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$99 MarS Board Features Freescale i.MX6 Dual, 4GB eMMC

Embest, a subsidiary of Element14, has just announced the MarS Board, a development board powered by Freescale i.MX6 Dual (2x Cortex A9) with 1 GB RAM and 4GB eMMC flash. This is not related to the Marsboard based on AllWinner A10, and designed & manufactured by another company. Here are the key features of the MarS Board: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Dual  2xCortex-A9 Processor @ 1GHz + Vivante GC2000 GPU. System Memory – 1GB RAM (4*256MB DDR3 SDRAM) Storage – 4GB eMMC + micro SD card slot (up to 32GByte) Video Output – 1xHDMI interface, 1x LVDS interface and 1x LCD interface USB – 4x USB Host ports (2x USB connector, 2x via headers), 1x mini USB OTG port, and 1x mini USB for debug Connectivity – 10/100M/1Gbps RJ45 Ethernet interface 2 Expansion Hearders – 2x CAN, 2x IIC, Audio & SPDIF, 8bit IPU1(Camera), SPI, USDHC1(SD card), 4x UART, 2x […]

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Wandboard Releases Updated Android and Ubuntu Linux Images and Source Code

Since I’ve received my previous short review of the Wandboard Dual development board, there has been more work on done the platform with new Android and Ubuntu images, Jelly Bean source, Linux SDK release, and git repo setup. I’ve tried the binary images, and had a quick look at the source code and corresponding documentation. Android 4.1.2 Image and Source Code Wanboard has release an improved Android image on the 14th of March which you can download for both Solo and Dual version of the development board with the following Changelog: Fix HDMI audio/playback issue with certain monitor. Add support for wifi on wandboard-dual. Known issue: Might need to turn off “Avoid poor connections”  in Wi-Fi ->Advanced to keep connection alive. I’ve given it a try in Wandboard Dual, and it seems Ethernet support is gone (Sorry my mistake, Ethernet IS working, but there’s no indication when it’s connected, and […]

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Undistract-me Sends An Alert For Time-Consuming Commands in Linux

In Linux, some commands executed in the terminal such as make, wget, dd may take a while, so usually you’d just let them run in the background, and do some other work, drink tea, go for nap… while they are running, and come to check from time to time if the command has completed. Sometimes I even forget I run a particular command, and realize it has completed a few hours ago… It’s possible to add some command at the end of your command line, but it can be cumbersome, and you may forget to do it. The best would be automatic alerts for commands that take a long time, and undistract-me just takes care of that by sending an alert for commands that take more than 10 seconds (by default). In Ubuntu 12.04 and 12.10, you can install undistract-me as follows:

Undistract-me is part of Ubuntu 13.04 or […]

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$80 MK818 / MK818B Android Set-top Box Sits on Top of Your TV

There are already a few set-top boxes that are designed to be placed on top of a television such as Archos Connect TV. Those usually come with a webcam, which makes them ideal for video conference, and much more convenient than mini PCs with a webcam such as Measy U2C or B12. GeekBuying is now offering such device with the MK818B (aka MK818) powered by RockChip RK3066 with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB Flash, and a 0.3 MP front camera for $84.99. They could probably have done without the “so far away, yet this close!” marking at the front of the device… MK818B has the following specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 Dual Core Cortex A9 @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage –  8GB NAND Flash + SD Card slot (Up to 32GB) + micro SD Card slot (Up to 32GB) Camera – Built-in front […]

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Updated Review of Tronsmart Prometheus with Android 4.2 and XBMC

Earlier this month, a new firmware for Tronsmart Prometheus with Android 4.2 and XBMC with hardware acceleration has been released. Several users left divergent opinions about this firmware, so I’ve decided to give it a try, and write an updated review of Tronsmart Prometheus. I’ll focus on the new features and performance of Android 4.2, XBMC video testing, and see if some of the bugs I found in my earlier review have been fixed. Android 4.2 Features and Benchmarks The firmware file and instructions are available on Tronsmart website. The procedure is straight forward so I won’t repeat it here. During the first boot after the upgrade, you’ll be taken through a wizard to configure your device (e.g. Ethernet, WiFi,…). The first think you’ll notice is a slightly different Home Screen in Android 4.2. There are several small UI improvements / modifications, but the most interesting features for me in […]

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Linaro 13.03 Release with Linux Kernel 3.9 and Android 4.2.2

Linaro 13.03 is now available, and features Linux Kernel 3.9-rc3 and Android 4.2.2. This month, Linaro has released their first Origen Quad Android image, as well as Tiny Android build for Arndale. The ALIP image listed in the download page is still based on Ubuntu 12.11, but as doc Bormental noticed earlier this month, the latest ALIP Quantal 13.03 image is available for download at https://releases.linaro.org/latest/ubuntu/quantal-images/alip. Some development tools (gcc, g++, vi, make..) are now included in Android, so you can develop and build natively from your Android device. Linaro has kept on cleaning the Linux kernel ARM tree for Exynos and ST Ericson SoCs. More work has been done on big.LITTLE for both IKS and HMP, as well as ARMv8 OpenEmbedded, and an initial GRUB port on ARM UEFI is now available. Here are the highlights of this release: Automation and Validation A simple CLI tool for communicating with […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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Droid Stick A2 mini PC Recovery with AMLogic’s Hardware Flash Tool

In some circumstances, for example by installing the wrong firmware or doing something wrong by playing god (as a root user), it’s possible to brick your device. This happened to me with one of my Droid Stick A2 mini PCs based on AMLogic AML8726-MX. I changed some files in /system/etc/permissions directory, lost Wi-Fi access, and even  replacing my changes with the backup files would not solve the problem. It also changed some permissions in the system, and it was not possible to restore the firmware the usual way. At the end of last month, dbtablets left a comment with download links to “Amlogic USB Burning tool”, but  I only decided to give it a try today, and after some efforts I was successful. Just make sure you only use this method as last resort, i.e. a standard firmware upgrade does not work, and you’re about to throw your device in […]

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UG008 and UG008B Rockchip RK3066 Android 4.1 Set-Top Boxes

For those of you who prefer to have a full sized set-top box with an Ethernet port powered by Rockchip RK3066, there aren’t that many options (i.e. Mini X5, TVi7, Wise TiVi Box) and they are usually significantly more expensive than equivalent mini PCs. But there’s no a cheaper option with UG008, a media player powered by Rockchip RK3066 with 1GB RAM, 4 to 8 GB Flash, as well as Ethernet and Wi-Fi support, that sells for around $62 and up. Here are the specifications of this media player: SoC –  RK3066 Dual Core Cortex A9 @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory –  1GB DDR3 Storage –  4 to 8 GB NAND Flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Connectivity Wifi – 802.11b/g/n with external antenna 10/100M Ethernet Video Output – HDMI + AV Video Formats and Codecs – WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI, […]

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