acer News - Page 2 of 4 - CNX Software

March 11, 2018March 11, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Acer Iconia One 10 is a 10.1″ Tablet Powered by Mediatek MT8167B Quad Core Cortex A35 Processor

So far, I had not seen that many devices based on Arm Cortex A35 64-bit cores which promise better performance than Cortex A7, while consuming 32% less than a Cortex A53. But Mediatek released MT8167B quad core Cortex A35 last year supporting 1080p30 video decoding, and HD+ (1280×800) displays. There’s also a Mediatek MT8167A SoC clocked at a higher 1.5 GHz, capable of handling higher resolution 1920×1200 displays, and 1080p60 videos. Acer Iconia One 10 tablet – also released last year – is powered by MT8167B SoC, and comes with 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, and a 10.1″ HD+ Display. Acer Iconia One 10 (B3-A40) specifications: SoC – MediaTek MT8167B quad core Cortex A35 processor @ 1.30 GHz with Imagination PowerVR GE8300 GPU System Memory – 2 GB DDR3L RAM Storage – 16 or 32GB storage, Micro SD Card slot up to 128 GB Display – 10.1″ IPS touch screen display; […]

February 23, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Imagination Releases PowerVR CLDNN Neural Network SDK and Image for Acer Chromebook R13

Last month, Imagination Technology released their PowerVR CLDNN SDK, an AI-oriented API that leverages OpenCL support in PowerVR GX6250 GPU in order to create network layers for constructing and running a neural network on PowerVR hardware. Eventually the SDK will support PowerVR Series2NX Neural Network Accelerator, but while waiting for the hardware, the company has provided a firmware that runs only on Mediatek MT8173 based Acer Chromebook R13. The SDK includes a demo taking a live camera feed to identify the object(s) the camera is pointing at, using known network models such as AlexNet, GoogLeNet, VGG-16, or SqueezeNet. All models are Caffe models trained against the ImageNet dataset, a benchmark function is included within the demo. Beside simply playing with the demos, you’ll be able to study the source code to check out various helper functions such as file loading, dynamic library initialisation and OpenCL context management, and read documentation such as the PowerVR CLDNN reference […]

December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ubuntu 17.10 May Corrupt the BIOS on Some Lenovo, Acer, Dell, and Other Laptops

Canonical has decided to temporarily remove the download link to Ubuntu 17.10 due leaving a notice reading: The download of Ubuntu 17.10 is currently discouraged due to an issue on certain Lenovo laptops. Once fixed this download will be enabled again. The issue that many user are reported being unable to save BIOS settings or boot with USB in several Lenovo Laptops with many topics about this issue on Lenovo Forums. The installed operating system still boots normally, so many affected people may not have even noticed. Based on the bug report it seems to be related to the enablement of intel-spi-* drivers (Intel Serial Flash drive) in the kernel (CONFIG_SPI_INTEL_SPI_PCI option), and this could also affect Ubuntu 16.04 with HWE kernels. The fix is to disable the driver in the kernel, and Canonical will soon release images. The downside of not using the driver are likely null or minimal, […]

May 24, 2017May 24, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ARM Chromebooks Run Android Apps Better, Exhibit Longer Battery Life than Intel Chromebooks (Study)

Google has been working on supporting Android apps and the Play Store on Chromebooks, which are normally sold with either ARM or Intel processors. So the ability to run Android apps well is one of the things to consider before purchasing a Chromebook. Shrout Research has published a paper entitled “Chromebook Platform Choice Important for Android App Performance” comparing an Acer Chromebook R13 with a Mediatek MT8173C ARM Cortex A72/A53 processor to Acer Chromebook R11 with an Intel Celeron N3060. The Intel Chromebook has a smaller resolution so this could be an advantage, so less resources are needed to update the display. However, the ARM processor is significantly more powerful than the Intel one according to GeekBench results, and Chromebook R13 is sold for $399 on Amazon US, while Chromebook R11 goes for $299 (and lower during promotions). So it’s not a perfect comparison, but it should give an idea […]

March 9, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

New 96Boards IoT Edition Boards Showcased at Linaro Connect 2017: BlueSky IE and WRTNode IE

Linaro Connect Budapest 2017 is taking place this week in Hungary, and during George Grey – Linaro CEO – keynote, he provided a status updates for the Linaro group, addressed some of Linaro’s criticisms from members and the community, and unveiled two upcoming boards compliant with 96Boards IoT edition both running Zephyr OS, and adding to BLE Carbon board announced last year. The first board is BlueSky IE board with the following key specifications: SoC – RDA Micro RDA5981A ARM Cortex-M4 Wireless MCU with 64KB ROM, and 32KB cache System Memory – 485KB SRAM. It’s unclear if that’s only the on-chip SRAM, and there’s also some external PSRAM added. Storage – 8Mb NOR flash 802.11 b / g / n HT20 / 40 mode Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with support for HT20 / 40 modes Crypto security hardware The second board is WRTnode IE: SoC – Mediatek MT7697 ARM […]

December 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

ARM based Acer Chromebook R13 is Now up for Sale for $349 and up with Chrome OS or Windows 10

Acer Chromebook R13 was unveiled in September as one of the first 64-bit ARM Chromebook. Based on Mediatek MT8173C quad core Cortex A72/A53 processor with 4GB RAM, the “Chromebook” now ships in three variants running either Chrome OS as expected, but also Windows 10 Home. All three models share the same specifications, except for storage and operating system options: SoC – Mediatek M8173C quad core processor with 2x ARM Cortex A72 cores @ up to 2.1 GHz, 2x ARM Cortex A53 cores, and a PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 RAM Storage CB5-312T-K8Z9 / K6TF – 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot CB5-312T-K0YQ- 64GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Display – 13.3″ touchscreen IPS LED display; 1920×1080 resolution; 10-point touch; 360-degree hinge design Audio – Integrated microphone, dual built-in speakers, microphone and headphone jacks Video Output – HDMI Camera – HD webcam (1280×720 resolution) with […]

September 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Acer Spin 1 Apollo Lake Laptops to Sell for $250 and Up

Acer has launched a tidal wave of products at IFA 2016, including their 64-bit ARM Chromebook R13, and beside the many Intel Core laptops, the company also announced Acer Spin 1 laptop models powered by the new low-power Intel Apollo Lake processors. Acer Spin 1 (SP111-31) specifications: SoC – Intel Pentium / Celeron Apollo Lake processors. Unnamed, but most likely N series: N3350, N3450, or/and N4200. System Memory – Up to 8GB RAM Storage – Up to 64GB eMMC or up to 1TB HDD Display – 11.6” or 13.3″ IPS Display with Corning AntiMicrobial Glass 5; resolutions: 1366×768 or 1920×1080 Misc – Optional Acer Active Pen with Microsoft Ink Battery – Up to 9 Hours of Battery Life Dimensions – 11.6″ model(s): 29.7 cm x 21.1 cm x 2 cm Weight – 11.6″ model(s): 1.5 kg Acer Spin 1 will first be available in China in October for ¥2,999 and […]

September 1, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Acer Chromebook R13 is Powered by Mediatek MT8173 64-bit ARM Processor

The just announced Acer Chromebook R13 is both the first Mediatek Chromebook and the first 64-bit ARM Chromebook thanks to its Mediatek MT8173(c) quad core processor with two ARM Cortex-A72 cores, and two ARM Cortex-A53 cores. The Chromebook is also fitted with a 13.3″ touchscreen display, 4 GB RAM, and up to 64GB internal storage. Acer Chromebook R13 specifications: SoC – Mediatek M8173C quad core processor with 2x ARM Cortex A72 cores, 2x ARM Cortex A53 cores, and a PowerVR GX6250 GPU System Memory – 4GB LPDDR3 RAM Storage – 16, 32 or 64 GB eMMC flash Display – 13.3″ touchscreen IPS display; 1920×1080 resolution; 10-point touch; 360-degree hinge design Audio – Integrated microphone, dual built-in speakers, microphone and headphone jacks Video Output – HDMI Camera – HD webcam (1280×720 resolution) with HDR and 720p HD audio/video recording Wireless Connectivity – 2×2 MIMO 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – […]