Video Category - Page 233 of 330 - CNX Software

September 26, 2015November 3, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 44 Comments

Status of Orange Pi Boards GPIO Support

Yesterday, one person asked me to make a video showing GPIO control on Orange Pi 2 mini on YouTube, and since I have just completed a post about Orange Pi camera, I thought it might be fun to check GPIO support too. This post focuses on Allwinner H3 boards, but the instructions and status should be very similar for Allwinner A20 and A31s versions. One of the first things you want before starting playing with GPIOs is the expansion header’s pinout chart, and I could not find any until I had the idea to check for schematics, which are available on Orange Pi resources page. I downloaded the schematics for Orange Pi 2, which should be the same as for Orange Pi 2 mini as the only difference is the lack of WiFi module. Orange Pi PC is a little different, and the schematics are nowhere to be found, but […]

September 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Android TV Box and OpenELEC Video Tutorials

WeTek has released several video tutorials explaining how to configure WeTek TV boxes such as WeTek Play or WeTek OpenELEC, as well as the upcoming WeTel Core. The tutorials includes instructions for both Android and OpenELEC available in 6 languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and German. Some tutorials are clearly specific to WeTek products, such as “How to Activate WeTek Play membership”, but many of the tutorials are more generic starting from simple configurations steps like configuring HDMI output resolution and framerate, or configuring the network, to more advanced tasks such as configuring a DVB-S2 tuner on TVHeadend in OpenELEC. I’ve embedded the latter video tutorial below for reference. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Mini Review of Semlamp SL-011 Audio Controlled Relay for Home Lighting

Last month, I wrote about Semlamp SL-012 a smartphone controlled light switch for 2 lamps that sells for about $11 on DX, and contrary to most others don’t use Bluetooth, nor Wifi, but instead a simple microphone. I decided to try it out by purchasing SL-011 model, controlling only one light, for $8.22 on DealExtreme. Semlamp SL-011 Unboxing and Teardown That’s the package with some instructions in Chinese. The device has black and red wires to connect to 220V on the right of the picture below, blue and brown wires to connect to the lamp, and a microphone attached via a white cable. It’s quite easy to take apart, as they are just two screws to remove, and you can easily pop-up the bottom part of the case to access the board. The top of the board features JQC-3FF 24V relay supporting up to 10A @ 277VAC, as well as […]

September 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Linux Kernel Mainline Status of Mobile SoCs Presentation at Linaro Connect SF015

Linaro Connect San Francisco 2015 is taking place this week, and several 96Boards have been presented including LeMaker Hikey and Qualcomm DragonBoard 410c, both of which will finally be available by the end of the year. But there are also many technical presentation and discussions that are uploaded to LinaroOnAir Youtube account, and they’ve greatly improved video and audio quality compared to the past, with presentation slides also available on Slideshare. I’ve just watched one of the session entitled “Kernel Mainline Status of Mobile Chipsets” by Tim Bird, Sony Mobile. Also the talk focus on mobile SoC, it’s also relevant to other consumer electronics products, and some embedded systems. The presentation states the extend of the issues, shares comparisons between the vendor device tree and mainline, and explains how developers can participate, with the talk ending with a discussion within the group of attendees. Here’s a summary of some of […]

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Pebble Time Round is Thinner, Features a Circular Display, But Lasts Only 2 Days on a Charge

Pebble introduced Pebble Time smartwatch with an always-on color e-Paper display, voice recognition, and 7 days of battery life early this year, and the company has now unveiled a thinner version with a circular display, that’s still always-on, but unfortunately only lasts 2 days on a charge like most of other smartwatches on the market. The Pebble Time Round shares the same “Timeline” user interface as the Pebble Time (Steel), and most of the hardware features: Display – Always-on, color e-paper display with LED backlight, 2.5D gorilla glass display Connectivity – Bluetooth Audio – Built-in microphone for voice reply Battery / Power Up to 2 days of battery life A 15 minutes charge gives you a day of use. Magnetic charging with cable working in any USB port Misc – 3x tactile buttons, vibrating motor for discreet alerts and alarms IP Rating – Splash resistant to IPX7 standard (Not waterproof […]

September 23, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

RePhone Kit Create is a DIY Phone and Cellular Development Kit (Crowdfunding)

Seeed Studio has design a modular and open source phone it calls RePhone Kit Create. The kit allows you, or/and your kid(s), to assemble their own phone based on building blocks including a 2G or 3G core module, a touchscreen display module, an audio module, and pre-cut, seawable, washable, and easily drawable Kraft paper to make the case. The kit can also be used for IoT applications using cellular and Bluetooth connectivity, and extra Xadow modules GPS, NFC, motion sensors, camera and more.. Two cellular “core” module can be used: RePhone GSM + BLE module with the “world’s smallest System-on-Chip (SOC) for Wearables and Internet Of Things”, GSM, GPRS and Bluetooth 2.1 and 4.0 support. RePhone Core Module 3G with a “powerful microcontroller”,a standard Xadow interface (USB, GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, EINT), support for speaker, two microphones and a headset, a Nano SIM, and support for HSPA/WCDMA:850/1900 and GPRS/EDGE:850/1900. Voltage: […]

September 23, 2015November 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

MagicStick TV Sticks Powered by Intel Atom x5 or x7 Processors Feature up to 8GB RAM, HDMI 2.0, 802.11ac… (Crowdfunding)

Several Cherry Trail Atom x5 MegooPad TV sticks are on the way, but they mostly have similar specs to the previous generation Bay Trail sticks, except with a slightly faster processor, and in some models, USB 3.0 support. An Indian company is currently developing some Cherry Trail TV sticks with impressive specifications including processors such as Intel Atom x7-Z8700, up to 8GB RAM, up to 64GB storage, 802.11ac connections, HDMI 2.0, and USB 3.1 type-C connector. These products are called MagicSticks, and three models will soon be available. [Update 30/9/2015: The indiegogo campaign is up, but the Wave is not shown, and instead MagicStick Power has been renamed to Wave, changes are reflected in the table below] MagicStick One MagicStick Wave MagicStick Power Wave Processor Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor up to 1.83 GHz, with 12 core Gen8 GPU Intel Atom x5-Z8500 processor up to 2.24 GHz, with 12 core Gen8 […]

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Promises to Charge Phones About 3x Faster Than Conventional Devices

Qualcomm has recently announced the latest version of its Quick Charge technology that allows to charge supported smartphones much faster than typical smartphones using a 5V charger. The company claims that Quick Charge 3.0 enabled smartphones can typicallly charge from zero to 80 percent in about 35 minutes compared to almost 90 minutes with conventional devices. Quick Charge 3.0 adds support for Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV), a new algorithm developed by Qualcomm Technologies that allows mobile devices to request optimal power transfer (3.6V to 20V in 200mV increments), while maximizing efficiency, which – together with other improvements – increases power efficient by 38% compared to Quick Charge 2.0, and allows charging the device twice as fast as possible with Quick Charge 1.0. That means the voltage and amperage will change during charging between 3.6V to 20V by 200mV increments, instead of 5V, 9V, 12V, and 20V for QC […]