Ugoos X2 Cube Android 9.0 TV Box also Serves as a SAMBA Server

Ugoos X2 Cube

Ugoos X2 Cube is a tiny Android 9.0 TV box powered by the latest Amlogic S905X2 processor coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB flash storage. The new Amlogic processor happens to have a USB 3.0 port which provides good storage performance, and the box is also equipped with a Gigabit Ethernet port, which should make the device especially suitable for network storage beside the usual 4K HDR video playback or streaming offered by any typical Amlogic S905X2 TV box. However in most cases, the firmware provided for such TV boxes does not offer an option to easily configure a SAMBA server (aka Windows network share), so you’d need to either mess up with the firmware configuration yourself, or install a paid app. Ugoos is different since they long have had the option to enable NFS & SAMBA client and/or server in the settings, and Ugoos X2 Cube is no different. […]

Ugoos AM6 Fanless S922X TV Box Launched for $150

Ugoos AM6 Fan-Cooled S922X TV Box

For those that have been waiting for the launch of the Ugoos AM6 S922X TV box, enough of the anticipation. The long wait is now finally over! Earlier in April, we reported the increased mass production of Amlogic processors. With the Ugoos AM6 taking the lead, producing a fan cooled prototype. We are pleased to inform you that a fanless version of the TV box has finally been released, and is available in the market for just $150. Also, we now have some photos of its enclosure While Beelink GT1-K launched around mid-April, its specifications are slightly different from Ugoos features. What Features to Expect from the new AM6 Main Features An Android 9.0 operating system. Fully equipped with the Amlogic S922X CPU, Quad core, ARM Cortex-A73, 1.7GHz + Dual-core ARM Cortex A53 1.8GHz. An ARM Mali-G52 MP6 ( 6ppc ) GPU Up to 2GB LPDDR4 RAM + 16GB EMMC […]

Intrinsyc Open-Q 820Pro SoM Comes with a Faster Snapdragon 820E Processor, 4GB RAM

Snapdragon 820E Development Board

Intrinsyc Open-Q 820 system-on-module was introduced in 2017 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB RAM, and a built-in wireless module for 802.11ac WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. The company has now announced an almost identical ultra-compact module but based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E and featuring 4GB RAM. Open-Q 820Pro μSoM is a drop-in replacement for Open-Q820 requiring only some software changes. Snapdragon 820E is said to deliver 9% faster CPU and 5% faster GPU speeds at the same power consumption compared to Snapdragon 820. Open-Q 820Pro μSoM specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E (APQ8096SG) Embedded Platform with four Kryo cores including 2x cores @ up to 2.342GHz, and 2x cores @ up to 1.6GHz, Adreno 530 GPU @ 652.8 MHz,  Hexagon 680 DSP @ 825 MHz System Memory – Dual-channel 4 GB LPDDR4  @ 1866 MHz (PoP) Storage – 32 GB UFS 2.0 1-lane gear3 flash Connectivity Pre-certified […]

Boundary Devices NXP i.MX 8M Mini Board Gets Android 9.0 Firmware

Nitrogen8M_Mini Android 9.0 NXP i.MX 8M Mini

Beside Debian 9.5, Ubuntu 18.04, the Yocto Project, and Buildroot Linux, NXP i.MX 8M Mini processors also supported Android 8.1 Oreo. But Boundary Devices has just announced their Nitrogen8M_Mini single board computers is now getting support for Android 9.0 Pie operating system. The company worked with Kynetics to release an Android 9.0 evaluation image for the i.MX8M Mini boards based on Linux 4.14.x kernel. You can also get the source code to build it from scratch for your board:

You’ll also need NXP vendor package, which you can install as follows:

The last step is to build the code:

You can find more details, including instructions to flash the image in the getting started guide. The image and source code are only suitable for evaluation, and you’d have to work yourself to get a production-ready version with security patches, field upgrade, and performance improvements, or ask Boundary […]

$25 Wechip X88 Pro TV Box Features Low Cost Rockchip RK3318 Processor

Rockchip RK3318 TV Box Wechip X88 Pro

With RK3328 SoC, Rockchip already has a quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 processor with an Arm Mali-450MP GPU, more exactly a Mali-450MP2 GPU. However, that GPU was found to underperform the penta-core Mali-450MP3 GPU handling graphics in Amlogic S905X processor. If that listing on Aliexpress is correct, it appears the company has made another quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with the same penta-core Mali-450MP3 GPU as found in the Amlogic processor. [Update: The description is wrong, and RK3318 GPU is not faster, so it must be the same (TBC). RK3318 is just a cost-down version of RK3328, but details have not been provided] The new Rockchip RK3318 processor can be found in Wechip X88 Pro TV box with the following specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3318 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ 1.5 GHz with penta-core Arm Mali-450MP3 GPU @ up to 750 MHz System Memory – 2 or 4GB RAM Storage – 16, 32 or 64GB […]

Google Pixel 3a / 3a XL Mid-Range Smartphones Get a Premium Camera, an Headphone Jack

Google Pixel 3a

Google launched their Pixel 3 & 3 XL smartphones last fall with a Snapdragon 845 processor, a camera that takes excellent photos even in low-light conditions, and achieves an excellent score of 101 points in Dxo camera benchmark. The phone costs $799 and up in the US, and more in other countries. Most people I know use their phone for calls and SMS, taking photos, messaging with Facebook and LINE, and some casual gaming, so it would  make sense to have a mid-range phone with an excellent camera, a slightly less powerful processor, and a significantly lower price tag.  That’s what Google has done with Pixel 3a and 3a XL phones, taking many of the features of Pixel 3, including the camera, but selecting a Snapdragon 670 processor instead, shaving a few dollars with other design decision, and bringing the price down to $399. Pixel 3a / 3a XL smartphone […]

VORKE GT-King Amlogic S922X TV Box Sells for $114

VORKE GT-KING

One of the first Amlogic S922X TV box to show up in our news feed was Beelink GT1-K “King” with 4GB LPDDR4, 64GB eMMC flash, and all interfaces and features you’d expect from a higher end TV box including 4K HDR, HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 and so on. The Android 9.0 TV was only unveiled at the time, and we had yet to know about pricing. The media player has now started to sell on Aliexpress under the VORKE brand for $114 including shipping. VORKE GT-King specifications: SoC – Amlogic S922X hexa-core big.LITTLE processor with 4x Arm Cortex A73 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz, 2x Arm Cortex A53 cores @ 1.9 GHz, Arm Mali-G52MP4 GPU @ 846MHz; 12nm manufacturing process System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage – 64GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 75 Hz, AV […]

Intrinsyc Open-Q 855 Snapdragon 855 Development Board Launched for $1,149

Snapdragon 855 SBC

When we wrote about Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Hardware Development Kit last month, and while it was not available at the time, we expected it to eventually be sold through Intrinsyc. And sure enough, the company is now taking orders for the very first Snapdragon 855 development board sold under the “Open-Q 855” name. Price tag: $1,149 for the board only. The expansion board and display pictured below are not included by default and sold separately We already had a pretty good idea of the technical details last month, but Intrinsyc has provided us with the missing bits of information for Snapdragon 855 HDK specifications: SoC –  Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Octa-core processor with 1x Kryo 485 Gold Prime core at up to 2.7+ GHz, 3x Kryo 485 Gold cores at up to 2.4+ GHz, and 4x Kryo 485 Silver low-power cores at up to 1.7 GHz, Adreno 640 GPU, Hexagon 690 […]

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