Category: Hardware

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Bqeel MVR9 (NT-N9) TV Box Review – Part 2: Android Nougat Firmware, RKMC, YouTube 4K, and More

Bqeel MVR9 (NT-N9) TV Box Review – Part 2: Android Nougat Firmware, RKMC, YouTube 4K, and More

Bqeel MVR9 is another TV box powered by Rockchip RK3328, but that model comes with Gigabit Ethernet and 2GB RAM contrary to the cheaper A95X R2 TV box I previously reviewed. If you want to check thsee some pictures read “Bqeel MVR9 TV Box Review – Part 1: Specifications, Unboxing and Teardown“, as in this second part I’ll focus on the firmware, and we’ll see if the claims of better 4K video playback thanks to DDR4, optimized RKMC with HD audio pass-through, YouTube 4K, and DRM support are true. First Boot, Setup, and First Impressions One good thing about Bqeel MVR9 is that it comes four 4 USB port, so I did not need to use a USB hub to connect my two RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, a Seagate USB 3.0 hard drive, and a USB keyboard I normally use […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on $14 Orange Pi R1 Allwinner H2+ Board Comes with Two Ethernet Ports, 256 MB RAM

$14 Orange Pi R1 Allwinner H2+ Board Comes with Two Ethernet Ports, 256 MB RAM

Shenzhen Xunlong has introduced the new Orange Pi R1 board with Allwinner H2+ quad core Cortex A7 processor that’s a bit different from their other models, as it includes two 10/100M Ethernet port, and should be suitable for intelligent controllers, or simple IoT gateways. Orange Pi R1 board specifications: SoC – Allwinner H2(+) quad core Cortex A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 256 DDR RAM Storage – micro SD card slot, 16 MB SPI flash Connectivity – 2x 10/100M Ethernet (including on via RTL8152B USB to Ethernet) + 802.11 b/g/n WiFi (Realtek RTL8189ETV) with u.FL antenna connector and external antenna USB – 1x micro USB OTG port Expansion headers Unpopulated 26-pin “Raspberry Pi B+” header 13-pin header with headphone, 2x USB 2.0, TV out, microphone and IR receiver signals Debugging – 3-pin header for serial console Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on NutsBoard Pistachio 3.5″ Embedded SBC is Powered by NXP i.MX 6Dual/Quad Processor

NutsBoard Pistachio 3.5″ Embedded SBC is Powered by NXP i.MX 6Dual/Quad Processor

I don’t write about i.MX6 solutions much anymore, since there are so many options available on the market, but Pistachio SBC has been designed by a company I had never heard of before: NutsBoard, and they’ve released documentation and software publicly, which does not always happen in the industrial/embedded space. Pistachio single board computer specifications: SoC – NXP ARM Cortex-A9 IMX6 Quad/Dual @ 800MHz System Memory –  Up to 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 4GB eMMC flash, 1x SATA interface, 1x micro SD card slot Display I/F / Video Output 2x LVDS (6 or 8 bit) 1x 24-bit VGA output 1x HDMI port up to 1920×1080 (FHD) 1x I2C AR1021 touch controller Audio – SGTL5000 audio codec with class D amplifier; 1x audio header for speaker and microphone Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Qualcomm AR8035), industrial grade wireless module  (Jorjin WG7833) with dual band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 USB – 4x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on NXP i.MX RT Series Crossover Embedded Processor is Based on an ARM Cortex-M7 Core @ 600 MHz

NXP i.MX RT Series Crossover Embedded Processor is Based on an ARM Cortex-M7 Core @ 600 MHz

Microcontrollers (MCUs) provide real-time processing, low power, low cost, and plenty of I/Os, but with security and user interface requirements of recent embedded devices, the processing power may be a limitation, and embedded systems designers may have to use an application processor instead gaining performance, but losing some of the benefits of MCUs. The bridge the gap between performance and usability, NXP has launched i.MX RT series of Crossover Embedded Processor which uses the powerful ARM Cortex-M7 MCU core clocked at up to 600 MHz, a frequency partially made possible by eliminating on-chip flash memory. The first member of the family is NXP i.MX RT1050 with the following key features and specifications: MCU Core – ARM Cortex-M7 @ up to 600 MHz; 3015 CoreMark / 1284 DMIPS Memory – Up to 512KB SRAM/TCM (Tighly Coupled Memory) with response time as low as 20 ns Storage – 96KB RAM; interfaces: NAND, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments on Pine64 SoPine Cluster Board Takes up to Seven SOPINE A64 Systems-on-Module

