We’ve seen smartphone in the past with two displays, such has Yotaphone 2 with a color front display, coupled with an e-Paper rear display that’s always on and consumes less power. ZTE Axon M also comes with two displays, but it’s a completely different beast, as both are color displays, and foldable to create an extended display when needed, somewhat like a foldable tablet. ZTE Axon M (partial) specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 quad core processor up to 2.15 GHz with Adreno 530 GPU System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC 5.1 flash + micro SD slot up to 256 GB Display – 2x 5.2″ @ 1920×1080 displays making a single 1920×2160 screen when opened Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, microphone, dual speaker, Dolby Atmos support, AKM 4962 HiFi chipset Camera 20MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, PDAF, dual-image stabilization, dual LED flash Up to 4K @ […]
Mediatek Helio X20 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 – 3D Graphics Benchmarks and CSR2 Game
I’ve been using Vernee Apollo Lite smartphone with a Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core ARM Cortex A72/A53 processor coupled with an ARM for a little over a year. Recently, I’ve received Xiaomi Mi A1 smartphone for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC featuring eight ARM Cortex A53 cores and an Adreno 506 GPU. In theory, the latter is a downgrade, and the Xiaomi phone is indeed quite slower in Antutu with overall score of 60,161 points against 85,840 points in the Mediatek phone. 3D graphics performance is also lower with 12,849 vs 17,828 points. Both smartphone have the same resolution (1920×1080), so it’s a little confusing to be told you’d “better to play games in low quality mode” for the Mediatek phone, and “game performance is mid-level” for the Snapdragon one. But anyway Helio 20 should work better in 3D games than Snapdragon 625 if we are to believe the numbers. Most […]
Snapdragon X50 5G Modem Makes it First Data Connection
5G technology is expected to launch in 2019, and Qualcomm has recently made a step towards this goal with the company announcing their first 5G data connection with Snapdragon X50 modem on on 28GHz mmWave Spectrum. The demonstration took place in Qualcomm Technologies’ laboratories in San Diego, and achieved Gigabit download speeds using several 100 MHz 5G carriers. Snapdragon X50 5G Modem’s product page lists some of the key features of the chip: Up to 5 gigabits per second download speeds Initial support for operation in the 28 GHz millimeter wave band. It can connect using up to 800 MHz of bandwidth via 8×100 MHz carrier aggregation. Supports advanced multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) techniques such as adaptive beamforming and beam tracking Composed of the modem as well as the SDR051 mmWave transceiver The modem can be paired with a Snapdragon processor to provide multi-mode 4G/5G capability, and the company […]
Xiaomi Mi A1 Review – Part 1: Unboxing, First Boot, Firmware Update, and Benchmarks
Xiaomi Mi A1 hardware specifications are pretty much standard for a mid-range smartphone, except possibly for its dual rear camera, and what makes it stand apart is really Android One program that promises regular firmware update, including to the latest “pure” Android version, during a 2-year period from launch. In my case, the phone is also interesting because so far I had only used smartphones with Mediatek SoCs, and Mi A1 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor. SD625 should be slower than the Mediatek Helio X20 deca-core processor I’ve been using in Vernee Apollo Lite, but I’m curious to find out if some apps have been better optimized for Qualcomm processors. I’ll soon find out as GearBest sent me a review sample.I’ll start with an unboxing and first boot post, before writing the second part of the review in a couple of weeks once I’ve finished testing the […]
Getting Started with MicroPython on ESP32 – Hello World, GPIO, and WiFi
I’ve been playing with several ESP32 boards over the months, and tried several firmware images. I started with a tutorial for Arduino Core on ESP32, a few month later I tested ESP32 JavaScript programming with Espruino on ESPino32 board, and recently Espressif Systems sent me ESP32 PICO core development board powered by their ESP32-PICO-D4 SiP, and while I took some pretty photos, I had not used it so far. So I decided to go with yet another firmware, and this time, I played with MicroPython on ESP32, and will report my experience with basic commands, controlling GPIOs, and WiFi in this getting started post. Flashing Micropython Firmware to ESP32 Board Source code is available on Github, as a fork of MicroPython repo as ESP32 support has not been upstreamed yet. We could built the firmware from source, but there’s also a pre-built binary which you can download on MicroPython website. […]
STEGO BOARD Enables Neat Prototypes with Development Boards and Accessories (Crowdfunding)
If you’ve ever created a quick prototype for your own use, or for your company, you may have based it on a development board, and added some extra modules or add-on modules, as well as potentially accessories such as hard drives or power supply. Software is complete and it works, but it may look like a mess, and transporting it may cause cables to disconnect or other problems. STEGO BOARD should help in this case. It’s some kind of mounting systems compatible with the most common boards like Raspberry Pi 3, Rock64, or ASUS Tinkerboard, mini-ITX motherboards, mini PCs with VESA mounts, 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives, and so on. So you can create prototypes like the ones below. Six different products are available: STEGO BOARD 102 – 2 layers of the smaller board with 106 parts (stands, screws, zip ties). Can be used with mini PC, development board, up to […]
The New Pi-Top Modular Laptop includes a 14″ Display, Sliding Keyboard, and Better Cooling
Pi-Top was first launched in late 2014 via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign, as a modular DIY laptop powered by a Raspberry Pi board. It’s equipped with a 13.3” LCD screen with 1366×768 resolution, and uses a sliding top cover placed between the display and the keyboard where you could insert your Raspberry Pi with enough space for extra hardware. This is a good week for DIY ARM laptops, as after the launch of Olimex TERES-I laptop yesterday, Pi-Top team has announced a new version of Pi-Top modular laptop with an larger 14″ display with 1920×1080 resolution, a sliding keyboard, and better cooling with a passive cooling unit for the Raspberry Pi 3 board. Pi-Top 2017 laptop specifications: Display – 14” full HD LCD screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 180° screen angle range Keyboard – 105mm sliding keyboard for internal access (US layout) Touchpad – 104x75mm trackpad with Gesture Control […]
Cloud Media Openbook is Another Smartphone Laptop Docking Station (Crowdfunding)
Cloud Media (previously Syabas) is better known for their OpenHour and HourPopcorn Hour TV boxes, but the company also has a close relationship with Pine64 company, and helped them make Pinebook laptop powered by an Allwinner A64 ARM processor. They’ve now used their experience, and likely some parts, from the ARM laptop to create Openbook, a 14″ laptop dock for Android smartphones. Openbook specifications: USB Monitor SoC – DisplayLink DL-4000 Series USB 3.0 to LVDS/eDP SoC Storage – micro SD card slot Display – 14″ TN LCD with 1366 x 768 resolution QWERTY Keyboard + Large Multi-Touch Touchpad USB – USB 3.0 host port, USB port to connect to mobile phone Audio – Headphone Jack, stereo speaker, microphone Battery – 10,000 mAh Lithium Polymer Battery Power Supply – 5V/3A (DC Jack: Type H 3.5mm OD/1.35mm ID barrel ‘coaxial’ type) Dimensions – 329mm x 220mm x 12mm (W x D x H) […]