artificial intelligence

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Zant – An open-source Zig SDK for neural network deployment on microcontrollers

Zant – An open-source Zig SDK for neural network deployment on microcontrollers

Zant neural network deployment microcontrollers

Zant is an open-source, cross-platform SDK written in Zig and designed to simplify deploying Neural Networks (NN) on microcontrollers. It comprises a suite of tools to import, optimize, and deploy NNs to low-end hardware. The developers behind the project developed Zant (formerly known as Zig-ant) after noticing many microcontrollers lacked robust deep learning libraries, and made sure it would be on various platforms such as ARM Cortex-M or RISC-V microcontrollers, or even x86 targets. Contrary to platforms like Edge Impulse that focus on network creation, Zant is about deployment and outputs a static, highly optimized library ready to be integrated into any existing work stack. Zant highlights: Optimized Performance – Supports quantization, pruning, and hardware acceleration techniques such as SIMD and GPU offloading. Low memory footprint – Zant employs memory pooling, static allocation, and buffer optimization to work on resources-constrained targets. Ease of Integration: With a modular design, clear APIs, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on The One Smart AI Pen – A ballpoint pen with Bluetooth and a microphone for translation, LLM integration, note taking (Crowdfunding)

The One Smart AI Pen – A ballpoint pen with Bluetooth and a microphone for translation, LLM integration, note taking (Crowdfunding)

The One Smart AI Pen

You may have seen the “Sell me that pen. It’s AI-powered” meme if you are a social media user. It may have started as a joke, but Zakwan Ahmad made the meme become reality with “The One Smart AI Pen” which is basically a standard ballpoint pen with a battery, Bluetooth connectivity, a microSD card, and a microphone. The AI part is not exactly inside the pen per se, but in a smartphone’s app called Hearit.ai that allows the user to translate his/her voice input, use a range of LLMs such as ChatGPT, recording a meeting, or taking notes, for example, to schedule events or meetings. The One Smart AI Pen specifications: “AI chip” –  Not clear why it’s needed here… unless it transcribes audio into text inside the pen (as opposed to inside the phone) Storage – MicroSD card slot inside the pen Wireless – Bluetooth 5.2 with up […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Qualcomm X85 5G modem powers 12.5Gbps Dragonwing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Gen4 Elite platform

Qualcomm X85 5G modem powers 12.5Gbps Dragonwing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Gen4 Elite platform

Qualcomm X85 5G Modem Dragonwing FWA Gen4 Elite

As Mobile World Congress 2025 has just started, Qualcomm has announced the X85 5G modem with up to 12.5 Gbps peak download speed, 3.7 Gbps uploads and targeting a wide range of applications from Android smartphones to PCs, FWA routers, industrial applications with Ethernet TSN, or even railways with support for FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) in Europe. The company also introduced the Dragonwing Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Gen 4 Elite platform based on the Qualcomm X85 5G modem, a quad-core processor, GNSS, tri-band Wi-Fi 7, and network Edge AI coprocessor with up to 40 TOPS of NPU processing power. Qualcomm X85 5G modem Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF System specifications: Peak Download Speed – 12.5 Gbps (FR1 + FR2), 10.3 Gbps Peak Upload Speed – 3.7 Gbps Cellular Modem-RF – 10CC aggregation in mmWave, 6CC aggregation in 5G sub 6GHz, 400 MHz carrier aggregation (DL) Cellular Technology 5G NR […]

Posted on by Tomisin Olujinmi - 7 Comments on Halliday Proactive AI Smart Glasses feature invisible display, real-time translation, and hands-free control for $369+ (Crowdfunding)

Halliday Proactive AI Smart Glasses feature invisible display, real-time translation, and hands-free control for $369+ (Crowdfunding)

Halliday AI glasses DigiWIndow

Like the wearable voice-activated assistants last year (Rabbit R1 and Humane AI), smart glasses have become quite trendy and will likely be the most popular AI-enabled form factor this year. The Halliday smart glasses are a pair of AI-enabled smart glasses with an invisible display and a proactive assistant that “helps before you ask”. The Halliday smart glasses integrate a small display module into the frame, unlike the Loomos and Looktech smart glasses launched earlier this year through crowdfunding campaigns. The display module, DigiWindow, is described as “the world’s smallest display module at 3.5mm” and invisible to onlookers. It uses a monochrome green MicroLED with projection optics to allow users to access information without obstructing their field of view. The Halliday proactive AI smart glasses come in a lightweight frame, weighing only 35 grams. They can be controlled by voice, the included controller ring, a rapid button for shortcuts, or […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - No Comments on Jetway F35-MTU1 3.5-inch SBC features Intel Core Ultra 7 155U or Ultra 5 125U Meteor Lake SoC

Jetway F35-MTU1 3.5-inch SBC features Intel Core Ultra 7 155U or Ultra 5 125U Meteor Lake SoC

jetwayipc F35 MTU1 3.5 Inch SubCompact SBC

Jetway recently launched the F35-MTU1 3.5-inch SubCompact SBC, built around the Intel Core 5 125U and Ultra 7 155U (Meteor Lake) processors which also integrates an NPU for AI acceleration. It supports up to 96GB of DDR5 memory, features dual Intel 2.5GbE LAN with TSN, and supports WiFi 6 and 4G LTE connectivity via M.2 sockets. The board has several 4K display outputs, including DP Type-C, DP, HDMI, and LVDS/eDP. For storage, it offers M.2 slots supporting NVMe, PCIe, and CNVi, along with a SATA III port with RAID 0/1 support for data redundancy. I/O options include USB 3.2, USB 2.0, and four COM ports for serial communication, which can be used to connect external peripherals. With a wide operating temperature range and support for both Windows and Linux, the SBC is well-suited for AI workloads, IoT edge devices, and industrial control systems that demand high performance, connectivity, and reliability. […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Imagination DXTP GPU promises 20% higher power efficiency compared to DXT GPU for mobile devices and laptops

Imagination DXTP GPU promises 20% higher power efficiency compared to DXT GPU for mobile devices and laptops

Imagination DXTP power-efficient GPU

Imagination has announced the DXTP GPU for mobile and power-constrained devices with up to 20% greater power efficiency than its predecessor, the D-Series DXT GPU for longer battery life for AI applications or complex games. The company says the GPU is suitable for gaming, user interfaces, graphics-rich applications, computer vision, generative AI, and other AI applications designed to run on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, or non-safety automotive products. Imagination DXTP highlights: Two off-the-shelf configurations: DXTP-48-1536 48 GPixel/s 1.5 TFLOPS FP32 (1536 FLOPs/Clock) 3 TFLOPS FP16 6 TOPS INT8 48 ppc Bilinear 3D Textured Up to 96 ppc 2D Dual Rate Mode DXTP-64-2048 64 GPixel/s 2 TFLOPS FP32 (2048 FLOPs/Clock) 4 TFLOPS FP16 8 TOPS INT8 64 ppc Bilinear 3D Textured Up to 128 ppc 2D Dual Rate Mode Bus Interface – AXI, ACE-Lite Compression PVRIC5 Lossless and Lossy Framebuffer Compression ETC and ASTC LDR and HDR Support Microarchitecture improvement – […]

Posted on by Tomisin Olujinmi - 2 Comments on Loomos AI smart glasses integrate GPT-4o, offer a 16MP camera and hi-fi audio for $199+ (Crowdfunding)

Loomos AI smart glasses integrate GPT-4o, offer a 16MP camera and hi-fi audio for $199+ (Crowdfunding)

loomos AI smart glasses with 16MP camera

Chinese power supply company, SHARGE, has launched a pair of GPT-4o-powered smart glasses with a 16-megapixel camera capable of capturing 4K photos and 1080p videos. Like the Looktech AI glasses and Meta Ray-Ban series, the Loomos AI smart glasses have no onboard display. Instead, they feature a microphone array, onboard speakers, and side buttons for user control and feedback. The Loomos glasses are powered by a 2.0Ghz UNISOC quad-core processor and come integrated with the multi-modal GPT-4o for real-time AI assistance. The stated battery life is much more impressive than the competition at 40 hours of standby time (from a 450mAh battery). The company also offers a 6,500mAh neckband power bank for uninterrupted all-day wearing. The company promises security and privacy with the glasses. Data is processed anonymously with TLS encryption and users retain full control of their data. The glasses also include an indicator light to alert people around […]

Posted on by Debashis Das - 2 Comments on LLMStick – An AI and LLM USB device based on Raspberry Pi Zero W and optimized llama.cpp

LLMStick – An AI and LLM USB device based on Raspberry Pi Zero W and optimized llama.cpp

LLMStick

Youtuber and tech enthusiast Binh Pham has recently built a portable plug-and-play AI and LLM device housed in a USB stick called the LLMStick and built around a Raspberry Pi Zero W. This device portrays the concept of a local plug-and-play LLM which you can use without the internet. After DeepSeek shook the world with its performance and open-source accessibility, we have seen tools like Exo that allow you to run large language models (LLMs) on a cluster of devices, like computers, smartphones, and single-board computers, effectively distributing the processing load. We have also seen Radxa release instructions to run DeepSeek R1 (Qwen2 1.5B) on a Rockchip RK3588-based SBC with 6 TOPS NPU. Pham thought of using the llama.cpp project as it’s specifically designed for devices with limited resources. However, running llama.cpp on the Raspberry Pi Zero W wasn’t straightforward and he had to face architecture incompatibility as the old […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC