MINIX NEO U9-H 4K HDR Amlogic S912-H Android TV Box Coming in October

MINIX may have officially announced MINIX NEO Z83-4 Cherry trail mini PC at IFA 2016, but they also showcased NEO U9-H Android TV box based on an “Octa-core cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-820MP3 GPU”, which the company confirmed to be Amlogic S912-H processor with Dolby and DTS licenses. I also asked the company whether they had specs sheet for the new model, but the replied they did not have finalized specifications to share, nor exact pricing and release date. But we can still derive info from a video on HDBlog.it showcasing an early development model at IFA 2016. MINIX NEO U9-H preliminary specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912-H octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash and micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC, HDCP 2.2, […]

OpenRex Open Source Hardware NXP i.MX6 Board Launched for 199 Euros and Up

OpenRex is an open source hardware board powered by NXP i.MX6 Cortex A9 processor designed by Fedevel for their hardware design course, and manufactured by Voipac, both companies based on Slovakia. The schematics, PCB layout, gerber files and other manufacturing files were released in February, but the company has only started selling the board a few days ago with OpenRex Basic SBC and OpenRex Max SBC boards. OpenRex Basic and Max boards specifications: SoC OpenRex Basic – NXP i.MX 6Solo single core Cortex A9 processor @ 1 GHz with 2D and 3D GPU OpenRex Max – NXP i.MX 6Quad quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 1 GHz with 2D and 3D GPU MCU – NXP LPC1345FHN33 ARM Cortex-M3 micro-controller @ 72 MHz System Memory Basic – 512 MB DDR3-1066 (400MHz) Max – 2GB DDR3-1066 (533 MHz) Storage Basic – micro SD slot, 1x 2Kbit I2C EEPROM, 1x 32Mbit SPI flash Max […]

Coowell V4 Android TV Box Review – Part 2: Camera, Skype, Google Hangouts and Duo

Coowell V4 Android TV box is based on Rockchip RK3368 octa-core processor with 2GB RAM, and 16GB flash, and also includes a camera. In part 1 of Coowell V4 review, I have already taken photos of the device, and torn down the device to have a closer look at the board, and the camera which is based on a GC2145 2MP image sensor. Today, I’ll mostly test the camera and microphone, including firmware compatibility with Skype, Google Hangouts, and the latest Duo by Google app. Finally, it’s been a while since I’ve tested a RK3368 TV box, so I’ll run CPU-Z and Antutu again. Coowell V4 Hardware Setup and Launcher Coowell V4 hardware setup is pretty usual, and I connect an Ethernet port, and the USB RF dongle for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse, as well as a USB keyboard to take screenshots. However, while normally I’d use my […]

Allo Sparky Audio Kit Combines an ARM Linux Board with Amplifier, Audio DAC, Reclocker and Capacitance Multiplier Boards

Last year I wrote about Allo Sparky SBC Linux and Android development powered by Actions Semi S500 quad core Cortex A9 processor, which mostly differentiates itself from the competition by the many add-on boards for audio, VoIP, and IoT (WiFi+Bluetooth+Zigbee ). While most of development boards are manufactured in China, Allo company is based in India, and all boards are manufactured there, which could be a benefit to Indian readers who want to avoid potential custom issues with other boards. The company has shipped me their complete audio development kit, and I’ll first check out the hardware, before taking time to experiment with the kit in a few weeks or months… I could find 6 different boards in the kit, which I detailed below, as well as a 5V/3A power supply with AU and EU adapter,  a micro USB adapter, a micro SD card apparently pre-loaded with Ubuntu 12.04, a […]

T95Z Plus is an Hexagonal Amlogic S912 TV Box with a Front LCD Display

T95Z Plus is an Amlogic S912 TV box with the typical 2GB RAM and 16GB storage combination, but it differentiates itself with an hexagonal case, a front panel LCD display, and what looks like an RGB LED band around the case. T95Z Plus specifications: SoC – Amlogic S912 octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.5 GHz with ARM Mali-820MP3 System Memory – 2GB  DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 and AV ports Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Video codecs – VP9 profile 2 up to 4K @ 60 fps, H.265/HEVC [email protected] up to 4K 60fps, H.264 AVC up to 4K @ 30 fps, H.264 MVC up to 1080p60, MPEG-4, WMV/VC-1 SP/MP/AP,  AVS-P16(AVS+)/AVS-P2 JiZhun Profile, MPEG-2 MP/HL, MPEG-1 MP/HL, and  RealVIDEO 8/9/10 all up to 1080p60 Audio codecs – MP3, WMA, AAC, RM, FLAC, Ogg, TrueHD, DTS, […]

MINIX NEO Z83-4 Fanless mini PC Review – Part 1: Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

MINIX has just launched a new Windows 10 mini PC with MINIX NEO Z83-4 powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 quad core processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, etc.. The company sent me an early review sample, and today I’ll go through the specs, take pictures of the device and accessories, and tear it down to check out the PCBA, and the thermal design. MINIX NEO Z83-4 Specifications MINIX latest mini PC has slightly higher-0end specifications that most X5-Z8300 computers or sticks: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz / 1.84 GHz (Turbo) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) System Memory –  4GB DDR3L Storage – 32 GB eMMC 5.0 flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 and mini DP up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm earphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, […]

Espressif ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth SoC is Now Up For Sale for $2.85

Espressif ESP32 is one of the most awaited chip for IoT applications as it combines a dual core processor, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and various I/Os. The good news is that you can now purchase ESP32 for 19 RMB ($2.85) on Taobao, or if you are not based in China, contact Espressif by email at sales [at] espressif.com. Availability is however limited, and the maximum order is now 5 pieces. ESP32 modules and boards, as opposed to just the SoC, are not quite ready right now, but should become available in a few weeks. ESP-WROOM-32 is the ESP32 module developed by Espressif, and NodeMCU is also working on an ESP32 board, so we’ll get more good news very soon. You can also find documentation, hardware and software resources on a Espressif ESP32 page , including a getting started guide, ESP32 SDK, ESP32 reference manual, ESP-WROOM-32 datasheet, and more. If you are […]

MK809IV PRO / Eachlink IX809 PRO Amlogic S905X Android TV Stick Sells for $32

Amlogic S905X Android TV boxes are now pretty common, but if you’re looking for a device in TV stick form factor that’s more difficult to find, and exactly what Eachlink IX809 PRO devices offers with Amlogic S905X processor combined with 1GB RAM and 8GB eMMC flash. Eachlink IX809 PRO specifications: SoC –  Amlogic S905X quad core ARM Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.5 GHz with  penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash + micro SD card slot Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 port Video Codec – 4K@60 Hz video decoding for 10-bit HEVC/H.265 and VP9; H.264 up to 4K@30 Hz Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; It’s unclear whether Bluetooth is implemented. USB – 1x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB port for power only Power Supply –  5V/2A via micro USB port Dimensions & Weight – N/A […]

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