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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 30 Comments on $89 Hiapad Hi802 Android mini PC Based on Freescale i.MX6 Quad Processor

$89 Hiapad Hi802 Android mini PC Based on Freescale i.MX6 Quad Processor

The first (single core) mini PCs showed up in May, the dual core mini PCs in August, and the first quad core mini PCs should be available in November starting with Hiapad Hi-802 HDMI TV Stick powered by Freescale i.MX6 Quad Cortex A9 processor with 1GB RAM. The specs of the device are not available publicly, but based on diverse sources (including charbax video below), it should be as follows: SoC – Freescale i.MX6Q Quad Core Cortex A9 Processor with Vivante GC2000 GPU System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 16? GB NAND Flash Memory + microSD card slot Video Output – HDMI Connectivity – Built-in Wifi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth USB – USB Host + USB OTG A picture of the PCB (one side only) has been uploaded by Hiapad. There are 6 through holes at the top left of the PCB which might be some debug ports (TBC  […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments on UG802 Android mini PC Unboxing and Review

UG802 Android mini PC Unboxing and Review

Leo, a reader of this blog who seems to be indirectly involved in togetho.ru, has written a review for UG802 dual core mini PC in Russian. He has allowed me to post the review in English,  and I wrote condensed review in English which you can read below. UGoos UG802 is sent in the following package that clearly shows it’s based on Rockchip RK3066 processor. Now let’s see what’s inside the package. There’s the UG802 TV stick, a female to male HDMI cable (which appears to be too short as usual) and a USB cable to power the device. UG802 is not the smallest mini-PC around as you can see from the picture on the right where it is compared to a flash drive, but it weights just 31g, has a lot of ventilation holes, and features an HDMI male connector, a microSD card slot, microUSB and USB ports. Leo […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments on Building Kernel Modules for AllWinner A10 Android Devices (e.g. Joystick Support)

Building Kernel Modules for AllWinner A10 Android Devices (e.g. Joystick Support)

Reader JP has enabled Joystick support in Android 4.0.4 on its Mele A1000, this now works with a Playstation2 joystick via USB adapter, a Huskee PC joystick, and 2 other unbranded joysticks. In order to enable Joystick support he had to build a kernel module, and encountered a few issues, so he wrote an how-to which shows what challenges he went through and what solutions he found to those issues.I’m sharing today a slightly edited version of this how-to. This How-to assumes that you have a valid Linux environment where you can build allwinner A10 kernel. The toolchain used was “Sourcery CodeBench for ARM GNU/Linux Lite“ which can be downloaded here: http://www.codesourcery.com/sgpp/lite/arm/portal/package7853/public/arm-none-linux-gnueabi/arm-2010.09-50-arm-none-linux-gnueabi.bin To install it, simply run:

You’ll also need the latest Allwinner A10 kernel source:

Then follow the usual procedure:

I then selected the modules needed for different kind of joysticks namely:

I saved the […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 56 Comments on Dual Droid TV Stick based on Rockchip RK3066 with 2GB RAM & 16GB Flash

Dual Droid TV Stick based on Rockchip RK3066 with 2GB RAM & 16GB Flash

Lately, there seems to have been a fair amount of interest for a Rockchip RK3066 mini PC (aka UG802) running Android 4.0, and the first mini PC to feature a dual core processor. I’m often reading people complaining about the lack of RAM on those devices, and some others would rather run most things from flash than an SD card for performance reason. But you might be able to get a more powerful mini PC soon, as deadhp1, a reader of this blog would left lots of feedback about Ug802, have been talking with manufacturer to design an HDMI TV stick based on UG802 platform, but with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB Flash, and the processor would be clocked at 1.6GHz instead of 1.2 GHz. The device is called “Dual Droid TV Stick” with the slogan: “Two brains are better than one”. The specifications would be as follows: OS […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 27 Comments on $49 Cubieboard: AllWinner A10 Open Hardware Development Board

$49 Cubieboard: AllWinner A10 Open Hardware Development Board

The Cubieboard is a development board for the AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 processor. Contrary to some other AllWinner A10 “development board” that are simply based on a tablet  or mini PC PCB, the cubieboard has been designed specifically as a development platform and provides access to I/O pins. Here are the specs of this development board: SoC – AllWinner A10 1GHz ARM cortex-A8 processor with Mali400 GPU System RAM – 1GB DDR3 @400MHz Storage – 2 MMC slot Video Output – HDMI 1080p Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – 2 USB Host, 1 USB OTG 1 IR sensor 96 expansion pins including i2c, spi, lvds, sata… Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be supported via external USB dongle(s). The prototype above is the first revision of the hardware, and final hardware may look different. Some connectors (e.g. SATA) are not soldered in the picture above. The cubieboard is expected to be an […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Archos Announces a 7″ Android GamePad Tablet

Archos Announces a 7″ Android GamePad Tablet

Many android games now use virtual buttons on the touchscreen for control, but this may not be optimal for all types of games, which is probably why Archos announced the launch a new type of tablet called the Archos GamePad just before IFA 2012. This device would just be like any 7″ Android 4.0 tablets were it not for the control buttons and analog stick on both sides of the screen. The GamePad is powered by a dual core processor @ 1.5 GHz with a quad core Mali-400 GPU (most likely Rockchip RK3066) with 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash. Here are the GamePad specifications as found on Arctablet.com: Operating System Android 4.0 CPU Rockchip RK3066 CPU @ 1.5 Ghz Integrated GPU: Quad-Core Mali-400 Flash Storage Memory 8 GB System Memory 1 GB Additional storage Micro SD slot (SDXC compatible up to 64GB) Display 1024×600 Expected (TBC) Capacitive MultiTouch Bluetooth No […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on Olimex A13-OLinuXino-WIFI Developer Edition is Now Available

Olimex A13-OLinuXino-WIFI Developer Edition is Now Available

Olimex has announced that they started shipping A13-OLinuXino-WIFI-DEV, an AllWinner A13 development board with 512 MB, 4GB and a Realtek RTL8188CU Wi-Fi module that costs 55.00 Euros with free shipping by courier for a limited time. They announced the start of this project late April, so it took them just 3 months to bring this board to to market. The board has the following specs: SoC – AllWinner A13 Cortex A8 processor at 1GHz, 3D Mali400 GPU Memory – 512 MB RAM Storage – 4GB NAND flash + SD Card slot Power – 6-16VDC input power supply, noise immune design USB – 3 + 1 USB Host, 3 available for users and 1 for Wi-Fi module + 1 USB OTG port Wi-Fi – WIFI RTL8188CU 802.11n 150Mbit module on board Video output –  VGA video output +  LCD signals available on connector. Audio Output / Input RTC – PCF8536 on […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments on Yes! MK802 for less than $50! Oh wait… It’s based on Telechips TCC8920.

Yes! MK802 for less than $50! Oh wait… It’s based on Telechips TCC8920.

Pandawill has added a new device called “OEM MK802 mini Android TV Box” to its catalog. It looks like the “original” MK802 mini PC as you can see from the picture below, but this PC-on-a-stick is based on Telechips TCC8920 (Cortex A5) processor instead. The specifications on Pandawill read as follows: CPU – Telechips Tcc8920; Cortex A5, 1GHz; GPU: Mali 400 RAM – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 4GB Nand Flash + microSD card slot (up to 16GB) Video output- HDMI 1080P (60Hz) WIFI – 802.11 b/g/n USB – 1 OTG port + 1 USB Host Dimensions – 88.5 x 35 x 12mm Weight – 25g The package includes a USB Cable, a DC? Cable, an English User Manual and an HDMI Cable, and this sells for $49.99. This is not a bad price actually, but they should really have given another name to this device. This shows you always have to […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design