Embedded Linux Conference 2016 and OpenIoT Summit 2016 Schedule

The Embedded Linux Conference 2016 and the OpenIoT summit 2016 will take place on April 4 – 6, 2016 in San Diego, California, and over 800 attended will meet including kernel & system developers, userspace developers, and product vendors. The Linux Foundation has recently published the schedule, so I’ve had a look at some of the talks, and designed my own virtual schedule to find out more the current development focus although I won’t attend. Monday April 4 10:40am – 11:30am – Linux Connectivity for IoT by Marcel Holtmann, Intel OTC There are many connectivity solutions that available for IoT. For example Bluetooth Low Energy, 802.15.4, Zigbee, OIC, Thread and others. This presentation will provide and overview of the existing technology and upcoming standard and how they tie into the Linux kernel and its ecosystem. 11:40 – 12:30 – BoF: kernelci.org: A Million Kernel Boots and Counting by Kevin Hilman, […]

Wintel Pro CX-W8 Cherry Trail mini PC Sells for $85

I reviewed Wintel W8 mini PC powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F last year, although since the model could dual boot Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 I mostly focused my review on the Android part. There’s now an upgraded model running Windows 10 only, based on Intel Atom x5-Z8300 quad core Cherry Trail processor, and very much the same interfaces except one of the USB 2.0 ports has been upgraded to USB 3.0. Wintel Pro CX-W8 has very similar same specifications to other Cherry Trail mini PCs available on the market: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ 1.44 GHz (Bust freq: 1.84 GHz) with Intel Gen8 HD graphics (2W SDP) System Memory –  2 GB Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI Audio I/O – HDMI, 3.5mm microphone jack Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 […]

GPD Win Windows 10 Portable Gaming Console Launched on Indiegogo for $299

We already knew that GPD HK was working on a Windows 10 handheld gaming console powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8500 Cherry Trail processor, and the company has now decided to launch what they now call “GPD Win” on Indiegogo for $299, and advertise it as a “5.5” Game Handheld Laptop”.GPD Win specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8500 quad-core Cherry Trail processor @ 1.44/2.24 GHz (Burst) with Intel HD Gen8 graphics @ up to 600MHz System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3-1600 Storage – 64GB eMMC 4.51 flash + micro SD slot up to 128GB Display – 5.5″ capacitive touch IPS screen; 1280×720 resolution; Corning Gorilla Glass 3; full lamination technology Video Output- mini HDMI Audio – mini HDMI, 3.5mm headset jack, microphone and speaker; Realtek ALC5645 audio codec Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x micro USB port HID – QWERTY keyboard with […]

Android, Chromium OS, and Ubuntu on Intel Atom x5 Compute Stick. What Works, What Doesn’t.

The latest “STK1AW32SC” Intel Compute Stick, also called Sterling City, is powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, and pre-loaded with Windows 10. There’s also a version with operating systems dubbed STK1A32SC, but currently only the Windows version is available on Amazon US. That doesn’t not mean you can’t try to install other operating systems on the TV stick, and that’s exactly what Ian Morrison has done with Android 4.4 & 5.1, Phoenix OS, Remix OS (alpha), Chromium OS, and Ubuntu.   If you want to know how to install the operating systems, you can follow the instructions for Ubuntu , Chromium OS, or Android/ Remix OS/ Phoenix OS. Bear in mind that installing Android also require that you install Ubuntu first, and there are quite a lot of steps, and once you’ve installed Chromium OS, you could also run Ubuntu using Crouton. So […]

Intel Showcases Mobile & Desktop “Convergence” with Android and Debian Linux on an Atom x3 Smartphone

MaruOS is an operating system combining Android and Debian Linux that – until recently – was developed by a single developer for Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (ARM) based Nexus 5 smartphones, and use Android on the go, while switching to Debian when the phone is connected to a larger display and a keyboard and mouse. It turns out Intel had the same idea, and they worked on an Intel Atom x5 smartphone with 2GB RAM running both Android Lollipop in mobile mode, and Debian Linux as desktop mode when connected to a keyboard dock. Intel does not talk about convergence, but instead calls it “Big Screen Experience”. Based on the picture above taken by WinFutures.de at Mobile World Congress 2016, it appears you can also display both Debian and Android operating systems side-by-side if you wish to. They’ve also shot a video (in German) showing the smartphone run Android, and after […]

Kodi 16 “Jarvis” Release

This morning, I saw Kodi installed from Google Play get an update in one of my Android device, and that means that Kodi 16.0 “Jarvis” has now been released. As usual it’s available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, and iOS, with specific Linux ports for Raspberry Pi boards, and several Freescale/NXP i.MX6 boards such as Wandboard or EzeeCube. You can get the full Changelog in the Wiki, but some of the main changes against Kodi 15 include: Various new features for Live TV and PVR (Personal Video Recorder) Added RDS Radio, FM radio, scheduling recordings of TV shows… Various improvements such as speeding up EPG database access. Added, updated, and improved PVR backend clients addons for all popular third-party external PVR backend platforms: FilmOn, HDHomeRun, Enigma 2, Tvheadend HTSP Client, and so on. Add-ons Framework, API, and Manager improvements Platform Independent Playback improvements : software DTS-HD decode with libdcadec, […]

Intel Compute Stick with Atom x5 Processor is Now available for $150 in the US

Intel unveils five new Compute Stick models last month, including three models with Core-M Skylake processors, and two models with Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor: one with Windows 10 (STK1AW32SC), one without operating system (STK1A32SC). The Skylake model are not available yet, but the Windows 10 version can now be purchased for around $150 on Amazon, Newegg, and CDW. The specifications have not changed since the announcement, but it’s always good to refresh once memory: SoC – Intel Atom x5-Z8300 Quad-Core “Cherry Trail” processor @ 1.44 GHz/1.84 GHz and Intel HD Gen8 Graphics System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L @ 1600MHz Storage – 32 GB eMMC + micro SDXC v3.0 slot with UHS I-Support up to 128GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4b Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi  and Bluetooth 4.0 (via Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265) USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB […]

Open Source Operating Systems News – Maru OS, Zephyr, ReactOS, Tizen 3.0, and Raspbian

There have been several news related to open source operating systems in the last couple of weeks including Maru OS to run Debian on Android, Zephyr Project real-time OS managed by the Linux Foundation, ReactOS an open source port of Windows XP, and Raspberry Pi boards are getting a Tizen 3.0 port, as well as a new Raspbian release. Maru OS – Mobile <-> Desktop  Convergence Maru OS mobile operating system is supposed to do what Ubuntu convergence promised: it runs in mobile mode on the go with Android Lollipop mobile OS, once you connect the phone to an HDMI screen, and pair Bluetooth keyboard and/or mouse, it will switch to desktop mode running Debian Linux. The downside is that so far it a single developer (Preetam D’Souza) worked on it, and the beta version only works on Nexus 5 smartphone. However, since the project went viral, dozen of other […]

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