Flexible Silicone Case for LattePanda Board

I’ve seen many different kind of cases for development board from the simple acrylic enclosures, cheap plastic case, and more expansive wooden or metal cases. However so far I don’t think I had ever come across silicone cases, but while browsing new arrivals on DFRobot, I discovered a silicone case for LattePanda board. The case will fit closely all around the board, and have opening for ports and headers that are clearly marked including I/O pins. It takes a little less space than other type of cases, and should absorb shocks better in case of fall. At first look, it looks like it might prevent good cooling, as it does not appears suitable for the heatsinks kit sold for the board, but actually the bottom cover offers space for the fan. Other specifications listed for the case: Non-toxic and non-smell silicone material (food grade) Cold & heat fatigue resisting Static […]

Onkyo Has Developed a Shaker Turning Walls & Home Appliances Into Speakers

According to an article on Nikkei Technology, Onkyo has designed a shaker that can be attached directly to walls and/or the surface of home appliances, and turn them into speakers to play music and voices. The device developed using Onkyo voice & music playing technologies, has a a minimum resonance frequency of 115 hertz, and measures just 41x 36 x 21 mm. The company expects it to be used in places where visible speakers are problematic, either due to installation issues because of requirements such as waterproofness or air tightness, or for aesthetic reasons. Onkyo will provide the shaker to OEM’s in order to be integrated into home appliances or walls for artificial intelligence, or Internet of things applications. So voice enabled walls and washing machines may just be around the corner… Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a […]

ARRIS Showcases Android TV Set-Top Boxes at IBC 2017

Just last week, we found out there was a fair amount of TV boxes running Android TV with certification from Google, with most of them from PayTV providers or OEMs. Today, I’ve come to better understand what that means thanks to ARMDevices.net interview of ARRIS at IBC2017. I used to think getting a device with official Android TV support would mean getting Google’s Leanback launcher, but there’s more to it, as Google also offers “operator tier” Android TV certifications, which allow manufacturer to use Android TV operating system with their own launcher/user interface, and official support for Google services like Google Play Store, Google Play Music and so on. ARRIS International has a whole family of certified Android TV devices with 4K UHD set-top boxes and DVR systems as shown in the table below, all likely based on Broadcom SoCs. Wi-Fi Set-Tops Wi-Fi Processor DMIPS Type Size Zx4430 2×2 802.11ac […]

$25 PocketBeagle is a mini BeagleBone Board based on Octavo OSD3358-SM SiP

Earlier this year, Qwerty Embedded designed PocketBone board, an Eagle & KiCad open source hardware board software compatible with BeagleBone, but much smaller and based on Octavo OSD3358 system-in-package. This was never an official BeagleBoard.org board, and AFAIK it was not made broadly available. But the BeagleBoard foundation has now introduced PocketBeagle with a similar form factor, but based instead on the latest Octavo OSD3358-SM SiP that embeds TI Sitara AM3358, 512MB RAM, a PMIC, and various passive components into a 21×21 package, and exposing more I/Os thanks to 72 through holes. PocketBeagle board specifications: SiP (System-in-Package) – Octavo Systems OSD3358-SM with TI Sitara AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ up to 1 GHz,  PowerVR SGX530 GPU, 2x PRU, ARM Cortex-M3 for power and security management functions 512MB DDR3 800 MHz 4kB I2C EEPROM TPS65217 PMIC + LDO with integrated 1-cell LiPo battery support Storage – micro SD slot USB – […]

Bose QuietComfort 35 II Headphones Are Optimized for Google Assistant

Many years ago, when the first Bluetooth headset started to be sold, it was always a bit funny to hear people apparently talking to themselves while walking in the street. But soon enough, fellow walking zombies may start talking even more on the go, as Google and its partners have launched a new category of headphones with support for Google Assistant starting with Bose QuietComfort 35 II (aka QC35 II). The new headphones are actually an update to QC35 headphones that not only adds Google Assistant support but also noise control settings. It’s not really as cool as it first sounds though. The headphones have an “Action” button to trigger Google Assistant, so no “OK Google” or “Hey Google”, and support is not exactly built-in, meaning you’ll still need to pair the headphones with your smartphone over Bluetooth. You’ll then be able to hear your incoming messages and calendar automatically […]

PowerStream Lithium Polymer Batteries are Bendable and Ultra Thin (0.5 to 2 mm)

Electronics components and boards are getting smaller and smaller, and for battery powered devices, the battery may take a big chunk of the volume, and in some cases like smart cards, typical battery are not suitable. PowerStream has designed ultra thin bendable LiPo batteries that aredesigned for smart cards and RFID tags that needs their own power, but I could envision that if battery capacity increases, and/or energy harvesting becomes a more common feature, they could be used for wearables, for example by placing them inside the wristband. The main features for the battery as listed by the company: Operating voltage – 3.6V High energy density No memory effect Self-discharge is less than 3% per month Charge/discharge cycle characteristics are excellent Safety characteristics are excellent Processing temperatures for these cells is 100°C for less than 60 seconds, 120°C for less than 20 seconds and 140°C for less than 5 seconds. […]

Maiwo K104c is a $9 2.5″ SATA Drive Enclosure with a USB Type C Cable

USB type C receptacles are found in more and more devices, but if you have older accessories or peripherals they likely use micro USB, and USB type A cables or plugs. One way to work around this problem is to get adapter, for example, I purchased a micro USB to USB Type C adapter last year, but this morning I’ve come across a USB type C hard drive enclosure, something I had not seen before, probably because I did not look for it. Maiwo K104c enclosure specifications: Designed for 2.5″ SATA drives (HDD/SSD) up to 9.5mm thick USB type C to SATA 3.0 interface using JMS567 chipset UASP protocol support (aka USB attached SCSI) OS agnostic so it should work with any operating systems Dimensions – 21.50 x 2.70 x 1.20 cm Weight – 130 x 79 x 17mm JMicron JMS567 chipset is the same as used in NanoPi NEO […]

Firefly Introduces RK3399 CoreBoard with up to 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC Flash

Firefly-RK3399 is a development board powered by Rockchip RK3399, and the company behind the board has now launched a system-on-module called RK3399 Coreboard with 2 to 4GB RAM, 8 to 128GB flash, a PMIC, and a 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector exposing various I/Os. RK3399 CoreBoard specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with dual core ARM Cortex A72 up to 2.0 GHz and quad core Cortex A53 processor, ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL and DX 11 support System Memory – 2GB or 4GB DDR3 Storage – 8, 16, 32 or 128 GB eMMC flash Carrier Board Interface – 314-pin MXM 3.0 edge connector with Ethernet, PCIe, HDMI 2.0, DP 1.2, MIPI DSI, eDP 1.3, S/PDIF, I2S, GPIO, USB, etc… signals Power Supply – 5V/3A input; RK808 PMIC Dimensions – 82 x 63 mm Weight – 24 grams The company provides support […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC