Firefly-RK3399 is the first, and for now the only one, development board equipped with the latest Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core Cortex A72 & A53 processor. It’s just not available yet, but the board has now been launched on Kickstarter where it is offered for $139 to $199 depending on options. Firefly-RK3399 board 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 with ARM Mali-T860 MP4 GPU with OpenGL 1.1 to 3.1 support, OpenVG1.1, OpenCL and DX 11 support System Memory Standard – 2 GB DDR3 Plus devkit – 4 GB DDR3 Storage Standard – 16 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Plus devkit – 32 GB eMMC flash, micro SD card, M.2 socket Video Output & Display Interfaces 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz 1x DisplayPort (DP) 1.2 interface up to […]
Hisense A2 Android Smartphone Coming Soon with AMOLED and E-Ink displays
Yotaphone popularized dual display smartphones with your standard color display on the front panel complemented with an always-on E-Ink display on the rear panel that consumes less power, and even shows the latest screen update (e.g. your plane ticket) when the battery is depleted. The latest model – Yotaphone 2 – was launched in 2014, but for whatever there has not been an update since, and companies appear to be clearing their stock with for example GearBest selling it for $119.99 shipped. However, even if the company never produces a Yotaphone 3, other have reproduced the design with the latest being Hisense A2 samrtphone whose specs have recently been published on TENAA (China equivalent of the FCC). Preliminary specifications for Hisense A2 smartphone: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor @ 1.4 GHz with Adreno 505 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 Storage – 64GB internal storage + micro SD […]
How to Build and Flash ESPurna Open Source Firmware to Sonoff POW Wireless Switch
ITEAD Studio Sonoff family is comprised of various inexpensive ESP8266 WiFi power switch, and the company sent me two of their latest CE certified models with Sonoff TH16 + external temperature & humidity probe, and Sonoff POW to measure power consumption. I checked the hardware is the first part of the review, and used Sonoff TH16 to control a water pump with the stock firmware and Ewelink Android app in the second part. It works reasonably well, but it relies on the cloud, so if you lose your Internet connection or the service closed, you can’t control the relay manually anymore. Luckily, the UART pins are exposed on Sonoff switches so you can solder a 4-pin header and connect a USB to TTL to flash your own firmware. Please don’t connect Sonoff devices to the mains when programming them, it’s very dangerous, instead the USB to TTL board will power […]
CHUWI LapBook 14.1″ Full HD Laptop is Powered by Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake Processor
We’ve already seen Voyo Vbook A1 Apollo Lake laptop based on Intel Celeron N3450 SoC going for pre-order a couple of weeks ago, but its has a 11.6″ display only, and I prefer to use larger screens when I need a laptop as it’s less of a shock when switching from my 39″ TV screen connected to my desktop computer. CHUWI LapBook offers just that with many of the same specifications as Voyo laptop, but with a 14.1″ display instead, and a little less storage & battery capacity. CHUWI LapBook laptop specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core “Apollo Lake” processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz (Burst frequency) and 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz (Burst freq.); 6W TDP System Memory – 4GB DDR3L Storage – 64 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot up to 128 GB Display – 14.1″ IPS […]
Mediatek Introduces Helio X23 and X27 Processors with Faster Clocks, Better Camera Support, Lower Power Consumption
Mediatek has just announced upgrades to their Helio X20 and X25 deca-core processors with respectively Helio X23 and X27 boasting higher CPU and GPU frequencies, higher camera quality, as well as lower power consumption thanks to MiraVision EnergySmart Screen power-saving technology. The two new processor still feature MediaTek tri-cluster deca-core architecture with two ARM Cortex A72 cores, four ARM Cortex A53 core, and 4 more low power Cortex A53 cores, but Helio X23 Cortex A72 cores’ max CPU frequency increased from 2.1 GHz to 2.3 GHz, and Helio X27 got a small boost to 2.6 GHz for the Cortex A72 cores (vs 2.5 GHz) and 1.6 GHz for the low power Cortex A53 cluster, as well as a higher frequency ARM Mali-T880 MP4 GPU at 875 MHz instead of 850 MHz for Helio X25. MediaTek Helio X23 and X27 also support dual camera photography with the upgraded MediaTek Imagiq image […]
Seagate Duet Portable Hard Drive Automatically Syncs with Amazon Cloud Drive
Seagate has announced the launch of Seagate Duet 1TB portable hard drive with auto-sync to Amazon Cloud Drive, so that your data is always backed in the cloud. If you use the drive to backup data, that means you’ll have a extra backup copy in the cloud, which could be useful if the drive fails just when you want to back it up (it happened to me), or somehow your house burns down… Another advantage is that if you forget to take your drive with you, the data will be accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection from Amazon Cloud service. It connects through your Mac or PC’s USB 3.0 port, and sync files to the cloud after an initial setup with your Amazon account. Once the setup is done, you can use the drive as you’d normally do, and files will automatically be backed up in the cloud. The […]
Hack Autonomous Driving into Your Car with Open Source Hardware Comma Neo and Open Pilot Software
George Hotz setup Comma.ai company and worked on a commercial project called Comma One to add autonomous driving to some car models, but then the US highway authorities started to ask questions and promised ever increasing fines if he could not comply with some specific safety regulations/requirements, and eventually he decided to cancel the project due to the regulatory burden. A few weeks passed since the cancellation, and he has now released Open Pilot auto-pilot software and Comma NEO a work-in-progress open source hardware platform connecting to Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 powered OnePlus 3 smartphone to run the software. The system is said to implement “Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) for Hondas and Acuras”, and performs about the same as “Tesla Autopilot at launch, and better than all other manufacturers”. Open Pilot currently only supports the Acura ILX 2016 with AcuraWatch Plus and the Honda Civic […]
reMarkable 10.3″ Digital Notepad and e-Reader is Designed to Feel Like Paper
If you like to take notes with pen and paper, but would prefer a digital solution to store your note, there are already some solutions like Boogie Board and Rocketbook, but reMarkable offers much more that the other two with a 10.3″ E-Ink touchscreen display and pressure sensitive pen capable of detecting 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, it allows to read books as any e-readers, and also write your own notes on a blank piece of “paper” or existing digital documents, drawing sketches, and save & share the results. The whole user experience is supposed to feel as if you were reading and writing on paper. reMarkable tablet specifications: SoC – ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1 GHz (Likely NXP i.MX6 series processor since they support EPD interfaces) System Memory – 512 MB DDR3L Storage – 8GB internal storage good for around 100,000 pages Display – 10.3″ monochrome digital paper […]