GOLE2 Mini PC Comes in Intel and ARM Flavors, Features a SATA Bay and Built-in Camera (Crowdfunding)

GOLE1 was an different and interesting product combining tablet and mini PC features into one, but I found the 5″ screen to be rather useless, and the battery did not work exactly well since it would only charge when powered off.  The new GOLE2 mini PC won’t have any of those issues since it does not come with neither a display or a battery, but instead comes into two flavors with a version running Windows 10 on Intel Atom x5-Z8350 Cherry Trail processor, and another running Android based Phoenix OS on Allwinner A64 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor. The devices also include an HD camera and microphone for video conference, as well as 2.5″ SATA bay implemented through a USB to SATA bridge. Beside the processor and memory, both GOLE2 models share the most of the same hardware specifications: SoC Intel Atom x5-Z8350 “Cherry Trail” quad core processor @ […]

Gumstix Nodana 96BCE 96Boards Compatible Baseboard Takes Intel Joule Module

96Boards is an initiative from Linaro, an engineering organization focusing on ARM development, to define some hardware and software specifications for development boards. But since 96Boards specifications are open, Gumstix decided to create the first x86 board compliant with 96Boards CE hardware specifications with Nodana 96BCE baseboard powered by Intel Joule Module. For obvious reasons, this will never be an officially supported 96Boards.org platform. Nodana 96BCE board specifications: SoM – Intel Joule Module based on Intel Atom T5700 or T5500 processor with up to 16GB storage, 4GB RAM. External Storage – 1x micro SD card Video Output – 1x HDMI port USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 3.0 type C port Expansion Headers 96Boards Low Speed connector with I2C, SPI and UART 96Board High Speed connector with MIPI DSI and USB 2.0 Power Supply – 8 to 18 V (if it follows 96Boards CE specs) Dimensions – 85 […]

Intel Gemini Lake Celeron & Pentium Processors Will Replace Apollo Lake Processors in 2018

While Laptops and mini PCs powered by Intel Apollo Lake low lower Celeron and Pentium processors are slowly starting to show up, and should go into full swing in 2017, Intel is also working on their successors, which according to a leaked roadmap for 2017-2018 will be Gemini Lake processors. Gemini Lake will also have a 4 to 6 Watts TDP, and come in a BGA package, but there’s nothing much else we know, except the first processors should become available in Q4 2017 or Q1 2018. Other families include mid-range Cannon Lake family with 5.2 to 15 W TDP with some Core M and Core ix processors, and the higher-end Coffee Lake family succeeding Kaby Lake and Skylake processors. Another slide shows Gemini Lake processors will target the same products as Braswell and Apollo Lake processors with 2-in-1 laptops, ultra-thin notebooks, and mainstream notebooks. I’m pretty sure we’ll also […]

Large American Technology Companies Abusive Practices Against Bloggers

OK the title might be a little over of the top, but within the last month or so, I’ve been a “victim” of three American companies’ requests, via third parties, namely their customers or technology partners, never directly, to delete or amend the content of this blog. One which I believe is justified albeit not really necessary, and two are just ridiculous, with the latest one prompting me to write this post. The first issue was about a post entitled “Allwinner A64 based Pine A64 and Banana Pi M64 Boards Can Now Run Windows 10 IoT Core“, where I shared .ffu firmware file links that I found directly via a page on Microsoft Azure github about Banana Pi board. There were accessible without any EULA, or agreement. So The Internet being the Internet, where you can freely share links that don’t break any sort of copyrights or promote hate, I […]

Intel Introduces 6 Apollo Lake Processors: Celeron N3350, N3450, J3355, J3455, and Pentium N4200 & J4205

Intel has been talking about Apollo Lake processor family, successor of Braswell family, and even showcased some Apollo Lake NUCs, but AFAIK, so far the company did not actually disclose any part numbers for the new processors. That has changed since Intel has now listed 6 “Formerly Apollo Lake” Celeron and Pentium processors on their website. There are three processor for mobile (read laptop) devices (Nxxx parts), and three for desktop (Jxxx parts): For tablets, notebooks, 2-in-1 hybrids: Celeron N3350 dual core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.4 GHz (Burst frequency) and 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 650 MHz (Burst freq.); 6W TDP Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz (Burst frequency) and 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz (Burst freq.); 6W TDP Pentium N4200 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.5 GHz (Burst […]

Intel Atom T5500 & T5700 Processors Architecture and (Estimated) Benchmarks

Intel announced their Joule Compute Module yesterday, but did not provide that many details about the new Intel Atom T5500 and T5700 processors used in the module. Liliputing got some more details with slides from an IDF16 presentation entitled “Accelerating Innovation With Next-Generation Intel® Atom™ Processor-Based Platform” that now require authentication for download, but we have the most important slide already starting with the block diagram. Intel Atom T5500 and T5700 SoC are both quad core Atom x7 processor, but they are based on Intel Goldmont architecture, as used in Celeron & Pentium Apollo Lake processor to be featured in laptop and mini PCs, and embed a newer 18EU Intel Gen9 graphics and media GPU with Quick Sync technology for 4K video encoding and decoding using H.265, H.264, and VP9/VP8 codecs. They also feature various peripherals and features that you’d expected in an IoT processor including: a Sensor Hub processor […]

Intel Unveils Joule Compute Module and Devkit for IoT based on Atom T5500 & T5700 Processors

As the Intel Developer Forum 2016 is now taking place in San Francisco, Intel has unveiled the Joule Compute Module and development kit targeting IoT applications. The module is not for low cost and low power sensor nodes however, as it features a powerful quad core Atom processor running at 1.5+ GHz, so it more suited to IoT gateways, or other application requiring lots of processing power to handle sensor data. Two models of the Joule module have been introduced: Intel Joule 570x platform SoC – Intel Atom T5700 64-bit quad-core processor @ 1.7 GHz / 2.4 GHz (Burst frequency) with Intel HD Graphics with 4K video capture and display System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 16GB eMMC memory Connectivity – 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO and Bluetooth 4.1 Other interfaces –  USB 3.0, MPI CSI and DSI interfaces, and multiple GPIO, I2C, UART interfaces Intel Joule 550x platform […]

Intel Smartwatches are Hot! So Hot, They May Burn Your Skin

Low power in constrained spaces is a tricky business, even for ARM based SoCs with the Qualcomm 810 overheating saga a few months ago. Now it’s time for Intel to feel the heat, as the company has has to recall Basis Peak smartwatches / fitness trackers due to potential overheating causing skin burns. Josh Walden – senior vice president and general manager of the New Technology Group at Intel Corporation – stated: On behalf of the Basis Science team, I want to personally apologise for this situation, we know that many of you love using your Basis Peak watches and have made them part of your daily lives, and we are very sorry for the disruption this will cause you, we had hoped to update the software on your watch to address the problem, unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we aren’t able to develop such a solution without completely compromising […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC