Dockcase 7-in-1 USB-C dock features a color information display (Crowdfunding)

Dockcase USB hub with built-in information display

USB-C docks have become somewhat boring, but Dockcase 7-in-1 USB-C dock is a little different with a transparent top cover made of tempered glass and an integrated color display that looks neat and may end up being useful by providing relevant information. The USB-C dock also comes with three 5Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, a 4Kp60 capable HDMI 2.0 video output, SD card & microSD card slots, support for 100W USB PD, and a 10 Gbps USB Type-C port for connection to the host. Dockcase 7-in-1 USB-C dock specifications: Display – 1.33-inch color LCD display with 240 x 240 resolution Storage – SD and microSD (UHS-I) card slots HDMI output up to 4Kp60 (3840×2160) USB Input – 10Gbps USB-C port with cable Output – 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports Misc – Control button Power Input – 100W (20V/5A) USB PD Dimensions – 122 x 40 x […]

ADATA SE920 USB4 external SSD offers up to 2TB capacity, supports up to 3,800 MB/s data transfers

ADATA SE920 USB4 external SSD

ADATA SE920 is a small USB4 external SSD with 1TB or 2TB storage capacity that leverages the 40 Gbps connection enabled by USB4 and delivers up to 3,800 MB/s sequential read speed. The storage device supports Thunderbolt 3 & 4 and is backward compatible with USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 standards. The USB-C port makes it suitable for mini PCs, laptops, SBCs, and even smartphones, but one potential downside of the small form factor is that it integrates a fan to cool the SSD although the user can enable/disable it by extending/retracting the telescopic case. ADATA SE920 specifications: Capacity – 1TB / 2TB Host interface – USB4 up to 40Gbps, backward compatible with USB 3.2/2.0 Performance Sequential Read – Up to 3,800 MB/s, or in other a 10GB file can be transferred in about 3 seconds Sequential Write – Up to 3,700 MB/s (USB4) or up to 3,200 MB/s (Thunderbolt […]

COM-HPC 1.2 specification released with COM-HPC Mini 95x70mm form factor

COM-HPC Mini vs COM-HPC

PICMG has announced the release of the COM-HPC 1.2 specification adding the COM-HPC Mini form factor that’s about the size of a credit card (90x75mm) or half the size of the next-smallest COM-HPC form factor but still provides access to high-speed interfaces such as PCIe Gen5, USB4, and 10GbE. The COM-HPC “High-Performance Computing” form factor was introduced a few years ago for more powerful CPUs (higher TDP) with support for PCIe Gen4 (the COM Express form factor can’t handle PCIe Gen 4 clock speeds and throughputs well), and until now four sizes were available with COM-HPC Client Type modules measuring 95 x 120mm (Size A) to 160 x 120mm (Size C) and Server Type modules having either 160 x 160mm (Size D) or 200 x 160mm (Size E) dimensions. The COM-HPC Mini brings a smaller (95 x 60 mm) credit card-sized form factor to the COM-HPC standard for applications such […]

SMLIGHT SLZB-07 – A low-cost, compact Zigbee 3.0 USB adapter

SMLIGHT SLZB-07 Zigbee 3.0 USB Adapter

SMLIGHT SLZB-07 is a low-cost, compact Zigbee 3.0 USB adapter based on Silicon Labs EFR32 microcontroller and CP2102 USB to serial chip designed to work with multi-vendor software systems such as Zigbee2MQTT and Home Assistant ZHA. The adapter lets you easily integrate any Zigbee devices into Smart Home automation systems such as Home Assistant, OpenHub, or HomeSeer and offers an alternative to products like the official SkyConnect USB stick and SONOFF ZBDongle-E. It’s also Thread and Matter ready. SMLIGHT SLZB-07 specifications: Wireless SoC – Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller @ 80 MHz with 352KB flash, 1024KB ROM for protocols and library functions,  96KB SRAM, integrated power amplifier, Bluetooth 5.2 Low Energy and 802.15.4 radios (Zigbee and Thread) Connectivity Zigbee 3.0 support, including Zigbee Green Power. Thread/Matter ready +3dB SMA antenna included USB – USB Type-A port for data and power Power Supply Input – 5V/60mA via USB-A Overvoltage protection […]

