mediatek News - Page 17 of 19 - CNX Software

February 11, 2014February 11, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

ARM Unveils Cortex A17 Processor, First Used in Mediatek MT6595 and Rockchip RK3288 SoCs

Finally all these ARM Cortex A17 marketing materials for Rockchip RK3288 were not some typos, but Rockchip marketing team may just have not received the memo reading “Confidential”, as ARM has now officially announced Cortex A17 processor based on ARMv7-A architecture, with support for big.LITTLE with Cortex A7, and that can be coupled with Mali-T720 mid-range GPU and Mali-V500 VPU. After Cortex A15, and Cortex A12, you may wonder “Why? But Why did ARM had to launch yet another new core?”. Here’s the company answer to that question: The Cortex-A17 processor offers 60% performance uplift over the Cortex-A9 processor, the current leader in mid-range mobile market, and betters the best efficiency enabling optimized solutions to address existing and new products. The Cortex-A17 processor is based on the popular ARMv7-A architecture, today’s most successful architecture in the mobile market. With over 1M apps supporting the ARMv7-A architecture, the Cortex-A17 processor is […]

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Framaroot is an Android App to Root Mediatek, Qualcomm, Exynos, etc.. Based Devices

Most of the time, when you want to root an Android devices, you may think you have to start your computer, and in many cases, it has to be a PC running Windows, which can be a real pain. Google does not allow apps that provide root access in Google Play, and all you can install are apps that can check whether your device is rooted such as Root Checker. For some reasons, today I needed to root my smartphone (ThL W200, Mediatek MT6589T), and I looked for a method working with Linux, and I did not find any, but I came across Framaroot, an Android app, that allows you to do that within your Android device without external hardware required. Framaroot is very easy to use and support different exploit in order to provide root access to many devices based on Mediatek (Boromir or Faramir exploits), Qualcomm (Gandalf exploit), […]

January 4, 2014June 14, 2021 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

What to Expect from AllWinner, Rockchip, Mediatek, and Other Silicon Vendors at CES 2014

CES 2014 is coming soon, and it will take place on 7 – 10 January, 2014, and we can expect some interesting SoC news. Samsung suggested they will unveil their 64-bit ARM SoC (Exynos 6?) at CES 2014, Nvidia will hold a press conference to “showcase new NVIDIA Tegra mobile technologies, gaming innovations, and advanced automotive display technologies”, and Qualcomm has been quiet for now. However, several Chinese SoC vendors, namely AllWinner, Rockchip, and Mediatek, have already announced what they will showcase at CES 2014, albeit with few details. AllWinner at CES 2014 Allwinner announced will showcase their OptimusBoard based on their Ultra Octa-Core A80 SoC, as well as 4G tablets powered by Allwinner A31/A31s, and dual-SIM phablets sporting A23 dual-core. Allwinner A80 is an Octacore processor featuring four ARM Cortex A7 cores, and four Cortex A15 cores @ 2.0GHz together with an unnamed GPU offering 2x more performance over previous […]

December 27, 2013December 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

WiDicast EC-E2 Wi-Fi Display (EZCast / Miracast / DLNA) HDMI Dongle Review

After my review of Tronmart T1000, an EZCast / Miracast / DLNA HDMI adapter, I’ve received another EZCast dongle with the same features called WiDiCast EC-E2 sent to me by Shenzhen EC Technology, the manufacturer of the device. In case you are not familiar with this type of device, they allow you mirror and control your smartphone / tablet (Android, iPhone, iPad) or computer (Windows, Mac OS X) display on an HDMI TV. Today, I’ll go through the specifications, show some pictures including a comparison with T1000, and try it with an Android smartphone. WiDicast EC-E2 Specifications Like all other EZCast adapters,WiDicast is based on Actions Semi SoC: SoC- Action Semi AM8251 @ 600MHz (MIPS) System memory – 128 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video output – HDMI Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Standards – Miracast, Airplay, DLNA, and EZCast Video container formats – avi, .divx, […]

December 11, 2013December 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Pivothead SMART Looks like the Offspring of Google Glass and GoPro Hero3 Camera (Crowdfunding)

Pivothead SMART is a pair of smart glasses designed for action. It’s basically pacts GoPro Hero camera functionality into glasses, adding some of the smart features of Google Glass without the head-up display (HUD). As controlling the weight is quite important for comfort, the glasses are also modular, so you can just add features such as Wi-Fi or GPS via “SMART Mods” when you need it, and keep the glasses as light as possible during the rest of the time. Instead of just listing the specifications of Pivothead SMART, I’ll show the comparison table with Google Glass and GoPro Hero3 Black provided on their Indiegogo page. SYSTEM Pivothead SMART Google Glass GoPro Hero3 Black Processor 2x ARM Cortex A7 (w/ Mod) (Probably Mediatek MT6572) TI OMAP4460 ARM 2x Cortex A9 @ 1GHz Ambarella A770 ARM11 @ 528 MHz RAM 4GB??? 1GB 512MB RAM Native Memory 16GB (15.5 usable) 16GB (12 […]

December 1, 2013March 6, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

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 […]

November 27, 2013May 10, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

How to Fix Slow GPS Lock on Mediatek MT65xx based Smartphones

I’ve recently purchased ThL W200, an Android 4.2 smartphone powered by Mediatek MT6589T quad core processor, and I’m trying to test a few things including GPS. I’ve enabled access to my location, GPS, and Google’s location service using Wi-Fi and mobile network. In Google Maps, I could get a somewhat accurate position thanks to mobile network location, but it was clear it could not lock GPS. I’ve also tried Nike+ Running, an application that keeps track of your running sessions with GPS, gives you some audio feedback as you run (distance, time and speed), and compares your performance to the average, and your social network friends. When I wanted to start running, the app complained about weak GPS signal, and tried to lock GPS for about 10 minutes, until I decided to give up. So I tried to find a solution, and Google pointed me to an article on Gizchina […]

November 15, 2013November 18, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Low Cost Rugged, Waterproof and Dustproof Smartphones Powered by Mediatek Processors

If you need a truly waterproof and dustproof smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, compliant with IP67 standard, is probably the most popular phone with this particular feature. However, the phone sells for nearly $600 on site like Amazon, and it may be nice to have some lower cost options. Today, I’ve come across two smartphones powered by Mediatek dual and quad core SoC that are both compliant with IP67 standard, and although their specs do not match the Galaxy S4 Active, the features found in these phones are still pretty good, and they can be purchased at a much lower price. The smartphones I’ll feature in this post are also rugged, which is not really the case for the Samsung device. IP67 standard? What does that mean in practice? The IP Code, Ingress Protection Rating, aka International Protection Rating, classifies and rates the degree of protection provided against the […]