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EzeeCube Linux Media Hub Unboxing and Teardown

EzeeCube is a Linux based Kodi Media Hub powered by Freescale i.MX6Quad processor with one internal 1TB hard drive and up to 8TB extra storage via four stackable 2TB hard drive module, as well as an option for a Blu-Ray player module. Beside playing video, it’s also designed to store your pictures and videos like a cloud service such as dropbox, but without privacy concerns since data is only stored in your own EzeeCube. The company launched an Indiegogo campaign in Q2 2014 which ended up being pretty successful having raised over $160,000, and as they are now shipping rewards to backers, I’ve also been sent a unit. Today, I’ll check out the hardware, and will review the unit probably sometimes next month. EzeeCube Unboxing The device came in a cardboard package with some EzeeCube branding, and some features like Freescale quad core processor, a 2TB hard drive (which finally […]

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Xiaomi Introduces Mi TV Bar TV Box Speakers Powered by Mstar 6A928 Processor

Xiaomi has introduced a few new products yesterday including Mi TV 3 60″ 4K UHD television,  a cheap Bluetooth voice remote, as well as Ninebot Mini self-balancing two-wheel scooter. But the company has also launched a product that looks like the offspring of a sound bar and a TV box with MI TV Bar, featuring Mstar 6A928 quad core Cortex A17 processor with 2GB RAM and running Android 5.1 Lollipop as well as built-in speakers with Dolby Audio technology. It’s actually designed to be the smart system for Mi TV 3, as Xiaomi found out that while TVs may last 10 years, the “smart” part in smart TV may need an update every couple of years. Mi TV Bar specifications: SoC – Mstar 6A928 quad-core ARM Cortex A17 processor @  1.4GHz with Mali-760 MP4  4 + 4 core GPU System Memory – 2GB  DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.0 flash […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Review of WeTek Core Android Lollipop Media Player

EThe first devices based on Amlogic S812 processors started shipping by the end of 2014, but in the third quarter of 2015, there’s been a few new device released as some companies ported Android 5.x Lollipop to the platform. I reviewed two of these. Mygica ATV1900AC had potential but the number of bugs was disappointing, while Tronfy MXIV Telos was almost a disaster. Today, I’m going to report my test results with WeTek Core Android 5.1 TV box, also powered by Amlogic S812, more exactly S812-H, which includes DTS and Dolby licenses. I’ve already listed the specs, and torn down WeTek Core in two previous posts, so I’ll focus on the firmware in this review. Initial Setup and OTA Firmware Update First of all, I’d like to mention that I got an early WeTek Core sample, and while the hardware is frozen, the firmware is still being developed before the […]

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How to Reduce SD Card Firmware Images Download Size

So I’ve just received a Roseapple Pi board, and I finally managed to download Debian and Android images from Roseapple pi download page. It took me nearly 24 hours to be successful, as the Debian 8.1 image is nearly 2GB large and neither download links from Google Drive nor Baidu were reliable, so I had to try a few times, and after several failed attempt it work (morning is usually better). One way is to use better servers like Mega, at least in my experience, but another way to reduce download time and possibly bandwidth costs is to provide a smaller image, in this case not a minimal image, but an image with the same exact files and functionalities, but optimized for compression. I followed three main steps to reduce the firmware size from 2GB to 1.5GB in a computer running Ubuntu 14.04, but other Linux operating systems should also […]

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LeMedia is a Linux Distribution based on Debian and Kodi 15.2 for Actions Semi S500 Processor

LeMaker has recently released LeMedia, a Linux distribution based on Kodi 15.2 and Debian Jessie for their Guitar board powered by Actions Semi S500 quad core Cortex A9 processor, also found in Lemon Pi, ActDuino-S500 and Roseapple Pi boards. The good news is that H.264 and MPEG4 hardware video decoding is implemented, as well as PowerVR SGX544 GPU 3D acceleration. This is an early version and while IR receiver, WiFi, HDMI and LCD output, and audio are working, the company explained that HDMI support may be flaky, USB 3.0 speed is not optimal, and touchscreen support had to be disabled. They also included a “LeMedia Settings” in the image to have a similar experience as “RaspBMC Settings”. The images for booting from SD card or eMMC can be downloaded here. It’s quite likely they only work on LeMaker Guitar board, and I could not find the Linux 3.10.37 kernel, nor […]

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WeTek Core 4K Media Player Unboxing and Teardown

WeTek Core is the latest media player from WeTek Electronics, based on Amlogic S812-H processor with 2GB RAM, and 8GB flash. By default, it will ship with Android 5.1 using DRM libraries enabling Netflix HD, but you’ll also be able to install OpenELEC, and later on Lubuntu once/if the community gets involved like for WeTek Play. The company sent me one sample, and I’ll start by checking out the device and internal hardware. WeTek Core Unboxing That’s the package which lists the specifications and provides links to WeTek Facebook page and forums. The box ships with a 12V/1A power adapter with clippable US, EU and UK plugs, an HDMI cable, WeTek’s IR and RF 6-axis remote control with voice search function, a small (and cool) tool for firmware updates, and a blue document showing the device’s ports. The power button and LED are located on one of the corners at […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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$249 TI AM437x Starter Kit for Industrial Design Launched by Element14

Element14 has recently launched their “Texas Instruments AM437x Starter Kit” based on Sitara AM4378 Cortex A9 processor, including a board and touch screen LCD, and targeting industrial, HMI (Human Machine Interface) and networking applications. Element14 Texas Instruments AM437x Starter Kit specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM4378 ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1 GHz with PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3L SDRAM (2x 4-Gb Micron chips). Storage – 64MB SPI NOR Flash (MX66L51235FMI), serial EEPROM with board specific data, 1x micro SD slot Display – 4.3″ Capacitive Touch LCD Connectivity – 2x 10/100/1000M Ethernet RJ45 ports (Micrel KSZ9031RN transceivers), support for COM8 form-factor wireless boards via J20 Samtec card edge connector. USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 2x micro USB ports Camera – 2x 12 header for custom-made camera module from TI Audio – TLV320AIC3106 audio codec, 2x audio jacks for headphone out, and Line In Sensors […]

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Weightless Development Kits are Finally Available (Sort of)

The first version of the Weightless standard aiming at lowering cost of IoT communications was published in 2013, but so far development kits were nowhere to be found. Nwave has now launched a Weightless-N SDK using sub-GHz spectrum, but not the white space spectrum used by Weightless-W, probably due to regulatory hurdles. Specifications and features of Nwave development board: MCU – Silicon Labs EFM32G210F128 ARM Cortex M3 MCU @ 32 MHz with 128KB flash, 16KB SRAM Connectivity – RM3 radio module (868MHz) and antenna connector (X3) USB – X1 USB port for connection to PC or UART interface, X2 micro USB port Debugging – UART, and 10-pin JTAG connector (X4) Expansion header – 16 through holes for GND, 3.3V, GPIOs, ADC, Timers output, I2C, etc… (X5) Misc – Three Jumpers for UART and other selections (TBD), reset buttons for USB ports? Power – 5V via USB ? Dimensions – N/A […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications