1Sheeld Arduino Shield Leverages Your Android Smartphone Hardware

To get started with Arduino, a simple board is enough, with soon, you’ll need to add shields for Wi-Fi, sensors, maybe a small display, etc.. and costs add up. Integreight, an Egyptian startup, had to idea to create a simple shield called 1Sheeld that can leverage your smartphone hardware assets such as Wi-Fi, LEDs, sensors, the display, the speaker, etc.., so you don’t have to spend extra money on shields. Technical Specifications: Runs on an ATmega162 @ 16 MHz Uses a standard HC-06 adapter (Bluetooth 2.0) providing up to 30 feet range (about 9 meters) Uses a modified version of the Firmata protocol Can communicate with Arduino using UART 50mA current draw That’s for the hardware, and there’s also a software platform and Android app to manages the communication between the shield and the smartphone, and select different shields options. You’d have to write your sketch using the company’s library, […]

Boston Viridis 2.0 and AAEON CRS-200S-2R ARM Based Servers Powered by Calxeda Quad core Cortex A15 SoC

Calxeda unveiled its new ECX-2000 Server-on-a-Chip (SoC) at ARM Techcon 2013. Calxeda new chipset features 4 cortex A15 cores, support up to 16GB RAM, and thanks to the move from Cortex A9 to Cortex A15 supports hardware virtualization. I’ve stumbled across two new servers powered by ECX-2000: Boston Viridis 2.0 and AAEON-CRS-200S-2R. Let’s have a look Boston Viridis 2.0 The successor of Boston Viridis powered by Calxeda ECX-1000 quad core Cortex A9 SoC, Viridis 2.0 features six ECX-2000 cards, with each card hosting two four-core SoCs @ 1.8GHz, and consuming as little as 6 watts of power. The server runs Ubuntu 13.10 operating systems, and OpenStack Havana platform, and would typically be used for cloud computing, distributed storage, and virtualization. Viridis 2.0 is a 4U ARM microserver that, and the company claims this can allow up to 1000+ servers in a rack, or about 1.5PB of data storage per rack. […]

Embedded Linux Conference Europe 2013 Videos and Presentation Slides

I uploaded several Embedded Linux Conference Europe videos in 2011 and 2012 that were hosted by Free Electrons and/or the Linux Foundation for download, but this year, it seems the Linux Foundation has discovered a new (to them) online video service called YouTube, and created a playlist with (for now) 18 sessions of ELCE 2013. I’ve embedded the playlist below starting with the “Status of Embedded Linux (2013)“, by Tim Bird, Sony Mobile which takes place every year, and is among the most popular presentations. Most of ELCE 2013 presentation slides are already available from eLinux.org. You can also have a look at the list of ELCE 2013 talks I featured before the event took place. [Update: I’ve just watched the Status of Embedded Linux video, and I though it may be interested to list the topics (and keywords) used for what has happened in embedded linux in the last […]

Almost Anything Can Be A Touch Input with The Touch Board and Electric Paint

Bare Conductive, a British startup, has designed an Arduino Leonardo compatible board with 12 capacitive touch sensors called the Touch Board. You can basically use any conductive material as a touch sensor, but the company’s existing “electric paint” really makes the board come to life, and you can just draw circuit anywhere, be it on paper, your wall, cardboard, and create fun and useful applications. Touch Board specifications: MCU – Atmel ATMega32U4 Microprocessor @ 16 MHz with 32 KB of Flash Memory of which 4 KB is used for bootloader. External storage – MicroSD card slot I/Os: 20 digital I/O pins (3 used for Touch IC and 5 for MP3 IC – can be disabled) 7 PWM channels 12 analog input channels 12 Touch electrodes of which 8 can be configured as extra digital inputs or outputs with PWM capability. (via Freescale MPR121) Audio – Playback and MIDI support via […]

$90 JynxBox M1 Pure Linux XBMC Network Media Streamer

After The Little Black Box (TLBB), there’s now another ARM based media player that comes pre-installed with XBMC Linux: Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux. The device is based on AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 processor @ 800MHz, and comes with 2GB flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, HDMI output, and more. Jynxbox M1 Pure Linux specifications: SoC – AMLogic AML8726-M1 single core Cortex A9 @ 800MHz with ARM Mali-400 GPU System Memory – N/A (but likely 512 MB) Storage – 2 GB Nand Flash + micro SD/SDHC memory slot (Up to 32GB) Video Output – HDMI 1.3 Audio Output – HDMI Video container formats – AVI, RM/RMVB, MKV, WMV, MOV, MP4, WEBM, DAT(VCD format), VOB(DVD format), MPEG, MPG, FLV, ASF, TS, TP, 3GP Audio formats – MP3, WMA, WMV, APE, OGG, FLAC, AAC, etc… Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet + 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi USB – 3x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – […]

ZGPAX S5 Android 4.0 SmartWatch Features a Dual Core Processor, a SIM Card Slot

The newly introduced Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch all work as a smartphone companion, and have limited use if you don’t carry your smartphone with you. The Samsung watch also requires a recent smartphone running Android 4.3 and supporting Bluetooth Low Energy, which current seriously reduces the list of compatible smartphones. There are already standalone smartwatches in the market that include a SIM card slot, and allow you to make phone calls without a phone such as Z1 watch and WiMe NanoWatch. However, these watches feature low-end hardware with ARM9 processor, so the interface may feel a bit sluggish. ZGPAX S5 smartwatch with its Mediatek MT6577 dual core Cortex A9 processor, and 512 MB RAM, will be much more snappier. It runs Android 4.04 with Google Play Store, and comes with features such as a camera, GPS, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. SGPAX S5 Specifications: SoC – […]

$80 SJ1000 Waterproof Sports Camera is a Low Cost Alternative to GoPro Hero Cameras

I’ve recently learned about GoPro action cameras, waterproof cameras with lots of mounting options and a wide angle lense which allows to shot amazing action full HD videos, and the best selling cameras in the world. Since yesterday I wrote about low cost waterproof smartphone, I thought It might be a good idea to write about other waterproof devices, and look at low cost alternatives to the GoPro. The GoPro Hero3 comes in 3 editions: White Edition, Black Edition, and Silver Edition with prices ranging from $199.99 to $399.99. All camera can record @1080p and come with WiFi connectivity. The more expensive model, Gopro Hero3+ Silver Edition, can also record in UHD, and comes with a WiFi remote. The original GoPro still seem to be good values, but if you have a tight budget, SJ1000 action camera (aka F10) offers similar functionalities (1080p30 recording, wide angle, mounting options, waterproofness, but […]

Low Cost Rugged, Waterproof and Dustproof Smartphones Powered by Mediatek Processors

If you need a truly waterproof and dustproof smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, compliant with IP67 standard, is probably the most popular phone with this particular feature. However, the phone sells for nearly $600 on site like Amazon, and it may be nice to have some lower cost options. Today, I’ve come across two smartphones powered by Mediatek dual and quad core SoC that are both compliant with IP67 standard, and although their specs do not match the Galaxy S4 Active, the features found in these phones are still pretty good, and they can be purchased at a much lower price. The smartphones I’ll feature in this post are also rugged, which is not really the case for the Samsung device. IP67 standard? What does that mean in practice? The IP Code, Ingress Protection Rating, aka International Protection Rating, classifies and rates the degree of protection provided against the […]

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