Hardware Category - Page 916 of 1132 - CNX Software

April 27, 2015August 8, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 46 Comments

Wintel W8 Review – Dual Boot Android & Windows TV Box

Wintel W8 (aka Kingnovel K8) is an Intel Atom Z3735F mini PC inspired from Sunchip Wintel CX-W8 (the hardware is a little different), but instead of just running Windows 8.1, the device can dual boot Android 4.4 and Windows 8.1 with Bing. I’ve already taken pictures or torn down Wintel W8, so today, I’ll focus on the software part of the review, first checking dual boot functionality and Windows 8.1 briefly since it should be very similar to MeLE PCG03, before spending more time on Android as it’s my first Android Intel platform. Dual boot in Wintel W8 When you boot the device, you can select Android or Windows icon, with a 10 second timeout that will boot your latest choice. There’s no menu within Windows to start Android, and vice versa, so to dual boot you need to reboot first, and select the operating systems right after UEFI. The […]

April 26, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

Improve Mediatek MT6752 GPS Accuracy by Turning WiFi Off?

Mediatek smartphones used to have a terribly slow GPS fix, and it would often take over 10 minutes to get a fix if any, and one workaround was to enable Mediatek EPO. However, in my Iocean M6752 review, I found out GPS fix was not super fast even without Internet connection, but accuracy is quite a disaster as Nike+ Running screenshot below clearly shows. I’m running around a stadium so the shape should be elliptic…, but data point are all over the place. Since the review, I’ve kept using the smartphone with Nike+ Running, and each time it’s a disaster, and once the app even reported a 81 km for an actual 10 km run… I’ve also used Google Maps once or twice, and found accuracy to be poor as well. However, I usually leave Wi-Fi on, and for some reasons today, I decided to turn Wi-Fi off before driving […]

April 26, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Variscite DART-MX6 is a Tiny SoM with Freescale i.MX6 SoC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Variscite has unveiled what they claim to be the world’s smallest i.MX6 SoM with DART-MX6, a 50x20mm system-on-module featuring Freescale i.MX6 dual or quad processor, up to 1GB RAM, up to 32GB eMMC flash, as well as a wireless module for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Other small i.MX6 modules include TechNexion PICO-iMX6, or SolidRun microSoM found in Hummingbird board, and DART-MX6 has indeed the smallest area among the three. DART-MX6 specifications: SoC- Freescale i.MX6 dual or quad core Cortex A9 processor up to 800 MHz with Vivante GC2000 3D GPU System Memory – 512 to 1024 MB LPDDR2 (PoP) Storage – 4 to 32GB eMMC flash, 4KB I2C EEPROM Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n + MIMO, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE (TI WL183xMOD WiLink) Audio Codec – Texas Instruments TLV320AIC3106 Interfaces and I/Os via 2x 80-pin and 1x 50-pin board to board connectors Camera Interfaces – 1x CSI, 2x CPI Display – […]

April 25, 2015April 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$10 Digistump Oak ESP8266EX Board is Arduino Compatible, Connects to the Cloud, and More (Crowdfunding)

A few years ago, I wondered why adding Wi-Fi to Arduino had to be rather expensive ($40+), and why there weren’t any low cost and small form factor Wi-Fi boards for embedded applications. But we’re now in 2015, embedded is “dead” giving rise to IoT, and I’m left wondering how it’s possible to make IoT Wi-Fi modules that cheap, and whether people will ever stop churning out cheap Wi-Fi boards, as I’m flooded with such news weekly… So when I saw yet another ESP8266 board on Kickstarter I was about to dismiss it, but since it was made by Digistump, that has an active community with their other products like DigiSpark Pro or DigiX, I decided to have a closer look. Digistump Oak hardware specifications: MCU – Espressif ESP8266EX 32-bit microprocessor @ 80MHz (overclockable up to 160MHz) with 1MB ROM (~300KB available for user code), 64KB RAM, 512 bytes EEPROM […]

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Tronsmart Draco H3 is a Low Cost HDMI TV Stick based on Allwinner H3 SoC

Allwinner H3 was unveiled as a quad core processor for 4K media players that would sell for less than $50, but so far devices like TVPP0030 are selling for an unattractive $80, but this may be about to change thanks to devices like Tronsmart Draco H3 HDMI TV stick that are expected to sell between $30 to $40 retail, possibly excluding shipping, and it would then compete against Amlogic S805 platforms such as MK808B Plus that only support 1080p video decoding and output. Preliminary specifications for Tronsmart Draco H3: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 @ 600 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, and Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212 module) Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 male connector up to 4K2K @ 30Hz, with […]

April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

Wintel W8 Dual boot Android 4.4 + Windows 8.1 mini PC Unboxing

Last year, we were promised dual boot mini PC based on Intel that would run Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4, but finally companies decided against shipping a dual boot firmware, and simply loaded Windows 8.1 on their machines. Kingnovel sent me their K8 mini PC, better known as Wintel W8, based on Intel Atom Z3735F, and that can dual boot Windows 8.1 with Bing or Android 4.4. Today, I’ll go through the specs first, take some pictures of the device, and tear it down to have a closer look at the hardware, and in a separate post I’ll quickly check out Windows 8.1, before spending a bit more time on Android 4.4 to see how well or bad Android runs on Intel platforms. Kingnovel K8 / Wintel W8 specifications Hardware-wise the box has mostly the same boring specifications as almost any other Intel Atom Z3735F products on the market: SoC […]

April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments

WiPy Wi-Fi Board for IoT Runs MicroPython on Texas Instruments CC3200 (Crowdfunding)

If you’ve interested in connecting devices via Wi-Fi, you’re being spoiled as “Internet of things” boards keeps getting designed and produced. The latest board with WiPy, a small board powered by Texas Instruments CC3200, running MicroPython, and consuming less than 1mA in suspended mode with Wi-Fi connected. WiPy specifications: MCU – TI CC3200 ARM Cortex-M4 @ 80 MHz with 256KB RAM, Wi-Fi and TCP/IP stack Storage – 2MB flash Connectivity – WiFi 802.11b/g/n 16Mbps (AP, Station and WiFi-Direct), on-board antenna and u.FL connector Expansion – 2x 14-pin headers (2.54mm pitch) with Up to 25 GPIOs 2x UART, SPI, I2C, I2S, and SD card 3×12 bit ADCs Others 4×16 bit timers with PWM and input capture RTC Hash and encryption engines: SHA, MD5, DES, AES Reset switch, heartbeat LED Power Supply – 3.6 – 5.5V DC input; 3.3V output up to 250mA Power Consumption – Active: 14 mA; Suspended (Wi-Fi connected): […]

April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Razor Forge TV SnapDragon 805 Android Game Console is up for Pre-order for $100

Razor Forge TV was first unveiled at CES 2015, and on paper at least looks like a great Android TV console for $100 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 2GB RAM, and 16GB flash. The gaming console can now be pre-ordered in the US for $99.99, although most people might want to get the bundle with the wireless controller for $149.99. Razor Forge TV specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad core Krait 450 CPU @ 2.5GHz per with Adreno 420 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 16GB Video Ouput – HDMI 1.4 output Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, Wireless 802.11ac 2×2, Bluetooth 4.1 + HS USB – 1x USB 3.0 port Power – N/A Dimensions – 105mm x 105mm x 17mm The device will run Android TV 5.0 Lollipop, support up to four controllers, and be Google Cast Ready, meaning it can also be used like a ChromeCast. […]