Giveaway Week – Beelink A9 Quad Core Android TV Box

Beelink A9, the same hardware as Tronsmart A928, will be the fifth box given away this week, and the only quad core device. This Android media player is powered by Rockchip RK3188-T Cortex A9 processor, and comes with 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC Flash, HDMI video output, optical S/PDIF output, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and three USB ports. What got me interested in this device was the released of Android 4.4 SDK, which turned out not to be that useful based on feedback from the community. Nevertheless I got the device and reviewed it last December. I found two critical issues with the firmware: Bluetooth not working, and mediocre Ethernet performance. Apart from that, the firmware was very stable, Wi-Fi performance decent, and features I tested worked as expected. Firmware updates are infrequent. The latest official version dates from January, and there’s a finless one with a 1080p kernel and […]

Development Board with Intel Technology Developed by Rockchip

Just a quick post to show an interesting, yet unavailable development board. A few weeks ago, Intel and Rockchip announced a collaboration to design Intel Atom Sofia x86 SoC for mobile devices. Apparently, they did not waste any time, and have already done some nice work together, as Chen Feng, VP at Rockchip, posted the picture of the development board on his weibo account with a short description that Google’s translate as: You can now showed up, Intel inside, the world’s most highly integrated 6321 smartphones and tablet communications solutions, dual-core WCDMA SOC, integrated WIFI BT GPS PMU, all two chips It’s not entirely clear if it’s directly related to the announced Intel Atom “Sofia” using 3G (WCDMA) however. The 6321 is a dual core processor, but Rockchip and Intel only announced working on quad core processors, so this may be a separate product for example an ARM SoC with […]

Geniatech Announces Dragon Board Industrial SBCs Powered by Amlogic Dual and Quad Core Processors

Not to be confused these DragonBoards, Geniatech has announced two industrial single board boards, namely Dragon Board I and Dragon Board II, respectively powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 SOC, and S801/S802/M805 quad core Cortex A9r4 SoC, and targeting applications such as digital signage player, and display applications for the hospitality industry. Let’s go through the specifications of both boards: SoC Dragon Board I (DB I) – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU Dragon Board II (DB II) – Amlogic S802 quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 @ 2GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory DB I – 1GB (1600Mbps data rate) DB II – 2GB (1600Mbps data rate) Storage – 4GB NAND flash (up to 32GB as option), micro SD card slot, SATA interface Video I/O Common – HDMI output, LVDS, and CVBS. DB I only – VGA DB II only – HDMI input  […]

Amazon Fire Phone Features a Camera Array for Dynamic Perspectives, and Firefly Real-Life Object & Audio Recognition

Amazon first phone has been rumored for a few months, and yesterday Jeff Bezos finally unveiled the Fire Phone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor @ 2.2 GHz, with 2 GB of RAM, a 4.7″  720p display. It also supports 3G and LTE cellular connectivity, and beside a 13MP rear camera, and 2MP front camera, it also features a specialized camera array with four sensors to offer “Dynamic Perspective” and show different information depending on the position of the phone. Beside the hardware, the most notable feature is Firefly an augmented reality application that can recognize objects you may want to buy, and automatically link them to the Amazon store. Let’s go through the hardware specifications first: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core CPU @ 2.2 GHz with Adreno 330 GPU System Memory – 2GB RAM Storage – 32 GB or 64 GB Display – 4.7″ HD LCD display, […]

Giveaway Week – Gbox Midnight MX2 Android Media Player

The fourth prize for this week is Matricom Gbox Midnight MX2, an Android TV box powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core processor with 1GB RAM, 4GB flash, HDMI and AV output, optical S/PDIF, Wi-Fi and Ethernet, and 4 USB ports. The company had specifically worked on the XBMC port at the time, and I found it did a pretty good job. I tested the device in May of last, and I found the firmware to be very stable and responsive, and XBMC works as expected, supporting most video files without issues, except some MPEG-2 had aspect ratio issues,, RMVB files would make XBMC exit, and WebM 1080p could not be played smoothly due to software decode for this particular codec. It could decode all high-end audio codecs such as DTS and Dolby just fine. I did have problems with composite and component outputs but it must have been fixed now. […]

CS918T Quad core Android TV Box with HD Webcam Sells for $60

CS918T is an Android TV Box powered by Rockchip RK3188 quad core SoC with the usual 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, and various ports such as HDMI, USB, Ethernet, etc… that also features a 2MP webcam, and sells for just $59.99 including shipping on Aliexpress. The box does not appear to be related to CS918 / KR-42-1 that was popular a few months ago. CS918T technical specs: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1.6GHz with Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p60, AV output Audio I/O – HDMI, AV, and microphone Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG Camera – Built-in 2MP webcam Misc – Power and reset buttons, IR receiver. Power Supply […]

$99 PCDuino3S is an AllWinner A20 Based Mini PC with a Steel Enclosure

LinkSprite has recently showcased PCDuino3S, a Linux / Android mini PC powered by AllWinner A20 dual core SoC, and with features similar to PCDuino3 development board. Possible applications include media player and thin client terminal for desktop visualization. PCDuino3S technical specifications: SoC – AllWinner A20 Dual Core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1 GHz + Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DRAM Storage – 4GB NAND Flash, internal microSD card slot for up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with HDCP support Audio Output – HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports  1x micro USB OTG port Misc – 2x LEDs, power button Power supply – 5V/2A Dimensions –  12.7 x 6.35 x 2 cm The company provides images for Ubuntu 12.04 and Android 4.2. It should be software compatible with PCDuino3, but based on the “enclosure opening” video below, and the […]

The BeagleBone Black Turns Blue with BlueSteel-Basic, Loses HDMI and Flash

CircuitCo has just introduced BlueSteel-Basic, a development board based on the Beaglebone Black but with a Blue PCB, no HDMI output, and no eMMC flash that’s destined to be used by OEMs in their products. LinuxGizmos also reports that BlueSteel-Basic is to be followed by BlueSteel-IT, an industrial temperature grade (-40 to 100°C) board based on the Beaglebone Black, and Bluesteel-Core, a computer-on-module (CoM) based on Ti Sitara AM335x that are scheduled for July 2014. Let’s checkout BlueSteel-Basic specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358BZCZ100 @ 1GHz (2000 MIPS) with PowerVR SGX530 3D GPU (20M Polygons/S) System Memory – 512MB DDR3L @ 800MHz Storage – micro SD slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (RJ45) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x mini USB 2.0 port Debugging – Serial header and optional on-board 20-pin CTI JTAG Expansion Connectors Signals: Power 5V, 3.3V, VDD_ADC (1.8V) 3.3V I/O On All Signals McASP0, SPI1, […]

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