CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

February 21, 2016February 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

TP-LINK WiFi Router Firmware Locked Down Due to New FCC Rules

Last year the FCC rules issues new rules that would prevent installing OpenWRT, DDWRT, or other firmware, but it went viral, and finally the commission launched a consultation with the community which ended by the FCC issued a statement “Clearing the Air on Wi-Fi Software Updates” last November, making the rules more accurate saying that the rules were now “narrowly-focused on modifications that would take a device out of compliance”. However, one person named Adam recently tried to downgrade his firmware on a TP-LINK router, and the conversion now published on BattleMesh mailing list, makes it clear that the battle for “firmware freedom” may not be over: Adam: downgrading does not work I get an 18005 error upon attempting to downgrade. I want to know if this is because of the FCC’s rules regarding broadcast strength and DFS control. Has TP-Link complied with these rules and locked down its firmware […]

February 20, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Cat S60 Rugged Android Smartphone Includes a Thermal Camera

Caterpillar is better for its construction machinery and equipment, but the company has also been making rugged smartphones, some of them strong enough to be run over by 4+ tons machines, for several years, and they’ve now unveiled Cat S60 smartphone powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor and including both a 13MP camera and a FLIR thermal camera on the back of the device. Cat S60 preliminary specifications: SoC – Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor System Memory – 3GB RAM Storage – 32GB flash Display – 4.7” HD capacitive multi-touch with auto wet finger & glove support; 1280 x 720 resolution; Gorilla Glass 4 Connectivity – 4G LTE Camera 13MP main camera with dual flash 5MP front-facing camera FLIR thermal camera app with MSX technology capable of detecting temperature up to 15 to 30 meters Battery – 3,800 mAh IP Rating – N/A, but the phone can be used […]

February 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Samsung Artik IoT Boards and Devkits with WiFi, Bluetooth LE, and Zigbee Available, Partners Announced

Samsung Artik IoT boards will finally start selling on February 22 via Digikey. With the many fascinating developments in the IoT space over the year, you’d be forgiven if you completely forgot about Samsung Artik boards. So let’s have a quick recap. The Korean company previously announced three boards all supporting Bluetooth LE: Artik 1 – Ineda Systems Dual Core microAptiv MIPS32 processor with 1MB on-chip RAM, no GPU, and 4MB SPI flash Artik 5 – Dual core Exynos ARM processor @ 1GHz with ARM Mali 400 MP2 GPU, 512MB RAM and 4GB eMMC flash (both on-chip), with WiFi & Zigbee/Thread connectivity Artik 10 – Octa core Exynos processor with 4x ARM Cortex A15 @ 1.3GHz, 4x ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.0 GHz with ARM Mali-T628 GPU, 2GB LPDDR3 (on-chip), 16GB eMMC flash, and WiFi & Zigbee/Thread connectivity Samsung also partnered with multiple companies working on: Operating Systems – Tizen, […]

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$4 Wemos D1 mini ESP8266 Board Supports Shields with a Temperature Sensor, a Button, a Relay, or a micro SD slot

Wemos D1 board, a $9 ESP8266 board in Arduino UNO form factor, now has a little brother with Wemos D1 mini. The board looks somewhat similar to NodeMCU with breadboard friendly I/Os on the sides and a micro USB port for power and programming, but what could make it more interesting, beside the $4 price tag, is that the company also developed several shields (aka add-on boards). Wemos D1 mini specifications: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n module based on ESP8266EX with 4MB flash Expansion – Through holes with 11x digital input/output pins (3.3V) supporting interrupt/PWM/I2C/one-wire (except D0) 1x analog input (3.3V max input) Reset and power signals (5V, 3.3V, GND) USB – micro USB port Misc – Reset button Power – 5V via micro USB or 5V pin Dimensions – 34.2 x 25.6 mm Weight – 10 grams The board is said to be compatible with Arduino IDE and NodeMCU firmware. ESP8266 […]

February 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Samsung Gear S2 Classic 3G Smartwatch Features an eSIM for Cellular Connectivity, Runs Tizen

Samsung has announced that Gear S2 classic 3G smartwatch would be first device in the market to be equipped with a GSMA compliant eSIM (Embedded SIM) The round watch is also powered by a dual core processor coupled with 512MB RAM and 4GB flash to run Tizen based wearable platform. Galaxy Gear S2 Classic 3G specifications: SoC – Dual core processor @ 1.0 GHz System Memory – 512MB Storage – 4GB RAM Display – 1.2” circular super AMOLED display, 360×360 resolution, 302ppi Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/e, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, 3G/4G (HSPA+ voice and data networks) Audio Codec – MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ Audio Format – MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG Sensors – Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate, Ambient Light, Barometer Dimension – 44.0 x 46.9 x 13.4 (54g) Battery – 300mAh Li-ion; Wireless Charging; 2~3days on a charge IP Rating – IP68 Certified Dust and Water Resistant The watch will run Tizen, and include a […]

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Rockchip RKi6000 Low Power WiFi SoC Showcased with IoT Demo Board

Announced last year, Rockchip RKi6000 SoC promised WiFi connectivity at Bluetooth 4.0 LE power consumption levels, and the company has recently showcased the technology with a demo board controlling four lightbulbs. The chart above shows Rorkchip solution can transmit data at 802.11b speeds (11 Mbps) while still keeping power consumption low at around 10mW, similar to BT LE, and good enough to run on batteries. Peak Tx and Rx power has gone up a little since the first announcement, as the company now claims 66mW @ 11 Mbps instead of just 60mW. While there’s basically zero information about the chip on Rockchip website, you may have noticed a QR code on the product brochure in Charbax video linking to Rockchip IoT Club, which you can join as long as you work for a company with a specific project in mind.

February 18, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Intel Compute Stick with Atom x5 Processor is Now available for $150 in the US

Intel unveils five new Compute Stick models last month, including three models with Core-M Skylake processors, and two models with Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor: one with Windows 10 (STK1AW32SC), one without operating system (STK1A32SC). The Skylake model are not available yet, but the Windows 10 version can now be purchased for around $150 on Amazon, Newegg, and CDW. The specifications have not changed since the announcement, but it’s always good to refresh once memory: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Quad-Core “Cherry Trail” processor @ 1.44 GHz/1.84 GHz and Intel HD Gen8 Graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L @ 1600MHz Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SDXC v3.0 slot with UHS I-Support up to 128GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4b Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 (via Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265) USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB […]

February 18, 2016February 18, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Open Source Operating Systems News – Maru OS, Zephyr, ReactOS, Tizen 3.0, and Raspbian

There have been several news related to open source operating systems in the last couple of weeks including Maru OS to run Debian on Android, Zephyr Project real-time OS managed by the Linux Foundation, ReactOS an open source port of Windows XP, and Raspberry Pi boards are getting a Tizen 3.0 port, as well as a new Raspbian release. Maru OS – Mobile <-> Desktop Convergence Maru OS mobile operating system is supposed to do what Ubuntu convergence promised: it runs in mobile mode on the go with Android Lollipop mobile OS, once you connect the phone to an HDMI screen, and pair Bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse, it will switch to desktop mode running Debian Linux. The downside is that so far it a single developer (Preetam D’Souza) worked on it, and the beta version only works on Nexus 5 smartphone. However, since the project went viral, dozen of other […]