Hardware Category - Page 585 of 1132 - CNX Software

August 17, 2018August 19, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

LicheePi Nano is an SD Card Sized Linux Board Powered by Allwinner F1C100s ARM9 Processor

Before Allwinner launched their popular A10 Cortex A8 processor earlier this decade, the company had Allwinner F-series ARM9 processors found in E-ink readers, vehicle multimedia systems, audio products and so on. I would not expect a new board based on of those processors in 2018, but LicheePi Nano looks to be exactly that with an Allwinner F1C100s processor, a form factor roughly the size of an SD card, and support for RGB LED displays. LicheePi Nano board specifications: SoC- Allwinner F1C100s ARM926EJS processor clocked at up to 900MHz System Memory – 32MB DDR integrated into SoC Storage – Micro SD card, and optional 8M SPI flash (unpopulated in the photo above) Display I/F – 40-pin RGB LCD FPC connector supporting 272×480, 480×800, 1024×600 and other resolutions resistive and capacitive displays Video Decoding – H.264 / MPEG up to 720p I/Os via 2.54mm pitch through holes and 1.27mmm pitch castellated holes SDIO […]

August 17, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Tachyon Arduino Zero Compatible Board Features Microchip SAMD51 Arm MCU @ 120 MHz (Crowdfunding)

Most Arm based Arduino compatible boards come with a Microchip SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU clocked at up to 48 MHz since this is the microcontroller found in the official Arduino Zero and MKRZero boards and comes with proper support in the Arduino IDE. But last year, Microchip introduced SAMD5x Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller family which offers devices that are pin-to-pin compatible with SAMA2x microcontrollers but with better performance, and more memory and storage. So the guys at Rabid Prototypes decided to make Tachyon, a tiny Arduino Zero compatible board based on SAMD51 MCU for people wanting more oomph out of their Arduino board. Tachyon board specifications: MCU – Microchip ATSAMD51G18A Arm Cortex M4F @ 120 MHz with 256KB flash, 128 KB RAM I/Os Digital I/O pins – 14x w/ 12x PWM Analog input pins – 6x 12-bit ADC channels Analog output pins – 2x 10-bit DACs Operating voltage – 3.3V I/O […]

August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Zymkey is a Hardware Security Module for Raspberry Pi Board

Zymkey Raspberry Pi Security Module Blockchain

Microchip ATECC508A CryptoAuthentication chip appears to be a popular way to add hardware encryption support to development boards, as we’ve seen previously with 96Boards’ Secure96 mezzanine or LoRa explorer kit, and even just earlier today with Analoglamb Fish32 Seed ESP32 education board. Another solution is from Zymbit which provides Zymkey security modules for Raspberry Pi based on the ATECC508A CryptoAuthentication chip in different form factor: either a USB stick, an I2C module, or for further integration into your own design, an SMT component. Zymkey enables multifactor device ID & authentication, data encryption & signing, key storage & generation, and physical tamper detection. It also features a secure element root of trust, a real-time clock, and a true random number generator (TRNG). The company provides a simple Python or C/C++ API to make it easier to add Zymkey support to any Linux application, and the secure module can be integrated with […]

August 16, 2018August 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$50 Fish32 Seed “Education” ESP32 Board Comes with Plenty of I/Os, Sensors, and Connectivity Options

Sometimes I feel the word “Education” is sometimes thrown around for marketing purpose, and AnalogLamb Fish32 Seed board for “ESP32 Community Education Board” feels that way to me as so far, I could not see any tutorials or other teaching/ learning resources for the board. Having said that I can see why it could be potentially used for education: the sheer number of features, sensors, and connectivity options should allow students to learn to program my different components around ESP32. It’s just at this stage it may not be such an easy platform to learn on. Fish32 Seed board specifications: Supported ESP32 Modules – ESP32-WROVER, ALB32-WROVER, ESP32-WROOM-32 Connectivity 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 via ESP32 10/100M Ethernet (RJ45) via WIZnet W5500 chip with support for up to 8 independent sockets LoRa via SX1278 chip (433 MHz) Sensors NXP MPU-9250 with 3-axis MEMS gyroscope, 3-axis MEMS accelerometer, 3-axis MEMS magnetometer […]

August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Apexel “Telescopes” Add 8x to 20x Optical Zoom to Smartphones for $8 and Up

Smartphones are getting better at taking photos, and cameras in high-end phones are are getting almost as good as DSLR cameras in many cases. However, one advantage of DSLR cameras is that you’d normal fit a zoom lens allowing you to take photos further away. Mobile phones are normally limited to 3x optical zoom and 5x hybrid zoom, but I’ve seen Banggood is now offering some Apexel “Telescopes” that you can clip on a phone or tablet and adds 8x to 20x optical zoom for about $8 and up. Let’s have a look at Apexel APL-18XTZJ monocular lens with 18x zoom since it’s a new arrival product. They have not provided many specific details, but the focal length is also adjustable, and it is compatible with most phones. The main thing is whether it can be mechanically clipped on top of your phone’s camera. It ships with a clip, and […]

August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Xiaomi WEMAX ONE Android Laser Projector Features Amlogic T968 Processor

We’ve previously covered some entry-level mini Android projectors like Rikomagic R5 or Nebula Capsule, but Amlogic T968 powered Xiaomi WEMAX ONE ultra short throw Android laser projector is a different beast entirely as it sells for $1949 shipped on GearBest. You can lower the price somewhat ($20 discount) with coupon IT$CN33WMX. Xiaomi WEMAX ONE (FMWS01C) projector specifications: SoC – Amlogic T968 quad core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.8GHz with Arm Mali-T830MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC Flash Projector Details 0.47 inch DMD Resolution – Full HD ( 1920 x 1080 ) with support for HDR and 4K resolution somehow Light source – ALPD 3.0 (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) Brightness – 1688 ANSI lumens (Claims of 7000 ANSI lumens in GearBest and other websites in English appear to be false) Color gamut – NTSC 80 – 85 percent Central contrast – 2500 : 1 – 3500 […]

August 14, 2018July 31, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Amlogic T968 Processor is Designed for Smart 4K UHD TVs and Smart Projectors

Amlogic S-series processors are the most well-known processors by Amlogic with parts like S905X or S912, but the company is also offering other families with the new A-series for smart audio applications, and T-series processor for televisions. The latter have been around for a while, and also include HDMI inputs and digital TV tuners. We hear less about them since they are embedded into more expensive devices like Smart TVs or Android projectors, although in some cases they get into TV boxes with HDMI such as Alfawise H96 mini TV box powered by Amlogic T962E processor. Today, I’ll have at one of the top TV processor from Amlogic: T968 with four Cortex A53 cores clocked at up to 1.8 GHz, and an Arm Mali-T830MP2 GPU. Amlogic T968 processor key features and specifications: CPU – Quad core Arm Cortex-A53 processor clocked at up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-T830MP2 GPU […]

August 14, 2018August 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

USB Charging Actually Poses Security Risks – Hacking a Laptop via a USB-C Adapter

Smartphones have been charged over USB for many years, but with the advance of USB type-C now even laptops may be charged over USB, instead of the typical DC power barrel jack. Why am I writing about that? That’s because charging over a DC jack is normally safe, but after reading an article on BBC website, I’ve just realized when you charge over USB you also give access to the data connection, and security researcher (MG) has found a way to hack the USB-C charger of an Apple laptop and show a login prompt to steal credentials (username / password). The full details of the hack are no public, but it does require altering the hardware of the charger. So as long as you use the charger sold with your laptop, you should be safe. However, there’s always a risk if you charge from public places, or buy a charger […]