phone News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 6, 2023May 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 38 Comments

Lichee Pi 4A RISC-V SBC takes on Raspberry Pi 4 with TH1520 processor

Lichee Pi 4A is a single board computer (SBC) powered by Alibaba T-Head TH1520 quad-core RISC-V Xuantie C910 processor @ 2.0 GHz with an Imagination GPU and a 4 TOPS NPU for AI that can compete against the Raspberry Pi 4 in terms of performance and features. We previously mentioned the Lichee Pi 4A (LPi4A) in our article about the Sipeed LM4A RISC-V system-on-module, but at the time we only had some benchmarks for the board and no photos and specifications about the SBC. Sipeed has now released photos, published detailed specifications, and is taking orders for the board. So let’s have a closer look. Lichee Pi 4A specifications against the ones for Raspberry Pi 4. The TH1520 used to be advertised at up to 2.5 GHz, but it seems to have now come down to 2.0 GHz. Software support will include Debian, OpenWrt, and Android which should then […]

June 3, 2022June 7, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Nokia 1680 phone gets new PCB with MIPS SoC, runs mainline Linux

Reimu NotMoe has designed the “Notkia” PCB based on Ingenic X1000E MIPS processor with 64MB built-in RAM and following the exact same dimensions as the PCB found in Nokia 168x phones (1680, 1681, 1682), and allowing the phone to run mainline Linux. The board also comes with 32MB NOR flash, a 4GB SLC NAND flash, and supports LoRa, 2.4 GHz WiFi, Bluetooth, and GNSS connectivity, but no cellular modem. Combining Nokia 168x phone with Notkia PCBA creates a phone with the following specifications: SoC – Ingenic X1000E single-core XBurst MIPS processor @ 1.0 GHz (2200+ CoreMark) with 64MB RAM Storage – 32MB NOR flash + 4GB SLC NAND flash Display – 2.0-inch 240×320 IPS LCD, 3/4 visible (Replaces the original 128×160 TFT screen in the phone) Camera – 5MP camera with auto focus (only available in the Nokia 1680 case) Audio – Yamaha MA-3 (YMU762) music synthesizer and regular I2S […]

April 1, 2020 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Select a Geiger Counter for your Phone to Survive the next Nuclear Catastrophe

It’s time to prepare! No, not for that COVID-19 thingie, it’s too late, but since 2020 has not started the best way we should prepare for all eventualities. It all started badly as I fell off my bicycle on New Year’s eve, and it went south from there, from talks of world war three in January, to the thread of a virus pandemic that could kill millions worldwide, to the start of the first global great depression. 2020 will be the “year of doom“, and we should expect massive earthquakes, once in a hundred-year megatsunami what will wipe entire cities, gigantic locust swarms in southern Europe, climate change induces, and leading famine, a couple of large asteroids hitting the hearth, and so on. But we should not forget the nuclear threat either via nuclear war or damaged nuclear reactors following natural disasters or terrorist attacks. One way to protect yourself […]

July 25, 2019 by Tiwalade Joanna Okedara - No Comments

ASUS ROG Phone II with Snapdragon 855+ | High Performance Gaming Phone

ASUS officially announced the launch of their new gaming phone, the ROG Phone II. The device will become the world’s first gaming phone to be powered by the new Snapdragon 855 Plus Mobile Platform. ASUS first gaming phone, the ROG Phone, launched in 2018, and it was quite popular. This ROG Phone II is an improved upon version of the first one. A unique feature of the new device is the Kryo 485 CPU in the Snapdragon 855 Plus. The CPU will run at up to 2.96GHz — a 4.2% improvement compared to the 2.84Ghz of the Snapdragon 855, while the Adreno 640 GPU is clocked 15% faster than in the current Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform. Specifications of ASUS ROG II phone Here are the highlights of the features and specifications. Display 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED display 240Hz touch sampling rate, 49ms touch latency (compared to 87ms on the Samsung Galaxy […]

June 6, 2019June 7, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Software Development on Librem 5 and PinePhone Linux Phones is Progressing Nicely

Several Linux phones are expected this year including Purism Librem 5 and Pine64 PinePhone. Both companies have sent phone development kits out to developers a few months ago, and we are starting to see some nice progress for both phones. What made me write this post is an update from Purism comparing the boot time on Librem 5 running PureOS Linux distribution without specific optimizations yet, and HTC One Android smartphone. Librem 5 smartphone devkit takes 13 seconds to get to the lockscreen, while the Android phone takes over 40 seconds. Fair enough, most people won’t boot their phone often, but it still nice to know it won’t take long to turn on the phone from power off state. They also posted a progress report at the end of May saying calls are now working with better audio quality, fixed various issue with messaging in Chatty, work on Linux […]

April 2, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

SERVO K07 Bluetooth Pen Phone also Works as a Radio, Camera, and Flashlight

Before I start this post I’d like to confirm April’s fools day has passed in all time zones, and is now gone for a year. With that out of the way, I’d just come across some strange gadget called SERVO K07 that looks like a pen, but is a 6-in-1 thingy working as a normal pen, a 2G phone via a NanoSIM card, audio recording device, a radio and music player, a camera, a flashlight. I understand you can also sync with your smartphone over Bluetooth to synchronize contacts and make calls through your actual phone if you don’t add your own SIM card. SERVO K07 specifications: SoC – Unnamed MediaTek processor System Memory – 32MB RAM Storage – 32MB flash, microSD card slot up to 32GB Display Size – 0.96″ display Cellular 2G: GSM850/900/1800/1900MHz Dual SIM card Dual standby (2x Nano SIM card) Phone book with 500 entries Camera […]

January 9, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 14 Comments

Business Card Sized NTT Card Keitai E-Ink Phone Weights just 47 Grams

There’s been a trend for faster phones with larger screens in the past few years, and 5″ smartphones that used to be referred as phablets have now made place to phones with 5.5″ to 6″ display just called smartphones. But some people don’t make use of advanced features of smartphones, value their privacy, or just want something small, light, and easy to use for phone calls and SMS. NTT Docomo Card Keitai KY-01L phone looks like a 5.3 mm thick business card weights justt 47 grams, features a 2.8″ E-Ink and allows you to call, send & receive messages, manage your calendar, and browse the web. Despite the basic functions, the phone is said to run Android on a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor. You won’t be able to install apps from the Play Store though, it’s meant to be simple to use, functional and lightweight, so it’s not possible […]

October 9, 2017October 9, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$57 Samgle 3G 3310 3G Feature Phone Looks like Nokia 3310

Let’s say you have a product, and need to create a brand or company name… Just think about two world famous brands or companies such as Samsung and Google, and with clever string manipulation come up with your own original brand: Samgle! Now you need a product name… Find a product from a third brand that’s similar to yours, for example Nokia 3310 3G phone, and you’ve got all your names sorted! Meet Samgle 3G 3310 feature phone with 2G and 3G connectivity. Samgle 3G 3310 specifications: SoC – TBD System Memory – 64MB RAM Storage – 128MB flash, micro SD slot up to 32GB (or is it 64GB?) Display – 2.4″ curved 320×240 display Camera – 2.0M rear camera Cellular connectivity 2G GSM – 850/600/1800/1900 MHz 3G WCDMA – 900/2100 MHz SIM Card Type – SIM + SIM/micro SD card; Dual SIM dual standby Other Wireless Connectivity – Bluetooth […]