CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$249 Litebook Linux Laptop Runs Elementary OS

While you can install Linux on most laptops by yourself, it’s not always easy to find a laptop pre-installed with Linux, especially for the cheaper models. So it’s encouraging to see products like Litebook, a laptop with Elementary OS based on Ubuntu, and powered by an Intel Celeron N3150 “Braswell” processor with 4GB RAM, a 512GB hard drive, and a 14.1″ Full HD display. Litebook laptop specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3150 quad core “Braswell” processor @ 1.60 / 2.08 GHz with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 4GB RAM (soldered) Storage – 512GB hard drive (upgradeable), micro SD slot, optional 32GB mSATA SSD Display – 14.1″ display with 1920×1080 resolution Video Output – HDMI 1.4 port Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, stereo speakers Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports Camera – 720p front-facing camera Battery – Replaceable battery (capacity […]

March 6, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

Mainline Linux on 64-bit ARM Amlogic SoCs, and TV Boxes such as Wetek Hub / Player 2, NEXBOX A1 / A95X, etc…

We’ve already seen Neil Armstrong, part of BayLibre, worked on adding Amlogic SoC (S905/S905X/S912) to mainline Linux via our virtual schedule for the Embedded Linux Conference & OpenIoT Summit 2017. But at the time, although we could see some activity in Linux 4.10 including support for Nexbox A95X and Nexbox A1, they did provide that much details the work that had been done, but since then, ELC 2017 videos have been released, and BayLibre wrote a short post about 3D Graphics support in mainline Linux. We can see that I/Os, USB host, composite video output, Ethernet, eMMC/SDIO, and PSCI and SCPI features have already been added to Linux 4.10. but some important features have not yet including HDMI, Mali support, Audio, and high speed eMMC modes. HDMI is actually planned for Linux 4.12, which could be released in about 18 weeks if we keep the 10 weeks kernel release schedule […]

March 6, 2017March 6, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

SD Association Introduces Class A2 Application Performance Class, and UHS-III Standard Supporting Up to 624 MB/s

Users of development boards booting from (micro) SD cards have often missed random I/O performance information to determine whether the device would performance well to run an operating system, but now that Google has implemented “adoptable storage” to let consumer run app from their micro SD cards, it has become an important differentiating factor for manufacturers, and the SD association announced A1 App performance class with minimum random I/O read/write performance and at least 10MB/s sequential write speed last year. The SD association has now unveiled Class A2 with better I/O performance with minimum requirements of 4000 IOPS for random reads, and 2000 IOPS for random writes, with the same 10 MB/s minimum sequential write speed. That means the application performance table now looks as shown below. Note that Class A2 is not available right now, and test requirements will be explained in SD 6.1 part 1 physical specification to […]

March 5, 2017March 5, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

GOLE 360 Video Camera Review & 360 Degrees Videos Desktop Experiments

GOLE has designed GOLE 360 video camera to connect to your smartphone via its micro USB, or USB type C port, and let you shot 360 degrees videos or photos. The company has sent me a review sample with a USB type C port in order to test it with Vernee Apollo Lite Android smartphone. I’ve spent about two days playing with it, so I’ll report my experience with the 360° camera, and my attempts at playing the videos back on my computer. GOLE 360 Unboxing The camera is sent in a white retail box with “Micro USB” or “Type C” option, and as requested I got the latter. The camera comes with a pouch, a useful user’s manual in English, and a USB to USB type C cable. I did not use the latter since I instead charge the camera with my phone’s power adapter and cable. One side […]

March 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments

HiKey 960 Development Board Powered by Hisilicon Kirin 960 Cortex A73/A53 Processor To Sell for $239

LeMaker is about to launch a successor to Hikey board with a new 96Boards compliant development board with HiKey 960 featuring the powerful Hisilicon Kirin 960 processor found in Huawei Mate 9 smartphone, as well as 3GB LPDDR4 memory, 32GB UFS storage, HDMI, USB 3.0 ports and so on. Hikey 960 board specifications: SoC – Kirin 960 octa-core big.LITTLE processor with 4x ARM Cortex A73 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex A53 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, and a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU System Memory – 3GB LPDDR4 SDRAM Storage – 32GB UFS flash storage + micro SD card slot Video Output / Display Interface – 1 x HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p, 1x 4-lane MIPI DSI connector Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac? WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 with two antennas USB – 2 x USB 3.0 type A host ports, 1x USB 2.0 type C OTG port […]

March 3, 2017May 8, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 35 Comments

$12 AI Light ESP8266 based WiFi RGB Light Bulb Supports MQTT via ESPurna Open Source Firmware

AI-Thinker is famous in the maker world for their ESP8266 modules, but they’ve also recently launched a WiFi RGB light bulb that sells for about $12.5 and up on eBay and Aliexpress. Some people noticed, and bought samples online, including Xose Pérez (aka Tinkerman), ESPurna open-source firmware developer, who could confirm ESP8266 was used in the light bulb, did some investigations, and eventually added the light bulb into ESPurna, which means it can be managed using MQTT or a web interface. AI Light looks very similar to Philips Hue, but comes with WiFi instead of Zigbee. AI Light “M1636” key features: RGBW LED E27 bulb with 16.7M colors Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi Encryption – AES Voltage Range – 110-240V LED Power – 5 watts WiFi Power Consumption – ≤0.3W Temperature Range – -5~45degree Humidity – ≤80% Certifications – FCC, CE, ROHS If you’re going to use the stock firmware, […]

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Gemini PDA Pocket PC Runs Android & Linux on Mediatek X25 Deca-Core Processor (Crowdfunding)

GPD Pocket 7″ portable computer running Windows or Ubuntu Linux is getting some competition, as Gemini PDA has a similar form factor with a 5.7″ display and a keyboard, but instead of featuring an Intel processor, it is equipped with Mediatek X25 deca-core ARM Cortex A72/A53 processor, and runs either Android or Linux. Gemini PDA specifications: SoC – Mediatek X25 deca-core ARM processor with 2x Cortex A72 @2.5GHz, 4x Cortex A53 @2.0GHz, 4x Cortex A53 @1.55GHz and Mali-T880 MP4 GPU @ 850 MHz System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 64GB flash, micro SD card slot (covered) Display – 5.7” QHD+ (2880×1440) multi-touch display; 18:9 aspect ratio Audio – Dual side mounted speakers, integrated ambient microphone, 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS with A-GPS, NFC 4G + WiFi model adds: GSM – 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA – 900/2100MHz LTE – 1/2/3/4/5/7/17/20 VoLTE – Compatible SIM slot + eSIM […]

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

System76 Starling Pro ARM Server Powered by 2 Cavium ThunderX 64-bit Processors Sells for $6400 and Up

64-bit ARM servers are starting to show up more and more for sale, and after servers such as Softiron Overdrive 1000, Avantek H270-T70, and Gigabyte MP30-AR0, System76, a company selling only Ubuntu powered computers and servers, has launched Startling Pro ARM server equipped with two Cavium ThunderX_CP 48-core processors, and a choice of two operating systems: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS 64-bit or Ubuntu 16.10 64-bit. System76 Starling Pro ARM “stap1” server specifications: Processor – 2× Cavium ThunderX_CP 48 core 64-bit ARMv8 processor @ up to 2.5 GHz (96 cores in total) System Memory – Up to 1024 GB quad-channel registered ECC DDR4 @ 2400MHz Storage – Up to 4x 3.5″ drives, 32 TB in total Video Output – VGA port Virtualization – ARM Virtualization Host Extensions Networking – 3x 40-Gigabit QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable+), 4x 10 Gigabit SFP+, 1x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45) Expansion – 1x PCI Express x16 (Gen3 x8) […]