$15 PINE64 64-Bit ARM Single Board Computer is Powered by Allwinner R18 Processor (Crowdfunding)

It looks like Next Things’ C.H.I.P computer with Allwinner R8 processor will soon have a big brother with PINE A64 board powered by Allwinner R18 / A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor, and made by a US start-up also called PINE 64. PINE A64 and PINE A64+, a version with more memory and features, will have the following specifications: SoC – Allwinner R18 (based on Allwinner A64?) quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory PINE64 –  512 MB DDR3 PINE64+ – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD slot supporting up to 256 GB Video Output HDMI 1.4 up to 4K resolution @ 30 Hz PINE64+ only –  4-lane MIPI DSI connector and touch panel connector Video Codecs – H.265 up to 4K Audio – HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack Connectivity PINE64 – Fast Ethernet + optional WiFi & Bluetooth module PINE64+ – […]

UP Board Gets 2GB RAM and 32GB Storage Option, Linux Port in Progress

The UP Board is a Raspberry Pi like board with an Intel Atom processor that’s currently on Kickstarter with a few hours left, and it has just reached its 100,000 Euros stretch goal meaning that beside the 16GB storage / 1 GB version, a version with 32Gb storage and 2GB is now offered. The company also showed their progress with the implementation Debian based Ubilinux on the Intel Atom x5-Z8350 board. That means the specifications have now been updated: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8350 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Burst frequency: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics @ 500 MHz System Memory –  1 GB or 2 GB DDR3L-1600 Storage – 16 or 32 GB eMMC Video Output / Display – HDMI, DSI connector Audio I/O – HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet USB – 4x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x USB 2.0 pin header, 1x micro […]

Inforce 6309 micro SBC is Software Compatible with DragonBoard 410c Board, Includes an Ethernet Port

I’ve recently written a review of DragonBoard 410c with Android, one of the first board part of Linaro’s 96Boards initiative that’s supposed to get Android and Debian distributions with recent Linux kernel & U-Boot, together with full source code. Inforce Computing has now launched Inforce 6309 micro Single Board Computer (SBC) with the same footprint, albeit different connectors’ placements, and software compatible with DragonBoard 410c development board powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor. The board targets applications such as industrial automation, “sophisticated” IoE devices, medical devices, augmented reality computing, and robotics and drones. Inforce 6309 micro single board computer specifications: SoC- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (APQ8016) quad-core ARM CortexA53 @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU and Hexagon QDSP6 @ 700 MHz System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 @ 533MHz, Single-channel 32-bit (4.2GBps) Storage – 8GB eMMC flash (eMCP package with RAM) + micro SD slot Video Output / Display […]

One Education’s Infinity is a Rugged Modular Laptop for Kids (Crowdfunding)

Could 2016 be the year where modular / DIY laptops take off? Several projects has now in progress for modular laptops with Olimex’ OLinuXino DIY laptop project,  Rhombus Tech’s MIPS based laptop with EOMA-68 module, and now  One Education, has taken the footsteps of the OLPC (One Laptop Project per Child) project, by launching Infinity modular laptop on Indiegogo (flexible campaign) with delivery scheduled for September 2016. Infinity laptop / tablet hybrid specifications (subject to change): SoC – Quad core processor @ 1.4 GHz System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8GB + micro SD slot Display – 8.9″ capacitive touchscreen display with 2560×1600 resolution Audio – Dual mode audio In/Out Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth USB – USB type C connector Misc – Dock with keyboard and touchpad Battery – 7,000 mAh The laptop prototype currently runs Android Lollipop with a Linux distributions (Ubuntu) in development. The laptops will […]

GeekBox is a Hackable Android and Linux TV Box Powered by Rockchip RK3368 SoC

There are many Android TV boxes on the market based on Rockchip RK3368 processor, while I’m not aware of any development board based on the latest Rockchip octa-core processor, and Linux support is basically inexistent. One device may fill both gaps: GeekBox. This TV box can run both Android and Ubuntu Linux, while it’s easily disassembled to access expansion headers. The hardware specifications are a little higher-end than most Rockchip RK3368 TV boxes we’ve seen so far: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3@1600Mbps Storage – 16GB Samsung eMMC v5.0 flash + micro SD slot Video Output / Display I/F HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60Hz with CEC support Display + touchscreen headers Audio Output – HDMI Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n + 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO @ 867 Mbps (AP6354 module), Bluetooth 4.1 USB […]

Converting H.264 Videos to VP9 In Linux / Ubuntu

1080p videos are all good, but my Internet connection’s upload speed is limited to 512 Kbps, so for example uploading a 20 minutes H.264 video shot at 1080p30 may easily take 10 hours, even after some processing with Handbrake. So this week-end I investigated how I could reduce the upload size, and going with H.265 codec appeared to be a good idea at first. So I tried again H.265 encoding in Handbrake in Ubuntu 14.04, and discovered that adjusting CRF (constant quality factor) to 25 with H.265 was roughly equivalent to 20 with H.264, and both the compression ratio and encoding speed were greatly improved compared to default settings with a minor degradation in quality. If you happen to have a second generation Nvidia Maxwell graphics card you may want to check Nvidia Video Encoding SDK for speedier encoding. All was good until I decided to upload a test video, […]

TBS5520 Multi-Standard Tuner Box and Linux Drivers

TBS Technologies is a company that specializes in digital TV tuner cards for PC, and recently they’ve also worked on ARM based boards or devices such as the Matrix 2. The company has sent me one of their TBS5520 USB tuner board and box supporting DVB-T2, DVB-S2, DVB-C and ISDB-T for evaluation, as well as some Linux drivers. Today, I’ll provide some specifications, take some pictures, and show how I compiled and installed the drivers in my Ubuntu 14.04 computer. TBS 5520 Tuner Box specifications TBS5520 is a multi-standard USB tuner with the following features: USB – USB 2.0 device port Antenna connectors – 1x LNB IN, 1x RF IN Standards DVB-S2/S Symbol rate: 1~45Msps; FEC  DVB-S2: 8PSK: 3/5, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 5/6, 8/9, 9/10; DVB-S:  QPSK: 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8 DVB-T2/T  Receiving channel: VHF band, UHF band; Bandwidth: 1.7,5, 6, 7, 8 MHz; FEC: QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM […]

Nvidia Tegra X1 Development Board is Finally Available… for $599

When Nvidia introduced Nvidia Tegra X1 octa processor with a 256-core Maxwell GPU at the very beginning of the year, I was expecting Jetson TX1 is follow suit in the next few months, but instead the company launched Nvidia Shield Android TV box based on the processor. The company has now launched Jetson TX1 module and development board. Let’s check the module first and its main specifications and features: SoC – Nvidia Tegra X1 octa core processor with 4x ARM Cortex A57 cores, 4x ARM Cortex A53 cores, and a 256-core Maxwell GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 (25.6 gigabits/second) Storage – 16GB eMMC Connectivity – 802.11ac 2×2 Bluetooth ready, Gigabit Ethernet Video –  4K video encode and decode Camera – Support for 1400 megapixels/second Dimensions – 50mm x 87mm The module support Linux4Tegra operating system based on Ubuntu. Libraries and drivers to leverage the Maxwell GPU include cuDNN  CUDA-accelerated […]

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