Atmel has just announced it is now shipping SmartConnect BTLC1000 Bluetooth Smart (BLE 4.1) SoC in production quantities. The chip is remarkable thanks to its size, as the company managed to pack an ARM Cortex-M0 MCU, a transceiver, a modem, MAC, PA, TR Switch, and Power Management Unit (PMU) into a 2.26×2.14 mm package. Atmel SmartConnect BTLC1000 Bluetooth LE SoC key features and specifications: MCU – ARM Cortex M0 @ 26 MHz 128KB IRAM/DRAM, 128KB ROM Connectivity – Bluetotoh 4.1 Smart with L2CAP service layer protocols, Security Manager, Attribute protocol (ATT), Generic Attribute Profile (GATT) and the Generic Access Profile (GAP). Proximity, Thermometer, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, and others profiles are also included in the protocol stack. I/Os – Up to 15, including 2x UART, 2x SPI, and 2x I2C. Hardware Crypto – AES-128, SHA-256 Operating Voltage – 1.8 – 4.3V Power Consumption – > 4mA in RX, and >3mA […]
Pebble Time Round is Thinner, Features a Circular Display, But Lasts Only 2 Days on a Charge
Pebble introduced Pebble Time smartwatch with an always-on color e-Paper display, voice recognition, and 7 days of battery life early this year, and the company has now unveiled a thinner version with a circular display, that’s still always-on, but unfortunately only lasts 2 days on a charge like most of other smartwatches on the market. The Pebble Time Round shares the same “Timeline” user interface as the Pebble Time (Steel), and most of the hardware features: Display – Always-on, color e-paper display with LED backlight, 2.5D gorilla glass display Connectivity – Bluetooth Audio – Built-in microphone for voice reply Battery / Power Up to 2 days of battery life A 15 minutes charge gives you a day of use. Magnetic charging with cable working in any USB port Misc – 3x tactile buttons, vibrating motor for discreet alerts and alarms IP Rating – Splash resistant to IPX7 standard (Not waterproof […]
Link Dream i-Watch BT is a Both a Bluetooth Headset and a Watch
If you don’t like wearing your Bluetooth headset all the time, but also find it inconvenient to take it out of your pocket and/or bag once you do get call, Link Dream i-Watch BT might offer a solution. It’s a basic watch that carries a Bluetooth 3.0 headset, so you can easily use it as needed. Key features and specifications: Connectivity – Bluetooth V3.0 (CSR) with Headset, HFP, and A2DP profiles. Range: Up to 10 meters Display – Shows time and battery level Audio – Microphone USB – (micro?) USB port for charging Misc – Vibrator, LED, multi-function button, and time adjustment button Battery 180mAh Li-ion battery Talking time: Up to 1.5 – 2 hours; Standby time: Up to 200 hours (or 6 to 10 days depending where you read) Charging time: About 2 hours Charger – 5V @ 300 – 500mA Dimensions – 25.5 x 2.8 x 1.8 cm […]
HummingBoard Gate Boards Add a mikroBUS Socket to Support MikroElektronika Click Boards
SolidRun already released HummingBoard-Base, HummingBoard-Pro, and HummingBoard Edge previously, but the company has now launched another version of their Freescale i.MX6 based boards with HummingBoard Gate that adds a mikroBUS socket to support over 150 add-on boards – called Click Boards – made by MikroElektronika. HummingBoard Gate specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Solo, Dual Lite, Dual, or Quad with Cortex-A9 cores @ 1 to 1.2 GHz System Memory – Up to 4GB DDR3 Storage – Micro SD slot Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (limited to 470Mbps), optional WiFi/Bt module Video Output – HDMI output, MIPI-DSI connector Camera – MIPI CSI-4, parallel camera USB – 4x USB 2.0 ports Expansion mPCIe slot with SIM card holder 36-pin GPIO header mikroBUS click interface Misc – Reset button, RTC with battery Power – 7-36V, 5.5mm jack Dimensions – 102 x 69 mm As usual, the board is comprised of a baseboard and a microSOM, […]
LimiFrog is a Bluetooth 4.1 Wearables Devkit Based on STM32L4 with Lots of Sensors (Crowdfunding)
LimitFrog is a tiny board powered by STMicro STM32-L4 microcontroller with Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity, plenty of sensors, and that can run code bare metal as well as RiOT real-time operating system. LimiFrog specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32-L4 ARM Cortex M4 micro-controller @ 80 MHz with DSP, 512KB flash, 128KB RAM External storage – 8MB serial flash for data that supports FAT32 file system Display – 160×128 RGB565 OLED display Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.1 (Panasonic PAN1740) Sensors (Follow this link for datasheets of most components) Pressure, altitude & temperature (LPS25H) 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope (LSM6DS3) 3-axis magnetometer (LIS3MDL) Ambient light, proximity and distance (VL6180X) Ambient sound (SPU0414H5H) USB – micro USB port for power and programming Expansions – 11-pin (through holes) providing access to SPI, I2C, CAN, PWM, GPIOs, ADC, DAC, Analog out, and power signals (3V out GND) Battery – 500 mAh (hours to weeks of battery life depending on […]
LG Rolly is a Bluetooth Keyboard that Folds into a Stick
There are already some flexible Bluetooth keyboards that you can roll into your bag or pocket after being done typing on your smartphone or tablet, but LG is about to launch Rolly Keyboard, a solid Bluetooth keyboard for mobile device that can be rolled into a stick, which should may be sturdier than flexible keyboards, and it can also hold a smartphone or tablet in upright position with a display of up to 10″ in size. LG’ latest keyboard (model KBB-700) is comprised of 17mm keys – a standard keyboard comes with 18mm keys – arranged into four rows, that can be folded into a stick as shown above. The company also claims the keyboard offers “satisfying tactile feedback not found on flexible silicone keyboards”. The keyboard is powered by two AAA batteries supposed to last about 3 months during typical use, and pairing over Bluetooth 3.0 occurs automatically to […]
Tronfy MXIV Telos TV Box Review with Android 5.1
Tronfy MXIV Telos is a TV box powered by Amlogic S812 processor running Android 5.1 Lollipop and costing just above $90 (with coupon), so it will be interesting to find out how it performs compared to Mygica ATV1900AC also based on Amlogic S812 SoC, and Android Lollipop firmware (version 5.0.2), which I reviewed recently, and sells for $169. I’ve already checked the hardware in Tronfy MX4 Telos Unboxing and Teardown, so today I’ll check how the device actually performs. First Boot, Settings and First Impressions I started by connecting peripherals: A USB hard drive to one of the USB port, and a USB hub to the other USB port with a webcam, and two RF dongles for an air mouse and a wireless gamepad, as well as HDMI and Ethernet cables, and the power supply. I then had to press the power button on the unit to start it up, […]
Orchard is an Open Source Hardware Multi-Radio IoT Board Used to Learn Coding, Hardware Design and Manufacturing
Sutajio Ko-Usagi’s wiki is the place where you find documentation for open source hardware projects such as Novena laptop or Fernvale IoT board. There’s another IoT board supporting 900 MHz and Bluetooth radios called Orchard. Orchard board specifications: MCU – Kinetis MKW01 ARM Cortex-M0+ MCU @ 48 MHz with 128KB flash, 16KB RAM Connectivity 900 MHz radio with +13dBm transmit power (for long-range applications) Bluetooth LE radio (for short-range, low power connection to IP gateways) Display – 128×64 OLED Sensors – 3-axis Accelerometer, microphone sensor Debugging – FTDI serial port header, SWD provisioning & debug header Misc Captouch button controller WS2812B LED strip driver Lithium ion battery solution Gas gauge for accurate battery life determination Charging solution that can support high-capacity batteries Integral 5V boost The hardware files and ChibiOS 3.0 firmware source code are all available. The board does not appear to be for sale, but instead students taking […]