Linaro 14.09 Release with Kernel 3.17 and Android 4.4.4

Linaro 14.09 has just been released with Linux kernel 3.17-rc4 (baseline), Linux 3.10.54 & 3.14.19 (LSK), and Android 4.4.2 & 4.4.4. Linaro has kept working on their member boards such as IFC6410 (Qualcomm), D01 (Huawei/Hisilicon), Ardnale (Samsung), and Juno (ARM). They’ve also announced they’ll change the tools to build GCC by using cbuild2 instead of cbuild1 for next release, and they’ve enabled a build with gcov (for code coverage analysis) which may mean they’ll work on reducing the kernel size by getting rid off unused code. I’ve also noticed the Arndale and Arndale Octa Ubuntu images are now based on Linux LSK with Mali GPU support since last month. Here are the highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 3.17-rc4-2014.09 GATOR version 5.19 updated topic from Qualcomm LT (ifc6410 board support) and HiSilicon LT updated Versatile Express ARM64 support (FVP Base and Foundation models, Juno) from ARM LT. updated Versatile Express […]

Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 210 LTE SoC for Entry-Level Smartphones

Android smartphones with LTE connectivity are now available for a little over $100, for example with LANDVO L200G powered by Mediatek MT6582 with an external MT6290 LTE modem, but prices may soon even get lower, as Qualcomm has now unveiled their latest Snapdragon 210 processor with integrated LTE modem to bring sub $100 LTE smartphones to market in 2015. For once, they’ve even provided detailed technical specifications for their new mobile application processor: Processor – Quad ARM Cortex A7 up to 1.1GHz GPU – Adreno 304 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL, DirectX, content security, and decreased power consumption DSP – QDSP6 DSP Memory/Storage – LPDDR2/LPDDR3@533MHz, eMMC 4.5, and SD 3.0 (UHS-I) Display – Up to 720p, with external displays supported Modem Integrated 4G LTE-Advanced World Mode, supporting LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA (3C-HSDPA, DC-HSUPA), CDMA1x, EV-DO Rev. B, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE 4G LTE CAT4 speeds of up to 150 […]

Linaro 14.07 Release with Linux Kernel 3.16 and Android 4.4

Linaro 14.07 has just been released with Linux Kernel 3.16-rc6 (baseline), Linux Kernel 3.10.50 (LSK), and Android 4.4.4. This month, Linaro has continued development on Juno 64-bit ARM development board, as well as other member boards from Broadcom (Capri), Qualcomm (IFC6410), Hisilicon D01, Samsung (Arndale / Arndale Octa), etc.. Android have been upgraded to version 4.4.4 with images released for Pandaboard, Arndale, Nexus 10, and Nexus 7, built with Linaro GCC 4.9. Here are the highlights of this release: Linux Linaro 3.16-rc6-2014.07 released GATOR version 5.18 (same version as in 2014.04) updated basic Capri board support from Broadcom LT. Good progress in upstreaming the code: now the topic has 21 patch on top of v3.16-rc4 vs 53 patches on top of v3.15 in 2014.06 cycle removed cortex-strings-arm64 topic as the code is accepted into the mainline new topic from Qualcomm LT to add IFC6410 board support updated Versatile Express ARM64 […]

ARM and Qualcomm Release a New Guide About 32-bit to 64-bit SoCs

ARM and Qualcomm have been pretty successful with ARMv7 SoCs in the mobile space in recent years, and while 32-bit ARM (Aarch32) processors certainly have a few more years, both companies are now moving to 64-bit ARM (Aarch64 / ARMv8), and they released a document showing what has been achieved with ARMv7, the differences between ARMv7 and ARMv8, and new capabilities that will be attainable with 64-bit processing. The document covers the following: Introduction ARM Business Model The Mobile Computing Revolution (Tablets replacing Laptops) Android on ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A ARMv8-A Architecture Backward Compatibility to ARMv7-A ARM Cortex A-53 and Cortex-A57 ARM big.LITTLE Technology The Transition to the ARMv8-A Architecture (Fast Models, Tools, Linaro…) Qualcomm Technologies: Transitioning to 64-Bit with Integrated Mobile Design Custom and ARM Designed Processors: The Right Technology to Any Market Multiple Foundries, Flexible Production Flexible design practices in action (Performance, price point, development time. Snapdragon 410 vs […]

Intel Atom Z3580 MooreField SoC Shown to Outperform Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 in Graphics Benchmark

This is not exactly an independent benchmark, as Intel provided the results showing an Intel Atom Z3580 SoC with PowerVR G6430  @ 533 MHz outperform a Snapdragon 801 with Adreno 330 GPU @ 578 MHz (Galaxy S5) in FutureMark’s 3DMark benchmark by 20997 to 18144, or a little over 15%.  We’ve seen several CPU benchmarks before where Intel often has a edge over ARM based solution, but the previous generation with Intel Graphics was a bit weak on the graphics side, and this test seems to confirm, the new Intel smartphone SoC should provide very good graphics performance. It appears Atom Z3580 might have also outperformed Snapdragon 805 with Adreno 420, as Anandtech reported an overall score of 19,698 in 3Dmarks with Qualcomm Snpadragon S805 mobile development platform (MDP), and noticed it was not the most GPU intensive test there is. So it’s still possible the higher score found on Intel’s […]

Meetion MT-WF910 Wi-Fi Player Streams Audio from your Mobile Device to your Hi-Fi System

There are several ways to play music wirelessly from your devices on decent speakers. One the best way might be one of the Sonos Wi-Fi speakers, but they costs a few hundred dollars. You could also use a ChromeCast or EZCast / Miracast / DLNA dongle, both of which are very cheap ($20 to $35), and would allow you to stream music to your TV from your Android or iOS mobile device, Windows PC or Mac OS computers, but these require you leave your TV on, unless you use a DLNA dongle with an AV port. Another option would be to use a dedicated Wi-Fi player such as Meetion MT-WF910 which can receive audio from mobile devices or computers via Wi-Fi, and output it to a 3.5 mm stereo jack or S/PDIF port. Meetion Wi-Fi player specifications and key features: SoC – Qualcomm Atheros AR9331 processor for Wi-Fi and audio […]

Prpl Non-Profit Organization to Work on Linux, Android, and OpenWRT for MIPS based Processors

In what looks like an answer, albeit fairly late, to Linaro, the non-profit organization working on open source software for ARM based SoCs, a consortium of companies composed of Imagination Technologies, Broadcom, Cavium, Lantiq, Qualcomm, Ingenic, and a few others, has funded Prpl (pronounced Purple), “an open-source, community-driven, collaborative, non-profit foundation targeting and supporting the MIPS architecture—and open to others—with a focus on enabling next-generation datacenter-to-device portable software and virtualized architectures”. The Prpl foundation will focus on three key objectives: Portability – To create ISA agnostic software for rapid deployment across multiple architecture Virtualization & security – To enable multi-tenant, secure, software, environments in datacenter, networking & storage, home, mobile and embedded Heterogeneous Computing – To leverage compute resources enabling next generation big data analytics and mining Initially there will PEG (Prpl Engineering Group) to take of the following projects for 4 market segments (datacenter, network & storage, connected consumers, […]

Snapdragon 600 based IFC6410 Development Board is Available for $75 For a Limited Time

Despite their popularity with tablets and smartphones, I don’t see much developer community around Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and only a few low cost development boards. One of them is Inforce Computing IF6410 pico-ITX board powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 (APQ8064) quad core processor with 2GB RAM, 4GB eMMC flash, Gb Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, SATA,  micro HDMI and LVDS video outputs, etc.., that normally sells for just $149. But the company is having a promotion for $75 with the coupon code “makerfaire” until May 18, or until the 500 units they’ve reserved are sold out. Shipping is not included in the price, and you’ll have to add about $50 for Fedex delivery (It may be cheaper in the US) for a total of about $125, which still probably makes it the cheapest “Cortex A15 class” board that you can get. The board appears to only officially support Android, and if you […]

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