CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Pi/104 Carrier Board for Raspberry Pi Compute Modules (Partially) Complies with PC/104 OneBank Specs (Crowdfunding)

The PC/104 consortium maintains various standards for embedded computer defining both the buses to use and form factors. PC/104 SBCs/boards are mainly used in rugged industrial computers, and stackable through ISA and PCIe buses. The standards were mostly designed for x86 processors, but in Q1 2015, the consortium added the OneBank option to PCI/104-Express & PCIe/104 Specification, Revision 3.0 in order to enable lower cost solutions and processors with PCIe and USB interfaces. This brought some lower powered Intel and ARM+FPGA based PC/104 compliant boards to the market such as Winsystems PX1-C415 based on Intel Apollo Lake E3900 SoC, or Sundance EMC²-Z7030 powered by Xilinx Zynq-7030 ARM+FPGA SoC. Adam Parker (Parker Microsystems) has decided to bring the PC/104 OneBank industrial standard to the Raspberry Pi world, by creating Pi/104 a carrier board for the RPi compute modules that (mostly) complies with PC/104 OneBank for factor, and exposes the required USB […]

November 20, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

ECS LIVA Q Could Be The World’s Smallest 4K mini PC

Taiwan based ECS announced several Apollo Lake mini PCs in the past such as Liva Z /ZE based on Intel Celeron N3350/N3450 or Pentium N4200 processor. The company has now launched a new Apollo Lake model. LIVE Q is powered by either Intel Pentium N4200 quad core processor, or Intel Celeron N3350 dual core processor, fitted with 2 to 4GB RAM, and the company claims it’s the world’s smallest “4K pocket computer”. ECS LIVA Q specifications: SoC Intel Apollo Lake Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1 / 2.5 GHz with 18EU Intel HD graphics; 6W TDP Intel Apollo Lake Celeron N3350 dual core processor @ 1.1 / 2.4 GHz with 12EU Intel HD graphics; 6W TDP Memory – 2GB/4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 32 or 64GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot up to 128GB Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, Intel […]

Graperain Samsung, Rockchip, and Qualcomm CPU modules, SBCs, and carrier boards

November 20, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Rockchip RK3399 Sapphire Board is Sold for $75 (Promo)

Black Friday is coming soon, so we’ll start to see more an more interesting deals in the day ahead. Last summer, I wrote about what should be the cheapest RK3399 development board: Sapphire, Rockchip’s own evaluation board that sold for $75… on Taobao with limited availability. So not exactly the easiest board to get. But today, I’ve learned that Varms, the company behind ROCK960 board, was selling Sapphire board for the same $75, plus shipping ($20 when I tried) with “many boards in stock”. Just a quick reminder about the specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with two ARM Cortex A72 cores, four Cortex A53 cores, and an ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU System Memory – 4 GB LPDDR3, dual channel Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card Video Output / Display Interfaces – 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz; MIPI DSI, eDP, LVDS via MXM […]

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

This 7″ HDMI Display with Stand Sells for $37 (Promo)

We’ve already seen cheap 7″ displays that connect to development boards via a flat cable, or – more versatile – via a HDMI cable. Those do not always come with a case, so you’d just let them flat on the desk, or create your own enclosure. This morning, I’ve come across a 7″ HDMI display that is limited to 800×480 resolution, but could be useful thanks to its stand if you need something portable, or have limited space on your desk. Specifications: Display – 7″ screen, 800 x480 resolution (RGB); 16:9 aspect ratio Video Input – 1x HDMI 1.2 input, 1x VGA input (up to 640 x 480), 2x video inputs (PAL/NTSC) Audio – Built-in 1.5W Hi-Fi speaker, 1x audio input User Input – 5 touch buttons, remote control Power Input – 12~24V DC Power Consumption – Less than 5W Dimensions – 17.8 cm x 11.9 cm x 2.1 cm […]

November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 8 Comments

BBen MN10 TV Stick Review – Windows 10, Ubuntu 17.04, Benchmarks, and Kodi

The BBEN MN10 is the second Apollo Lake device to be released in the stick form-factor and on paper looks to have a lot to offer: It features an Apollo Lake N3350 SoC, an unusual 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and is cooled by a ‘mute’ fan. The devices comes in a plain box with a power adapter, and a leaflet style manual. It also included a three-pin UK power adapter, as this was advertised as the ‘BBen MN10 Mini PC – UK PLUG BLACK’. Looking at the detail specifications: We can immediately see discrepancies as the device does not have a ‘RJ45 Port Speed: 1000M LAN’ port, and was not supplied with ‘1 x HDMI Cable’ nor ‘1 x Remote Control’. Powering on the device and the ‘mute’ fan is also a miss-representation as it starts immediately and is noticeably noisy. It also runs at full speed regardless […]

November 19, 2017November 19, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Fingbox Helps You Monitor & Manage Devices on Your Network with Your iOS/Android Smartphone

Fing network scanner mobile app available for iOS and Android that allows you to discover which devices are connected to your Wi-Fi network, map devices, detect intruders, assess network security risks, troubleshoot network problems, and optimize wireless network performance. But in order to go beyond network monitoring, the developers have designed Ubuntu Core based Fingbox hardware to add features such as access control (e.g. parental control), analyze the usage of bandwidth for each clients, find Wi-Fi sweet spots/ avoid black spots, verify your Internet speed, monitor devices in your network, and protects it with a digital fence that works against threats. From a hardware perspective Fingbox is a round shaped Ethernet node with the following specifications: Processor – ARMv7 processor System Memory – 1GB RAM Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet The Linux (Ubuntu Core) device just needs to be connected to your network via an Ethernet cable, and powered by its […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

November 18, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

HackaBLE Board is a Tiny, Breadboard-Friendly Bluetooth LE Development Board

Earlier this year, I wrote about Electronut Labs’ Bluey development board powered by Nordic Semi nRF52832 development board with BLE, NFC, and a few sensors, and partially open source hardware with the KiCAD schematics and PCB layout available on Github. The company is now back with another open source hardware nRF52832 BLE board, namely hackaBLE, that’s much smaller (28x18mm), and with 2.54mm pitch castellated pin headers making suitable for use for breadboard, or as a module on a custom designed board. hackaBLE board specifications: SoC – Nordic Semi nRF52832 ANT + BLE ARM Cortex-M4 @ 64 MHz processor with 512kB flash, 64kB RAM Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.2/5 LE and other proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless standards via chip antenna Expansion 2x 9-pin castellated headers with GPIO, 5V, 3.3V, and GND 2x 5-pin solder pads for more I/Os Debugging – 4-pin SWD header Misc – RGB LED, and user button Power Supply […]

November 17, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Socionext S8 Media Player Supports 8K HEVC Videos, 22.2 Channels Audio

4K still feels like a new technology, but 8K is also coming as HDMI 2.1, superMHL, and DisplayPort 1.4 all support 8K QUHD (Quad Ultra HD) resolutions up to 60 or 120 fps. So at some points will need some SoC, media players, and TVs support the new higher resolution. Socionext is working on this with their S8 media player powered by the company’s proprietary 8K HEVC SC1400A decoder chip, and that will be offered to “operators and service providers of video streaming for various applications including public viewing and digital signage”, starting in March 2018. Socionext S8 8K media player specifications: Video Codec – 8K H.265/HEVC 4:2:0 10bit, 4K H.264/MPEG-4 4:2:0 10bit Audio Codec – 2ch / 5.1ch / 22.2ch AAC-LC 16bit 48kHz Container TS/MP4/MMT (Optional) Resolution – 8K (7680 x 4320)/60p, 4K (3840 x 2160)/60p Video Output – 4x ch HDMI2.0; Up-conversion of 4K to 8K supported Audio […]

Boardcon LGA3576 Rockchip RK3576 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications