Sudomaker LoShark L1 LoRa USB dongle runs Linux on Ingenic X1501 MIPS processor

LoShark L1 LoRa Linux USB dongle

Sudomaker LoShark L1 is a USB dongle with Semtech SX1262/SX1268 LoRa transceiver and a Linux-capable Ingenic X1501 MIPS processor with 8MB on-chip memory that serves as a LoRa debug tool that can use a JavaScript interface to access to all SX126x chip registers. The LoShark L1 USB key offers both LoRa connectivity and debugging capabilities such as packet capture (hence the reference to WireShark) and can operate either independently (standalone) or in conjunction with a PC as shown below with a mini laptop.     LoShark L1 specifications: SoC – Ingenic X1501 MIPS processor @ 1 GHz with 8MB DRAM, 2200+ CoreMark, Memory – Optional 8MB PSRAM (Lyontek LY68L6400SLIT) Storage – 4GB MLC or 256 MB SLC NAND flash Wireless connectivity HJSIP HJ-68LR LoRa module based on Semtech SX1262/SX1268 with TCXO Support for 433 MHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz bands SMA-F antenna connector USB – 1x USB Type-A male […]

Qualcomm Iris video decoder & encoder gets Linux V4L2 driver

Qualcomm Iris V4L2 video encoder decoder driver

Qualcomm engineer Vikash Garodia has just pushed a commit to add “Qualcomm Iris V4L2 encoder/decoder driver” to mainline Linux enabling support for H.264, H.265, and VP9 decoding, H.264 and H.265 encoding, as well as M2M and STREAMING capabilities. The Adreno GPUs found in Qualcomm SoC have been supported by the open-source Freedreno driver for several years, but this was not the case with the IP block taking care of hardware video encoding and decoding. The latest patchset addresses this issue for “Qualcomm’s new video acceleration hardware architecture”, meaning it might not work for older Qualcomm processors. The list of features implemented in the Iris V4L2 encoder/decoder driver: Centralized resource and memory management. Centralized management of core and instance states. Defines platform-specific capabilities and features providing a single point of control to enable/disable a given feature depending on specific platform capabilities. Handles hardware interdependent configurations. Handles multiple complex video scenarios involving […]

Ubuntu Touch 20.04 OTA-2 adds support for Fairphone 3, Volla Phone X23, F(x)tec Pro1 X smartphones

Ubuntu Smartphone with physical keyboard

UBPorts has just released Ubuntu Touch 20.04 OTA-2 based on Ubuntu 20.04 with three new phones supported namely the Fairphone 3, the Volla Phone X23, and F(x)tec Pro1 X with the latter being introduced in 2020 in a crowdfunding campaign claiming Ubuntu Touch support. Ubuntu Touch was initially an initiative by Canonical for desktop/mobile convergence, but when the company decided to refocus its efforts on cloud and IoT, the UBPorts community took over and eventually outed the first stable Ubuntu Touch release in June 2017. Work has continued since then and with the Ubuntu Touch 20.04 OTA-2 release, the community-supported distribution now supports 15 smartphones with the Fairphone 4, Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL, Oneplus 5 and 5T, OnePlus 6 and 6T, Vollaphone and Vollaphone X, Vollaphone 22, Xiaomi Mi A2, Xiaomi Poco M3, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 and 7 Pro, besides the three new mobile devices added to […]

e-con systems See3CAM_24CUG USB 3.1 global shutter camera review

See3CAM_24CUG USB 3.1 camera review

e-con Systems See3CAM_24CUG a full HD color global shutter USB 3.1 Gen 1 camera based on an Onsemi AR0234CS CMOS image sensor capable of capturing moving scenes at up to 120 fps. This global shutter camera is especially useful for robotics and other applications that may require a high frame rate such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR), gesture recognition, drones, barcode scanners, factory automation, conveyor monitoring cameras, and traffic monitoring systems. e-con Systems sent a See3CAM_24CUG USB global shutter camera sample to CNX Software for review. I’ll go through an unboxing before testing in Ubuntu with both an AMD Ryzen 7 2700U laptop and a Raspberry Pi 4 single board computer. It happens to be based on the same sensor as the e-CAM20_CURB camera for Raspberry Pi 4 that we reviewed last year. See3CAM_24CUG specifications ON Semiconductor AR0234CS CMOS sensor with 1/2.6″ optical form-factor Global […]

Tungsten700 SMARC SoM and devkit features MediaTek Genio 700 AIoT processor

Tungsten700 SMARC carrier board

Laird Connectivity Tungsten700 SOM is a SMARC system-on-module powered by a MediaTek Genio 700 Arm Cortex-A78/A55 AIoT processor with up to 8GB LPDDR4, 16GB eMMC flash, and a Sona MT320 Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth 5.3 module based on the Filogic 320 chipset. The board was designed by Boundary Devices, recently acquired by Laird, and is offered with a SMARC 2.1 carrier board that can be used for development or as a single board computer integrated into designs. Tungsten700 SMARC module Tungsten700 specifications: SoC – MediaTek Genio 700 (MT8390) CPU – Octa-core processor with 2x Arm Cortex-A78 cores @ up to 2.2 GHz, 6x Arm Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 2.0 GHz GPU – ARM Mali-G57 MC3 GPU VPU as in “Video Processing Unit” Encode up to 4Kp30 HEVC/H.264 Decode up to 4Kp75 HEVC/H.264/AV1/VP9 VPU as in “Vision Processing Unit” – Tensilica VP6 Vision Processing Unit ISP Single Camera: 32MP @ 30FPS Dual […]

Armbian Ubuntu 23.04 can now run on Lenovo X13S Arm laptop

Lenovo X13S Arm Laptop Armbian

The Lenovo X13S Windows 11 Arm laptop based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 processor can now run Armbian-built Ubuntu 23.04 Lunar images with GNOME or XFCE desktop environment. But before getting too excited note that this is a work-in-progress (WiP) port, so while it’s a nice development, there may be some issues. Let’s have a look at the available information. When laptop manufacturers started to sell Windows Arm laptops with Qualcomm processors, people wondered whether it would be possible to run Linux on the device, and a community formed around the idea of porting Linux to the Windows Arm laptops, and that gave rise to projects such as Aarch64 laptop. But the latter has not had any activity for a couple of years, and all the supported laptops are only partially supported. But Ricardo Pardini did some work to create an Armbian build for the Lenovo ThinkPad X13S […]

Turing RK1 RK3588 system-on-module for cluster boards is now available (for pre-order)

Turing RK1 RK3588 SoM

Turing Pi has been making mini-ITX cluster boards for Raspberry Pi CM4 and NVIDIA Jetson modules for over four years, but last year, the company teased their own Turing RK1 system-on-module based on a powerful Rockchip RK3588 Arm processor with 6 TOPS NPU while launching the Turing Pi 2 cluster board on Kickstarter and raising over 2 million dollars in the process. The Turing RK1 is now available for pre-order with the 8GB RAM going for $130, the 16GB model for $170, and you’d have to spend $260 if you need 32GB RAM. Most people will probably want to add $10 to purchase the RK1 heatsink with a built-in fan as well. Pre-orders are expected to start shipping on October 27. Turing RK1 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Arm Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 MP4 […]

Youyeetoo X1 – A Compact Intel Jasper Lake SBC going for $110 and up

Youyeetoo X1 SBC

Youyeetoo X1 is a compact Intel Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake SBC with up to 16GB RAM, optional eMMC flash of up to 256GB capacity, support for an M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD,  up to three video outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional WiFi and Bluetooth or 4G LTE connectivity. In some ways, it reminds me of the Zimaboard, but the X1 SBC comes with an 11th Gen Jasper Lake processor instead of a 7th Gen Apollo Lake processor, it’s cooled with a fan and heatsink instead of being fanless and does offer more I/Os. Youteetoo X1 specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core Jasper Lake processor @ 2.0 GHz / 2.9GHz (Turbo), with Intel UHD Graphics @ up  to 800MHz; TDP: 10W System Memory – 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB LPDDR4 Storage Optional eMMC flash with 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB capacity M.2 Key-M socket for M.2 2280 NVMe or SATA SSD SATA […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC