Freescale Launches i.MX 7 Series Cortex A7 + Cortex M4 Processors for IoT Applications

Freescale announced plans for i.MX 7 and i.MX 8 processors in 2013, but it’s only in the last few months there have been some patchsets submitted to the ARM Linux Kernel mailing list, and so far all documentation was only available to companies and developers under NDA. Now the company has officially launched i.MX 7 series, and although all documents are not available yet, Freescale has released a factsheet providing an overview about the processors. Freescale i.MX 7 series processors targets applications such as wearables, e-readers, secure point-of-sale equipment, smart home controls, industrial automation products and other IoT solutions. Two processors are currently available: the single core i.MX 7Solo processor, and the dual core i.MX 7Dual processor. Both basically share the same specifications, but beside the extra Cortex A7 core, i.MX 7Dual also adds on extra USB host port, a PCIe interface, an extra Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 4th […]

DragonBoard 410c 64-bit ARM Development Board in Stock for $75

There has been a few 96Boards announced so far, and a Banana Pi96 could soon be launched, as LeMarker has just joined the Linaro Community Board Group, but so far the board that generated the most buzz was Qualcomm Dragonboard 410c, but at the time pricing was not officially disclosed, although a $75 target price was posted in several blogs. And now it seems Qualcomm 64-bit ARM board indeed costs $75, as it is listed for that price on Arrow Electronics website with a few pieces in stock. Dragonboard 410c specifications have also been further detailed: SoC- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (APQ8016) quad-core ARM CortexA53 @ 1.2 GHz with Adreno 306 GPU @ 400MHz System Memory – 1GB LPDDR3 @ 533MHz, Single-channel 32-bit (4.2GBps) Storage – 8GB eMMC 4.51 + micro SD 3.0 (UHS-I) Video Output – HDMI up to 1080p Video Playback -1080p@30fps HD video playback and capture with H.264 […]

Parallella Desktop Computer Board Price Drops to $99 (Temporary)

Parallella “super computer” board with Xilinx Zynq-7010 ARM+FPGA SoC and Adapteva’s 16-core Epiphany coprocessor may have started at $99 uring their Kickstarter campaign, but once the board became more broadly available, price started at $119 for the microserver version, and $149 for the desktop computer version which adds a micro HDMI port, a micro USB port, and some expansion I/Os. But to get rid of some stock, the company has decided to temporary decrease the desktop version price to $99 on Amazon. Let’s remind us of the desktop computer board specifications: SoC – Xilinx Zynq Z7010 dual-Core ARM Cortex A9 with 512KB L2 Shared Cache + Artix-7 FPGA with 28K logic cells Coprocessor – 16-core Epiphany-III processor System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD slot + 128Mb quad SPI flash Connectivity – 10/100/1000M Ethernet Video Output – 1x micro HDMI USB – 1x micro USB host port Expansion […]

Inforce 6410Plus Qualcomm Single Board Computer Adds GPS, MIPI CSI and DSI Interfaces

[Update on June 16 with comments from Inforce Computing: The Inforce 6410Plus is a product/application ready SBC that can be mass-manufactured to be designed-in directly by OEMs into end-products. Of course developers, DIY enthusiasts, and research houses may use it as a development board, but essentially it’s a product ready SBC. CSI and DSI interfaces – A single 40-pin LSHM MIPI connector on the previous generation product has been replaced with a single 51-pin FI-R MIPI CSI connector. A single connector enables support for 2 cameras/up to 20MP. Similarly, we’ve replaced the LVDS interface with a single 51-pin MIPI-DSI connector that supports two simultaneous displays. ] Inforce IFC6410 board is one of the few low cost Qualcomm Snapdragon development boards / SBCs available on the market. Released in 2013, it features a Snapdragon 600 processor (APQ8064) coupled with 2GB RAM, 4GB eMMC, and various connectors. Inforce Computing has now introduced […]

FirePrime Board Features Rockchip RK3128 Quad Core Cortex A7 Processor

The team behind Firefly-RK3288 development board has designed a new board with the less powerful but cheaper and more power efficient Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor. FirePrime comes with 1GB RAM, 8GB Flash, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and various other ports and expansion headers. As with many other new development boards, Firefly team has gone with a baseboard + system-on-module design (mini PCI-e connector), and will certainly sell the module separately to companies who want to design their own baseboard. Fireprime board specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.3 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1 GB LPDDR2 @ 533 MHz Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD slot Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212 module) Video Output – HDMI 1.4 output, CVBS (AV) as well as MIPI and LVDS via expansion headers […]

Linaro 15.05 Release with Linux 4.1 and Android 5.1

Linaro 15.04 has been released with Linux 4.1-rc4, Linux 3.10.79 and 3.14.42 (LSK), and Android 5.1_r3. The Ubuntu image is now based on Vivid instead of Utopic. Android and Debian builds/images have been released for Hikey’s 96boards, Ubuntu Vivid and Android builds have been setup for Qualcomm’s Dragonboard 410c. A new platform, Socionext M8M, has also show in Linaro changelog. I could not find details about M8M, but Socionext is a “new company that designs, develops and delivers System-on-Chip products” and focuses on “imaging, networking and other dynamic technologies”. Their latest press release mentions a 4K media processor with build-in HDMI 2.0 Tx and Rx, so maybe M8M is based on that processor, but I can’t know for sure as they have several chips. Highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 4.1-rc4-2015.05 GATOR updated to version 5.21.1 updated integration-linaro-vexpress64 topic by ARM LT: PCI support added – for Juno r1. Linaro […]

Baikal T1 is a Dual Core MIPS P5600 Communication Processor

When allegations surfaced that the NSA messed with devices manufactured by US companies, and possibly other, government of geopolitical significance started to take measures. For instance, China may have removed Apple and Cisco products from its list of approved products due to security reasons, and Russia decided to design its own Baikal processors to replace Intel and AMD solutions. At the time of the announcement, Baikal M and M/S chip were supposed to be the first ones and based on ARM Cortex A57 cores, but Imagination Technologies recently announced that Russia based Baikal Electronics was working on Baikal T1 communication processor with two MIPS P5600 cores. Some of the specifications include: CPU – Dual core MIPS 5600 processor @ 1.2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache Memory – DDR3 controller Storage – SATA 6Gbps controller and PHY Connectivity – 2x Gigabit Ethernet controller, 1x 10Gigabit Ethernet controller and PHY USB 2.0 […]

Allwinner H3 Based Orange Pi 2 Board Price Drops to as Low As $25

As Raspberry Pi Model B+ price got reduced to $25, some competitors also decided to bring their price down. Shenzhen Xunlong Software, the maker of Orange Pi board, decided to decrease their Orange Pi 2 and Orange Pi 2 Mini boards by $5 to respectively $30 and $25 plus around $2 shipping. Both boards are based on the same PCB, but the mini version lacks WiFi. Let’s refresh our memory with the specs: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core Cortex A7 @ 1.6 GHz with 256KB L1 cache, 1MB L2 cache, and an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot (up to 64GB) Video Output – HDMI (CEC and HDCP support), AV port Audio I/O – HDMI, AV port, on-board microphone Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (Realtek module, not found on mini version) USB – 4x USB […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC