Microsoft is Working with Mediatek on Project Sopris Secure WiFi MCU

There are serious security issues with the Internet of Things at all levels: hardware, software, network, and end-users. Microsoft Research NExT Operating Systems Technologies Group has been tasked with “exploring the goal of securing the vast number of low cost Internet connected devices coming online” with Project Sopris. They have shared their first technical report that identifies “seven properties of highly secure devices”, and describes their experiments towards designing microcontroller based prototype devices adapted from Mediatek MT7687 MIPS microcontroller, and exhibiting those seven properties. The seven properties identifies by Microsoft team include: Hardware-based Root of Trust – Unforgeable cryptographic keys generated and protected by hardware. Physical countermeasures resist side-channel attacks. Small Trusted Computing Base – Private keys stored in a hardware-protected vault, inaccessible to software. Division of software into self-protecting layers. Defense in Depth – Multiple mitigations applied against each threat. Countermeasures mitigate the consequences of a successful attack on […]

Embedded Systems Conference 2017 Schedule – May 3-4

The Embedded Systems Conference 2017 will take place over two days in Boston, US on May 3-4, and the organizers have published the schedule of the event. Even if you’re not going to attend, you’ll often learn something or find new information by just checking out the talks and abstracts, so I’ve created my own virtual schedule with some of the most interesting sessions. Wednesday, May 3rd 08:00 – 08:45 – Combining OpenCV and High Level Synthesis to Accelerate your FPGA / SoC EV Application by Adam Taylor, Adiuvo Engineering & Training Ltd This session will demonstrate how you can combine commonly used Open source frameworks such as OpenCV with High Level Synthesis to generate a embedded vision system using FPGA / SoC. The combination of OpenCV and HLS allows for a much faster algorithm development time and consequently a faster time to market for the end application. 09:00 – 09:45 […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Intel Arc Graphics Technology

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 […]

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 […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC