kitkat News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Freescale i.MX6 Development Boards (Wandboard, Cubox-i and HummingBoard) Get Android Kitkat Firmware and SDK

Several Freescale i.MX6 development boards have gotten a KitKat treat this month with the release of Android 4.4 firmware and SDK. The boards involved include Wandboard Solo/Dual/Quad, as well as Solidrun Cubox-i boards, and the Raspberry Pi like HummingBoard. Thanks to the “magic” of device tree, a single firmware image is now provided for all the boards provided by a given company. For Wandboard Solo, Dual, and Quad: Demo firmware image – android-4.4.2-wandboard-20140815.zip SDK with source code – wandboard_android-4.4.2_fullsource_20140815.tar.xz For CuBox-i and HummingBoard: Firmware image – android-4.4.2-1.0.1b-ga-aaf118bb78-gapps.img.xz Android 4.4 KitKat souce code and build instructions are available on github. Thanks to … Harley! Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

June 25, 2014September 6, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 71 Comments

List of Rockchip RK3288 Android TV Boxes So Far

In the previous years, you’d normally learn about new devices as they get listed on Alibaba or Aliexpress, and that’s how I built my – now very incomplete – list of Rockchip RK3188 based devices. But now companies seem to be anxious to let people know about their new devices even before they hit the market, and albeit I’ve been told full production of Rokchip RK3288 powered Android TV boxes is only planned by the end of July, many companies are already showing off their new devices, even though only the PCBA may be ready, or in development. Let’s go through the list of Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 media devices that’s known (to me) so far: No brand D368 – HDMI 1.4 TV dongle with 1 or 2 GB RAM, 4, 8 or 16 GB flash, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac + (optional) Bluetooth, and 2x USB host ports. No […]

June 20, 2014June 22, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 117 Comments

Giveaway Week – Beelink A9 Quad Core Android TV Box

Beelink A9, the same hardware as Tronsmart A928, will be the fifth box given away this week, and the only quad core device. This Android media player is powered by Rockchip RK3188-T Cortex A9 processor, and comes with 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC Flash, HDMI video output, optical S/PDIF output, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and three USB ports. What got me interested in this device was the released of Android 4.4 SDK, which turned out not to be that useful based on feedback from the community. Nevertheless I got the device and reviewed it last December. I found two critical issues with the firmware: Bluetooth not working, and mediocre Ethernet performance. Apart from that, the firmware was very stable, Wi-Fi performance decent, and features I tested worked as expected. Firmware updates are infrequent. The latest official version dates from January, and there’s a finless one with a 1080p kernel and […]

June 19, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Geniatech Announces Dragon Board Industrial SBCs Powered by Amlogic Dual and Quad Core Processors

Not to be confused these DragonBoards, Geniatech has announced two industrial single board boards, namely Dragon Board I and Dragon Board II, respectively powered by Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core Cortex A9 SOC, and S801/S802/M805 quad core Cortex A9r4 SoC, and targeting applications such as digital signage player, and display applications for the hospitality industry. Let’s go through the specifications of both boards: SoC Dragon Board I (DB I) – Amlogic AML8726-MX dual core ARM Cortex A9 @ 1.5GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU Dragon Board II (DB II) – Amlogic S802 quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 @ 2GHz with Mali-450MP6 GPU System Memory DB I – 1GB (1600Mbps data rate) DB II – 2GB (1600Mbps data rate) Storage – 4GB NAND flash (up to 32GB as option), micro SD card slot, SATA interface Video I/O Common – HDMI output, LVDS, and CVBS. DB I only – VGA DB II only – HDMI input […]

June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

CS918T Quad core Android TV Box with HD Webcam Sells for $60

CS918T is an Android TV Box powered by Rockchip RK3188 quad core SoC with the usual 2GB RAM, 8GB Flash, and various ports such as HDMI, USB, Ethernet, etc… that also features a 2MP webcam, and sells for just $59.99 including shipping on Aliexpress. The box does not appear to be related to CS918 / KR-42-1 that was popular a few months ago. CS918T technical specs: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ 1.6GHz with Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD slot up to 32GB Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p60, AV output Audio I/O – HDMI, AV, and microphone Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0 USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB OTG Camera – Built-in 2MP webcam Misc – Power and reset buttons, IR receiver. Power Supply […]

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Soap is a Touchscreen Enabled Router Supporting Gigabit Ethernet and Lots of Wireless Standards (Crowdfunding)

Soap is a strange creature, and I’m not convinced there are that many use cases for such hardware, but I find it interesting that the developers decided to pack a Freescale i.MX6 Solo/Dual or Quad SoC powered Android 4.4 tablet and a router supporting five Gigabit Etherner ports, as well as WiFI 802.11ac, Wi-0Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Zigbee, Z-wave, Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE), Insteon RF, X10, 433Mhz, NFC, and infrared into one and only device which they call an “Intelligent Home Management Hub”. It’s also complete with an HDMI output port so that you can use it as a media player. Let’s go through the specifications for the four version this little monster (Soap Solo, Soap Dual, Soap Quad, and Soap 8.4): SoC Soap Solo – Freescale i.MX6 Solo single ARM Cortex A9 @ 1 GHz with Vivante GC880 3D GPU Soap Dual – Freescale i.MX6 Dual dual ARM Cortex A9 @ […]

June 12, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

MyGica ATV582 Enjoy TV Box Powered by Amlogic S802 Is Now Available for $139

Geniatech has historically been the company which first delivered set-top box and media player solutions based on Amlogic processors. I’m not sure it’s still the case with Amlogic S802 and other S80x SoCs, as other companies appear to have released their products first such as Tronsmart Vega S89 and M8 Android TV boxes, but Geniatech ATV582 based on Amlogic S802 quad core processor has been available since April under the company’s retail brand Mygica. Mygica ATV582 specifications: SoC – AMLogic S802 quad core Cortex A9r4 processor @ 2GHz with Mali‐450MP6 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, Wi‐Fi 802.11 b/g/n Video & Audio Output – HDMI, AV. HDMI supports 1080p, 4K2K 30fps Video Codecs and Containers – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, AVC, VC‐1, RM/RMVB, Xvid, DivX3/4/5/6, RealVideo8/9/10… Audio – MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, OGG, AC3, DDP, TrueHD, DTS, DTS […]

June 6, 2014June 6, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Google Unveils Project Tango Tablet Development Kit Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC

Earlier this year, Google ATAP (Advanced Technology and Products) showcased project tango phone prototype, capable of generating 3D maps in real-time thanks to cameras, motion sensors, and two Movidius Myriad 1 Mobile Vision processors paired with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 application processor, and since March, they’ve already sent a few hundred samples to developers. Google has now announced another development kit, this time a tablet powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core SoC. Tango tablet has the following hardware specifications: SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 with Kepler GPU System Memory – 4GB RAM Storage – 128GB Display – 7″ screen Connectivity – WiFi, BlueTooth Low Energy, and 4G LTE Camera – 120 deg. wide angle front camera, 4MP rear camera, and motion tracking camera Sensors – Integrated depth sensing The tablet will run Google’s KitKat Android operating system, and support features such as OpenGL 4.4 thanks to the […]