Hardware Category - Page 638 of 1116 - CNX Software

December 5, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

This Tiny ESP8266 Board is Designed for DIY WiFi Switches

Various breadboard-friendly boards based on ESP8266 or other chips are available on the market, but some readers are not quite satisfied with the offerings, and need more available pins on the breadboard so they ended up hacking the board matching their needs by either bending header pins, or soldering modules to stripboards. As I browsed new arrivals on ICstation website, I found a tiny board with ESP8266 module that exposes I/Os via what looks like 2.54 mm pitch header that should fit right into a breadboard. But after further checking only three I/Os are exposed, and the board is actually specifically designed for wireless switches, and comes with firmware that works with eWelink app used in Sonoff devices. So the module could be useful for people wanting to control devices without doing programming at all, and limited to no soldering. Just connect the module, and control it without smartphone. Board […]

December 5, 2017December 5, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 41 Comments

Libre Computer Renegade SBC Features Rockchip RK3328 Processor with up to 4GB DDR4 RAM (Crowdfunding)

After Amlogic S905X based Le Potato board, and the on-going Kickstarter campaign for Tritium Allwinner H2+/H3 boards, Libre Computer has now launched an Indiegogo campaign for their Renegade SBC (Single Board Computer) powered by Rockchip RK3328 SoC. The board follows Raspberry Pi 3 form factor like the two previous models, and three versions of the board are offered with 1, 2 or 4GB RAM, making Renegade SBC a direct competitor to Pine64 ROCK64 board. Renegade SBC specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-450MP2 GPU System Memory – 1, 2, or 4 GB DDR4 Storage – eMMC 5.x flash module socket (8 to 128 GB) + micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 and HLG support, 3.5mm AV port (composite video + stereo audio) Video Codec – 4K VP9, H.265 and H.264, 1080p […]

December 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Sigrok Compatible ZeroPlus Logic Cube LAP-C USB Logic Analyzers Support up to 32 Channels, 75 MHz Bandwidth

Back in 2015, I discovered USB123 USBee AX PRO, an ultra cheap logic analyzer (now $5 shipped) with 8 channels, and up to 24 MHz. I purchased one at the time, and successfully tested it with Sigrok & Pulseview open source tools that now work in Linux, Windows, Mac OS, FreeBSD, Android, and several other operating systems. As I read through my list of RSS feeds today, I noticed Peter Scargill had tested ZeroPlus Logic Cube Lap-C 322000 logic analyzer also connected to your PC via USB, but with better specifications including 32-channels, and 75 MHz. Peter used the company’s Windows software (ZEROPLUS Logic Analyzer LAP-C_Standard_V3.14.03), but a quick search confirmed ZeroPlus Logic Cube Lap-C family is supported by Sigrok. LAP-C 322000 is the top model from the family with the following hardware specifications: Sample Rate – Internal clock (timing mode): 100Hz~200MHz; external clock (state mode): 100MHz Bandwidth – 75MHz […]

December 4, 2017April 14, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Top 5 Most Powerful Arm SBCs & Development Boards in 2017 / Early 2018

Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and NanoPi boards among others are all great and inexpensive Arm Linux development boards that do good enough job for many tasks, but they may not cut it if you have higher requirements either in terms of CPU power, GPU capabilities and performance, I/O bandwidth, and in some cases software and support. So I’ve decided to make a list of 5 single board computers or development boards that I consider to be the most powerful in 2017, early 2018. I have limited the price to $1,000 maximum, the board must be easy to purchase for most people (e.g. you don’t need to be a tier-1 automotive supplier, or operate your own datacenter), and in case the board is not quite available yet, the likeliness of actual launch must be reasonably high. Those criteria for example exclude Intrinsyc Open-Q 835 development kit since it costs $1.149 and […]

December 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Samsung W2018 is a Premium Android Flip Phone with Dual Display for the Chinese Market

I can remember using Motorola Razr many years ago, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a flip phone. The must still be a market, as Samsung has just unveiled W2018 flip phone in China with many of the premium features found in their Galaxy S8 model such as Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of RAM, and up to 256 GB of storage. Samsung W2018 is also said to be the first smartphone equipped with a camera that has an F/1.5 aperture allowing for better low light photo, and the camera can switch to F/2.4 during better lighting conditions. Samsung W2018 (preliminary) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core Kryo 280 processor up to 2.4 GHz with Adreno 540 GPU System Memory – 6GB RAM Storage – 64 GB or 256 GB storage Display – 2x 4.2″ Super AMOLED display with 1920×1080 resolution; Gorilla Glass 5 D-Pad & […]

December 3, 2017December 4, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Sega Genesis Flashback Retro Game Console is Powered by “Monkey King 3.6” Processor, Runs Android

Retro gaming is cool again with products like Nintendo NES Classic / SNES Classic, DIY solutions based on firmware like RetrOrangePi, and the upcoming Atari console among others. Another model is AtGames Sega Genesis Flashback, a smaller replica of Sega Model 1 Genesis with 85 pre-loaded games including the Sonic series, Mortal Kombat series, Phantasy Star series, and Shining Force series games. The console ships with two wireless controllers, connect to your TV via HDMI with 720p resolution, and includes a cartridge slot that works with Sega Genesis and Mega Drive cartridges. The console has been out for several months, and it would be an understatement to say reviews are not very positive with titles / bylines such as “do not buy” (partially because the console requires a power adapter….), This Genesis does not do what Nintendoes, or “More like Trashback“. But what caught my eyes is ETA Prime’s Sega Genesis Flashback HD […]

December 2, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Amazon FreeRTOS Released for NXP, Texas Instruments, STMicro, and (soon) Microchip Microcontrollers

FreeRTOS is an open source real-time operating system for microcontrollers released under an MIT license, and when it comes to adoption in embedded systems it’s right there near the top with embedded Linux according to Aspencore 2017 embedded markets study. For example, some Espressif SDKs for ESP8266 or ESP32 are based on FreeRTOS, and so is Mediatek LinkIt Development Platform for RTOS. The recently announced Amazon FreeRTOS (a:FreeRTOS) leverages the open source operating systems, and extends it with with libraries that enable local and AWS cloud connectivity, security, and soon over-the-air updates. a:FreeRTOS is free of charge, open source, and available today. In order to get started, you’ll have a choice of 4 hardware platforms: STMicro STM32L4 Discovery Kit IoT Node (B-L475E-IOT01A) powered by STM32L475 ARM Cortex-M4 MCU with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, RF (868 / 915 MHz), and NFC connectivity, plenty of sensors NXP LPC54018 IoT module (OM40007) […]

December 1, 2017February 15, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Onda V18 Pro 10.1″ Tablet Features Allwinner A63 Processor, a 2K “Retina” Display

Tablets are not quite as popular as they used to be, but there’s still a market. Allwinner A63 “2K” tablet processor was unveiled right at the start of summer 2017, but so far I had not seen any products based on the processor. Finally, at least on tablet based on Allwinner A63 has been launched thanks to Onda V18 Pro tablet equipped with a 10.1″ 2560×1600 display, 3GB RAM, and 32 to 64 GB internal storage.Onda V18 Pro tablet specifications: SoC – Allwinner A63 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.8 GHz with Mali-T760MP2 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2 support System Memory – 3GB DDR3L Storage – 32 or 64GB eMMC flash, micro SD slot up to 256 GB Display – 10.1″ capacitive touchscreen IPS display with 2560×1600 (WQXGA) resolution Video – 4K/6K VP9, H.265, and H.264 4K @ 30fps video decoder; Smartcolor 3.0 “video quality enhancement engine” […]