smartphone News - Page 60 of 74 - CNX Software

August 29, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

Broadlink SP1 Wi-Fi Smart Socket Can Be Turned On/Off by Android or iOS Devices

Broadlink SP1 is a smart socket with Wi-Fi connectivity that you can control remotely with your Android or iOS mobile device through a specific app in order to turn on and off lights, water heater, and other electrical appliances. This type of product already exists for example with Belkin Wemo, but Broadlink SP1 is cheaper as it sells for $32.90 including shipping, against $49.99 + shipping for Belkin Wemo Switch. So let’s have a closer look. For this type of device there aren’t that many technical specifications, but they are very important as you need to make sure it matches your electrical grid specs, equipment power rating, and socket type: Material – ABS Power Plug – Three flat-pin plug (Australia type) Voltage – 90~245V @ 50-60 Hz Output Current – 10A Output Power – 2200W Dimensions – 8.9 cm x 7.7 cm x 5.8 cm Temperature Range – -10’C to […]

August 27, 2013November 19, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$49 (and up) Hex is an Arduino-compatible, Soon-to-be Open Source Nanocopter Kit

Do you remember Mecam, an upcoming $49 nanocopter with a camera? AFAIK, it’s not there yet, but a similar product with a similar price point is now “available” on Kickstarter. Hex nanocopters (quadcopter and hexacopter versions) are not voice-controlled, and do not come with a camera by default, but you can control them with iOS or Android mobile devices, and a camera can be fitted if needed. It comes as a kit, so you’ll have to assemble it yourself, and since it’s fully open source, you could even customize it to your taste. Hex specifications: Propellers – Size: 56×8.5 mm, Fits shaft: 1.0 mm Motors – Diameter: 7.0 mm, Length: 20 mm, Shaft diameter: 1.0 mm, Over 50,000 rotations per minute (rpm) Flight Control System: Flight control – Microwii Copter Processor – Atmel ATMega32u4 Gyro and Accel – InvenSense MPU6050 (6-axis) Battery – 350mAh battery (Flight Time – 7 minutes) […]

August 26, 2013August 26, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Migoal TransMaker TR10 and TR11 Transform Your Samsung Galaxy S3 / S4 into a 10.1″ or 11.6″ Tablet or Laptop

If you’ve got an Samsung Galaxy S3 or S4 smartphone, and sometimes, you’d like to use it with a larger screen and a keyboard, there’s now a solution with Migoal TransMaker. The device does something similar to Motorola Lapdock, but it can support both tablet and laptop modes thanks to a detachable keyboard dock. You can use it by sliding your phone at the back of the tablet screen. TransMaker TR10 and TR11 specifications (Tablet): Display: TR10 – 10.1″ IPS touchscreen panel (1280×800 resolution) TR11 – 11.6″ IPS touchscreen panel (1920×1080 resolution) Audio – 1x2W Speaker + 3.5mm earphone jack USB – 1x micro USB port Buttons – Home, menu, back, power on/off, volume +/- Power: 1x DC-in 5000mAh Lithium battery Dimensions TR10 – 263 x 181 x 10.7mm TR11 – 305 x 192 x 11.5mm Net weight – TR10: 525g, TR11: 620g TransMaker TR10 and TR11 specifications (Keyboard dock): […]

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Sky Drone FPV HD Video Solution For Drones Uses 3G or 4G/LTE Networks and the BeagleBone Black

Earlier this week, I wrote about SparqEE CELLv1.0 a low cost cellular module to allow applications such as RC helicopter with extended range thanks to cellular networks. It turns out there’s currently a crowdfunding campaign that aims to bring such solution to market, but using 3G/4G USB dongles instead. Sky Drone FPV (First Person View) is an HD video system that can be controlled using 3G or 4G/LTE networks, and features the BeagleBone Black as the controller board. It would usually be attached to a quadcopter, by there’s not reason why you could not also use it with RC ground vehicles. Let’s start with the technical specifications: Controller Board – BeagleBone Black 3G/4G LTE Modem: Option 1 – Huawei E397Bu-501 for US / Americas (4G LTE FDD 1700/2100MHz and 700MHz) Option 2 – Huawei E398u-1 for Europe / Asia (4G LTE FDD 900/2600 MHz) Camera: Option 1 – Full HD […]