Pine64 SoPine Cluster Board Takes up to Seven SOPINE A64 Systems-on-Module

Pine64 launched SOPINE A64 system-on-module based on Allwinner A64 processor back in January, with such module normally being found in low volume products where companies do not want to spent too many resources developing complex multiple layers boards with CPU and RAM, and instead focus on developing a simpler baseboard and custom software for their product. Pine64 made something else with SOPINE A64 modules:  a cluster board. I don’t have the full details yet, but “PINE64 SoPine Cluster Board” comes with 7 SO-DIMM slot designed to take SOPINE64 modules with the board providing a micro USB OTG port, a USB host port, and Ethernet transceiver for each SoM, which are connected to a Gigabit Ethernet switch (initially Marvell 88E6185, but they appear to have now switched to a Realtek part), and accessible via a single Gigabit Ethernet port. Power can be provided by a 5V/10A power supply connected to a […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Asus WA039T All-in-One PC is Powered by Intel Pentium J4205 Apollo Lake Processor

Asus WA039T All-in-One PC is Powered by Intel Pentium J4205 Apollo Lake Processor

Intel Pentium N4205 is the most powerful Apollo Lake processor launched by Intel with four cores up to 2.6GHz (turbo), and 18 EU HD graphics, but so far I have not seen many products with the processor, with only ASRock J4205-ITX motherboard and Beebox J4205 mini PC. So I went to Aliexpress, and nothing at all shows up for J4205, I had better luck on Alibaba with Unistorm / ACEPC AK1 mini PC apparently also having Pentium N4205 as an option (for OEM only), and several industrial computer and motherboards. But none of those products seem to be easily purchasable just yet. A final search on GearBest led me to their one and only J4205 based product: Asus WA039T AIO PC, so let’s have a look. Asus WA039T AIO computer specifications: SoC – Intel Pentium J4205 quad core “Apollo Lake” processor @ 1.50 / 2.60 GHz with a 18 EU Intel […]

Posted on by Ian W MORRISON (Linuxium) - 2 Comments on ECDREAM A9 Apollo Lake HDMI “TV Stick” Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04

ECDREAM A9 Apollo Lake HDMI “TV Stick” Review with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 17.04

The ECDREAM A9 is arguably the first Intel Apollo Lake ‘PC stick’ available for purchase. However, in reality it is surprisingly large, and when compared to earlier Intel Atom ‘sticks’ and mini PC ‘boxes’ it lies somewhere in between. Measuring 2.3 inches (58 mm) wide and 0.6 inches (16 mm) thick it feels almost double in size of the original Intel Compute Stick (1.5 in/38 mm by 0.5 in/12 mm) and like nearly half of a mini PC (Beelink’s AP34 is 4.7 in/119 mm by 0.8 / 20 mm). Given that you only get two USB ports, an micro SD card slot and the obligatory HDMI and power port, the large size would be better justified if an Ethernet port had also been included given other smaller ‘sticks’ have shown this is possible. However the reason for its size is due to the oversized fan and heatsink… ​ and that […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments on GIGABYTE MA10-ST0 Server Motherboard is Powered by Intel Atom C3958 “Denverton” 16-Core SoC

GIGABYTE MA10-ST0 Server Motherboard is Powered by Intel Atom C3958 “Denverton” 16-Core SoC

Last year, we wrote about Intel Atom C3000 series processor for micro-servers with the post also including some details about MA10-ST0 motherboard. GIGABYTE has finally launched the mini-ITX board with an unannounced Atom C3958 16-core Denverton processor. GIGABYTE MA10-ST0 server board specifications: Processor –  Intel Atom C3958 16-core processor @ up to  2.0GHz with 16MB L2 cache (31W TDP) System Memory – 4x DDR4 slots for dual channels memory @ 1866/2133/2400 MHz with up to 128GB ECC R-DIMM, up to 64GB for ECC/non-ECC UDIMM Storage 32GB eMMC flash 4x Mini-SAS up to 16 x SATA 6Gb/s ports 2x Mini-SAS ports are shared with PCIe x8 slot Connectivity 2x 10Gb/s SFP+ LAN ports 2x 1Gb/s LAN ports (Intel I210-AT) 1x 10/100/1000 management LAN Video – VGA port up to 1920×1200@60Hz 32bpp; Aspeed AST2400 chipset with 2D Video Graphic Adapter with PCIe bus interface USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Expansion Slots […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC