bluetooth News - Page 66 of 70 - CNX Software

January 3, 2014January 3, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

$99 CSR µEnergy Starter Development Kit for Bluetooth Smart

CSR has recently launched CSR µEnergy Starter Development Kit, a low-cost devkit based on their CSR1010, CSR1011 and CSR1012 modules for developers designing Bluetooth Smart, aka Bluetooth Low Energy, applications. Main features of CSR µEnergy Starter DevKit: Fitted with CSR1010, CSR1011, or CSR1012 module USB or CR2032 battery powered (link selectable) USB SPI interface to development PC Headers – 1x Headers for CSR1010/CSR1012 I/O, 2x Headers for CSR1011 I/O Misc – 1x push button, 1x LED Dimensions – 80x68mm PCB area The modules are based on the Bluetooth Smart ICs with the same name, and the following characteristics: CSR1010 – QFN 32 lead, 5 x 5 x 0.6mm, 0.5mm pitch CSR1011 – QFN 56 lead, 8 x 8 x 0.9mm, 0.5mm pitch CSR1012 – QFN 32 lead, 4 x 4 x 0.65mm, 0.4mm pitch All three come with 128KB memory (64KB RAM and 64KB ROM), CSR1010 and CSR1012 has 12 digital […]

December 28, 2013December 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Rezence Wireless Charging Standard Gets Rid off Charging Pads, Leverages Bluetooth 4.0 LE

I’ve just found out via my twitter feed that Nordic Semiconductor had announced the availability of the Bluetooth LE-based S120 8-link central protocol stack and nRF51 Wireless Charging SDK for wireless charging applications based on a new wireless charging standard called Rezence. The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) gave their wireless power technology the name Rezence a couple of weeks ago. Rezence uses magnetic resonance, instead of inductance used in first generation products, and bring several key improvements: Greater charging range – Your device does not need to be placed on a charging pad, but it can be placed anywhere within range (I could not find data yet). Multiple device charging – Ability to charge multiple devices with different power requirements at the same time, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and Bluetooth headsets. Up to 8 devices with Nordic Semi solutions mentioned in the introduction. Ready for the real world […]

December 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Crowdfunding Report 2013 on CNXSoft Blog

Crowdfunding has really took off in 2013, with sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, as they enable start-ups to launch new and innovative products, and some established, even large companies, I’m thinking Canonical with Ubuntu Edge here, have also tapped into that market, actually shifting part of the risks from shareholders, to customers / individual funders. In this post, I’ll go through all the crowdfunding projects, 16 Indiegogo and 25 Kickstarter campaigns, featured on cnx-software.com between the beginning of December 2012 till the end of November 2013, to find out which ones have been a stellar success in terms of funding and on-time delivery, and those that have failed in one way or another, with some being close to looking like scams. There was a wide range of products with dealing home automation, the Internet of things, wireless Arduino compatible boards, Linux development boards, media players and more. Let’s go straight […]

December 1, 2013March 6, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ThL W200 Smartphone Review (Mediatek MT6589T)

I’ve received ThL W200, a smartphone powered by Mediatek MT6589T SoC, at the beginning of week (Check specs and unboxing pictures), and after about a week of use, it’s time for a review. First I’ll go through my first impressions, test of different features such as the camera, GPS, and Bluetooth, and finally run some apps to get system information and benchmarks for this phone. ThL W200 Review This smartphone feels very light, but the build quality is good, and as explained in my unboxing post, comes with power, volume -/+, and menu/home/back buttons. You’ll also find rear camera + flash, front camera, the light sensor, and the notification light. First impressions The phone boots to the standard Android home screen, as shown above, with English as the default language, and comes with Google Play Store, and no Chinese apps. The 720p screen provide a sharp and clear display, and […]

November 27, 2013November 27, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LightBlue Cortado is an Arduino Compatible Board Programmed Wirelessly via Bluetooth LE (Crowdfunding)

We’ve already seen several Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Arduino compatible boards being crowd-funded such as RFDuino and BLEDuino, but there’s now another board designed by Punch Through Design: LightbBlue Cortado. The board is programmed wirelessly directly via Bluetooth LE, instead of USB as in the two aforementioned boards, which means programming via iPad or Android tablets becomes more convenient. Here are the technical specifications of the board: MCU – Atmel ATmega328P @ 8MHz with 32KB Flash, 1KB EEPROM, 2KB SRAM Bluetooth – LBM313 Module with Texas Instruments CC2540, 256 KB Flash. Bluetooth range: 30.5m. Power consumption in sleep mode: 0.9μA I/O – 4 PWM pins, 2 Analog inputs, 8 GPIO, I2C and SPI Sensor – 3-Axis Accelerometer Misc – RGB LED, protoboard section, adhesive backing Power – Coin cell battery. Battery life exceeding one year for low power applications There’s no USB, so the only way to program the board is via […]

November 22, 2013November 22, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

ICMe Cuffless Finger Blood Pressure Monitor Sends Results to your Smartphone via Bluetooth 4.0

Nihon University have developed a tiny blood pressure monitor, which you can just touch with your finger, in order to get maximum and minimum (systolic and diastolic) blood pressures, both average and real-time values, as well as pulse rate and pulse waveform displayed on your smartphone. ICMe uses photo transistors to detect LED light reflected on a finger, and then converts pulse wave data obtained from the light to a blood pressure value. Phase Shift Method-based data processing and algorithm is used for the conversion to a blood pressure value, and results are transmitted to the phone via Bluetooth 4.0 (LE?). The device is composed of a custom main chip, LEDs, photo transistors, and a Bluetooth 4.0 module. Tech-on reports an early much larger model was exhibited last year at Medica 2013, and the new miniaturized model is currently showcased at Medica 2013, which runs from Nov 20 to 23, […]

November 15, 2013November 15, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

Coin is a Smart Card that Replaces All Your Other Cards (Credit, Debit, Loyalty…)

You may have a few cards in your wallet: credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, membership cards, … and it’s just convenient to carry them around all the time. There will soon be a solution with Coin, a smart card where you can store all your other cards data, and use this smart card instead. In order to register your physical cards (up to 8 cards for one Coin), you’ll need to install an application in your Android smartphone, or your iPhone, take a picture of both sides of the cards, and swiping the Coin though a small device provided with the card. Then, when you want to make a purchase, you just click on the button of the Coin to select the card to use, and carry on with your purchase are you would normally do. You may worry about security concerns, but the company behind the Coin has […]

November 14, 2013November 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Ninja Sphere Home Automation and Monitoring Platform

Ninja Blocks is an company providing open source hardware solutions for home automation. Their first product was called Ninja Blocks Kit which includes a Ninja Block (Beaglebone + Arduino based gateway, but they now also support the Raspberry Pi), sensors, sockets, cables, and a power supply, and works with Ninja Platform, an open source software framework. The goal was to simplify the process of developing automation applications by taking care of all low levels tasks such as electronics, embedded programming, network protocols.., and letting “end users” / developers focus on their application. The company is now working on a new version called the Ninja Sphere, including a “Spheramid” gateway, location waypoints (Bluetooth low energy tags), and smart power sockets. Here are the key features of the gateway: Processor – ARM Cortex A8 (probably Texas Instruments Sitara) Color LED Matrix Connectivity – Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi USB Port – […]