mini pc News - Page 112 of 147 - CNX Software

May 1, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

AMD to Launch ARM Cortex A57 “Amur” Mobile SoCs in 2015, ARM “K12” Mobile SoCs in 2016

AMD started using ARM Cortex A5 to add TrustZone security to their x86 processor, they followed with their ARM based Opteron A1100 processor for server last year, recently they announced Hierofalcon embedded processors powered by up to eight Cortex A57 processor, and starting this year and beyond, the company will launch “ultra-low power’ mobile SoCs using ARM cores, at least according to a leaked roadmap. Two ARM families are planned: “Amur” APU planned for 2015 with: Up to 4 ARM Cortex A57 cores GCN Graphics Compute Units AMD Secure Processor (Trustzone?) ~2W TDP 20nm process, FT4 BGA package “Styx” APU planned for 2016 with: Up to two “K12” CPU cores. These should be high performance custom-designed ARM cores. Next-gen GCN Graphics Compute Units Full HSA 1.0 support (Heterogeneous System Architecture) AMD Secure Processor ~2W TDP 14 nm process, FT4 BGA package With this kind of thermal dissipation, AMD Android and […]

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 18 Comments

$170 Solidrun Cubox-i 4×4 Freescale i.MX6 Mini PC Boasts 4GB RAM, an eSATA Port

Most ARM based mini PCs come with 1 or 2GB RAM, with few exceptions like Nagrace HPH NT-V6 or Tronsmart Draco AW80 Telos featuring 4GB RAM, but they are mostly optimized for Android, and although they can also run Linux desktop distributions there are often caveats with lack of hardware video decoding for example. Solidrun has now added a new model to its Cubox-I mini PC family with Cubox-I 4×4 powered by Freescale i.MX6 quad core processor coupled with 4GB RAM, and it’s also one of the few mini PCs coming with an eSATA port. SolidRun CuBox-i 4×4 specifications SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Quad 4x Cortex A9 @1GHz-1.2GHz with Vivante GC2000 (OpenGL/ES 2.0) System Memory – 4GB 64-bit DDR3 @ 1066 MHz Storage – microSD card slot, eSATA II (3 Gbps) connector Video Output – HDMI 1.4 with 3D support Audio Output – HDMi, optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet […]

April 29, 2015June 8, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 102 Comments

How to Install 64-bit BIOS on Sunchip CX-W8

Sunchip CX-W8 is an Intel Atom Z3735F TV box running Windows, but I’ve been informed that originally Sunchip designed it for WeTek in order to manufacture a Linux based mini PC. Unfortunately, they finally gave up once they discovered Intel had no intention to work on HDMI audio support in Linux for their Atom Z3700 series processor despite it working on Android… Intel Compute Stick will apparently use a separate DSP to handle that part (TBC). Nevertheless, when WeTek saw I had Wintel W8, they decided to share the 64-bit “BIOS” they had worked on for the Linux port. By the way, Wintel W8 and Sunchip CX-W8 allegedly come from two different factories / design houses, so although they look alike, the hardware might be different, and the UEFI firmware / BIOS, I’m about to share may or may not be compatible with Wintel W8, so you may brick it […]

April 27, 2015August 8, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 46 Comments

Wintel W8 Review – Dual Boot Android & Windows TV Box

Wintel W8 (aka Kingnovel K8) is an Intel Atom Z3735F mini PC inspired from Sunchip Wintel CX-W8 (the hardware is a little different), but instead of just running Windows 8.1, the device can dual boot Android 4.4 and Windows 8.1 with Bing. I’ve already taken pictures or torn down Wintel W8, so today, I’ll focus on the software part of the review, first checking dual boot functionality and Windows 8.1 briefly since it should be very similar to MeLE PCG03, before spending more time on Android as it’s my first Android Intel platform. Dual boot in Wintel W8 When you boot the device, you can select Android or Windows icon, with a 10 second timeout that will boot your latest choice. There’s no menu within Windows to start Android, and vice versa, so to dual boot you need to reboot first, and select the operating systems right after UEFI. The […]

April 24, 2015April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Tronsmart Draco H3 is a Low Cost HDMI TV Stick based on Allwinner H3 SoC

Allwinner H3 was unveiled as a quad core processor for 4K media players that would sell for less than $50, but so far devices like TVPP0030 are selling for an unattractive $80, but this may be about to change thanks to devices like Tronsmart Draco H3 HDMI TV stick that are expected to sell between $30 to $40 retail, possibly excluding shipping, and it would then compete against Amlogic S805 platforms such as MK808B Plus that only support 1080p video decoding and output. Preliminary specifications for Tronsmart Draco H3: SoC – Allwinner H3 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.5GHz with quad core Mali-400MP2 @ 600 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, and Bluetooth 4.0 (AP6212 module) Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 male connector up to 4K2K @ 30Hz, with […]

April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 43 Comments

Wintel W8 Dual boot Android 4.4 + Windows 8.1 mini PC Unboxing

Last year, we were promised dual boot mini PC based on Intel that would run Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4, but finally companies decided against shipping a dual boot firmware, and simply loaded Windows 8.1 on their machines. Kingnovel sent me their K8 mini PC, better known as Wintel W8, based on Intel Atom Z3735F, and that can dual boot Windows 8.1 with Bing or Android 4.4. Today, I’ll go through the specs first, take some pictures of the device, and tear it down to have a closer look at the hardware, and in a separate post I’ll quickly check out Windows 8.1, before spending a bit more time on Android 4.4 to see how well or bad Android runs on Intel platforms. Kingnovel K8 / Wintel W8 specifications Hardware-wise the box has mostly the same boring specifications as almost any other Intel Atom Z3735F products on the market: SoC […]

April 23, 2015May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

TBS 2980 Matrix 2 AllWinner A80 Android TV Box Will Support USB Tuners

TBS launched their Matrix 2910 media player based on Freescale i.MX6 Quad processor in 2013, and what made the platform especially interesting was support for the company’s USB DVB tuners in their Android and Ubuntu images. The company has now unveiled its successor with TBS 2980 Matrix 2 powered by Allwinner A80 octa core processor that will also support USB DVB-T2, DVB-C & DVB-S2 tuners. TBS Matrix 2 specifications: SoC – AllWinner A80 4x Cortex 15, 4x Cortex A7 big.LITTLE processor with PowerVR GC6230 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI + AV port Audio – HDMI, AV, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 2x USB 2.0 host ports Misc – IR receiver, reset button Power Supply – 5V/3A Dimensions – 101 x 101 […]

April 22, 2015April 24, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Various Ways to Control a mini PC without IR Receiver for HTPC Use

Low cost Intel Bay Trail mini PCs such as Pipo X7, MeegoPad T01, MeLE PCG03, etc… almost all share one thing in common: they lack an IR receiver, and for people who’d like to use their box as a dedicated HTPC running Kodi for example, this could be a problem as connecting a keyboard might not the best of solutions. Since I’ve been asked about this recently, I’ve decided to dig into the issue to see what options could be available, and I also hope to trigger a discussion in comments to discover other interesting solutions. RF Air Mouse I’m using MeLE F10 Deluxe air mouse during my reviews, and such device can be used with HTPC. You just need to connect a tiny USB RF dongle to one of the USB ports of your mini PC, and you’d ready to go with having to configure anything. In Kodi, you […]