Android News - Page 34 of 375 - CNX Software

June 23, 2022October 13, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Mekotronics R58 review – Part 1: Rockchip RK3588 mini PC unboxing & teardown

Mekotronics R58 review Rockchip RK3588 mini PC

Mekotronics R58 is a cost-optimized Rockchip RK3588 mini PC and SBC that sells for as low as $169 with 4GB and 32GB eMMC flash. The company has now sent me a model with 8GB RAM and 64GB flash for evaluation, and in the first part of the review, I’ll do an unboxing, check out the hardware more closely, and boot it up for a quick check. Mekotronics R58 Unboxing There’s no retail package so to speak with just a white box and a sticker reading “MINI 8+64G” indicating the RAM and storage capacity for the device. The mini PC ships with a 12V/3A power adapter and cord, an IR remote control with two AAA batteries, two WiFi antennas, an HDMI cable, and a USB-A to USB-C cable probably to flash the firmware if needed. The mini PC is housed in a metal enclosure with plenty of ventilation holes at the […]

June 22, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Orbbec Femto ToF camera enables accurate 3D object and scene capture

We’ve written a couple of articles about Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology in recent weeks notably about ranging sensors such as VL53L8 dToF sensor and Toppan hybrid ToF sensor, but Orbbec has used the technology in their Femto camera line designed to capture 3D objects and scenes. The Femto 3D cameras support a depth-of-field (DoF) from 0.2 to 5 meters, multi-camera synchronization, can be used in complete darkness, and are equipped with a 6-Axis IMU tracking sensor for motion tracking. The ToF cameras should find their way into applications for healthcare, warehousing/shipping, autonomous robotics, augmented reality, and other sectors. Three models are available with the following highlights: Femto – 0.2 to 5 meters optical range with a depth resolution of 640 x 480 @ 30fps, and 5.8W power consumption. 99.4 x 68 x 25mm form factor. Femto W – Wide depth field of view (H90, V74) and color field of view (H98.6, […]

June 21, 2022June 21, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Vecow unveils MediaTek Genio 350, Genio 500, and Genio 1200 system-on-modules and development kits

Vecow has announced a series of new system-on-modules and development kits based on Mediatek Genio 350, Genio 500, or Genio 1200 processors for AIoT applications ranging from smart security, smart retail, and traffic vision to digital signage. This follows last week’s news about ADLINK LEC-MTK-I12000 SMARC module and devkit powered by MediaTek Genio 1200 Cortex-A78/A55 AIoT processor, but Vecow also offers solutions based on the entry-level Genio 350 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, and the mid-range Genio 500 octa-core Cortex-A73/A53 processor. ESOM-MT-350 Genio 350 system-on-module and devkit Specifications: SoC – MediaTek Genio 350 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 2.0GHz with Mali-G52 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL ES 2.0, and Vulkan 1.1, 1080p60 H.265/H.264 video decoder System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4 SDRAM Storage – 16GB eMMC flash Wireless – MT7668 WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 module with IPEX connector Audio – MediaTek MT6390/6357 audio codec Debugging – On-module debug console port […]

June 19, 2022June 20, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

BP Doctor PRO review – A 2-in-1 smartwatch and blood pressure monitor

YHE BP Doctor Pro 2-in-1 smartwatch & blood pressure monitor

So far, If I wanted to monitor my blood pressure monitor and overall fitness, I’d use a Bluetooth blood pressure monitor (Koogeek BP2) plus a fitness tracker/smartwatch such as Weloop Key S3. It does the job, but WearWiz has come up with something much more compact with the BP Doctor Pro 2-in-1 device that acts as both a smartwatch/fitness tracker and a blood pressure monitor, and at $299, offers a cheaper alternative to the $500 FDA-approved Omron Heartguide. The company sent a sample to CNX Software for review, so we’ll have a look at the device and accessories, the Android app, and features such as blood pressure monitoring, HRM, SpO2 level monitoring, and more. The review is rather long, so if you are short on time, you may want to check the two sections: Blood pressure monitoring with BP Doctor PRO smartwatch Conclusion with Pros and Cons BP Doctor PRO […]

June 10, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Light sensors add “lift and learn” feature to digital signage player

Light sensors with digital signage lift and learn

Light sensors are used to turn on/off lights, adjust the brightness of displays, and more. But I’ve come across a use case I never thought of: object presence detection. In the digital signage work, such features if called “lift and learn”, and light sensors are used to detect when an object is present and play a video or display information about the product. That concept came to my attention when I saw a photo of Mekotronics R29 digital signage player with several cables coming out of the device and attached to what looked like white hockey pucks and turned out to be light sensors. Apart from the light sensors, Mekotronics R29 specifications are pretty standard: SoC – Rockchip RK3399 hexa-core processor with 2x Cortex-A72 cores, 4x Cortex-A53 cores, Arm Mali-T860MP4 GPU, 4K VP9, H.264, H.265, and 1080p60 VC-1, MPEG-1/2/4, VP6/8 video decoder System Memory – 4GB DDR Storage – 64GB […]

June 7, 2022April 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

TI Sitara AM623 & AM625 Cortex-A53 SoCs offer low-power AI for HMI and IoT applications

Texas Instruments has just launched the new Sitara AM62 family with AM623 and AM625 single to quad-core Cortex-A53 processors designed to provide IoT gateways and HMI applications with AI processing at low power, in some cases with up to 50% reduction in power consumption. The AM623 processor specifically targets Internet of Things (IoT) applications and gateways that may benefit from object and gesture recognition, while the AM625, equipped with a 3D GPU, should power HMI applications with edge AI and up to two full-HD displays. Sitara AM623 and AM625 processors Sitara AM623/AM625 key features and specifications: CPU – Single, dual, or quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1,400 MHz with 512KB L2 shared cache, plus 32KB I+D cache per core Co-processor – 1x Arm Cortex-M4F real-time core at up to 400 MHz with 256KB SRAM with SECDED ECC GPU (AM625 only) – Unnamed 3D GPU with support for OpenGL […]

June 1, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Quartz64 Model B SBC with 4GB RAM is now available for $59.99

While it may be hard to buy a Raspberry Pi these days, there are various alternatives with the Raspberry Pi 3/4 form factor, including Pine64’s Quartz64 Model B SBC powered by a Rockchip RK3566 processor that has just launched for $59.99 with 4GB RAM. The Quartz64 Model B is a smaller version of the Quartz64 Model A launched earlier this year, that comes with HDMI 2.0a and MIPI DSI display interfaces, a MIPI CSI camera interface, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0, as well as several USB 2.0/3.0 ports, and of course, a 40-pin Raspberry Pi compatible GPIO header. Quartz64 Model B specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Mali-G52 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU for AI acceleration System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage 128 Mbit SPI Flash optional eMMC module from 16GB up to […]

May 27, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Lightweight wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design is powered by Snapdragon XR2 platform

Snapdragon XR2 wireless AR smart viewer reference design

Qualcomm unveiled a new Wireless AR Smart Viewer Reference Design powered by the Snapdragon XR2 platform last week with very few details, but the company has now demonstrated the system to some members of the press, so let’s have a closer look. The reference design aims to provide a similar level of performance as a headset connected to PC or premium smartphone, but with some of the processing offloaded to the Snapdragon XR2 processor, thereby eliminating the need for a cord while still achieving lag-free experiences in combination with the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 solution. It is supposed to offer a 40% thinner profile and a more balanced weight distribution than the earlier Snapdragon XR1 smart glasses reference design. Wireless AR Smart Viewer reference design specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 with Octa-core processor with 1x Kryo Gold prime @ 2.84 GHz + 3x Kryo […]