Google has been developing Fuchsia open source operating system based on Zircon kernel for several years. It’s still unclear what’s the end goal. Will it replace Android or/and Chrome OS, ditching the Linux kernel for Zircon in the process? We don’t know, and Google claims its an experimental endeavor. Only the future will tell. We’ve had access to the source code since 2016, but Google has now launched a dedicated developer website for Fuchsia: fuchsia.dev This is year 2019, and Google being a Western company it should not be surprising the first part of the documentation is a Code of Conduct, but there’s also plenty of technical documentation with a glossary, getting started guide, building instructions, an overview of the OS, code samples, and instructions to contribute either by testing or submitting changes to Gerrit. Fuchsia is strictly a 64-bit operating system at this stage with support for Arm64 and […]
Khadas VIM3 Review – Part 1: Kit Unboxing and Assembly
We started to read about Khadas VIM3 in May of this year as an Amlogic S922X development board with an M.2 socket for NVMe SSD, and 802.11ac WiFi 5 & Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module. Eventually, Shenzhen Wesion decided to change the processor to Amlogic A311D before the launch last month, since it does not cost much more, but includes a 5.0 TOPS neural processing engine. The company has sent me a Khadas VIM3 kit for evaluation and review. Before going through the software part, and especially the tools for the NPU which will be one of the highlights of the board, I’ll check out what I received today, and show how to assemble the kit. Khadas VIM3 Kit Unboxing The package is rather boring… But what’s really important is what’s inside… We’ve got an enclosure, a smaller package with the board itself, a USB-C power supply, a thermal pad + […]
Vosen V1 S905X2 Android TV Box Doubles as a Home Gateway with IR Blaster and Z-Wave Support
At first look, Vosen V1 appears to be like any other 4K HDR Android TV box powered by Amlogic S905X2 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, but it offers a bit more thanks to a built-in IR blaster allowing you to control other appliances in the room such as air conditioner, television, or A/V receiver. The box can be further enhanced by plugging-in a Z-Wave USB adapter to control & monitor even more compatible devices around the house such as light bulbs or water-leak sensors. Vosen V1 specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X2 quad core Arm Cortex-A53 with Mali-G31 MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot up to 32GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.1 output up to 4K @ 75 Hz with HDR, 3.5mm AV port (composite + stereo audio) Video Codecs – VP9 Profile-2 up to 4K 60fps, 10-bit H.265/HEVC up to […]
Khadas VIM3 SBC Launched with Amlogic A311D Processor, 5 TOPS NPU
We’ve previously written about Khadas VIM3 Amlogic S922X development board and revealed the price tag for VIM3 Basic ($69.99) and VIM3 Pro ($99.99) with a launch date announced for June 24. As time has passed, this has become “fake news” except for the launch date, as Khadas VIM3 SBC has indeed launched but for $99.99 (Basic) and $139.99 (Pro). What’s going on? Why the large price increase? That’s because Khadas team has decided to provide a more powerful platform to the community, and replace Amlogic S922X processor with Amlogic A311D processor boasting higher clock speeds and a 5.0 TOPS NPU. Another version may also become available later on with the soon-to-be-released Amlogic S922X-B processor whose Cortex-A73 cores are clocked at up to 2.2 GHz, instead of 1.7 GHz for the original Amlogic S922X processor that will be referred to Amlogic S922X-A in the future. New Khadas VIM3 SBC specifications: SoC […]
Ugoos X2 Cube Android 9.0 TV Box also Serves as a SAMBA Server
Ugoos X2 Cube is a tiny Android 9.0 TV box powered by the latest Amlogic S905X2 processor coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB flash storage. The new Amlogic processor happens to have a USB 3.0 port which provides good storage performance, and the box is also equipped with a Gigabit Ethernet port, which should make the device especially suitable for network storage beside the usual 4K HDR video playback or streaming offered by any typical Amlogic S905X2 TV box. However in most cases, the firmware provided for such TV boxes does not offer an option to easily configure a SAMBA server (aka Windows network share), so you’d need to either mess up with the firmware configuration yourself, or install a paid app. Ugoos is different since they long have had the option to enable NFS & SAMBA client and/or server in the settings, and Ugoos X2 Cube is no different. […]
Ugoos AM6 Fanless S922X TV Box Launched for $150
For those that have been waiting for the launch of the Ugoos AM6 S922X TV box, enough of the anticipation. The long wait is now finally over! Earlier in April, we reported the increased mass production of Amlogic processors. With the Ugoos AM6 taking the lead, producing a fan cooled prototype. We are pleased to inform you that a fanless version of the TV box has finally been released, and is available in the market for just $150. Also, we now have some photos of its enclosure While Beelink GT1-K launched around mid-April, its specifications are slightly different from Ugoos features. What Features to Expect from the new AM6 Main Features An Android 9.0 operating system. Fully equipped with the Amlogic S922X CPU, Quad core, ARM Cortex-A73, 1.7GHz + Dual-core ARM Cortex A53 1.8GHz. An ARM Mali-G52 MP6 ( 6ppc ) GPU Up to 2GB LPDDR4 RAM + 16GB EMMC […]
C.H.I.P. is Back via PopCorn Computer with Allwinner or Amlogic Processor (Crowdfunding)
C.H.I.P was a $9 Linux computer launched in 2015 by Next Things Co., and followed by the $16 C.H.I.P Pro in 2016. Sadly the company eventually encountered financial troubles and had to fold last year. But the design was open source hardware, Source Parts managed to get hold of several original Allwinner GR8 systems-in-package, and in April we reported that they sold Kettlepop, a limited edition of a CHIP Pro derivative fitted with 8GB eMMC flash. Source Parts is now back with three CHIP lookalikes: Popcorn Original based on Allwinner R8/A13 Arm Cortex-A8 processor with 512MB RAM, and 32GB eMMC flash and 100% software compatible with the original C.H.I.P computer Super Popcorn Computer powered by Amlogic S905D quad-core Cortex-A53 processor Super ‘8’ Popcorn Computer powered by Amlogic S912 octa-core Cortex-A53 processor Popcorn Original is basically the same as C.H.I.P board except for the 32GB eMMC flash storage replacing the 4GB […]
Khadas VIM3 Development Board to Launch for $69.99 and Up on June 24
After ODROID-N2, Khadas VIM3 is the second Amlogic S922X powered development board to become available to the maker community. However, while the former have been available for a couple of month, we only knew most of Khadas VIM3 specifications so far. Shenzhen Wesion has now announced a launch date and pricing for the board, and as well as released a few more details. Khadas VIM3 Basic and Pro will start selling on June 24 for respectively $69.99 with 2GB RAM and 16GB flash, and $99.99 with 4GB RAM and 32GB flash. Those prices are very attractive, and competitive against ODROID-N2 due to the extra features like built-in flash. The downside is that those are introductory prices that will be effective for the first production batch and until July 22, 2019 only, after which prices will increase. The company also provided a comparison table showing the main difference between their earlier […]