August 10, 2013August 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Developers Are Working on Chromecast Functionality From Any Android Apps via Any Android Devices

If you don’t just come back from (too long) holidays, you should know Google has released the Chromecast, a $35 HDMI TV Stick that uses a protocol called DIAL to let users stream online videos on the TV via your mobile device or mirror your Chrome browser on the TV. However, there are currently quite a few limitations. It can only be used with apps specifically designed for Chromecast (e.g. YouTube, Netflix,…), and Chromecast is the only available receiver, and can only be purchased in the US. Luckily these may not be an issue soon… Koushik Dutta (Kouch) has taken care of the first issue by modifying Cyanogenmod to allow any video or audio app to stream the media files via the TV, using Android notifications. Perfect. Moving to the second issue. If you don’t live in the US, you’re still stuck, and if you do live in the US, […]

August 6, 2013August 6, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

LinuxCon North America 2013 Schedule

LinuxCon (North America) 2013 will take place on September 16 – 18, 2013 in New Orleans, LA. The event will be co-located with several other conferences: the Linux Plumbers Conference, the Xen Project User Summit, the OpenDaylight Mini-Summit, the Gluster Workshop 2013, the UEFI Plugfest, the Linux Wireless Summit, the Linux Security Summit, and CloudOpen 2013. LinuxCon consists of 3 days of keynotes, and legal, operations, and developers related sessions as well as tutorials and workshops. There will be around 150 sessions and keynotes during those 3 days. I’ve gone through developer sessions and selected one for each time period. Monday, September 16 10:35 – 11:25 – UEFI and Linux by Kirk Bresniker, HP UEFI has become ubiquitous on the PC client systems and is coming up on servers and ARM-based systems, it is becoming the converged firmware infrastructure. UEFI Secure Boot feature has attracted a lot of attention from […]

August 4, 2013August 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

The “Smart Charger” Is Butane Powered, Tiny, and Holds About a Week of Power for your Smartphone

If you are on the go it may be problematic to keep your smartphone or/and tablet batteries charged at all times. You can always buy extra batteries but you need to remember to charge them before you go, and they may not hold enough power for your needs. Kobion is trying solve this problem with the “Smart Charger”, a charger powered by Butane holding up to 37.2 Wh of power (about 5 to 10 times a typical smartphone’s battery capacity) that you can carry around with you. The charger is in development, and the company is looking for funds in Indiegogo, asking for pledges of $59 (early bird), and then $69 to get the product manufactured at a low cost. You’ll also need to add $5 for shipping. Here are the technical specifications: Dimensions – 120 x 60 x 20 mm Weight – Around 200 grams (empty) Nominal Energy – […]

August 3, 2013August 3, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Leadcore Introduces LC1810, LC1811, LC1813, and LC1913 SoCs for Smartphones and Tablets

Mediatek, Rockchip, AllWinner among others are now well-known Chinese ARM SoC manufacturers for tablets, smartphones and set-top boxes. However, you may never have head about Leadcore Technology, a company based in Shanghai with over 1,000 employees, and a subsidiary of Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group (Another company I had never heard of). The company has “recently” announced two dual core Cortex A9 SoCs for smartphones: LC1810 and lc1811, and two quad core Cortex A7 SoC for tablets: LC1813 and LC1913. LC1810 and LC1811 come with the following features: Dual-core Cortex A9 up to 1.2 GHz MALI-400 MP2 GPU LPDDR2 (both) and DDR3/LPDDR for LC1811 Maximum screen resolution: LC1810 – 1080p LC1811 – 1280×800 (WXGA) 1080p video encode and decode Camera: LC1810 – Up to 20MP LC1811 – Up to 8MP Video Out – HDMI 1.4a, 3D HD Network – GSM + GSM DSDA (Both), TD-HSPA+ (LC1810), and TD-HSPA (LC1811) […]