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ARM Mali GPU Demos at CES 2014 – 4K 3D UI and Games, ASTC Texture Compression, XBMC + Gesture Recognition, and HEVC Video Decoding

Phill Smith, Demo Manager at ARM, has filmed and uploaded four very interesting demos of what new features will be possible thanks to new generation ARM Mali-450 and Mali-T6xx GPUs including 4K 3D user interfaces and games, ASTC texture compression, and OpenCL accelerated gesture recognition and HEVC / H.265 video decoding. 4K Resolution 3D User Interface and Game Demo The first demo showcases a Geniatech box (ATV1800?) powered by AMLogic AML8726-M8 featuring an ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU running Android with a user 4K 3D interface designed by Autodesk using Scaleform UI. The rest of the video shows Timbuku 3D gaming demo running at 3840×2160 (4K2K) @ 24 fps. The frame rate appears to be low, but that’s because the box is using HDMI 1.4, which limits UHD output to 24fps. 2160p60 is only available via HDMI 2.0. ASTC Compression Demo on Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3D Textures are getting bigger and […]

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$69.95 NanoPC-T1 by FriendlyARM Features Samsung Exynos 4412 SoC

If you like low cost boards by Hardkernel such as ODROID-U3, but the add-ons required, and/or shipping costs put you off, an alternative will soon be available thanks to FriendlyARM NanoPC-T1, a tiny computer designed and manufactured by CoreWind Tech FriendlyARM Guangzhou, and powered by Samsung Exynos 4412 quad core Cortex A9 SoC with 1GB RAM, and 4GB built-in flash. FriendlyARM NanoPC specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 4412 quad core Cortex-A9 @ 1.5GHz + Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 RAM, 32bit data bus Storage – 4GB eMMC Flash + SD Card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (RJ45) Video Output – HDMI Audio –  3.5mm Audio Out jack USB – 1x micro USB OTG, 2x USB 2.0 host ports Expansions and I/Os: UART –  4 x TTL UART LCD –  TFT LCD interface, support Capacitive/Resistive touch driver 2x Digital sensor input CMOS CAMERA Interface MIPI interface – Support HD […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Review of Beelink A9 RK3188 Android Media Player

Beelink A9 is an Android TV Box powered by Rockchip RK3188 SoC with 2GB RAM, and 8GB RAM (See full specs). The hardware is pretty standard, but the company released Android 4.4 SDK for the device, so when Beelink / Nexteon told me they wanted to send me one for review, I accepted. I won’t test the Android SDK today, but I’ll just show the pictures of the device, and run my usual series of tests for review. The shipped sample is not running Android 4.4 (beta), but Android 4.2.2. Unboxing Pictures I’ve received this Android media player in the no brand package below. I’m not sure if Beelink will sell directly to individuals, so you’ll likely to received some different if you order Tronsmart A928 or Zero Devices Z6C which are based on the same platform. There are quite a few accessories in the package: The box itself, a […]

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ICE xPC Modular x86 Computer Is as Small as a Smartphone (Crowdfunding)

Until now, if we talked about mini PCs in stick form factor that always meant some ARM or MIPS processor were powering the devices. Intel is not yet into this type of form factor, but with ICE xPC (Indiegogo), you can now find an x86 computer module with the CPU, RAM, and SSD as well as connectivity modules and sensors into a box as small and thin as a smartphone. ICE xPC will also support other low power processors including Core i5 processor and/or ARM SoCs if the concept is gaining traction. ICE xPC modular computer specifications: SoC – Intel Bay Trail 4-cores Atom processor with Intel HD graphics System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 64 GB SSD Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi module + Bluetooth module Camera – 720p Sensors – Accelerometer, Gyro sensor Power Supply – 20 Watts. Energy used claimed: between 3 and 11 Watts. Dimensions […]

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AllGo Embedded Systems Android IVI System Boots in 4 Seconds

We’ve already seen several sub-second boot times for embedded Linux systems with platforms such as Beagleboard (TI OMAP 3530) and an AllWinner A10 based device, but I had never seen fast boot optimization for Android before, or I just forgot… Typically Android boots within 20 to 40 seconds on most devices, but AllGo Embedded Systems has optimized Android Jelly Bean boot time for their IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) platform running a media player called RACE. Charbax interviewed then at CES 2014, where they demoed the 4 seconds (actually 4.2 seconds) boot on Texas Instruments OMAP5 from reset and power, as you can see in the video below. (The video starts at 2:20 to show the demo directly). Beside Texas Instrument OMAP5, the solution is also available for Freescale i.MX6. 0xlab did some boot time optimizations for Android dropping the boot time from 30 seconds to 15 seconds. AllGo Embedded Systems did […]

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Getting Started with Raxda Rock – Building an Android 4.2 Image from Source

I’ve posted some pictures, and show some basics how to get started in my first post about Radxa Rock. Today, I’ll post my experience trying the instructions to build Android for Radxa Rock in Ubuntu 13.10. Many of the instructions are also valid for other RK3188 devices. The source code is currently located in a private git repository, and if you’re sure you want to get the Android source  code, you should send an e-mail to [email protected] to be granted access to their private repo. Within minutes, I’ve received an email with the subject “GitLab | Account was created for you” to register an account. You’ll then need to add an SSH key just like you’d do for Github. Assuming you’re already using a service like github, you should already have SSH key. Simply type cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub, copy the output, and go to git.linux-rockchip.org/profile/keys, login if needed, and click on […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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FOSDEM 2014 Schedule and A Selection of Sessions

It’s soon time for FOSDEM 2014, a 2-day event where thousands members of the open source communities meet, share ideas and collaborate. Like the other years, it’s free to attend, and there’s no registration, and this year, FOSDEM 2014 will take place on February 1-2 in Brussels. There are 8 main tracks: Tracing and debugging Memory and storage IPv6 Mail Mathematics Hardware Miscellaneous Security FOSDEM 2013 had 7 tracks, but most topics changed with only Security and Miscellaneous tracks featured in the 2014 edition. There will also be four keynotes and devrooms for a total of 464 sessions (vs. 488 last year). Developers rooms that may particularly be of interest to readers of this blog are: Energy-efficient computing devroom – e.g. energy scavenging, battery life improvements, power measurements in embedded systems, open source power measurement tools and low power devices, etc… Internet of things devroom – 6LoPWAN, LTE in Linux, […]

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Building a Low Power Fanless Intel “Bay Trail-D” mini PC for $250

Yesterday, I wrote about MSI J1800i, a motherboard based on Intel Celeron J1800 “Bay Trail-D” processor with 10W TDP,  that is expected to sell for $60 by the end of the month. I’m sure some fully assembled fanless small form factor computers based on Bay Trail-D processor will eventually show up, but I’ve decided to find out what would be needed to build a complete fanless PC with this mini-ITX motherboard, and how much it would cost. First we’ll need a mini-ITX enclosure with a fanless PSU. I’ve found M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure (pictured above) coupled with picoPSU-80 80W picoPSU-90 90W 12V fanless power supply, and a 12V 60W AC-AC power adapter would probably fit the bill. The mini-ITX casing and power adapter are available from E-ITX.com, and the picoPSU power supply can be found on Amazon. I’ll also add a 1TB SATA HDD, and a 4GB SO-DIMM DDR3 memory […]

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