CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

September 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

WeTek Play 2 Amlogic S905 TV Box Gets Ubuntu 16.04 Mate and Minimal Firmware Images

WeTek Play 2 is the latest TV box from WeTek with DVB or ATSC tuner, and powered by Amlogic S905-H processor. It ships with Android 5.1.1, but Ubuntu 16.04 Mate and Ubuntu 16.04 minimal firmware images have been released by the community. You can try Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Mate (with desktop environment) or the headless Ubuntu 16.04 LTS minimal image by uncompressing the images, and flashing them to a micro SD card with dd or Win32DiskImager. Two default credentials (username/password) are provided: wetek/wetek and root/wetek. This required the latest Play 2 Android firmware, so make sure you get the latest OTA update before trying Ubuntu. The Ubuntu 16.04 images should just boot from the SD card without replacing or affecting your Android installation. If this type of images for Amlogic S905 seems similar, it’s because are based on Hardkernel ODROID-C2 Ubuntu 16.04 images. You can find the Linux kernel for […]

September 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

LG V20 Android 7.0 Smartphone is Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Processor

LG V20 was mentioned during Android 7.0 release, as the first smartphone to ship with Android Nougat, but at the time, few details were provided. The Korean company has now released the full specifications, and the phone will come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, features a secondary display overlaying the main display to display notifications, a dual rear camera, and a replaceable battery. LG V20 smartphone specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad core Kryo processor up 2.2 GHz with Adreno 530 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 64GB UFS flash, and micro SD slot up to 2TB Display – 5.7″ touchscreen IPS Quantum display with 2560×1440 resolution; Secondary IPS Quantum Display with 160 x 1040 resolution Camera – 2x Rear cameras: 16MP with F1.8 Aperture OIS (standard angle) and 8MP with F2.4 Aperture (wide angle); 5MP front-facing camera; Steady Record 2.0 electronic image stabilization (EIS) Audio […]

September 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

MinnowBoard Turbot SBC Gets a Quad Core Atom E3845 Processor, Better Ethernet, and a Fansink

MinnowBoard Turbot open source hardware SBC was released in 2015 with an Intel Atom E3826 dual core Bay Trail-I processor, 2GB RAM, SATA and Gigabit Ethernet support, and a new version – MinnowBoard Turbot Quad – with a more powerful quad core processor, an heatsink and fan, and better Ethernet connectivity will be launched in December. MinnowBoard Turbot Quad “MBT-4210” board specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3845 quad core Bay Trail-I processor @ 1.92 GHz with Intel HD graphics @ 542 / 792 MHz (10W TDP) System Memory – 2GB DDR3L 1067 MT/s (Soldered) Storage – 1x SATA2 3Gbs, 1x micro SD card slot, , 8 MB SPI Flash for firmware (Tianocore UEFI, Coreboot, SeaBIOS) Video & Audio Output – 1x micro HDMI connector Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet RJ-45 connector (Intel i211 instead of Realtek NIC on first board) USB – 1x USB 3.0 host, 1x USB 2.0 host Debugging […]

September 6, 2016September 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

UNI-T UT353 is a $15 Lightweight Sound Level Meter

Since some of the products I review come with a fan, I checked some sound level meters a couple of years ago, but since they were a little too expensive for my limited use, I skipped for the time being. However, while browsing some promotions or new arrivals on DealExtreme, I’ve come across UNI-T UT355 “Noise Detector Decibel Noise Tester” which sells for $15.56 including shipping. UNI-T UT353 mini sound meter specifications: Noise Levels & Accuracy – 30 to 130 dB with 0.1 dB resolution, +/- 1.5 dB accuracy Sample rate – Fast: 125ms; Slow: 1 second Measurement features – MAX/MIN, Data hold, overload indication (OL) Display – 1.64″ LCD display with backlight Buttons – Power, FAST/SLOW selection, MAX/MIN/normal selection, HOLD/BL for data hold (short press) or turning on/off the backlight (long press) Power Supply – 3x AAA batteries; 5 minutes auto power off Power Consumption – Active: < 40 […]

September 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ASRock IMB-157 is one of the First Intel Apollo Lake Motherboards

We’ve already seen Intel launched 6 Apollo Lake Celeron and Pentium processors, some upcoming Acer Apollo Lake laptops, as well as Intel Apollo Lake NUCs, and now ASRock has listed one of the first Apollo Lake motherboard with their IMB-157 mini-ITX board. ASRock IMB-157 mini-ITX motherboard preliminary specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron / Pentium Apollo Lake processor with Intel gen9 HD graphics (BGA1296 package) System Memory – 2x SO-DIMM dual channel DDR3L @ 1867 MHz up to 16GB Storage – 1x SATA 3.0 6Gbps connector, 1x M.2 slot Video Output – HDMI up to 4K @ 24 Hz, VGA up to 1920×1200, LVDS up to 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz, internal eDP & VGA headers; Triple display support Audio – HDMI, 3.5mm jacks for Mic-in and Line-out, speaker header Connectivity – 2x Gigabit Ethernet via 2x Realtek RTL8111G controllers USB – 4x external USB 3.0 ports , internal header […]

September 5, 2016September 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

You Can Now Buy ESP3212 ESP32 WiFi + Bluetooth Module for $6.95

After the official launch of ESP32 processor for less than $3, it did not take long before ESP32 modules hit the market, and Seeed Studio has already listed ESP3212, one of the first modules based on Espressif ESP32 Bluetooth LE + WiFi SoC, for $6.95 with shipping scheduled to start on September 23, 2016. ESP3212 module specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32 dual core Xtensa LX6 processor @ up to 240 MHz with 448 KB flash, 520 KB SRAM, 16 KB SRAM in RTC, WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity Storage – 4MB Winbond SPI flash Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n/e/i WiFi (HT40) up to 150 Mbps Bluetooth 4.2 BR/EDR and BLE 3 dBi PCB antenna Headers – 22x GPIOs (multiplexed with ADC, Touch, DAC, SPI, UART, CAN, ETH, IR, PWM, and I2S), 1x UART, Sense VP/Sense VN, EN pin. 3.3V and GND Power Supply – 3.0 – 3.6V Dimensions – 24 x 16 […]

September 5, 2016September 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 820 4K TV Box and AiO Virtual Reality Headset Reference Designs

Qualcomm has recently announced two references platforms for ODM/OEM powered by Snapdragon 820 processor for 4K Ultra HD media boxes and all-in-one virtual reality headsets. Snapdragon VR820 Virtual Reality HMD Qualcomm Snapdragon VR820 VR headset comes with the following key features and specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad core Kryo processor with Adreno 530 GPU System Memory – Go figure Storage – Only god knows Display – 1440×1440 resolution per eye, AMOLED panel that supports up to 70Hz Audio – 4x microphones with Fluence HD noise filtering and active noise cancellation Video – 360° 4K video playback processing with HEVC compression and display refresh rates at 70 FPS Cameras – Integrated eye tracking with two cameras, dual front facing cameras for six degrees of freedom (6DOF) Sensors – gyro, accelerometer, and magnetometer sensors The reference platform, developed in collaboration with Goertek, leverages Qualcomm’s Virtual Reality SDK, and is expected […]

September 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Tizen Studio 1.0 Replaces Tizen SDK for Smartphones, Wearables and TVs

Tizen has converged all Tizen SDK for mobile, wearables, and TV to Tizen Studio since the beginning of the month, and released Tizen Studio 1.0 for developers interested in developing app for Tizen smartphones, TVs and/or smartwatches such as the latest Samsung Gear S3. So instead, you’ll now be able to select the targets platform and profiles within Tizen Studio. Some of the key changes made to the development environment in Tizen Studio 1.0 include: Launching tools: Installer, Uninstaller, and Package Manager Developing tools: IDE perspective theme, Project Wizard, Certificate Manager, and Menu and tool icons UI tools: UI Builder, Component Designer, and EDC Editor Testing tools: Emulator Testing tools: Dynamic Analyzer for memory and CPU profiling Other improvements in Tizen application development environment Tizen Studio is available for the 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows, and Ubuntu, as well as for Mac OS with one version with the graphics […]