CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Theobroma Announces Rockchip RK3368 and RK3399 Qseven System-on-Modules

Theobroma Systems, an embedded system company based in Austria, has designed several Allwinner systems-on-module compliant with μQseven & Qseven standards in the past. The company has now started to work with Rockchip and reached “an advanced design stage” for the development of μQseven and QSeven systems-on-module powered by RK3368 and RK3399 processors. RK3368-uQ7 module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa-Core ARM Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.2GHz with Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – up to 4GB DDR3-1600 SDRAM on-module (512MB, 1GB, 2GB (default) and 4GB configuration available) Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash on-module (8GB default), 16 Mbit to 128 Mbit SPI NOR flash on-module Video Capabilities – H.264 decoding up to 2160p30, H.265 decoding up to 2160p60, video encoding up to 1080p30 Connectivity – GbE PHY on-module CAN – On-module communication offload controller for CAN 230-pin MXM edge connector with: 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet USB – 1x […]

November 28, 2016April 5, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 60 Comments

How to Play Netflix HD on any Android Device with Widevine Level 1 DRM

A while ago I wrote an article entitled “Why Doesn’t your Android TV Box Play Full HD or 4K Videos in Netflix?” basically explaining that most TV boxes running Android could only play SD quality, because HD and higher quality requires both Widevine Level 1 DRM, and Netflix certification, and the second part is the most difficult since Netflix need to spend time testing a given product, and may not agree to do so for smaller manufacturers. The end result is that only a small subset of devices can play Netflix HD. Samsung Tab S2 is one of the device with Widevine Level 1, but is not certified by Netflix, and by default can only play SD quality. But XDA Forum user chenxiaolong apparently found a workaround and as the photo above shows is now able to reach HD resolutions (e.g. 1920×1080) with Netflix using his tablet. After analyzing packets […]

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Getting Started with Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp – Part 2: Serial Console, GCC SDK, Flashing & Debugging Code

PADI IoT Stamp module powered by Realtek RTL8710AF ARM Cortex M3 WiFi SoC is a potential competitor to Espressif ESP8266 modules. Pine64, the manufacturer of the module, sent me their kit with a $2 IoT stamp, a breakout board, a USB to TTL debug board and a J-Link debug board. In the first part of the review I’ve shown the hardware and how to assemble PADI IoT stamp kit. In the second part I’m going to write a tutorial / getting start guide showing how to control the board with AT commands, build the firmware with GCC SDK, and finally demonstrate how to flash and debug the firmware with the J-Link debugger. The Quick Start Guide indicates you need to connect the USB to TTL debug board to UART2 instead of UART1 as I did on the very similar B&T RTL-00 RTL8710AF module, and set connection settings to 38400 8N1. […]

November 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Apollo Lake Compute Sticks Coming in Q2 2017

Apollo Lake processors have been announced in mini PCs, laptops, development boards, systems-on-module, as well as in Intel’s own NUCs. A new leaked roadmap has now revealed that Intel plans to two Apollo Lake “Michigan City” compute sticks sometimes around Q2 2017. There will be two yet-to-be-named models: Windows OS – 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash No OS – 4GB RAM, 64 GB eMMC flash Both devices will come with 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI port with CEC support, as well as a 1- year warranty. That’s all we know from the leaked roadmap. Price should probably be only slightly higher than to the one of Atom Cherry Trail HDMI TV sticks, considering UP2 Board is selling for 89 Euros (Celeron N3350 dual core version) and 169 Euros (Pentium N4200 quad core version) , and […]

November 27, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

Adding Plus Sign and Tag to Email Address May Help Identify Source of (Spam/Junk) Emails

I’ve noticed several commenters using email formatted as email+cnx@mail.com or email+spam@mail.com while posting comments on CNX Software blog, but I just thought they were using some specific emails account or some forwarding techniques to receive emails, but I did not investigate further, and by chance I came across the reason on reddit this morning: It’s just another character that can be in an email address. For example, user@example.com, user+@example.com, user+spam@example.com, and user+login@example.com are all completely different email addresses. However, Gmail will ignore a + and everything after it in the username portion of an email address, so user+netflix@gmail.com, user+spam@gmail.com, and user+reddit@gmail.com will all go to user@gmail.com‘s inbox. This is acceptable because Google does not allow + in its login names. Many people use this property to identify the source of an email. So I could not resist trying by sending myself an email by adding +source1 to my username, and […]

November 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Firefly-RK3399 Development Board Will Fly with Rockchip RK3399 Hexa-core Processor

ARM Cortex A72 class development boards are usually quite expensive, and cheaper boards like Mediatek X20 development board ($200) appears to be out of stock very often, and software support is limited to Android 6.0. But things look to improve soon, as T-Chip is about to release Firefly-RK3399 development board powered by Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72/A53 processor. Firefly-RK3399 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core bit.LITTLE processor with dual core Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T860MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.0 support, OpenVG 1.1, OpenCL and DX 11. System Memory – 2 to 4 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 to 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD card Video Output & Display Interfaces – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, eDP 1.2 interface, YUV interface, 1x MIPI DSI interface Video Decode – 4K VP9 and 10-bit H.265 […]

November 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Sevenhugs Smart Remote is a Universal Direction Aware WiFi, Bluetooth and IR Remote Control (Crowdfunding)

You may have all sort of remote control devices around your home from the traditional IR remote control for your TV, air conditioner, audio system etc.., as well remote control apps for WiFi or Bluetooth objects such as smart light bulbs or water pumps running on your smartphone. Sevenhugs Smart Remote promises to replace them all, and all you have to do is to point the remote control to your devices, or setup virtual actions to your door or window to order a Uber drive or check the weather. Sevenhugs Smart Remote specifications: MCU – ARM Cortex-M4 @ 200 MHz System Memory – 32 MB RAM LCD – 3.43″ touch screen IPS display; Dragontrail damage ans scratch resistant cover glass, anti-fingerprint & anti-glare Wireless Connectivity – IR transceiver, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 LE connectivity USB – USB C port for charging Sensors – Indoor positioning sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, […]

November 24, 2016July 25, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Himedia Q5 Pro & Q10 Pro TV Boxes Get Android 7.0 Nougat Firmware

The majority of TV boxes sold today are running Android 4.4 to Android 6.0, but with the release of Android 7.0 for smartphones and tablets earlier this year, it was just a question of time before the OS got ported to TV boxes. Himedia appears to be the first company to have released Android 7.0 for their Hisilicon Hi3798CV200 based TV boxes, namely Q5 Pro and Q10 Pro. The changelog for the new firmware includes: Android N OS running stable and smooth Support for Android N Google Play version Support for Samba UPnP System function perfectly upgraded from 5.1 to Android N with compatibility Youtube updated to 4.10.7 and Netflix to 1.3.11 Homepage, Application Management, Media Center optimized, focus movement are more swift and smooth Media Player upgraded and support mouse operation Local Media Playback Improved; Certain rare videos black screen, display ratio of 3D to 2D abnormal, and occasional […]