TI and AllGo Embedded Launch E-Tab Tablet Reference Design Powered by TI AM3354 Processor

Texas Instruments and Allgo Embedded jointly announced the availability of E-Tab, a tablet reference design based on Cortex A8 Sitara AM3354 processor that targets the healthcare, logistics, retail and education markets as well as hotels and restaurants. Here are the tablet reference designs specifications: Processor –  TI’s AM3354 ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessor (up to 1 GHz) Operating System – Android ICS 4.0 System Memory – 512 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 512 MB Nand Flash and 4GB Micro SD card Display –  7″ WVGA TFT LCD with 5-Touch Capacitive Touch panel Audio –  Stereo Headphone, Internal MIC and Internal Mono Speaker Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + BT 2.1 Module Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Ethernet 10/100Mbps (Optional) Camera – Internal USB Camera Module (Optional) USB Interfaces – USB High Speed Host Port and USB OTG (ADB and Debug purpose) Key/Button – Single Button for Back and Home screen, Reset Switch and Power […]

Google Unveils LG Nexus 4 Smartphone and Samsung Nexus 10 Tablet Running Android 4.2

Event though it had to cancel the media event due to bad weather, Google made several important announcements yesterday with the LG Nexus 4 Smartphone based on Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 and Samsung Nexus 10 tablet powered by the latest ARM Cortex A15 Exynos 5250 processor. The company also announced Android 4.2 (still called Jelly Bean) which will run on both devices. I’ll provide more details on the new features of the latest version of Android in a separate post. Let’s see what kind of hardware the Nexus 4 has to offer: CPU – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro @ 1.5 GHz (Quad Core) System Memory  – 2 GB RAM Storage – 8 or 16 GB internal storage Display – 4.7″ IPS display (1280×768) Camera – 8MP rear and 1.3 MP front cameras. Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC (Android Beam) and Bluetooth Mobile Network – Unlocked GSM/UMTS/HSPA+, GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, […]

More AMLogic AML8726-MX Source Code Released by Ainol

Last week, I found out that AMLogic released the kernel source code for AML8726-MX, its dual core Cortex A9 processor, but this code is only for the “common” platform, and some source code specific to tablets or media players is missing (e.g. some drivers). But today, Ainol released the source code for the Ainol Novo 7 Elf II and Aurora II tablet, both of which are based on on AML8726-M6 dual core processor: Ainol Novo 7 Elf II Source Code (2 GB) – http://dl.vmall.com/c0yqzpadah Ainol Novo 7 Aurora II source code (2 GB) – http://dl.vmall.com/c0imlixp7d The files are pretty big, and the download very slow on my side (“1 day, 16 hours remaining”), so I’ll probably have to give up. I assume “fards” will import the source code into a new repo in his github account. Anyway, this potentially makes AMLogic AML8726-MX a very interesting development platform, although we’ll have to […]

Archos Unveils 101 XS Tablet Powered by TI OMAP4470

After teasing us last March, Archos officially launched their new Gen10 XS tablet line, and specifically announced the Archos 101 XS, a 10.1-inch Android 4.0.3 tablet powered by Texas Instruments OMAP4470 (Dual core Cortex A9) @ 1.5 GHz that features a detachable magnetic keyboard called the CoverBoard which also serves as a protective cover when not in use. Here are the specs for this new tablet: Processor Texas Instruments OMAP4470 @ 1.5GHz with SGX544 GPU Storage 16 GB Flash Memory + microSD Slot (up to 128GB) System Memory 1GB RAM Video codecs and containers • H.264 HD ([email protected], up to 1080p@30 fps and 1080i/720p@60 fps) • MPEG-42 HD (SP/ASP@L6, up to 1080p@30 fps) • With optional plug-in: MPEG2 HD (MP/HL, 1080p@30 fps) • With the above codecs, the device can play video files with the following extensions: AVI, MP4, MOV, 3GP, MPG, PS, TS, VOB, MKV, FLV, RM, RMVB, ASF […]

$60 Rockchip RK2906 (Cortex A8) Android 4.0 Tablets

About 2 months ago, I received a 7″ capacitive tablet powered by WonderMedia WM8850 Cortex A9 processor and running Android 4.0. The WM8850-MID tablet cost me $76 at the time, and was available for as low as $72, which I found extremely cheap for a tablet with those specs. Since then AllWinner A13 processors have started to be used in tablets with similar specs – but without HDMI output – that sell for as low as $55. At the Hong Kong electronics Fair in April 2012, Rockchip announced several processors including the RK2906, which I was led to believe would be a cut-down version of ARM Cortex A8 RK2918 without HDMI, but it appears not to be the case. And today, I received a “Deal Alert” for an RK2906 Android 4.0 tablet that sells for $59.99 including shipping on Focalprice and could be an alternative to A13 tablets, especially if […]

ARM Announces 3 New Midgard GPUs – Mali-T624, Mali-T628 and Mali-T678

ARM announced the second generation of the Mali-T600 Series GPUs targeting tablets, smartphones and smart TVs. Those new GPUs provide up to 50% performance increase over the first generation Midgard GPUs (T-604 & T-658) and include  support for Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression (ASTC), a texture compression technique. The company explains that ASTC significantly optimizes GPU performance and increases battery life in devices. Those 3 new GPUs based on Mali Midgard architecture are named as follows: Mali-T624 – 1 to 4 cores – Market: Smartphones and smart-Tvs Mali-T628 – 5 to 8 cores – Market: Smartphones and smart-Tvs Mali-T678 – Up to 8 cores, 4x the GPU compute performance of Mali-T628 – Market: Tablets As with previous Midgard GPUs, the new GPUs support GPU compute with improves performance and energy-efficiency for math intensive activities, such as: Computational photography – computational methods of enhancing or extending digital photography Multi perspective views – […]

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro Mobile Development Platform Is Now Available for $1299

A few weeks ago, Qualcomm showcased their new Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 processor with their tablet reference design at Uplink 2012. The platform (Snapdragon S4 Pro Mobile Development Platform for tablets (MDP/T)) is now available to developers for 1299 USD. This development tablet based on APQ8064 processor with Adreno 320 GPU comes with 2GB LPDDR2 RAM and 32 GB flash, features a 10.1” WXGA Multi-touch display, and runs Android 4.0. It will allows developers and manufacturer to develop, test, optimize and showcase applications and games for a wide range of pre-commercial Android devices. Here are the technical specifications of the Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 MDP/T: Processor APQ8064 @ 1.5 Ghz (Quad core) PM8921+ PM8821 (PMIC) WCN3360 (WLAN/BT/FM) WCD9310 (Audio) WGR7640 (GPS) Graphics Adreno 320 graphics processing unit (GPU) Display 10.1” 1366×768 display True multi-touch capacitive touch screen Video 1080 High-definition video recording and playback up to 30 frames per second Stereoscopic […]

Qualcomm Showcases Quad Core Snapdragon APQ8064 Application Processor

Way back in February 2011, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon APQ8064, a quad core application processor clocked at up to 2.5 GHz, that was (and still is) supposed to be available in products end of 2012, beginning of 2013. They now have samples, and showcased the processor in an Android tablet reference design at UpLink 2012. The APQ8064 is part of SnapDragon S4 Pro family and features 4 Krait cores running at up to 1.5 GHz when all four cores are running, or up to 1.7 GHz when only one core is active, according to Anandtech. So it appears they did not follow up on the 2.5 GHz promise. APQ8064 is the first SoC featuring Adreno 320 GPU, and will be followed by MSM8960 later on. The demo below shows the 3D performance of the Qualcomm processor and GPU, and Raj Talluri, Senior Vice President, Product Management at Qualcomm, claims the […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC