XBAND is a Tiny $10 Bluetooth Low Energy Sensor Module (Crowdfunding)

ZX Tek‘s XBAND is a board about half the size of a micro SD that comes with a Bluetooth LE radio and a 6-axis MPU6500 motion sensor that can be integrated into wearables and IoT applications such as a remote controlled robot with a camera., a wireless smart light-bulb, and iBeacon device and so on. There seems to be two versions of the module XBAND 061-N51822 and XBAND 1018-CY8C4247 with the following specifications: SoC (one or the other) Nordic Semiconductor nRF51822 ARM Cortex M0 MCU @ 16 MHz with 256KB Flash, 16KB RAM, and Bluetooth Low Energy support Cypress PSoC4 BLE core ARM Cortex M0 MCU @ 48 MHz with 128KB flash, 16KB RAM, and Bleutooth Low Energy support Bluetooth – 4.0/4.1 with high gain ceramic chip antenna Sensors – On-board 6-axis MPU6500 motion sensor + an extra configurable sensor (not idea what that is…). Connectors – Board-to-board connectors with […]

Neptune Suite Includes a Smartphone, Tablet, and HDMI Stick Powered by a Smartwatch (Crowdfunding)

The makers of Neptune Pine smartwatch have unsurprisingly decided to make another smartwatch which they called Neptune Hub. Why Hub? Because although this smartwatch can be used standalone, its quadcore processor can also control a smartphone, a tablet, and an HDMI stick, probably over Miracast. So they’ve taken the opposite view to other companies in the market which are using the smartphone as the brain of your smartwatch to some extends. Neptune Hub specifications: SoC – Quad-core processor @ 1.8GHz (probably Qualcomm) System Memory – N/A Storage – 64GB eMMC Display – 2.4″ capacitive touchscreen (36mm width) Cellular Connectivity – GSM/3G/LTE with nano SIM card slot Connectivity – 802.11 Wi-Fi, 60Hz WiGig 802.11ad, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS / A-GPS Audio – Microphone and speaker Sensors – Accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, digital compass, heart rate sensor, vibration motor Battery – 1,000 mAh Water resistant The watch will run Android 5.0 Lollipop, and […]

Rocketbook Takes Your Written Notes to the Cloud, Erases in Your Microwave Oven (Crowdfunding)

Maybe I’m old style, but I still prefer taking notes with pen and paper rather than typing on a computer. That means I need to buy some notebooks (the ones made of paper) from time to time, and once they are full I store them away. But now you can combine the good old written notes with the cloud thanks to RocketBook, a standard looking notebook combined with a mobile app that will scan your notes and send them to various cloud services, and more amazingly it’s re-usable since you can erase by putting in 30 seconds your microwave. I was perplexed at first, as it looked like a scam to me. But finally, I’m pretty sure it’s not since it’s using existing technology, namely Pilot Frixion pens. They looks like standard ball-point pens, but they use a “thermo-sensitive gel ink formula” that can be erased with friction, and they […]

MBX-3G is an Android Media Player with a Built-in 3G Modem (Crowdfunding)

Most full sized TV box comes with both Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity, but if you live in remote area internet may not be easily available, except possibly via 3G or LTE. There are several ways to handle that. You could connect a 3G USB dongle to your box, but this assume the firmware on your box supports it, or you could gt one cheap of these cheap routers with a USB port, plug the 3G dongle into it, and connect your media player to the router via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. If you’d rather have a single device with an easier setup, MediaBox MBX-3G could be an interesting option. MediaBox MBX-3G specifications: SoC – Quad core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.6Ghz with quad core GPU (This looks like Rockchip RK3188) System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8 eMMC flash + microSD slot (up to 32GB) Video & Audio Output – […]

Crowdfunding Report for 2014 on CNX Software Blog

Following up on my 2013 Crowdfunding Report, I’ve gone through all 55 Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdunding projects featured on CNX Software between December 2013 and November 2014 (inclusive) to see how well they fared. The table below sort projects chronologically as they were published on this very blog. Date Project Crowdfunding Site Funded? Pledged amount / Goal Expected Delivery Actual Delivery Comments 2. Dec. 2013 Micro Python Kickstarter Yes 97,803 GBP / 15,000 GBP 03/2014 04/2014 Available @ https://micropython.org/store/#/store 5. Dec. 2013 Plugaway Kickstarter Yes $162,835 AUD / $50,000 AUD 04/2014 – People upset because of lack of updates. Project might be dead, and backers lost their money 6. Dec. 2013 AIRTAME Indiegogo Yes $1,268,332 / $160,000 05/2014 12/2014 People have started received the beta versions, after a massive 8-month delay 7. Dec. 2013 Crystal Board Kickstarter No $14,574 / $200,000 04/2014 – The project appears to be dead 10. […]

Giayee Atom PC is a Rockchip RK3288 Mini PC with a VGA Port, Multiple Placement Options (Crowdfunding)

You may know that Rockchip and Intel have a partnership to design Atom Sofia processors, but Giayee Atom PC has nothing to do with this initiative at all, and it’s just a pretty standard Rocchip RK3288 based mini PC, except it includes a VGA port, and various “placement” options namely horizontal position, vertical position, and TV/monitor mount. Atom PC specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3288 Quad Core Cortex A17 up to 1.8GHz with ARM Mali-T764 GPU supporting OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.0, Open VG1.1, OpenCL, DirectX11 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash (16 to 32 GB optional) Video Output- HDMI up to 1080p (no 4K?), and VGA up to 1920×1080 @  60 Hz Audio Output / Input – HDMI, 3.5 mm jacks for Audio In and Out Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. Options: Dual band Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, and Bluetooth USB – 4x USB Host ports, 1x […]

Kairos T-Band is a Smart Watchband for Your “Dumb” Watch (Crowdfunding)

Kairos introduced a high-end mechanical smartwatch with a semi-transparent OLED display a few months ago. They’ve now launched an Indiegogo campaign to sell several models for $500 to $1,000+, but they’ve also introduced T-Band, a smart watchband with an integrated display that you can fit to your existing (mechanical) watch, in order to receive notifications, answer phone calls, get directions, and even start your car. There are three models of smartband all running Kairos OS on an ARM Cortex M4 MCU @ 168 MHz with Bluetooth Classic / Low Energy: T-Band ND (No Display) Alerts user of notifications via a vibrator and LED indicator, and tracks fitness / sleep, as well as health data. Sensors – 9-axis gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, optical sensor, and GSR (Galvanic Skin Sensor) which detects skin temperature and sweat. Audio – Digital MEMS MIC for text to speech capabilities (requires 3rd party app) Battery – 200 mAh […]

Imp Computer is an Ubuntu 14.04 mini PC Based on ODROID-U3 Development Board (Crowdfunding)

Hardkernel ODROID-U3 is a development board powered by Samsung Exynos 4412 quad core Cortex A9 processor that’s both small and cost effective at $59, not including required storage and shipping. An Israeli start-up named Imp Computer has now launched a mini PC of the same name, based on ODROID-U3 board, and running Lintux Ubuntu 14.04 with Cinnamon based Imp Desktop environment, and various pre-installed software packages like Chrome and Firefox web browsers, Kodi/XBMC, etc.., and somehow Microsoft Office with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are also listed, which does not seem right on an ARM Linux machine, but they are apparently using Microsoft Office Online to achieve this feast. Imp computer specifications: SoC – Samsung Exynos 4412 Prime @ 1.7 Ghz with ARM Mali-400MP4 GPU @ 440MHz System Memory – 2GB @ 880MHz Storage – 8 or 16 GB internal storage (micro SD card) USB – 3x USB 2.0 Host […]