bluetooth News - Page 54 of 72 - CNX Software

July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Bagel is a Smart Bluetooth Tape Measure Compatible with Android and iOS Phones (Crowdfunding)

The tape measure is a pretty simple tool allowing you to measure length, and I assume most people will write results on a piece of paper. Battery powered Bagel tape measure changes that as it allows measurements with a string, through a wheel, or an ultrasonic sensors, store the data in its internal memory with voice to text memo, and also sends back data over Bluetooth to your smartphone. Bagel Labs tape measure specifications: Three measure modes – string (up to 3 meters), wheel (up to 10 meters), or ultrasonic sensor (0.3 to 5 meters) Storage – 32 MB flash for up to 100 measurements and voice memo (Both metric and imperial units supported) Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE Audio – Microphone for voice to text recording Display – 0.96″ OLED display; 128×96 resolution USB – 1x micro USB port for charging Misc – laser pointer for ultrasonic measurement; save […]

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

OSHCHIP Breadboard Friendly Bluetooth Smart Board Comes in a Tiny 16-pin DIP Package

OSHCHIP is a tiny development board powered by a Nordic Semi ARM Cortex-M0 Bluetooth LE / ANT SoC that neatly fits on a breadboard, and beside wireless connectivity thanks to its 2.4 GHz radio, also provides up to 14 I/Os to interface with external hardware. OSHCHIP specifications: Nordic Semi nRF51822 ARM Cortex-M0 MCU @ 16 MHz with 256KB Flash Memory, 32KB SRAM Radio – 2.4 GHz Radio with support for 4 protocols: Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) / Bluetooth Smart, Gazell, ESB (Enhanced Shock Burst), and optionally ANT Antenna – Built-in antenna, range is 10 to 20 feet, depending on environment (metal, desks, chairs, …) Expansion – 14 general purpose I/O pins. All peripherals (except the ADC) can use any I/O pin: UART, 10-bit ADC, Counter/Timers, SPI, I2C Security – AES Encryption, Random Number Generator. Misc – Temperature sensor, RTC, Watchdog Timer Quadrature Decoder, 3 LEDs, Power Supply – 1.8V to 3.6V […]

July 18, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

$16 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Bracelet Monitors Babies’ Temperature

With electronics getting cheaper and smaller everyday, I’m expecting medical diagnostic / monitoring tools with become more convenient and affordable, and products from the more advanced Scanadu, to much simpler Bluetooth blood pressure monitors will help people better monitor their health themselves. I’ll also getting frequent request about the availability of soon-to-be FDA approved Omron Project Zero blood pressure smartwatch. Today I’ve come across a simple $16.51 Bluetooth Smart bracelet that could be useful to monitor the temperature of sick babies or very young children. Technical specifications: Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE with up 18 meters range Sensor – Temperature between 32 and 43 degree Celsius with -/+ 0.1 deg. accuracy Smartphone compatibility – Android 4.3+ or IOS 7.0+ Functions – Thermometer; Temperature Alarm; Medical Records; Health Management, Cloud Backup. Power Supply – CR2032 battery Wristband Length – 14~19cm Weight – 19 g The band must be worn in such as […]

July 13, 2016July 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Puck.js Bluetooth 5.0 Ready Beacon is Programmable with JavaScript (Crowdfunding)

I first found out about Bluetooth LE tags in 2012 with SticknFind project, and since then many other companies have designed their own Bluetooth beacon mostly to find objects such as your keys or pets. Puck.js is also a Bluetooth 4.2 LE beacon, but has many more features including compatibility with the upcoming Bluetooth 5.0 standard, and some GPIOs programmable with JavaScript (Espruino implementation), and corresponding visual programming editor. Puck.js hardware specifications: Bluetooth Smart SoC – Nordic Semi nRF52832 ARM Cortex-M4F micro-controller @ 64 MHz Connectivity Bluetooth 4.2 LE/smart, Bluetooth 5.0 Ready; up to 80 meters range in open space On-chip NFC support Expansion – 8x through holes with 6x GPIOs, and 2x power signals Sensors – MAC3110 magnetometer, on-chip temperature sensor Misc – 1x tactile button, 4x LEDs (R, G, B, IR) Battery – CR2032 210mAh battery good for about a year (application dependent) Dimensions – 35mm diameter, 10mm […]

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 Cortex-M4 ANT & Bluetooth LE SoC Gets Even Tinier

Nordic Semiconductor nRF52832 is a Bluetooth 4.2 LE SoC based on an ARM Cortex-M4F core that was first released about a year ago in a QFN48 package targeting IoT and Wearables. But if your application is really tight on space and the 6x6mm package is just too big, the company has just introduced a 3.0×3.2mm WL-CSP (Wafer Level Chip Scale Package ) package for nRF52832 decreasing the area to about one quarter of the QFN package The specifications are exactly the same as the QFN, but let’s see what we’ve got in that 9.6mm2 package: MCU Core – ARM Cortex-M4F @ 64 MHz with DSP & FPU, 512kB Flash and 64kB RAM 2.4 GHz radio for ANT, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, and Gazell connectivity; 5.5mA peak RX/TX currents; on-chip RF Balun On-chip NFC tag Peripherals – 3x Master/Slave SPI, 2x Two-wire interface (I²C), UART (RTS/CTS), 3x PWM, Digital microphone interface (PDM) Security […]

June 28, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Raspberry Pi Zero Based Google’s Project Bloks Aims to Teach Programming to Young Children

Visual programming development tools such as Scratch or Blockly are now becoming more popular to introduce school children to programming, and Google Research is now working on bringing the software visual programming concept to physical blocks “programming” though Project Bloks targeting younger children who may not be able to write or read yet. It might also help older children grasping programming concepts faster than when programming by typing on a keyboard. Project Bloks is comprised of three main hardware components connected together: Pucks – Those are the buttons, dials, switches, and other inputs from the project. Pucks have no active electronics, and even a piece of paper with some conductive ink could be a Puck. Base Boards – They read a Puck’s instruction through a capacitive sensor, and forward a Puck’s command to the Brain Board. Each Base Board is also fitted with a haptic motor & LEDs, and can […]

June 27, 2016July 5, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Review of Xiaomi Mi Band 2 Activity Tracker

I’ve been using Xiaomi Mi Band 2 for a little over two weeks now, so I’m not ready to report my findings, and the results are mixed. If you are interesting in checking out the accessories, and physical aspect of the watch, feel free to read Xiaomi Mi Band 2 unboxing post first. Since the new model adds an OLED display, let’s first see what options it has to offer. The display is off by default, and pressing the capacitive touch button (please note that it’s not a real physical button, so it won’t work with most gloves for example) will turn on the display for 5 seconds. You can keep pressing to go through time, step count, distance, calories burnt, heart rate monitor, and battery level. Except for time, there’s a icon shown before display the actual value. If you find that the display does not look clear, that’s […]

June 22, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Get an Early ESP32 Board by Contributing to Luanode for ESP8266 & ESP32 Project (Crowdfunding)

Development boards and module based on Espressif ESP32 dual core processor with WiFi and Bluetooth LE connectivity are due for Q3 or Q4 2016, but you could get an early sample as early as July if you contribute to Jimmy Wu’s (of wifimcu.com) crowdfunding campaign to develop Luanode (Lua SDK) for ESP8266 and ESP32 processors, as ESP32 boards are part of the rewards. Luanode is a Lua SDK for ESP32 and ESP8266 that supports multi-tasking through FreeRTOS, and includes support for peripherals. The source code and documentation can be already be found on Github, and the main differences against something like NodeMCU appear to be multi-tasking and (for now) ESP32 support. Interestingly the SDK contains a tools called WiFi-Killer uses for Denial of Service (DoS) attacks using ESP8266 or ESP32 modules… One hardware project is called WiFi tank comprised of one T300 Tank Chassis, ESP8266 Development Kit, 720p HD Camera, […]