Android Category - Page 70 of 452 - CNX Software

February 28, 2020July 3, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

UBPorts Unity8 Convergence Environment Becomes Lomiri

Back in April 2017, Canonical decided to refocus Ubuntu development for the Cloud and IoT, dropping their mobile/desktop convergence efforts. So Unity8 environment was dropped in favor of GNOME desktop environment, which to this date is still used in recent versions of Ubuntu Desktop operating system. As a reminder, Unity8 was both suitable for desktop PCs, as well as smartphones and tablets through Ubuntu Touch. But at the time, it was working fairly well, even found in devices such as BQ Aquaris M10 tablets. Since the code was open source, UBPorts developer community was formed and a few months later they released their first image for supported phones such as OnePlus One, FairPhone 2, or Optimus L90. The community is still active, and until recently kept using Unity8 name, but there were some drawbacks Unity8 will now become Lomiri pronounced “Low-mee-ree”. So why did they change exactly? A few reasons: […]

February 27, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Allwinner H616 TV Box Processor Comes with Mali G31 GPU, Supports Android 10

Allwinner H6 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with Arm Mali-T720 GPU was launched in 2017 and made its way into various TV boxes and SBC’s. But last year, we got some news of lower-cost versions of the processor with Allwinner H603 and H6 VC200-OS SoC’s. Allwinner H616 Processor Advantages So the first time, I read about Allwinner H616, I thought it was yet another variant of little interest. But it turns out H616 is the first processor from the company with a Bitfrost GPU, namely Mali G31MP2, meaning it supports Vulkan, and down the line, it could potentially be supported by Panfrost open-source graphics driver. Another positive for the processor is support for Android 10, while AFAIK other H6 processors are stuck to Android 9.0. Another advantage is low power consumption leading to lower CPU temperature. It might be a process change or some other optimizations in the silicon, we just don’t […]

February 26, 2020 by Dejan Petrović - 4 Comments

VOIXATCH Smartwatch Comes with a Detachable Bluetooth Headset (Crowdfunding)

As a Kickstarter project, VOIXATCH introduces the world’s first smartwatch device which puts essential features of all the devices we carry with us in one unit. This watch does everything that smartwatches do, plus it has a built-in Bluetooth headset. Other smartwatches can be used with Bluetooth headset, but VOIXATCH has a Bluetooth ring-look-like headset docked on it, and the headset can be detached anytime and used for phone calls or listening to the music. One can call it a headset smartwatch. Cool, huh? After Mobile World Congress 2019, where Voixatch demonstrated the watch, it is finally available for “purchase” on Kickstarter rewards starting at $179 and first batch delivery expected in June. VOIXATCH embodies LTE, GPS connectivity in an all-in-one truly wireless design that can be used with Google Voice. The watch can also be used as a cellular smartwatch with a bezel headset to make calls and stay […]

February 26, 2020 by Stephen Vicinanza - 2 Comments

Cosmo Communicator 2-in-1 Phone/Mini Laptop can now Dual Boot Debian Linux and Android

The Cosmo Communicator The Cosmo Communicator was released as a crowdfunded handheld device mixing smartphone and a small laptop features such as keyboard and display. It was launched in late 2019 and ran Google Android. Didn’t Ship with Linux Support The original units were shipped and fulfilled the requirements of the crowdfunding campaign, but still were missing something the company had wanted to provide: support for Linux. Debian Linux Support This is now fixed as Planet Computers, the company that makes Cosmo Communicator, just released a version of Debian Linux, that can be installed on the system, with the tools that the company has provided for free on its website. Other Linux Phones There has been some movement in the world of Linux Phones, with the advent of the Purism Librem 5 and the Pine64 PinePhone using the familiar touchscreen interface found in the vast majority of smartphones. Quick Basics […]

February 25, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Lantronix Snapdragon 865 Development Kit to Support Android 11

If you ever wanted to develop applications for the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Intrinsyc is always the first company to provide Snapdragon hardware development kits and we’ve covered many over the years including Open-Q 845 HDK and Open-Q 855 HDK. The company has recently been bought by Lantronix, a provider of solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Out of Band Management (OOBM), and we covered one of their products – an RJ45 connector running Linux – over 6 years ago. Lantronix Snapdragon 865 Mobile Hardware Development Kit is the first devkit announced since the acquisition. The board is powered by the latest Snapdragon 865 (SM8250) processor combined with 6GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB UFS 3.0 storage. The development kit currently supports Android 10, but it will be one of the first hardware to officially run Android 11 just previewed by Google. Snapdragon 865 Mobile HDK specifications: SoC – Qualcomm […]

February 23, 2020February 23, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Toradex Launches New Verdin Arm SoM Family Starting with iMX8M Mini/Nano Modules

So far, Toradex had two Arm-based system-on-module families with the smaller, lower-power Colibri and more powerful Apalis modules. The Colibri form factor was first defined in 2005, and the company is still maintaining it, but since then new interfaces have emerged, so Toradex has now designed a new low-power module family called Verdin. Toradex Verdin modules offer more I/Os with a 260-pin edge connector, include a battery-ready design with a wide input voltage range (3.3 to 5V), low power 1.8V IOs, the ability to easily extend power management to carrier board peripherals, and off-the-shelf thermal solutions. The modules are also tested for EMC, shock and vibration tolerance, and “Toradex Direct Breakout” is said to simplify signal routing on carrier boards as high speed, impedance critical signals are routed from the source IC to the edge connector on the Verdin module in such a ways to limit complexity on the carrier […]

February 22, 2020April 15, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ADLINK Industrial-Pi (I-Pi) SMARC Development Kit Features Rockchip PX30 SoC

ADLINK Technology has just announced the Industrial-Pi (I-Pi) SMARC Development Kit to help engineers quickly design prototypes for industrial applications using peripherals and sensors. The I-Pi SMARC development kit is comprised of a baseboard, LEC-PX30 SMARC-compliant Rockchip PX30 system-on-module, an acrylic case, a 12V/2A power supply, USB cable, and a 32GB MicroSD card. The company promotes the kit as “an industrial-ready substitute for Arduino and Raspberry Pi (RPi) platforms that are commonly used for prototyping but cannot typically be ‘dropped’ into an industrial solution as-is“. LEC-PX30 SMARC System-on-Module Specifications: SoC – Rockchip PX30 Quad-core Arm Cortex-A35 CPU with TrustZone technology, ARMv8 Cryptography Extensions, Mali-G31 GPU System Memory – 1GB or 2GB DDR3L at 1066/1333 MHz Storage – 8, 16, 32 or 64 GB eMMC flash Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet from SoC, 10/100M Ethernet via LAN9514 USB 2.0 Ethernet controller Video Decoding – H.264 up to 1080p60, H.265/HEVC up to 1080p60, […]

February 20, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Google Releases Android 11 Developer Preview – What’s New?

I’ve only just upgraded my Xiaomi Mi A2 phone to Android 10 earlier this week, but Google is already preparing for the next version of the mobile operating system, and the company has already released the first developer preview for Android 11 OS. Enhancements for foldables and 5G, call-screening APIs, new media & camera capabilities, and machine learning are some of the improvements brought to Android 11 so far. Some of Android 11 highlights include: Updates of existing connectivity APIs to take advantage of improved 5G speeds. Dynamic meteredness API to check whether the connection is unmetered in order to offer higher resolution or quality for users who don’t need to pay extra for data Bandwidth estimator API to check the downstream/upstream bandwidth without having to poll the network. Pinhole and waterfall screen support – Pinhole screens are the ones with a round opening for the camera, and waterfall […]