A few months ago, Terasic unveiled its SoCKit powered by Altera Cyclone V dual Cortex A9 + FPGA. They’ve now announced a cheaper version will a less powerful Cyclone V SoC and lower specs (e.g. less RAM, only one sensor, etc…) that sells for as low as $150 for educational or academic purposes, and $199 for the rest of us. Altera DE1-SoC Board specifications: FPGA Device Cyclone V SoC 5CSEMA5F31 Device Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 (HPS – Hard Processor System) 85K Programmable Logic Elements 4,450 Kbits embedded memory 6 Fractional PLLs 2 Hard Memory Controllers Configuration and Debug Quad Serial Configuration device – EPCQ256 on FPGA (EPCQ = Erasable Programmable Configurable Quad-SPI device) On-Board USB Blaster II (Normal type B USB connector) Memory Device 64MB (32Mx16) SDRAM on FPGA 1GB (2x256Mx16) DDR3 SDRAM on HPS 128MB QSPI Flash on HPS (QSPI Flash does not come pre-installed out of factory) Micro SD […]
Ugoos UG310 and UG320 Android STBs Based on Rockchip RK3188
In the last few months, there has been very little innovation or novelty in the Android set-top box and mini PC space, and the latest Ugood Android set-top boxes are yet other devices based on Rockchip RK3188 processor with 1 to 2GB RAM, and 8GB flash, as well as Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, and a 5MP camera. They only differ from the competition because of their casings. Both devices mostly share the same specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6Ghz with Mali-400MP4 GPU @ 500MHz? System Memory – 1GB DDR3 for UG320, 2GB DDR3 for UG310 Storage – 8GB flash + microSD card slot (Up to 32 GB) Video Output – HDMI and AV outputs Audio Output – HDMI, optical SPDIF, and AV (CVBS). Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and 10/100M Ethernet. Bluetooth 3.0 is available in UG320 only. USB: UG310 – 2x USB 2.0 host […]
Ninja Sphere Home Automation and Monitoring Platform
Ninja Blocks is an company providing open source hardware solutions for home automation. Their first product was called Ninja Blocks Kit which includes a Ninja Block (Beaglebone + Arduino based gateway, but they now also support the Raspberry Pi), sensors, sockets, cables, and a power supply, and works with Ninja Platform, an open source software framework. The goal was to simplify the process of developing automation applications by taking care of all low levels tasks such as electronics, embedded programming, network protocols.., and letting “end users” / developers focus on their application. The company is now working on a new version called the Ninja Sphere, including a “Spheramid” gateway, location waypoints (Bluetooth low energy tags), and smart power sockets. Here are the key features of the gateway: Processor – ARM Cortex A8 (probably Texas Instruments Sitara) Color LED Matrix Connectivity – Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi USB Port – […]
SD Association Announces Ultra High Speed (UHS) Speed Class 3 for 4K2K Video Recording
SD card are not the fastest storage devices, but they are usually good enough for the job. One of the main use case is storage for video cameras, but with devices supporting 4K2K (2160p) recording they are close to their minimum limits. That’s why the SD association announced Ultra High Speed (UHS) Speed Class 3 (U3), which provides at least 30 MB/s write speed. The updated SD card speed classes are shown in the table below. Marks Operable Under Applications SD Memory Card Speed Class High Speed Bus I/F Full HD video recording HD still consecutive recording SD, miniSD, microSD SDHC, miniSDHC, microSDHC SDXC, microSDXC Normal Bus I/F HD ~ Full HD video recording SD video recording UHS Speed Class UHS-I Bus I/F UHS-II Bus I/F Full higher potential of recording real-time broadcasts and capturing large-size HD videos (UHS Speed Class1 denotes a 10 MB/s minimum write speed) SDHC […]
CS918S Android STB Features AllWinner A31s Processor, a Retractable Webcam, Built-in 3G
K-R42-1, now better known as CS918, has been a fairly popular Android set-top box based on RK3188 due to its low price. There’s no a new model called CS918S with a similar casing, but replacing Rockchip RK3188, by AllWinner A31s, adding more flash (16GB), a retractable webcam, and an internal bay with an optional 3G/4G module. Here are the specs of this device: SoC – AllWinner A31s quad cortex cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB NAND flash + microSD card slot Video Output – HDMI and CVBS (AV) Audio Output – HDMI, optical SPDIF, and AV Video Playback / Encoding 2160p (UHD) H.264 decoding 1080p video decoding for Mpeg1/2, Mpeg4 SP/ASP GMC, H.263, H.264, etc. 1080p@30fps or 720p@60fps encoding 3840×1080@30fps 3D decoding, BD/SBS/TAB/FP supported 3840×1080@30fps 3D encoding Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 (Realtek 8723), 10/100M Ethernet, […]
Rikomagic MK902 Quad Core Android TV Box Features a 5MP Camera
Rikomagic is mostly known for its Android HDMI TV dongles such as the MK802 series, but a new Android media player has recently been listed on its website. MK902 features a quad core Cortex A9 RK3188 processor, 2GB RAM, 8 to 16 GB flash depending on configuration, as well as a 5MP camera for video conferencing. MK902 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad Core cortex A9 SoC @ 1.6 GHz with Mali 400-MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 RAM Storage – 8GB to 16GB NAND flash, and a micro SD card slot (Up to 32GB) Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with external antenna, Bluetooth 4.0, and 10/100M Ethernet Video Output – HDMI and AV output (composite). Audio Output – HDMI, AV output and optical SPDIF USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports Camera – 5MP webcam with microphone Power supply – 5V / 2.5A The device will come with […]
Linaro 13.10 Release with Linux Kernel 3.12 and Android 4.3
Linaro has just posted a blog entry to announced Linaro 13.10 was available for download. This is normally supposed to occur on the last Thursday of the month, but it’s possible the release occurred on scheduled, and the blog post was late, or it may have been delayed because of Linaro Connect US 2013. You can access a summary of the event together with slides and videos of the sessions and keynotes when available. This release includes the Linux Kernel 3.12-rc5 (staging), Kernel 3.10.14 (LSK), Android 4.3.1, and Ubuntu Linaro 13.10 (still based on Raring). Android has been ported and updated to 4.3.1 from AOSP, and the OS can now boot using UEFI. More work has been done on ARM 64-bit (aka ARMv8 or Aarch64) for Android, the Linux kernel, and tools such as uprobes, o-profile, and ftrace. Some new hardware platforms I may have missed before have popped up […]
Samsung NX300M Camera Is the First Tizen Device
Announced in 2011, Tizen operating system aimed to be used in smart TVs, tablets, smartphones,netbooks, and in-vehicle infotainment devices. After 2 years development, several products based on Tizen are now ready to be launched, but the very first one, Samsung NX300M does not fit in any of the aforementioned category as it is a camera, which have been sold last month in South Korea. Although Tizen 2.2.1 has just been released, the mirrorless camera runs Tizen 1.0 with the following key features: Sensor – 20.3 MP CMOS sensor Display – 3.3″ 768K Touch AMOLED LCD with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution ISO sensitivity – Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 (1 or 1/3EV step) * AUTO ISO upper level is selectable. (Up to ISO1600) Video Output – NTSC, PAL HDMI Connectivity – USB, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, GPS, and NFC Storage – SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-1 Battery – […]
