Fireduino Arduino Compatible Board Features Rockchip RKnanoD Dual Core Cortex-M3 MCU (Crowdfunding)

Rockchip RKNanoD dual core Cortex M3 micro-controller was introduced last year for IoT and audio applications, and the Firefly team, known for their FirePrime or Firefly-RK3288 development boards, has designed an Arduino compatible board based on the MCU with lots of audio ports, Arduino headers, and WiFi connectivity. Fireduino specifications: MCU – Rockchip RKnanoD dual core ARM Cortex M3 MCU @ up to 250 MHz (system core) / 500 MHz (calculate core) with respectively 640 KB and 384 KB RAM Storage – 4 or 8MB SPI flash + micro SD slot Audio 24-bit/192 KHz audio codec (built in MCU) with HW accelerator for APE, FLAC, OGG, and MP3 audio decoding 1x 3.5mm analog audio jack 2x 3.5mm LINE In jacks 1x On-board microphone DLNA wireless audio support Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi via Ampak AP6181 module Expansion Arduino header with I2C, SPI, ADC, GPIO, PWM, UART LCD interface (Intel 8080 […]

VicoVR is a Wireless 19-Point Full-Motion Tracker for Virtual Reality Working with Android and iOS (Crowdfunding)

There’s a wide a virtual reality solution from cardboard kits that now sells for a couple of dollars to full featured headset with motion tracking selling for several hundred dollars or more. 3DiVi has designed a Kinect like motion tracking device that connects to your Android and iOS smartphone, and is supposed to offer similar tracking capabilities of more expensive head mount displays (HMD) such as HTC VIVE at about half the cost, while also replacing the cables of those kits with wireless connectivity through WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 LE. The company offer three VicoVR devices part with the following specifications: VicoVR Sensor SoC – Unnamed Samsung Exynos processor Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n Data stream Bluetooth – User pixel mask @ 30 fps, 3D coordinates up to 19 skeletal joints per user (max 2 users) @ 30 fps, 3D point cloud @ 30 fps up to […]

Monohm Runcible is Some Sort of Huge Round Watch Usable as a Phone or Tablet (Crowdfunding)

I like to write about innovative products here on CNX Software, but it’s not easy to understand why Monohm Runcible, that can be seen as a round phone/table or a huge watch, ever came to existence. But who knows maybe people will find uses, and it’s rather cool looking with its round display and nature themed wooden or stone back covers. Runcible thing specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core  Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.2GHz, with Adreno 306 GPU and Hexagon v5 DSP System Memory — 1GB LPDDR3 RAM @ 533MHz Storage – 8GB eMMC 5.0 flash Display — 2.5″ circular 640 x 640 display (256dpi) Audio – 1x analog in/out jack with other I/O audio interfaces on main board Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi,Bluetooth 4.1, Qualcomm IZat Gen 8C GPS/GLONASS, and “hopefully” 4G/LTE data Camera – 7 MP rear camera (up to 13-megapixels for hackers) USB – USB 2.0 client/host […]

H.265, H.264 and VP9 4K Video Playback with Hisilicon Hi3798C V200 TV Box (Video)

VP9 is starting to become a first class citizen as more and more ARM SoC, such as Amlogic S905X and Hisilicon Hi3798C V200, are getting 4K VP9 hardware video decoding support. I’ve already tested 4K VP9 in Amlogic S905X based NEXBOX A5, and today I’ll report my results with Sunhed S3 TV box based on the new Hisilicon processor. I won’t do a full review yet, as just like NEXBOX A5, it’s still an engineering sample, and the firmware is not quite ready for public release. For example, Google Play is working, but I could not install YouTube, and Kodi 16.0 (likely a custom version) would not start, even after clearing the cache and data. Anyway, I tested 4K VP9, as well as 4K H.265 and H.264 since the last two codec are also here to stay. I first tried to play over SAMBA through the Gigabit Ethernet connection, but […]

Aeroscope is a Bluetooth 4.1 Wireless Oscilloscope Probe Using your Android Tablet or iPad for Display (Crowdfunding)

Oscilloscopes used to be rather bulky equipment, but recent full featured oscilloscopes have come down in size, and even become portable and battery operated with products such as DSO Quad. But since many of us already own Android tablets or iPads, Aeroscope wireless oscilloscope probe is quite a neat solution as it transmits images of the waveform over Bluetooth 4.1 to your tablet. Aeroscope specifications: Analog Bandwidth  – 100 MHz Sample Rate – 500 M samples/second Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.1 with 200-ft range Input Range – +/-40 V DC Accuracy – +/- 3% Offset Range – +/- 40V or +/- 20V offset for 20mV/div setting Sample Memory Depth – 10k Input Impedance – 10MΩ || 12pF Resolution – 20 mV/division to 10 V/division Battery – 950 mAh battery good for 4 to 8 hours of use depending on settings Activity sensor – (for extended use) Dimensions – 118 x 30 […]

$40 Weeview Eye-Plug USB Dongle Allows You to Record 3D Videos and Photos with Your Smartphone

3D Televisions have not been very successful since their market launch, but with the advance of virtual reality kits, 3D video could make a comeback. If you want to record your own 3D videos, you’d need a 3D camcorder with most models now discontinued. A cheaper and possibly more convenient solution would be to use your smartphone with an extra camera connected to your smartphone’s USB OTG or USB C port, and that’s exactly what Weeview Eye-Plug W9 is doing for around $40 in Taiwan. The app then leverages the rear or front-facing camera (the thing can rotate) of your smartphone, and create a 3D video by combining the two videos from the phone’s camera, and Eye-Plug into a single video. The downside is that resolution is limited to 0.3 MP (VGA) because of the USB 2.0 interface, but an upcoming version with USB type C support will be able […]

Mini Review of Popcorn Hour A500 Media Player

Last month I received Popcorn Hour A500 high-end media player powered by Sigma Designs SMP8758 dual core Cortex A9 processor, and in the firtst part of the review I posted the specifications, and pictures of the devices and its internals. Today, I’ll write a short review of the device, as it’s basically an update of Popcorn Hour VTEN which I reviewed last year with a faster processor, more memory, and an internal SATA bay for 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives. User Interface, Remote Control, Internal HDD, and Technical Support The user interface is basically the same as on VTEN with two home screens to select: Media or Music. The performance is a little better, but if you want to find out more about the user interface, I propose you watch the video I shot for Popcorn Hour VTEN During the first boot, Music Home was selected, and I soon got asked whether […]

Unboxing and Teardown of ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux TV Box based on Amlogic S905 SoC

While there are plenty of Amlogic S905 TV boxes, the vast majority is running Android, and albeit there’s been people successfully installing Linux or OpenELEC on such device, if you’d just like a TV box running Linux with 4K video playback without hassle, there’s almost no option. ARNU Box (previously ARMADA) has delivered such Linux TV boxes in the past, with products such as ARNU Box Mach 10 Pure Linux based on Amlogic S812 and running Linux based EmbER OS with Kodi 15, and I’ve now received the updated version simply called ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit Pure Linux with Amlogic S905 processor instead. ARNU Box Mach 10 64-bit specifications SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 @ 2 GHz with ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC flash + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 (Up to 4k@60fps) Audio Output – […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC