I first came across Ipega brand when I reviewed E-Box T8-4 TV box which included Ipega PG-9028 Bluetooth game controller, which also serves as an handle for your smartphone, so that you can easily play game on your Android smartphone while holding the gamepad. That kind of controller is now pretty common, but Ipega 9057 might be a little less common as instead of a gamepad, a gun carries your smartphone instead making it suitable for first person games such as Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, or Modern Combat. PG-9057 gun specifications: Connectivity – Bluetooth 3.0; 8 meters range Stand – 45 to 95mm for smartphones with up to 6″ displays USB – 1x micro USB for charging Controls – Various buttons and joysticks (See graph below) Misc – LED for battery level, vibration motor, reset pinhole Battery – Built-in Lithium 600mAh; up to 25 hours play time; up to 2 hours […]
Mini M8S II TV Box (Amlogic S905X) Review – Part 2: Android 6.0 Firmware
Mini M8S II is one of the first Amlogic S905X TV box to hit the market, with the new processor adding 4K VP9 hardware video decoding and HDR support compared to Amlogic S905 processor. I’ve already taken pictures of the device and torn it apart to check its hardware & thermal design in the first part of the review, and in the second part, I’ll boot it up, check performance, features, and video playback capabilities. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I plugged-in a USB hard drive into one USB port, but since the device only fetures two ports, I had to use a USB hub to connect two RF dongles for MINIX NEO A2 Lite air mouse, and Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad, as well as a USB keyboard to take screenshots. I completed the hardware setup by connecting HDMI & Ethernet cables before starting the device by connected the […]
RuuviTag Open Source Bluetooth & NFC Sensor Beacon is Based on Nordic Semi nRF52832 SoC (Crowdfunding)
I’ve recently featured Puck.js Bluetooth 4.2/5.0 Beacon on CNX Software, but there’s another similar option with RuuviTag, also powered by the latest Nordic Semi nRF52832 ARM Cortex-M4 SoC, and RuviiTag+ version that includes multiple sensors: 3-axis accelerometer, and temperature, humidity, and pressure sensor. RuuviTag & RuuviTag+ specifications: SoC – Nordic Semi nRF52832 ARM Cortex-M4F micro-controller @ 64 MHz with Bluetooth Smart and NFC Connectivity Bluetooth 4.2 Smart, Bluetooth 5.0 Ready; over 500 meters line of sight range (with -4dBm power); up to 1.4 km with +4 dBm Integrated NFC antenna Expansion – 8x through holes with 6x GPIOs, and 2x power signals Sensors On-chip temperature sensor RuuviTag+ – Bosch BME280 environmental sensor (pressure, humidity, and temperature), STMicro LIS2DH12 3-axis accelerometer Misc – User/reset button, 2x LEDs, 10-pin SWD debug connector Battery – CR2450 / CR2477 battery up to 10 years depending on application Dimensions – N/A Temperature Range – -40°C […]
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 […]
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 […]
$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 […]
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 […]
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 […]