CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

July 2, 2017July 3, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 49 Comments

The First Amlogic S912 Development Board is Coming Soon with Khadas VIM2

We have a decent choice of Amlogic S905 development boards like ODROID-C2 or NanoPi K2, but I was recently asked whether I knew of any Amlogic S912 development boards. I’m sure Amlogic has one for internal development, but those are hard to get, and probably expensive, and while you could probably get an S912 TV box board those lack I/Os, and software support may truly be a challenge. So I’m pleased to announce that Shenzhen Wesion will soon provide an update to their Khadas VIM Pro board with Khadas VIM2 powered by Amlogic S912 octa-core processor. The company will actually offer three variants of Khadas VIM2 boards (Basic/Pro/Max) specifications with highlights in bold showing differences with Khadas VIM Pro board: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP GPU System Memory Basic – 2 GB DDR4 Pro/Max – 3 GB DDR4 Storage […]

July 1, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments

Orange Pi i96 96Boards IoT Edition WiFi & Bluetooth Development Board Finally Launched for $8.80

Orange Pi i96 board was first unveiled at Linaro Connect US 2016 in September of that year, as one of the first boards compliant with 96Boards IoT Edition specification, and expected to sell for just $9.99. The good news is that the board is now finally available for $8.80 plus shipping on Aliexpress ($12.19 in total in my case) Orange Pi i96 specifications: SoC – RDA Micro 8810PL ARM Cortex A5 processor @ up to 1.0 GHz with 2Gbit (256 MB) on-chip LPDDR2 RAM, 4Gbit (512 MB) on-chip SLC NAND flash , 256KB L2 cache, and Vivante GC860 3D GPU External Storage – micro SD slot Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR module (RDA5991) Camera – MIPI CSI-2 connector for camera sensor up to 5MP Video – 1080p30 H.264 encoding USB – 1x USB host port, 1x micro USB OTG port Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header with SPI, […]

June 30, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Husarion CORE2 STM32 Board for Robotics Projects Works with ESP32, Raspberry Pi 3, or ASUS Tinkerboard

Husarion CORE2 is a board designed to make robotics projects simpler and faster to complete with pre-configured software and online management. Projects can start using LEGOs, before moving to 3D printed or laser-cut version of the mechanical parts without having to spend too much time on the electronics and software part of the project. Two versions of the board are available: CORE2 combining STM32 MCU with ESP32 WiFI & Bluetooth module, and CORE2-ROS with STM32 instead coupled to a Raspberry Pi 3 or ASUS Tinkerboard running ROS (Robot Operating System). Both solutions share most of the same specifications: MCU -STMicro STM32F4 ARM CORTEX-M4 MCU @ 168 MHz with 192 kB RAM, 1 MB Flash External Storage – 1x micro SD slot USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port with 1A charging capability; 1x micro USB port for debugging and programming via FTDI chip Expansion Headers hRPi expansion header for CORE2-ROS […]

June 30, 2017July 2, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

H3Droid Android Firmware is Designed for Allwinner H3 Boards & Devices

Allwinner H3 boards such as Orange Pi PC and NanoPi NEO are mostly interesting due to their ability to run Linux and control I/Os, and while they also support Android, most people wanting to run Android are better served with TV boxes instead, as they come with enclosure, power supply, HDMI cable, and an IR remote control. That does not mean there’s no use case for Android on development boards, and that’s why probably KotCzarny, and other developers, have decided to work on H3Droid project to provide better Android images for Allwinner H3 boards and devices than the firmware released by manufacturers. Some of the improvements include “sane DRAM/CPU settings”, support for Custom recovery system, Google Play Store and more USB network adapters, as well as the removal of apps and feature unusable for people outside out China. You’ll also be able to access the board via SSH if you […]

June 30, 2017July 31, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

VIA ALTA DS 4K Digital Signage Player is Powered by Zhaoxin ZX-2000M Quad Core Cortex A17 Processor

VIA has just announced their latest ALTA DS 4K digital signage player with a “quad core Cortex A17 processor”, which I first assumed must be Rockchip RK3288 processor since it’s one of the few with that processor core. But the processor is actually from a company I had never heard before: Shanghai Zhaoxin Semiconductor that does both x86 and ARM SoCs for various markets. But let’s check out the product with VIA ALTA DS 4K Digital Signage specifications: SoC – Zhaoxin ZX-2000M quad core ARM Cortex-A17 processor @ up to 1.4GHz with 2D/3G GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0, and a video processing unit System Memory – 2GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz Storage – 8GB eMMC Flash memory, SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with CEC support Video Codecs – MPEG-2, VC-1, H.264 and H.265 video decoding up to 3840x2160p @30fps; H.264 encoding Connectivity – 1x Gigabit Ethernet port (Realtek RTL8211FS-CG), […]

June 30, 2017July 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments

Libre Computer’s Le Potato Amlogic S905X Development Board Goes for $25 and Up (Crowdfunding)

Up to now there were two notable Amlogic S905(X) development boards: ODROID-C2 and Khadas Vim. Shenzhen Libre Technology Co., Ltd, a Shenzhen startup, is about to bring one more to the market with Le Potato board, aka AML-S905X-CC, powered by Amlogic S905X processor with 1 or 2 GB RAM, and in a form factor similar to the Raspberry Pi 3 board. Le Potato /AML-S905X-CC board specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with penta core ARM Mali-450MP GPU, and Amlogic Video Engine 10 System Memory – 1GB or 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 1x micro SD Card slot with UHS SDR104 support, eMMC module connector with HS400 support Video Output – HDMI 2.0 Port, 3.5mm TRRS “AV” jack with CVBS (480i / 576i) Audio Output – HDMI, AV jack (stereo audio), SPDIF output header, and I2S header Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – 4x […]

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

June 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

USB type C to HDMI Cables Coming Soon thanks to HDMI Alt Mode for USB Type-C

Some devices already support video output over a USB type C connector, but they normally rely on DisplayPort over USB type C, so you’d either need a monitor that supports DisplayPort, or some USB Type C to HDMI converter. A DisplayLink dock is another solution, but again it converts video and audio signals. But soon you’ll be able to use a simple USB type C to HDMI cable between a capable device (camera, phone, computer, TV box…) and any HDMI TV or monitor. This is being made possible thanks to HDMI Alt Mode for USB Type-C that supports all HDMI 1.4b features including: Resolutions up to 4K (@ 30 Hz) Surround sound Audio Return Channel (ARC) 3D (4K and HD) HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) Deep Color, x.v.Color, and content types High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP 1.4 and HDCP 2.2) There’s no video or audio conversion inside […]

June 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

NFV PicoPod is a Cluster of Six MACCHIATOBin Networking Boards for OPNFV, ODP, DPDK and OPF

If you are interested in networking applications, you may have already heard about Marvell ARMADA 8040 based SolidRun MACCHIATOBin board with multiple 10Gbps and Gbps network interfaces, three SATA ports, and more. PicoCluster has decided to make a cluster of 6 MACHIATOBin boards coupled with a Marvell Prestera DX 14 port, 10GbE switch for OpenDataPlane (ODP), Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), OpenFastPath(OPF) as well as OPNFV (Open Platform for Network Functions Virtualization) . The main features of the full assembled kit – named Cube – include: 6x MACCHIATOBin quad core Cortex A72 boards (24 cores in total) 1x Prestera DX 10GbE 14-port switch board 6x fans Power Supply Acrylic case The cluster kit comes with 64GB micro SD cards pre-loaded with the latest OPNFV Danube software release for ARM integrated by ENEA Software AB. The cluster is said to be compliant with the OPNFV Pharos specification. Three pre-order options are […]

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