Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on NFC Wireless Charging Coming Soon to IoT Devices and Wearables

NFC Wireless Charging Coming Soon to IoT Devices and Wearables

NFC Wireless Charging

NFC is better known for contactless payment and transferring contacts, but one interesting feature is the ability to provide power as we’ve recently seen with batteryless NFC powered E-paper displays. The current NFC implementations can only provide a limited amount of power, but the NFC Forum has recently approved the Wireless Charging Specification that enables wireless charging of small, battery-powered consumer and IoT devices with a smartphone or other NFC charging device at a power transfer rate of up to one watt. One watt is not as much as other similar technologies, but NFC wireless charging (NFC WLC) should be quite more cost-effective since device-specific wireless chargers are not needed. Just take a phone or charger with NFC WLC and all compliant devices could be charged that way. The specification is free to download for NFC Forum members but must be purchased by others. There’s still short abstract available: Wireless Charging allows for wireless charging of small battery-powered devices like …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on 4.2″ and 7.5″ NFC-powered e-Paper Displays Work without Battery

4.2″ and 7.5″ NFC-powered e-Paper Displays Work without Battery

NFC Powered e-Paper Display

e-Paper displays have great readability under sunlight, and only consume power when updated. But their refresh rate is limited, and most displays are fairly expensive. One way to reduce the cost is to completely remove the battery from the display, and update it through NFC providing both data and power. I’ve just found out about that possibility through 4.2″ and 7.5″ displays offered by Waveshare. All you need is a compatible NFC smartphone, or the company’s ST25R3911B NFC Board to power the display and transfer your image of choice. This works best for signs you may need to infrequently update such as menus, daily schedules, conference badges, labels, etc… Waveshare NFC-powered e-Paper display key features and specifications: Screens 7.5″ display 800×480 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 5s + data transfer time 4.2″ display 400×300 resolution 2-level greyscale 170° viewing angle Refresh Time – 4s + data transfer time Wireless Connectivity – NFC Power Supply – Wireless …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Omnichip Devkit 2 Features Nordic nRF52832 based zGlue ZiP Multichip Module

Omnichip Devkit 2 Features Nordic nRF52832 based zGlue ZiP Multichip Module

zGlue Omnichip Devkit

We first covered zGlue Integration Platform (ZiP) in 2018 when the company introduced its chip-stacking technology with a fitness tracker based on ZGZL1BA ZiP equipped with chips from Dialog Semiconductor, Analog Devices, Macronix, MCube and others. The concept is similar to SiP (System-in-Package), but zGlue claims the costs and lead times are much lower with the technology. Earlier this year, ZiP was back in the news thanks to Antmicro GEM custom RISC-V/Arm ASIC, and today, I was informed about zGlue Omnichip devkit 2 that is equipped with a ZiP of the same name, and that can be used to evaluate the technology. zGlue OmniChip ZiP zGlue OmniChip ZiP is a multichip module with the following ICs (aka Chiplets) and specifications: Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 Cortex-M4F microcontroller with Bluetooth LE and NFC connectivity Texas Instruments BQ25120AYFPR battery charger, buck regulator Maxim Integrated MAX86140ENP+ optical pulse oximeter Texas Instruments TMP108AIYFFR temperature sensor Bosch Sensortec BMM150 magnetometer mCube MC3672 accelerometer SiTime SIT1552AC 32 kHz …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on What’s the Cheapest Android Phone with NFC Support?

What’s the Cheapest Android Phone with NFC Support?

Cheap Android Phone NFC

I have an Octopus payment card from Hong Kong using NFC technology, and I’d like to check its status, and if needed top it up to keep it valid. One way to do so is to install the Android app on an NFC enabled smartphone. However, none of my phones, including my current Xiaomi Mi A2 smartphone, support NFC. So I’d decided to look for the cheapest Android phone with NFC support that I could find since that’s the only feature I need, and the app is compatible with Android 4.0 or greater for now. Wileyfox Swift 2X – $75.90 I first went to GearBest to check out for NFC phones, as the cheapest one of the lot is Wileyfox Swift 2X going for $75.90 shipped. The phone runs Android 8.1 on a Snapdragon 430 processor coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. It is equipped with a 5.2″ Full HD display, supports 4G LTE Dual SIM, and comes with …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on NXP QN9090 & QN9030 Bluetooth 5.0 SoC’s Come with Optional NFC Tag (NTAG)

NXP QN9090 & QN9030 Bluetooth 5.0 SoC’s Come with Optional NFC Tag (NTAG)

