Banana Pi BPI-M4 RPi 3+ Lookalike Board with 4K Video, M.2 Socket Launched for $38

Banana Pi BPI-M4

Banana Pi BPI-M4 was unveiled at the beginning of the year as an alternative to Raspberry Pi 3B+ with the same form factor, but equipped with a more capable processor, namely Realtek RTD1395 with support for 4K video output and decoding, Gigabit Ethernet support, PCIe, etc.. SinoVoIP has however made the choice not to go with Gigabit Ethernet, and opted for a cheaper design with Fast Ethernet instead. Having said that, the 4K capabilities of the processor, and PCIe via an M.2 socket are still leveraged in the company’s latest Banana Pi board. What’s changed is that Banana Pi BPI-M4 is now available on Aliexpress for $38 plus shipping in 1GB RAM + 8GB flash storage configuration. Banana Pi BPI-M4 specifications have not changed: SoC – Realtek RTD1395 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with Mali-470 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR4 (option 2 GB) Storage – 8G eMMC flash […]

Komikan is a Realtek WiFi 802.11ac Wave2 Module & Development Kit

Komikan Development Kit

8devices has been developping and selling WiFi modules such as their Rambutan Atheros module, and the now-discontinued Carambola module. The company is now back with Komikan, an 802.11ac Wave 2 + Bluetooth 4.1 module, as well as the corresponding Komikan development kit. Komikan 802.11ac Wave 2 Module Specifications: CPU – Realtek RTL8197FS MIPS 24Kc processor @ 1 GHz System Memory – 128 MB RAM Storage – 32MB flash Connectivity WiFi 4 802.11 b/g/n 2×2 MIMO via RTL8197FS WiFi 5 802.11ac Wave 2 2×2 MIMO via Realtek RTL8822BEH Bluetooth v2.1/3.0/4.1 Max output power – 22 dBm per chain Antenna – GPIO pins for external antenna Expansion via bottom pads – 44x GPIO, 2x USB, 4x UART (one for BT), RGMII, 2x SPI, PWM, MDIO, eMMC, JTAG, 2x I2S, PCM, 2x I2C, P-NAND Power supply – 3.3V, max power consumption 6W Dimensions – 37.5 x 21.3 mm The two integrated radios (2.4 […]

Zidoo Z1000 4K Android Media Player to Feature Realtek RTD1296DD Processor

Zidoo Z1000

Zidoo previously introduced several Reatek RTD1296 4K Android media players with their high-end Zidoo X20/X20 Pro models, followed by the lower cost Zidoo Z9S & Z10 units. The company is now about to launch yet another model based on the processor with Zidoo Z1000 4K UHD media player that should offer an option between the higher-end models and the company’s entry-level options. Zidoo Z1000 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1296DD quad core Cortex A53 processor with Arm Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash, 1x SATA 3.0 bay for 2.5 or 3.5″ drive, 1x external SATA port Video 1x HDMI 2.0a output up to 4K @ 60 Hz with HDR10 support 1x HDMI 2.0 input supporting PiP, stream recording, and UDP broadcasting 1x RCA composite output Decode – HDR10, 10-bit HEVC / H.265 up to 4K @ 60fps, VP9 up to 4K @ […]

Banana Pi BPI-M4 Board Comes with RTD1395 Processor, M.2 Socket, Raspberry Pi 3B+ Form Factor

Banana Pi BPI-M4

Realtek RTD1395 processor is a lower cost version of RTD1295 / RTD1296 processors found in mid-range TV boxes often including HDMI input and output such as Zidoo X9s or LAKE I Home Cloud. The new processor comes with a lower-end Mali-470MP4 GPU and removed some interfaces like HDMI input and native SATA. So far, we had seen very few hardware platforms built around the processor, but SinoVoIP has just unveiled their latest Banana Pi BPI-M4 board powered by Realtek RTD1395 processor, following Raspberry Pi 3B+ form factor, and adding an M.2 key E socket with PCIe 2.0 and USB 2.0 signals. Banana Pi BPI-M4 specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1395 quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with Mali-470 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR4 (option 2 GB) Storage – 8G eMMC flash (max 64 GB), micro SD slot up to 256GB Video Output – 1x HDMI 2.0 port up to 1080p […]

SDTxArm Pelion Kit is a Modular IoT Devkit Designed for Arm Mbed Cloud Platform

SDTxArm Pelion Kit

South Korea based Sigma Delta Technologies’ SDTxArm Pelion Kit is a modular development kit comprised of a baseboard, as well as CPU and interface modules that is specifically designed to work with Arm Pelion cloud based device management service and Mbed OS for wearables and IoT applications. DAP (Debug Access Port) Station Ver.2 baseboard key features and specifications: USB – 1x micro USB 2.0 port Expansion I/Os via rows of through-holes 3x UART Interfaces 4x SPI Interfaces 3x I²C Interfaces 7x GPIO 4x analog inputs Debugging / Programming 1x TC2050 tag connection designed to allow programming without purchasing additional Interface if the user already has an appropriate Interface Module from other companies. I assume this is related to Tag Connect TC2050-IDC. 1x SD-TAG with JTAG/SWD signals Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port The DAP station takes an SDT Board (i.e. CPU board), as well as an interface board […]

VIP1111 TV Box is Powered by Realtek RTD1395 Processor

RTD1395 TV Box

A few days ago, the U-boot & Linux source code for Realtek RTD1296 processor was released, and when we checked out the code we found out references to a completely new Realtek RTD1619 hexa-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor, as well as code for the previously announced Realtek RTD1395 processor. The CES 2018 announcement was really short on details though: “Realtek’s Android & RDK STB platform (RTD1395) supports 4K UHD, HDR, an advanced DRM security system, and OTT integration, giving MSOs a reliable SoC partner”.  We now have more details thanks to Taiwan based Compal Broadband Networks and their VIP1111 4K IP set-top box powered by RTD1395 processor.VIP1111 TV box specifications: SoC – Realtek RTD1395 quad core Cortex-A53 processor, Arm Mali-470 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4 (4x 512MB x 16bit) Storage – 8GB  eMMC Flash Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0 Video Codec – HEVC 4Kp60+2Kp60, VP9.2 4Kp60, HDR10 […]

Realtek RTD1296 U-boot & Linux Source Code Released, RTD1619 Cortex A55 SoC Shows up in Code

RTD1296 Linux Source Code

Media centers based on Realtek RTD1295 or RTD1296 processors have been around for a few years. They usually run both Android and OpenWrt operating systems for respectively media functions (4K video playback, HDMI input recording…), and NAS functions like file sharing. media downloads, etc…. SinoVoIP also unveiled Banana Pi BPI-W2 board powered by RTD1296 last year, but so far I was not aware of any source code for the target. Synlogy actually released a Linux 4.4 tarball a while ago, but more recently SinoVoIP released Linux 4.9.119 and U-boot source code for RTD1296 in Github. You’ll find instructions to build from source, and flash the resulting U-boot and Kernel image from the Github page. There’s also some mainline Linux support for RTD1295, but maybe this release will help further speed up mainline support. Beside code for RTD129x (RTD1295/RTD1296), we’ll find references to RTD139x (RTD1395) a cost-down version of RTD1295, as […]

LAKE I Home Cloud TV Box with HDMI Input Goes for $54 (Promo)

We’ve previously covered LAKE I Home Cloud as one of the cheapest TV boxes based on Realtek RTD1295 processor, and featuring HDMI input for video recording and/or streaming video from an external source up to 1080p60, as well as an SATA bay for 2.5″ drives. A reader has just informed me the device was now available for an even cheaper price, as it is offered for just $53.99 + shipping on GearBest. The specifications are pretty standard for an RTD1295 media center: SoC – Realtek RTD1295 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-T820 MP3 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4 Storage – 16GB eMMC 5.1 flash + SD card slot up to 128 GB + SATA hard disk bay for 2.5″ drives with 9.5mm / 7.5mm thickness Video I/O – HDMI 2.0a output, and HDMI input (recording and streaming up to 1080p @ 60 Hz) Audio I/O – HDMI […]

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