I first heard about Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 at the end of 2012, Rockchip showcased an RK3188 tablet development platform at CES 2013, and we were told the first tablet would ship in March without more details about available models. It appears Pipo Max M9 may be one of the first RK3188 available for purchase. This Android 4.1 tablet features a 10″ IPS display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 2 GB RAM, and 16 GB Flash. Here are the full specifications for PiPO MAX M9: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.8GHz with Mali-400MP4 GPU @ 533 MHz. System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB flash + microSD slot Display – 10.1″ IPS display with 10-Point capacitive touch screen. Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 3G via external USB dongle Camera – 2.0MP front camera, 5.0MP rear […]
Always Innovating MeCam is a $49 Voice-Controlled Nanocopter Camera
Earlier today, I’ve posted a list of some interesting sessions for the upcoming ELC 2013, and one of the talk entitled “Lessons Learned in Designing a Self-video Self-hovering Nano Copter” by Gregoire Gentil, Always Innovating CEO, caught my attention. In this presentation, he will talk about the technical challenges the company encountered when they designed MeCam, a self video nano copter to point-and-shoot yourself, that should sell for just $49 retail. The MeCam launches from the palm of a hand and hovers instantly. It streams video to an Android or iOS phone or tablet that can be easily shared on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. There’s no remote control for the MeCam as it’s either controlled by voice commands, or it can be setup to follow you around thanks to the follow-me feature. It can also do panorama shots automatically. The products is still in […]
XBMCHUB Releases XBMC for Android Version with HW Video Decoding on All Platforms
As you may know, XBMC developers have been working on XBMC for Android for a while, and have recently released XBMC 12.0 RC3 for Android APK. The only problem is that, apart from devices based on AMLogic AML8726-M1/3, many platforms still do not support video hardware decoding, so this must be handled by software. As the CPUs in most devices are not powerful enough to decode HD videos, some people have provided instructions to use an external player, for example with Telechips TCC8925 and Diceplayer. This is not ideal because you basically lose XBMC user interface during video playback, but it’s a good workaround until XBMC 4 Android supports more platforms. However, you still need to edit some config files by yourself. That’s why the guys at XBMCHUB have decided to release an XBMC for Android APK where all the configuration is done for you, so that you can get […]
DaVinci Movile Kite Full-HD Tablet Boots Android and Ubuntu
DaVinci Mobile, an Italian company, has just announced a Samsung Exynos 4412 quad core tablet running Android 4.0 (ICS) and Ubuntu 12.04 Precise that should sell for 373 Euros in Italy, or just 29 Euros with a subscription. The specifications of this tablet are as follows: SoC – Samsung Exynos Quad-Core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.4 Ghz + Quad-Core Mali-400MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 32GB flash + microSD card socket Display – 10.1 “IPS Multi-touch Capacitive Panel (1920×1200) with a viewing angle of 178 ° Connectivity Wi-Fi – 82.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 GPS- A-GPS Sensors – Gyroscope Camera – VGA front camera, 2.0 MP rear camera USB – miniUSB port Audio I/O – 3.5 mm jack for headphones Battery – 5400mAh 3.7V Weight – 539g Dimensions – 258.3x164x9.5mm The hardware specifications appear to perfectly match Ramos W30HD tablet, sold for less than $300 on Chinese websites […]
The End of Embedded Linux (As We Know It) – ELCE 2012
Chris Simmonds, freelance consultant and trainer (2net ltd), discusses the future of embedded Linux now that storage and processing power are no longer an major issue, and try to find the best Linux platform for embedded systems at ELCE 2012. Abstract: Embedded Linux is at a cross roads where the combination of Moore’s law making devices more powerful and the mass production of consumer devices, especially mobile, making them cheaper means that the old ways no longer work. Only a few years ago we though in mega: MHz, MBytes, MBits/s. Now we have to think in giga. The days of the single core CPU are almost over, as are the days of the QVGA display. All this means that there is a need to re-think how embedded devices are programmed. Two obvious roads lie ahead: Android and Ubuntu (or other desktop operating system of your choice). This talk considers the […]
InfoTMIC iMAPx15 Dual Cortex-A5 SoC To Power $35 Android Tablets
InfoTMIC has recently launched the iMAPx15 SoC featuring 2 Cortex A5 and a Mali-400 GPU. Infotmic iMAPx15 is a low cost version of iMAPx820 that is cost optimized for tablets, and lacks features such as SATA and GPS. Charbax interviewed InfoTMIC marketing director at CES 2013, where they discussed the new processor, and showcased a 7″ Android 4.1 tablet powered by iMAPx15 that is said to cost just $35. The device is not sold on Chinese websites yet, so I could not confirm this claim. At first, I thought it would be unlikely to be the retail price, but there are some 7″ Android tablets selling for about $40 on Aliexpress (Update: The sellers at this price don’t have feedback, so those could be scams). So the $35 price tag could either be the unit price for 1K orders or the retail price in China. iMAPx15 is not listed on […]
Panasonic Unveils 20″ Tablet With 4K Resolution
For those of you in need of high resolution tablet, Panasonic has unveiled a 20″ tablet powered by an Intel Core i5 processor running Windows 8 Pro with 3840 x 2560 resolution. This tablet is mainly targeted at professionals, and Panasonic has demos for 3 use cases at CES 2013: car dealers, designers and architects, and photographers. The specifications of Panasonic tablet are as follows, but may slightly change once the product is officially available: Processor – Intel Corei5 3427U vPro 1.8 Ghz CPU GPU – NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Memory – 4GB memory (16GB max) Storage – 128GB SSD + 1x micro SD card (SDXC) Display – 20-inch IPS-alpha display panel with 3840 x 2560 (230ppi) resolution (15:10 aspect ratio) Connectivity – IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V4.0 wireless 1x USB 2.0 High resolution digital pen (Anoto live pen) Camera – HD 720p front camera Battery life – Up to 2 hours Dimensions […]
Rockchip Shows Off RK3188 Quad Cortex A9 Processor and Miracast Dongles
There has been some leaks about Rockchip RK3188 processor, and Cube Pea tablet based on this SoC, but no device are available for purchase to date. Rockchip is currently at CES 2013 showcasing their solutions, and they are showcasing RK3188 tablet development platform at the show, but no RK3188 tablet as final products should only start to be available in March. Charbax is at CES 2013 now, and could ask a few questions about Rockchip upcoming SoC. RK3188 is a quad core Cortex A9 processor clocked up to 1.8-2.0 GHz, manufactured using 28nm HKMG process technology. The SoC features a quad-core Mali-400MP GPU, 1080p video decoder & encoder, and they can easily provide 4G/LTE support. RK3188 should be 20 to 30% faster than Nvidia Tegra 3, and have the same performance as Samsung Exynos 4412. Rockchip representative also stress that performance/cost ratio will be better than (Chinese) competitor basing their […]