their Orange Pi PC 2 & Orange Pi Zero Plus 2 H5 boards based on Allwinner H5, as well as Orange Pi Win board powered by Allwinner A64 processor. However, so far none of them are equipped with much memory, with the only options being 512MB or 1GB RAM. The company has recently launched two new boards with 2GB RAM, namely Orange Pi Win Plus featuring Allwinner A64 SoC, and Orange Pi Prime equipped with Allwinner H5 SoC. Orange Pi Win Plus That board is just an update to Orange Pi Win board with the only difference I could find being the 2GB RAM: SoC – Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 2MB SPI flash, micro SD slot up to 64GB, footprint for optional […]

April 4, 2017May 6, 2017 by Karl Johnson - 13 Comments

Creality CR-10 3D Printer Review – Part 1: Unboxing, Setup, and First Prints

Today we are going to take a first look at the Creality CR-10 3D printer. This is a multipart series with the first part being unboxing and initial setup. I have no experience with 3D printing, and when I found out I would be doing this review I was ecstatic. It took a while to get shipped because of the wild popularity at Gearbest. I believe supply has caught up with demand. While waiting I read as much as I could about 3D printing. and I am glad I did. Creality CR-10 3D Printer Specifications 300 x 300 x 400mm build volume Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm Memory card offline print: SD card Prints up to 80mm/s (but slower is better) File format: G-code, JPG, OBJ, STL (I have only done g-code) 1.75mm Software – Cura; octoprint compatible CR-10 3D Printer Unboxing and Setup I had the CR-10 assembled and printing in […]

April 3, 2017May 11, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 34 Comments

FriendlyELEC Introduces $12.99 1-bay NAS Dock Kit for NanoPi NEO & NEO 2 Boards

NanoPi NEO is a tiny board with Fast Ethernet and USB 2.0 interface, so in theory it could make a nice low-end NAS as long as you don’t need the best performance. As always the problem is that there was no case for it, but FriendlyELEC changes that as they just launched a 1-bay NAS Dock Kit for NanoPi NEO / NEO 2 board selling for just $12.99 (promotional price at launch). The kit comes with the following: 1-bay NAS Dock expansion board with JMicron JM20329 USB to SATA bridge SATA connector for 2.5″ HDD drive Extra USB host port On/off switch, and dual color status LED Header to connect NanoPi NEO board 12V DC power input Dimensions – 151 x 89.7 mm NS-120 aluminum enclosure (154 x 100 x 47.5 mm, 4141 grams) Heatsink set for NanoPI NEO M3 6mm screws, M2.5 6 mm screws Four rubber pads Front […]

April 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Sen5 Dual Tuner Android Set-top Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Teardown

There are only a few companies manufacturing Android TV boxes with tuners with names like VideoStrong and WeTek coming to mind. Shenzhen Sen5 Technology is another one, and the company sent me one of their DVB combo Android TV boxes for review without providing that many details. So let’s have a look at what I received. Sen5 Android Combo STB Unboxing The product might be not ready for retail just yet, as I received it in an old carton box. Once I remove all the bubble wraps, I ended up with the device, an IR remote control, and a 12V/1.5A power supply. Once the product is actually launched I’d expect you’d receive a retail package and a user’s manual too. The box itself is made of plastic with plenty of randomly arranged (ventilation) holes on the top. The front panel comes with an IR window and a “Standby button”, one […]

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

Clarity Android Speaker with Touchscreen Display Supports Both Alexa and Google Assistant (Crowdfunding)

Android speakers with a touchscreen display has been around for a while, but Clarify speaker adds support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant’s “OK Google”. The 5W stereo speaker also comes with a quad core processor coupled with 16GB storage and 1GB RAM, a 7″ touchscreen display, and a battery. Clarity specifications: SoC – Unnamed Quad core processor System Memory – You wish you knew Storage – 16GB flash + micro SD slot Display – 7″ touchscreen display with 1280×800 resolution Video Output – HDMI output (added with $250,000 stretch goal) Audio – 2x 5W speaker, built-in microphone, AUX port Connectivity – Dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 Camera – 2MP front-facing camera USB – 1x mini USB port Misc – Control buttons Power Supply 12V/1.5A via power barrel 1.600 mAh / 7.4V LiPo battery good for 6 hours of music playback or 2.5 hours of video playback. Dimensions – […]