Beelink GT1 Mini 2 TV Box Gets an Amlogic S905X3 Processor

Amlogic S905X3 TV Box

Beelink GT1 Mini TV Box powered by Amlogic S905X2 was launched with Android 8.1 in October 2018, and the company informed us they have an upcoming upgrade, the Beelink GT1 Mini 2, with the same form factor by an upgraded Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor. GT1 Mini 2 is not the first TV box announced with S905X3, as we previously covered Elebao X3 that was supposed to launch at the end of May. So there clearly has been delays, but this time the launch should be closer as Beelink also shared benchmarks and system information from Android 9.0. Beelink GT1 Mini 2 Beelink GT1 Mini 2 preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.9 GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 GPU System Memory – 4GB DDR4 RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, Micro SD slot Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 60 Hz with […]

XIDU PhilPad 2-in-1 Hybrid 2K Laptop Review

XIDU PhilPad Review

I had never heard about XIDU laptops and tablets, and it’s apparently the brand name of “Shenzhen Baohuazhong Co Limited” that was founded in 2014 and specializes in the design, development, manufacturing, distributions, and support for computer systems. I came to know about the company as they approached me to review one of their laptops, namely XIDU PhilPad XT133A model with an Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core Apollo Lake processor coupled with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, and equipped with a 13.3″ touchscreen display with 2K (2560×1440) resolution. XIDU PhilPad Specifications SoC – Intel Celeron N3350 dual core Apollo Lake processor @ 1.10 GHz / 2.40 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel HD graphics 500 GPU; 6W TDP System Memory – 6GB DDR3 Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Display – 13.3″ touchscreen IPS display with 2560 x 1440 resolution Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack, built-in microphone and speaker Camera […]

Javaino JoC Reference Board & Module Bring Java to the Embedded World

Java-Programmable module

There is a Java-programmable module on the block. The module is going to change the face of programming and make things easier. The Java-on-Chip (JoC) module was designed by the Austrian manufacturer, Demmel. This module minimizes programming and development time of smart applications. The first thing to remember is that commercially embedded systems are developed with programmable languages, and they typically employ the use of either the C language or assembly. However, Demmel has made this new module and board specifically for Java programmers. The Java-programmable module is designed to work with the Javaino JoC reference board. Another thing about the JoC module is that it radically shortens development times.  Furthermore, it simplifies PCB design efforts and also reduces programming effort. Also, the Java-programmable module comes as a tiny 24 × 36-mm module. As a matter of fact, it offers a diverse selection of interface options.  Now, these options can […]

SAMD21 MINI / Wemos D1 SAMD21 M0 Mini Development Board Sells for $7 and Up

SAMD21 Mini Development Board

Microchip / Atmel SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller has been around for several years, and we covered various boards based on the MCU include the official Arduino Zero launched in 2014, Arduino Tian, and the tiny SAM 15×15 or Exen Proto boards among others. Another SAMD21 development board has now shown up on Electrodragon website: SAMD21 Mini Development Board sold for $14.50 on the website, but you’ll also find it, under the RobotDyn or Wemos brand on Aliexpress for $7.05 and up. SAMD21 Mini Board / WeMos D1 SAMD21 M0 Mini Specifications: MCU – Microchip ATSAMD21G18 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 48 MHz with 32KB data RAM, 256KB flash USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Expansion 2x 14-pin headers with 19x digital I/O (including 12x PWM), 6x Analog I/O 3.3V logic level Programming – 6-pin ISCP connector Misc – Power, Tx and Rx LED’s, button Power Supply Input […]

$20 ICE Tower CPU Cooling Fan Targets Raspberry Pi 4

Raspberry Pi 4 Cooling Fan

The Raspberry Pi 4 is much more powerful than its predecessors, but with great power comes a lot of heat, and it may affect the performance of your board under leaod. We’ve already seen that fitting a heatsink to Raspberry Pi 4 does help, and provided it’s sized appropriately, should help you board work at its full potential in most circumstances. The Raspberry Pi Foundation is also working on improved firmware to lower temperature and power consumption of their latest single board computer, but if you want to make sure your board stays cool at all times: ICE Tower CPU cooling fan will certainly do the trick. It’s fitted to a Raspberry Pi 3 board in the photo above, but Seeed Studio reports it’s compatible with Raspberry Pi 4, and can reduce the temperature of the Raspberry Pi from 80°C to 40°C. It’s actually compatible with all recent Raspberry Pi […]

Ivport Stereo CM Breakout board for Raspberry Pi Compute Module Supports Two Cameras

Ivport Stereo CM RPi Dual Camera

We’ve previously written about IVport V2 camera multiplexer board that can connect up to 16 cameras to a single Raspberry Pi board in order to create 360 degrees camera setups for example. The company also offered a version with two cameras for stereo recording and capturing modes. But if you’d rather use a Raspberry Pi Compute Module with or without eMMC flash, and use either Raspberry Pi camera V1 or V2, the company has launched Ivport Stereo CM breakout board with support for up to two cameras and exposing some extra ports. Ivport Stereo CM specifications: RPi module compatibility Raspberry Pi CM1 Raspberry Pi CM3 (eMMC equipped) Raspberry Pi CM3 Lite Raspberry Pi CM3+ (eMMC equipped) Raspberry Pi CM3+ Lite RPi camera compatibility Raspberry Pi Camera Module V1.3 (OV5647 sensor) Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2 (Sony IMX 219 sensor) Storage – microSD slot Video Output – HDMI Networking – 10/100M […]

$15 TTGO T-Call Board Combines ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth SoC with SIM800 GPRS Module

TTGO T-call Pinout Diagram

LilyGo has launched several TTGO boards usually based on Espressif ESP8266 or ESP32 over the years. Here’s another that could be useful if 2G cellular networks have not sunset in your country: TTGO T-Call. The new board combines ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth WiSoC with SIMCom SIM800L GPRS module, and also happens to rely on a USB-C port for power and programming instead of the more common micro USB port on this type of hardware. TTGO T-Call board (BLINK_V1.3) specifications: Wireless Module – ESP32-WROVER-B based on ESP32 dual core Xtensa processor @ 240MHz with 520kB SRAM on-chip, 4MB QSPI flash, 8MB PSRAM Connectivity – WiFi 4 802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz) up to 150 Mbps Bluetooth 4.2 Classic + LE Cellular  – 2G GSM/GPRS via SIMcom SIM800L module + Nano SIM card slot USB – 1x USB-C for power and programming (via CP2104) Expansion – 2x 21-pin headers with UART, SPI, SDIO, […]

$30 FireAnt Development Board Features Efinix Trion T8 FPGA (Crowdfunding)

FireAnt Trion T8 FPGA Board

When I think FPGA, company names such as Xilinx, Altera (now Intel), or even Microsemi come to my mind. But there are also other companies such as Anlogic or Lattice Semi that offer FPGA chips. Today I’ve come across another FPGA silicon vendor, namely Efinix, with their Trion T8 FPGA found in XIPS Technology’s tiny FireAnt development board targeting makers and hardware designers. FireAnt specifications: FPGA – Efinix Trion T8 (T8F81C2) with 7384x LE counts, 8x embedded multipliers, 1x low-power oscillator, 1x PLL, 122.88 kbit internal RAM; Package – BGA-81 (5×5 mm) Storage – 8 Mbit serial NOR Flash Expansion – 2x 20-pin headers (soldered or unpopulated) with up to 35 GPIOs Debugging & Programming Micro USB 2.0 port via FTDI FT232HQ USB to serial chip JTAG signals in bottom layer Misc – Onboard 33.333 MHz crystal oscillator for PLL; 6x LEDs including 4 user configurable; 3x buttons (Reset, BTN1, […]

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