Waveshare RP2040-PiZero – A Raspberry Pi RP2040 board with Raspberry Pi Zero form factor

RP2040-PiZero

Waveshare RP2040-PiZero board is a Raspberry Pi Zero lookalike that features a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller instead of a Linux-capable application processor. But RP2040 board comes with the same layout as the Raspberry Pi Zero and similar ports including two USB Type-C ports, a mini HDMI/DVI connector, a microSD card slot, and a 40-pin GPIO header, but also adds support for LiPo batteries with a 2-pin connector and a charging circuit. RP2040-PiZero specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264 kB of embedded SRAM Storage – 16MB SPI flash, microSD card slot Video – Mini HDMI port that can output DVI signals USB – 1x USB Type-C port for data using PIO-USB host/device implementation Expansion – 40-pin color-coded header with 2x SPI, 2x I2C, 2x UART, 4x 12-bit ADC, 16x PWM, 8x Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support Misc – […]

Ollie v2 USB to UART/CAN/RS485/RS232 converter gets USB-C port, plastic enclosure, and more (Crowdfunding)

USB-C to UART, CAN Bus, RS485, and RS232 converter

Ollie v2 is an improved version of the Ollie USB to isolated UART, CAN Bus, RS232, and RS485 converter that gains a USB-C port, a plastic case, the ability to set the voltage from the target board, and various other minor improvements. Like the first version, the Ollie v2 is a portable tool designed for hackers and field engineers that allows them to work with a single device instead of a bunch of USB converters, each handling a single protocol, and isolation makes sure the host, such as a laptop, is protected from high voltages. Ollie V2 specifications: Serial chip – WCH CH344 quad-serial port chip (instead of XR21V1414 in the first design) Host interface – USB Type-C port Isolated interfaces (all with ESD protection) 2x UART ports up to 6 Mbps with 1.8/3.3/5 V or target voltage levels (set by slide switch) CAN 2.0A/B up to 1 Mbps bus […]

Intel N100 mini PC offers eight USB ports, NVMe and SATA storage

Intel N100 mini PC 8x USB ports

We’ve already written about many mini PCs powered by the Intel Processor N100 SoC and other SKUs part of the Alder Lake N-series family, but the HUNSN BM34 is a bit different as it offers eight USB ports, with two USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0 ports that should remove the need for an external USB hub for most use cases. The fanless mini PC ships with up to 16GB DDR4 memory, supports one mSATA SSD, one NVMe SSD, and one 2.5-inch SATA drive, and offers two HDMI ports and DisplayPort video output, plus dual GbE, WiFi 5, and two audio jacks for speaker and microphone. HUNSN BM34 specifications: SoC – Intel Processor N100 quad-core Alder Lake-N processor @ up to 3.4 GHz (Turbo) with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel HD graphics @ 750 MHz; TDP: 6W System Memory – Up to 16GB DDR4 via SO-DIMM socket Storage 1x mSATA socket, […]

Thunderbolt 5 to deliver up to 120 Gbps bandwidth, support multiple 8K monitors

Thunderbolt 5 capabilities

Intel has just announced Thunderbolt 5 and demonstrated it with a prototype laptop and dock (see the video embedded at the end of this post) with up to 120 Gbps bandwidth when using “Bandwidth Boost”. Thunderbolt 5 will deliver 80 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bi-directional bandwidth and the top 120 Gbps bandwidth is achieved through “Bandwidth Boost” to support multiple 8K monitors, which means three times the bandwidth of Thunderbolt 4 topping at 40 Gbps. Thunderbolt 5 builds upon Thunderbolt 4 with several improvements and features: Two times the total bi-directional bandwidth, and up to three times (120 Gbps) for video-intensive usage Double the PCI Express data throughput for faster storage and external graphics. Compatible with USB4 V2, DisplayPort 2.1, and PCI Express Gen 4 Double the bandwidth of Thunderbolt Networking for high-speed PC-to-PC connections. PAM-3 signaling technology to deliver increases in performance with today’s printed circuit boards, connectors, […]