QN9090 Development Board

NXP has recently announced the availability of its QN9090 and QN9030 Bluetooth 5.0 SoC with optional support for 802.15.4, Multiprotocol RF, and NFC technology. Both devices are powered by an Arm Cortex-M4 core clocked at 48MHz, but differ in terms of on-chip storage and memory with QN9090 equipped with 640KB flash and 152 KB SRAM, against 320KB flash and 88KB SRAM for QN9030. The “T” versions – QN9090T and QN9030T – add NFC integrated on-chip, enabling Bluetooth pairing by tapping a smartphone, tablet or other NFC reader device without the need for a battery-powered NFC tag. NXP QN9090(T) & QN9030(T) Bluetooth 5.0 SoCs Key features and specifications: CPU – Arm Cortex-M4 up to 48MHz Built-in Memory & Storage QN9090(T) – 640 KB flash, 152 KB RAM, 128 KB ROM QN9030(T) – 320 KB Flash, 88 KB RAM, 128 KB ROM External  Storage – Quad-SPI for execute in place or data storage in NVM Connectivity Bluetooth 5.0 with 2Mbps and up …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on GOLE F7 Windows 10 Tablet Review – Part 2: Barcode & QR Code Scanner, NFC, and Ruggedness

GOLE F7 Windows 10 Tablet Review – Part 2: Barcode & QR Code Scanner, NFC, and Ruggedness

GOLE F7 Waterproof tablet

GOLE F7 is a waterproof, shock resistant, rugged tablet running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.  The company sent us a sample together with a charging dock, and you can check out “GOLE F7 Rugged Tablet Review – Part 1: Unboxing and Charging Dock” to find out more about the hardware interface and other physical features of the tablet. I’ve now spent more time with the tablet and tested some of the features such as Barcode scanner and NFC reader. I’ve only done minimal testing of the usual Windows 10 benchmarks since the Intel Atom x5-Z8350 processor powering the tablet has been around for many years, and we have previous mini PC’s reviews showing the performance of the platform in Windows 10 with MINIX NEO Z83-4 Pro or even the previous GOLE F10 model. Instead, I’ve focused on the differentiating features including the ruggedness of the device. GOLE F7 System Info Windows System info shows the Atom x5-Z8350 is coupled with 4GB …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Nordic Semi nRF5340 Dual Arm Cortex-M33 SoC Supports Bluetooth 5.1/Mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee

Nordic Semi nRF5340 Dual Arm Cortex-M33 SoC Supports Bluetooth 5.1/Mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee

After introducing nRF52833 WiSoC with Bluetooth 5.1 direction-finding support last month, Nordic Semiconductors has now launched another multi-protocol wireless SoC with nRF5340 featuring two Arm Cortex-M33 cores and supporting Bluetooth 5.1, Bluetooth Mesh, NFC, Thread & Zigbee. One of the Cortex-M33 is an application core incorporating  1 MB Flash and 512 KB RAM, as well as Arm CryptoCell-312, Arm TrustZone technology, and Secure Key Storage for the highest level of security, and the other Cortex-M33 core is used for networking functions.  The company also announced nRF5340 PDK to get started with the new WiSoC. nRF5340 Dual-Core Multiprotocol SoC Key features and specifications: CPU Application core  – Arm Cortex-M33 @ 128/64 MHz with 1 MB Flash + 512 KB RAM, 8 KB 2-way set associative cache; CoreMark: 510/255; CoreMark/mA: 65/76 Network core –  Arm Cortex-M33 @ 64 MHz with 256 KB Flash + 64 KB RAM, 2 KB instruction cache; CoreMark: 238; CoreMark/mA: 101 Wireless Protocol support – Bluetooth 5.1 LE …

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Google Titan Security Key Prevents Phishing Attacks

Google Titan Security Key Prevents Phishing Attacks

Google Titan Security Key

Phising is a social engineering method that aims to trick users into giving their passwords. This can normally be mitigated with things called “brain” and “paying attention”, but since we are all humans mistakes may happen on a bad day. Even Google employees who should be tech savvy fell for the tricks from time-to-time, so Google made employees use 2-factor authentication with a  hardware security key since January 2017, and none of Google workers failed for a phising attack since then. CNET was provided with a sample of Google’s “Titan Security Key”, which comes in both USB and Bluetooth/NFC versions, and will be available for sale in Google’s online store within the next few months. The full technical details have not been provided for the key, but we do know Titan Security Keys support FIDO protocol, and are built with a secure element and a firmware written by Google that verifies the integrity of security keys at the hardware level. …

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