Dell unveiled Project Ophelia about a year ago, and has now officially launched the product under the name Wyse Cloud Connect for $129. The device runs Android, but is mostly different from all the Chinese HDMI sticks thanks to its enterprise-oriented firmware that supports Wyse Cloud Client Manager software-as-a-service (SaaS), PocketCloud software, as well as Citrix Receiver, VMware Horizon View client, and Microsoft RDP protocol for remote desktops. Wyse Cloud Connect specifications: SoC – Multi-core ARM CortexA9 System-on-Chip (SoC). Last year’s prototype was said to use Rockchip RK3066, but it may have changed since then. System Memory – 1GB RAM Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + micro SD card slot (up to 64 GB) Video Output – HDMI with MHL, DisplayPort Connectivity – Dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 USB – 1x USB mini for peripherals (keyboard/mouse), 1x Micro USB host port / external power input Power – Micro […]
Telechips TCC893x Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 + Cortex M3 SoCs: TCC8930, TCC8933, TCC8935
Sometimes last year, Telechips discreetly released a triple core SoC comprised of 2 ARM Cortex A9 cores and one Cortex M3 core for tablet, set-top boxes, media player and car AVN (Audio, Video & Navigation). A dual core release in 2013 may not be that interested, but the addition of a Cortex M3, and high performance interfaces such as Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.0 may make it interesting. Let’s have a look. There’s very little information on Telechips TCC893x page, apart from the block diagram above and the following description: The TCC893x is a system-on-chip with powerful multimedia solution and high performance such as dual decoding. It is ideal for high-end multimedia devices such as Set top box, Media Box, Car AVN, and Tablet. TCC893x multimedia application processor based on Cortex-A9 Dual & M3 has multi-format hardware video accelerator optimized to reduce power consumption, high-performance 2D/3D graphic engine for rich […]
Building a Low Power Fanless Intel “Bay Trail-D” mini PC for $250
Yesterday, I wrote about MSI J1800i, a motherboard based on Intel Celeron J1800 “Bay Trail-D” processor with 10W TDP, that is expected to sell for $60 by the end of the month. I’m sure some fully assembled fanless small form factor computers based on Bay Trail-D processor will eventually show up, but I’ve decided to find out what would be needed to build a complete fanless PC with this mini-ITX motherboard, and how much it would cost. First we’ll need a mini-ITX enclosure with a fanless PSU. I’ve found M350 Universal Mini-ITX enclosure (pictured above) coupled with picoPSU-80 80W picoPSU-90 90W 12V fanless power supply, and a 12V 60W AC-AC power adapter would probably fit the bill. The mini-ITX casing and power adapter are available from E-ITX.com, and the picoPSU power supply can be found on Amazon. I’ll also add a 1TB SATA HDD, and a 4GB SO-DIMM DDR3 memory […]
NETGEAR NeoMediacast Android HDMI Dongle (NTV300D) Features Wi-Fi 802.11ac Module
NETGEAR has announced a new HDMI dongle called NeoMediacast, but also known as NTV300D model, running Android 4.2.2, with functionalities very similar to all the HDMI TV sticks / mini PCs originating from Chinese manufacturers we’ve seen for nearly 2 years. AFAIK, NETGEAR is the first relatively well-known global company to unveil an Android HDMI TV stick for the consumer market. [Update: see comments for details how it will reach the comsumer]Key features published for NTV300D by the company: Android 4.2+ supported with RDK support in the future 1080p/60 full HD, H.264/MPEG4 video decode Supports HDMI 1.4 and HDCP 2.1 Miracast-enabled Wi-Fi 802.11ac 1×1 AC 450 Mbps, Bluetooth 4.0 USB powered Micro SD slot for playback/storage Micro USB (OTG) for secondary storage Misc – Infrared Port, status LED DRM support for Microsoft PlayReady, Google Widevine and Adobe RTMPe Remote control unit – RF4CE or Bluetooth supported So there’s now information […]
ZOTAC to Sell ZBOX Nano mini PC based on Freescale i.MX6 SoC
ZOTAC, a company known to provide small x86 Linux PCs, is currently showcasing an ARM based version at CES 2014, part of their ZBOX nano series, running either Ubuntu 12.04 or Android 4.2 on a Freescale i.MX 6Quad processor. ZOTAC ZBox nano “ARM” specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX 6Q quad core Cortex A9 @ 1 Ghz with Vivante GC2000 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8GB eMMC flash, SATA 3Gb/s interface with 2.5″ HDD support, and SD card slot (SD/SDHC/MMC) Video Output – HDMI 1.4 USB – 4x USB 2.0 host port Connectivity – GbE Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n via mini PCIe module. The computer currently runs Android 4.0.4 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, but Android 4.0.4 will be upgraded to Android 4.2. ZBOX nano “ARM” mini PC will be available in Q2 2014 for a price between $100 and $150. Via Liliputing Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX […]
How-to Use an Android mini PC to Edit and Print Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and More
Android mini PC have come a long way, and for many use cases such as web browsing and online videos, they nearly match or even surpass the user’s experience you’ve got on a full blown PC. However, unless you’ve installed Linux on your HDMI TV stick or TV box, there were serious limitations using an Android device as a computer where you can install an office suite to create and edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentation, and print them out. With the availability of apps such as AndrOpen Office, and the addition of printing support in Android 4.4 KitKat, it’s now possible to use Android mini PCs to create content and print documents just like in a normal PC. So if your kids need a cheap PC for their homework, you could just buy a $60 device, adding a USB keyboard and mouse, and connecting the device to an HDMI monitor. […]
Top 10 Posts of 2013 and Stats on CNXSoft Blog
This is the last day of the year, and just like in 2012, I’ll look back on the main trends of this year, post a list of the top 10 posts of 2013 on cnx-software.com, and add some fun stats about the site and my visitors. 2013 has been the year of quad core media players and mini PCs, especially those based on Rockchip RK3188, XBMC is now featured in many Android STBs, “big.LITTLE” and “Octa-core” have been the buzz words on the application processor front, Google has entered the HDMI TV sticks market with the ChromeCast, and is competing with Miracast / DLNA TV dongles, we’ve gotten more and more low cost Linux development boards, crowdfunding has almost gone mainstream, and the Internet of things has started to take off thanks to new technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy. I’ve compiled the list using data from Google Analytics, filtered […]
Android 4.4.2 KitKat Beta Released for Rockchip RK3188 mini PCs
I’ve just been informed that Android KitKat, version 4.4.2, is now available for Rockchip RK3188 powered mini PCs based on AP6210 Wi-Fi module. This is a beta version, but it’s known to work for MK908 II, CX-919, GM282, GK525, iMito QX2, and IPPLI Mars I2C HDMI TV dongles. Albeit MK908 is also based on AP6210 Wi-Fi module, it does not appear to work right now, and the “new” model of MK802 IV with AP6210 might work, but has not been tested. Devices based on AP6330 and other Wi-Fi modules, such as T428 mini PC, are not working with this firmware, and you’ll have to wait a few more days or weeks to get a compatible firmware. Android 4.4 will bring new features that can be interesting with mini PCs such as printing support, screen recording, and overall better graphics and streaming performance. So with the recent release of AndrOpen Office, […]