Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft), Author at CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

June 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

NFC Tags Now Sell for Just 50 Cents

Your smartphone’s NFC capabilities don’t have to be used only for payment or marketing purposes, and NFC tags can allow to create some sort of real-life short cuts to do various things by simply tapping your phone on the tag including: Automatically enable and configure Wi-Fi. This can be convenient if you are friend coming to your home, and they can just tap on the tag to get Wi-Fi access without the need to know the password Home automation – You can control items in your home, i.e. turn on/off your computer, lights, doors, etc… with a tag. Virtual Business Card – You can store your contact details in a tag and share your data with others quickly and easily. More use cases can be found on “18 Creative & Useful Ways To Use NFC Tags With Your Smartphone” post on trendblog, and it can even be used as a […]

June 22, 2014June 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 102 Comments

Giveaway Week – Tronsmart Prometheus Android STB

The last product for this giveaway week will be Tronsmart Prometheus, and Android TV Box with hardware specifications very similar to Gbox Midnight MX2, namely an Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB flash, HDMI and AV output, optical S/PDIF output, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity and 3 USB ports. My first review had Prometheus run Android 4.1 firmware, but since a firmware update meant it was one of the first Android media player that could run Android 4.2 and XBMC, I also decided to write an updated review, in which I found the firmware to be responsive and stable, XBMC to work as expected except for a few videos (RMVB, MPEG-2) and more critically audio/video sync issues, but these have been fixed in a subsequent firmware update. To enter the draw simply leave a comment below. I can’t find the HDMI cable, so it won’t be included in the […]

June 21, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Mozilla Netcast is ChromeCast-like Device Powered by Firefox OS

According to Gigaom, Mozilla has been working on an HDMI TV dongle that might be codenamed Netcast with ChromeCast like video streaming and screen mirroring functionalities, and that runs Firefox OS with an open bootloader. There aren’t any hardware details available for the device, but we more or less know how it will work. As you are using your Firefox browser or another Firefox OS, you can simply click a “Casting button” to watch YouTube videos, mirror the screen or so on. I also understand it will be compatible with ChromeCast apps. Gigaom got hold of an engineering sample and gave it a try run Firefox browser in Android (Nexus 7), and playing a YouTube video on the TV using Netcast. It’s also working with Google Music, Plex, but some other apps are not working just yet. Mozilla’s media casting device has not been officially announced yet, so we don’t […]

June 21, 2014June 23, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 89 Comments

Giveaway Week – Jynxbox Live TV Streaming Box

The sixth prize of this giveaway week on CNX Software will be Jynxbox Live. It’s a standard Android TV box based on Rockchip RK3066 dual core processor, except it has software that normally allowing live streaming of about 300 TV channels around the world, and sells at a steep price compared to Android media player based on similar hardware. However after installing the Live TV app, which is not included when the box ships, possibly due to legal reasons, I could only load 10 TV channels, and none of them would play. I’m not exactly sure why, maybe their server is blocked from Thailand, as other users reported the box worked just fine. There’s no Google Play store pre-installed in the box, only Jynx Market with a limited number of applications, so you may have to install another market (Amazon, Yandex, Google Play..) by yourself. To enter the draw simply […]

June 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

64-bit ARM Server Motherboards by SoftIron

We’ve already seen development board such as X-Gene XC-1, and 64-bit ARM servers have been demonstrated by Dell and HP, but SoftIron, a British startup, claims to be the first to provide a production ready ARMv8 solutions for the enterprise server market (e.g. data centers), with its SoftIron 64-0400 and 64-0800 server motherboards powered by Applied Micro X-Gene quad and octa SoC. Although the company did not release complete pictures of the board, they seem to have done a better job with specifications: SoC SoftIron 64-0400 – Applied Micro X-Gene APM883204 with 4x 64-bit ARMv8 cores @ 2.4 GHz, 4x 32-bit ARMv5 cores for Network/Security offloads and Acceleration, and 1x Cortex M3 for server management SoftIron 64-0800 – Applied Micro X-Gene APM883208 with 8x 64-bit ARMv8 cores @ 2.4 GHz, 4x 32-bit ARMv5 cores for Network/Security offloads and Acceleration, and 1x Cortex M3 for server management System Memory – Up […]

June 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Advantech UTX-3115 Rugged Fanless Computer Powered by Intel Atom E3826 SoC Supports Intel Intelligent Systems Framework

Advantech UTX-3115 is a rugged low power fanless computer powered by Intel Atom “Bay Trail-I” E3826 dual core processor and lots of various ports that can be used as a digital signage, for machine or factory automation, & “smart IoT gateway”, and that happens to be supported by Intel’s Intelligent Systems Framework (ISF). Before checking out Intel ISF, let’s go Advantech UTX-3115 hardware specifications: SoC – Intel Atom E3826 dual core processor @ 1.46 GHz with 1MB L2 cache and Intel HD graphics. System Memory – 2 x 204-pin SO-DIMM DDR3 1333/1066MHz, up to 16GB Storage – 2.5″ bay for HDD or SSD storage Video Output 1x HDMI up to 1080p60 1x micro HDMI up to 1080p60 1x VGA up to 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz Dual channel LVDS up to 1920 x 1200 @ 60Hz (shared with micro HDMI) Connectivity – Dual Gigabit LAN (LAN1: Intel I210AT, LAN2: Realtek […]

June 20, 2014June 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 117 Comments

Giveaway Week – Beelink A9 Quad Core Android TV Box

Beelink A9, the same hardware as Tronsmart A928, will be the fifth box given away this week, and the only quad core device. This Android media player is powered by Rockchip RK3188-T Cortex A9 processor, and comes with 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC Flash, HDMI video output, optical S/PDIF output, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and three USB ports. What got me interested in this device was the released of Android 4.4 SDK, which turned out not to be that useful based on feedback from the community. Nevertheless I got the device and reviewed it last December. I found two critical issues with the firmware: Bluetooth not working, and mediocre Ethernet performance. Apart from that, the firmware was very stable, Wi-Fi performance decent, and features I tested worked as expected. Firmware updates are infrequent. The latest official version dates from January, and there’s a finless one with a 1080p kernel and […]

June 19, 2014June 19, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Development Board with Intel Technology Developed by Rockchip

Just a quick post to show an interesting, yet unavailable development board. A few weeks ago, Intel and Rockchip announced a collaboration to design Intel Atom Sofia x86 SoC for mobile devices. Apparently, they did not waste any time, and have already done some nice work together, as Chen Feng, VP at Rockchip, posted the picture of the development board on his weibo account with a short description that Google’s translate as: You can now showed up, Intel inside, the world’s most highly integrated 6321 smartphones and tablet communications solutions, dual-core WCDMA SOC, integrated WIFI BT GPS PMU, all two chips It’s not entirely clear if it’s directly related to the announced Intel Atom “Sofia” using 3G (WCDMA) however. The 6321 is a dual core processor, but Rockchip and Intel only announced working on quad core processors, so this may be a separate product for example an ARM SoC with […]