ARM TechCon 2015 Schedule – IoT, Servers, 64-bit ARM, Power Usage Optimization, and More

The ARM Technology Conference (ARM TechCon) will take place on November 10 – 12, 2015, in Santa Clara Convention Center, and just like every year, there will be a free exposition for companies to showcase their latest innovation and/or products, as well as a technical conference with sessions and workshops sorted into various tracks: Automotive/Embedded Vision Embedded IoT Mobile/Connectivity Networking Infrastructure/Servers Tools & Implementation Wearables/Sensors ARM Training Day Sponsored Vendor Training Special Event General Event Software Developers Workshop You can find the complete schedule on ARM TechCon website. Although I won’t attend, I’ve created my own virtual schedule with some of the sessions I found interesting. Tuesday – November 10 8:30 – 9:20 – ARM Vision for Thermal Management and Energy Aware Scheduling on Linux by Ian Rickards (ARM), Charles Garcia-Tobin (ARM), Bobby Batacharia (ARM) This talk will cover the history and where are we going, for ARM’s Power Software (IPA, […]

Amazon Fire TV 2015 Features Mediatek MT8173 Cortex A72 & A53 Processor

Last year, Amazon launched the Amazon Fire TV box based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor for $100. The company has recently introduced an upgraded model powered by Mediatek MT8173 quad core processor (2x Cortex A72, 2x Cortex A53), and with support for 4K videos, while keeping the same price tag. Fire TV 2015 specifications: SoC – Mediatek MT8173 quad core processor with 2x ARM Cortex A72 cores @ 2.0 GHz and two ARM Cortex A53 cores @ 1.6 Ghz, and a PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 2GB Storage – 8GB internal storage + micro SD slot up to 128GB Video Output – HDMI up to 2160p30, 108060, 720p60. HDMI CEC and HDCP 2.2 support Video Codecs – H.265, H.264 Audio Support Codecs – AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC) Dolby Audio, 5.1 surround sound, 2ch stereo, and HDMI audio pass through up […]

Nvidia Shield Android TV vs Apple TV vs Roku 3 vs Fire TV vs Nexus Player – Video Capabilities and Features Comparison

Since Nvidia released the Shield Android TV box, I’ve heard several people saying Nvidia raised the bar and even disrupted the TV box market by bringing a powerful HTPC and gaming console to the market for just $199. The company has now released OTA 2.0 firmware that improves HTPC capabilities, including under Kodi and Plex, and the box supports for 10-bit HEVC, H.264, and VP9 @ 4K, and audio pass-through for HD audio codecs such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master. As part of the release announcement, Nvidia also compared the Shield TV media capabilities to the ones of other US centric media players, namely Apple TV (2015), Roku 3, Amazon Fire TV (2015), and Nexus Player. Since it comes from Nvidia, it was also going to show the Shield TV in a good light, but I’m very surprised to see that Apple, Amazon, Google, and Roku would ship a […]

Voyo V2 mini PC Unboxing and Teardown

Voyo V2 would be yet another Intel Atom Z3735F based mini PC if it did not have a battery, and 96GB internal storage with 32GB eMMC flash, and a 64GB SSD. Most Atom mini PCs only comes with 32GB, and based on my experience, internal storage fills pretty quickly with Windows 10 or 8.1, especially if you intend to use the device as a desktop PC, and that even may be an issue with Linux distributions, albeit to a lesser extend. However, a lot of questions were asked about that “64GB SSD”, with even some readers suggesting it might be an internal SD card instead of SSD :). Today, we’re going to find out the truth as GearBest kindly sent me a sample for review. Voyo V2 Unboxing The mini PC package has a sticker in Chinese showing the brand (VOYO), model (MiniPC-Box_V2), and listing memory ans storage as “2GB+32GB […]

Pixel C is an Nvidia Tegra X1 Android 6.0 Tablet & Laptop with a 2560×1800 Display

Google has already announced their latest Nexus 5X & 6P smartphones, as well as ChromeCast 2.0 & Audio, but the most exciting product announcement might be the Pixel C tablet boasting an Nvidia Tegra X1 processor with 3GB RAM, 32 to 64GB storage, and a 10.2″ touchscreen display with a cool 2560×1800 resolution. The tablet can easily be converted into a laptop thanks to an optional magnetically attached Bluetooth keyboard. Google Pixel C preliminary specifications: SoC – NVIDIA Tegra X1 octa-core processor with 4x Cortex A57 cores, 4x Cortex A53 cores, and a 256-core Maxwell GPU System Memory – 3GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32 or 64 GB internal storage Display – 10.2″ capacitive touchscreen with 2560×1800 resolution; 500 nit brightness Audio – Stereo speakers, four microphones Camera – Rear and front-facing cameras USB – USB Type C connector Battery – Yes… Dimensions & weight – No idea… Nvidia mentions that […]

Google Officially Unveils Nexus 5X & 6P Android 6.0 Smartphones

Google released Android 6.0 “Marshmallow” SDK and final preview last month, and the first stable Android 6.0 release is expected on the first week of October on recent Nexus devices, including the latest Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P just announced by Google. Here are the specs of the two phones: LG Nexus 5X Specifications SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) dual core Cortex-A57 @ 1.82 GHz  and quad core Cortex-A53 @ 1.44 GHz with Adreno 418 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 Storage – 16 or 32GB storage, no micro SD slot Display – 5.2″ capacitive touchscreen (1920×1080 resolution), Gorilla Glass 3 with fingerprint and smudge-resistant oleophobic coating Audio – Front facing speaker, 3 microphones with noise cancellation, 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS, NFC Cellular Connectivity All versions – GSM/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; single nano SIM card North America – […]

ARNU Box Mach Q Kodi 15 Linux TV Box Specs, Unboxing and Teardown

After having a look at ARNU Box Mach 10 Pure Linux earlier today, I’ll move on to its little brother ARNU Box Mach Q featuring an Amlogic S805 processor with support for H.265 video playback at Full HD. I’ll start by listing the specs, then I’ll take a few pictures, and finally check the board. ARNU Box Mach Q (Pure Linux) specifications Again, the hardware specifications are pretty standard: SoC – Amlogic S805 quad core ARM Cortex A5 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB storage + SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p60, AV output Audio Output – HDMI, AV, optical S/PDIF USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR sensor, Status and Net LEDs Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 107.5 x 107.5 x […]

ARNU Box Mach 10 Pure Linux TV Box Specs, Unboxing, and Teardown

Theater in a Box sent me not one – as expected – but two of their latest “Pure Linux” Kodi media player: ARNU Box Mach 10 powered by Amlogic S812 SoC, and ARNU Box Q based on Amlogic S805 processor. The former has a faster processor, and supports 4K, while the later is cheaper but is limited to 1080p. Today, I’ll have a look at the hardware of both devices, starting with ARNU Box Mach 10, before completing the S812 Linux box review in a few days. ARNU Box Mach 10 Specifications The hardware specifications are pretty similar to what the rest of the market is offering: SoC – Amlogic S812 quad core cortex A9r4 @ 2.0 GHz with octa-core Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB flash, SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6330 wireless module) […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design