Samsung Unveils Two Tizen Smartwatches: Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo

After the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Samsung has introduced two new smartwatches, Samsung Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, droppping the Galaxy brand in the process, most probably because these two happen to run Tizen, instead of Android found in the Galaxy gear. The Gear 2 has a camera which is missing in the Gear 2 Neo. Other specifications and features are more or less the same. Samsung Gear 2 Product Specifications: SoC – Dual Core Processor @ 1.0 GHz (Exynos 4?) System Memory – 512MB Storage – 4GB Internal Memory Display – 1.63” Super AMOLED (320 x 320) Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE, IrLED Camera Gear 2 – 2.0 Megapixel Auto Focus (1920×1080, 1080×1080, 1280×960) Gear 2 Neo – N/A Video – Codecs: H.264, H.263, Container Formats: 3GP, MP4. HD(720p, @30fps) Playback & Recording Audio – Codecs: MP3/AAC/AMR/Vorbis, Format: MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG.  Noise Cancellation Sensors –  Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart […]

Samsung GH7 Quad Core 64-bit ARM SoC Code Submitted to Linux

Following my post about Samsung Exynos 5260 hexa core processor, I’ve been informed that some other patches have been submitted about Samsung GH7 ARMv8 SoC, which should be the other processor announced at MWC 2014. A look at the device tree file shows four ARMv8 cores:

The patch also include code for Samsung SSDK-GH7 board with 2GB RAM. That’s about all we know for now. Thanks to David for the tip. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Framaroot is an Android App to Root Mediatek, Qualcomm, Exynos, etc.. Based Devices

Most of the time, when you want to root an Android devices, you may think you have to start your computer, and in many cases, it has to be a PC running Windows, which can be a real pain. Google does not allow apps that provide root access in Google Play, and all you can install are apps that can check whether your device is rooted such as Root Checker. For some reasons, today I needed to root my smartphone (ThL W200, Mediatek MT6589T), and I looked for a method working with Linux, and I did not find any, but I came across Framaroot, an Android app, that allows you to do that within your Android device without external hardware required. Framaroot is very easy to use and support different exploit in order to provide root access to many devices based on Mediatek (Boromir or Faramir exploits), Qualcomm (Gandalf exploit), […]

ARM Mali GPU Demos at CES 2014 – 4K 3D UI and Games, ASTC Texture Compression, XBMC + Gesture Recognition, and HEVC Video Decoding

Phill Smith, Demo Manager at ARM, has filmed and uploaded four very interesting demos of what new features will be possible thanks to new generation ARM Mali-450 and Mali-T6xx GPUs including 4K 3D user interfaces and games, ASTC texture compression, and OpenCL accelerated gesture recognition and HEVC / H.265 video decoding. 4K Resolution 3D User Interface and Game Demo The first demo showcases a Geniatech box (ATV1800?) powered by AMLogic AML8726-M8 featuring an ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU running Android with a user 4K 3D interface designed by Autodesk using Scaleform UI. The rest of the video shows Timbuku 3D gaming demo running at 3840×2160 (4K2K) @ 24 fps. The frame rate appears to be low, but that’s because the box is using HDMI 1.4, which limits UHD output to 24fps. 2160p60 is only available via HDMI 2.0. ASTC Compression Demo on Samsung Galaxy Note 3 3D Textures are getting bigger and […]

Samsung Unveils “Samsung Smart Home” and Smart Home Software Protocol (SHP) at CES 2014

2014 could be the year where home automation becomes mainstream, as after Archos Connected Home, Samsung has now announced their own “Smart Home” service enabling users to control and manage their home devices, as well as Smart Home software Protocol (SHP) to enable connectivity between Smart Home products from Samsung and other manufacturers. Your smartphone, smartwatch (Galaxy GEAR), or smart TV will be the control center of your home, and you’ll be able to manage refrigerators, washing machines, smart TVs, lights, and more. Communication between your phone and the appliance will go through the company’s cloud-based Smart Home Server. At launch, Samsung will provide three main service features as shown in the illustration above: Device Control – Mobile devices or Smart TV can be used to monitor or control home appliances via Smart Home app from nearly anywhere. Voice control is also available so you could say “good night” to […]

What to Expect from AllWinner, Rockchip, Mediatek, and Other Silicon Vendors at CES 2014

CES 2014 is coming soon, and it will take place on 7 – 10 January, 2014, and we can expect some interesting SoC news. Samsung suggested they will unveil their 64-bit ARM SoC (Exynos 6?) at CES 2014, Nvidia will hold a press conference to “showcase new NVIDIA Tegra mobile technologies, gaming innovations, and advanced automotive display technologies”, and Qualcomm has been quiet for now. However, several Chinese SoC vendors, namely AllWinner, Rockchip, and Mediatek, have already announced what they will showcase at CES 2014, albeit with few details. AllWinner at CES 2014 Allwinner announced will showcase their OptimusBoard based on their Ultra Octa-Core A80 SoC, as well as 4G tablets powered by Allwinner A31/A31s, and dual-SIM phablets sporting A23 dual-core. Allwinner A80 is an Octacore processor featuring four ARM Cortex A7 cores, and four Cortex A15 cores @ 2.0GHz together with an unnamed GPU offering 2x more performance over previous […]

Samsung NX300M Camera Is the First Tizen Device

Announced in 2011, Tizen operating system aimed to be used in  smart TVs, tablets, smartphones,netbooks, and in-vehicle infotainment devices. After 2 years development, several products based on Tizen are now ready to be launched, but the very first one, Samsung NX300M does not fit in any of the aforementioned category as it is a camera, which have been sold last month in South Korea. Although Tizen 2.2.1 has just been released, the mirrorless camera runs Tizen 1.0 with the following key features: Sensor – 20.3 MP CMOS sensor Display – 3.3″ 768K Touch AMOLED LCD with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution ISO sensitivity – Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 25600 (1 or 1/3EV step) * AUTO ISO upper level is selectable. (Up to ISO1600) Video Output – NTSC, PAL HDMI Connectivity – USB, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, GPS, and NFC Storage –  SD, SDHC, SDXC, UHS-1 Battery – […]

Hardkernel ODROID-XU2 Development Board with Exynos 5420 Coming Up in Q1 2014

Insignal recently announced that Arndale Octa with an Exynos 5420 was available for pre-order with shipping expected in December 2013, making it the first company providing a low cost big.LITTLE development board. But there will be some competition as Hardkernel will launch ODROID-XU2 also based on Samsung Exynos 5420 octa-core processor according to a tweet by SamsungExynos official twitter account. The board is also briefly mentioned in an article in Samsung website as it was showcased at ARM Techcon 2013. That’s actually all the information I have. There’s a brochure on ARMFlix’s video, but it’s unreadable. However, we can derive (guess) some of the specifications based on the picture above and ODROID-XU specs: SoC – Samsung Exynos 5420 octa core SoC with 4x Cortex A15 cores up to 1.8 GHz, 4x Cortex A7 cores up to 1.3 GHz in big.LITTLE configuration, and ARM Mali T-628 MP6 GPU System Memory – […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC