Cheap Accessories for Raspberry Pi – Camera, microSD adapter, Debug Board, Heatsink and Enclosure

The Raspberry Pi just a great low cost ARM Linux board that costs $25 (Model A) to $35 (Model B), but once you start to add accessories the total cost of ownership may creep up quickly, and in some cases accessories may be more expensive than the board itself. I’ll list some alternative accessories that can be purchased online for a fraction of the cost of the more famous one. $18 Raspberry Pi Camera The official Raspberry Pi camera costs $25 + shipping and tax, but you can get a similar 5MP CSI camera for just $18.13 including shipping on Banggood.com. This camera clone should be software compatible with the original one according to the listed features: Plugs directly into the CSI connector on the Raspberry Pi 5MP resolution image (2592 x 1944), or 1080p HD video recording at 30fps 5MP (2592 x 1944 pixels) Omnivision 5647 sensor in a […]

Amaryllo iCam HD is a Smart Wireless IP Camera Controllable via Skype

Amaryllo iCam HD is a Linux based smart network HD (720p) Camera with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + WPS connectivity, infra-red vision, 100 degrees view angle, and 360 degrees view possible via remote pan-and-tilt, a microphone, a speaker, a micro SD card slot for video recording, a motion sensor, and a micro USB port for power via a standard USB power adapter or a USB power bank. On top of that, you can easily remotely access the camera via Skype by calling from your computer or your smartphone just like you would do to call a friend or family member. The camera can be used to watch after your loved ones: babies, aging parents, pets…, and for home security.  I could also envision using it with people who are close to you that are not comfortable with computers. You could just set it up for them, and call them directly without […]

Intel Unveils Edison Board for Wearables at CES 2014 Keynote

After an earlier Intel presentation about Intel RealSense Technology by Mooly Eden, Intel Senior Vice President and General Manager, the newly appointed Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich, officially opened CES 2014 with the pre-show keynote. This time there was nothing about processors for PCs, and the announcement the most interesting and relevant to this blog was Intel Edison, a tiny SD-card sized board powered by a dual core Quark SoC. Specifications: SoC – Unnamed and new dual core Intel Quark SoC @ 400MHz manufactured with 22nm process technology. MCU – Unnamed Intel MCU (MCS 51??) to manage I/Os and other baseline functions. System Memory – LPDDR2 Storage – NAND Flash Connectivity – Wi-Fi and Blutooth 4.0 LE Dimensions – Just like an SD card The board will support Linux, and common open source tools used by the marker community. It will also support Wolfgram language and Mathematica. There will also be […]

Intel Unveils RealSense Technology with 3D Camera, Voice Recognition

RealSense_3D_Camera

Mooly Eden, Intel Senior Vice President and General Manager, gave a presentation at CES 2014 about Perceptual Computing, introducing Intel RealSense Technology that is currently comprised of a 3D “depth” camera, and Nuance Dragon Assitant voice technology in order to bring “Natural, Intuitive, and Immersive user experiences”. Dragon Assistant is a personal voice assistant that uses natural language understanding for Windows 8 Ultrabooks, notebooks, all-in-ones (AIOs), and tablet devices, and will be available in computers (Ultrabooks, AIO computer, and Tablets) from Acer, Dell, HP, Asus, Toshiba, and Lenovo in 2014. It’s very similar to what’s you’ve got with Siri on iOS or Google voice search, but the quick demo they’ve shown it could understand you without being specific. You awake the assistant by saying “Hey dragon”, and they tried with queries such as “I want to watch an episode of Family Guy” that started Hulu with a list of relevant […]

Practical Applications and Benchmarks of GPU Computing via RenderScript and OpenCL with ARM Mali-T6XX GPU

Since the announcement of ARM Mali-T604 in 2010, ARM has explained that GPGPU (General Purpose computing on GPU), aka GPU Compute, would be one of the key features of their new Mali graphics processor, and the company now expects GPGPU to become mainstream in embedded and mobile devices in 2014 and beyond. I’ve just come across a presentation by Roberto Mijat, technical marketing manager at ARM, entitled “Unleashing the benefits of GPU Computing with ARM Mali” which shows practical applications and use cases where the use of RenderScript, or OpenCL can make massive performance improvements, at much lower power consumption, over the same parallel tasks processed by the CPU only. Let’s have a look at some of the most interesting slides. GPU compute can be used for multiple applications in mobile, multimedia, and automotive sectors. GPU Compute for H.265 / HEVC HEVC aka H.265 is the next generation codec providing […]

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 […]

$80 SJ1000 Waterproof Sports Camera is a Low Cost Alternative to GoPro Hero Cameras

I’ve recently learned about GoPro action cameras, waterproof cameras with lots of mounting options and a wide angle lense which allows to shot amazing action full HD videos, and the best selling cameras in the world. Since yesterday I wrote about low cost waterproof smartphone, I thought It might be a good idea to write about other waterproof devices, and look at low cost alternatives to the GoPro. The GoPro Hero3 comes in 3 editions: White Edition, Black Edition, and Silver Edition with prices ranging from $199.99 to $399.99. All camera can record @1080p and come with WiFi connectivity. The more expensive model, Gopro Hero3+ Silver Edition, can also record in UHD, and comes with a WiFi remote. The original GoPro still seem to be good values, but if you have a tight budget, SJ1000 action camera (aka F10) offers similar functionalities (1080p30 recording, wide angle, mounting options, waterproofness, but […]

Samsung NX300M Camera Is the First Tizen Device

Announced in 2011, Tizen operating system aimed to be used in  smart TVs, tablets, smartphones,netbooks, and in-vehicle infotainment devices. After 2 years development, several products based on Tizen are now ready to be launched, but the very first one, Samsung NX300M does not fit in any of the aforementioned category as it is a camera, which have been sold last month in South Korea. Although Tizen 2.2.1 has just been released, the mirrorless camera runs Tizen 1.0 with the following key features: Sensor – 20.3 MP CMOS sensor Display – 3.3″ 768K Touch AMOLED LCD with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution ISO sensitivity – Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 (1 or 1/3EV step) * AUTO ISO upper level is selectable. (Up to ISO1600) Video Output – NTSC, PAL HDMI Connectivity – USB, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, GPS, and NFC Storage –  SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-1 Battery – […]

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