Hardware Category - Page 1119 of 1132 - CNX Software

October 21, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ARM big.LITTLE Processing Demo

ARM uploaded a big.LITTLE demonstration by Nandan Nayampally, Director, Product Marketing. The demo runs the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with graphs showing CPU usage and when Cortex A7 / A15 is running. At the beginning Cortex A7 handles the background tasks, and when they start the Android Browser, Cortex A15 is used instead to render the page and once this is done, the system switches back to Cortex A7. Scrolling the webpage will increase CPU usage, but this will still be handled by Cortex A7. They did not have to do any modifications to Android, but they just added a big.LITTLE aware Power Management Driver which will be open sourced and integrated in future version of the linaro kernel. 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 […]

October 20, 2011October 21, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

ARM Unveils Cortex-A7 and big.LITTLE processing

ARM unveiled the Cortex A7, a new core with higher performance than the Cortex A8 (1.5x) and with 5 times less power consumption. It will be used in conjunction with Cortex-A15 Core and allows big.LITTLE processing where the Cortex A7 (companion core) takes care of the low performance, low power tasks (social network, email, SMS, phone calls) and the Cortex A15 kicks in for high performance tasks such as video processing and gaming. Here’s an excerpt of the Cortex A7 / big.LITTLE processing press release: ARM today announced the ARM® Cortex™-A7 MPCore™ processor – the most energy-efficient application class processor ARM has ever developed, and big.LITTLE processing – a flexible approach that redefines the traditional power and performance relationship. The Cortex-A7 processor builds on the low-power leadership established by the Cortex-A8 processor that is at the heart of many of today’s most popular smartphones. A single Cortex-A7 processor delivers 5x […]

October 14, 2011October 14, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Variscite System On Module based on TI OMAP4460

Variscite – an Israeli company specialized in embedded systems manufacturing, development and consulting – announced the VAR-SOM-OM44 system on module (SOM) based on TI OMAP4460 processor (dual core Cortex-A9 cores @ 1.2 ~ 1.5GHz). This SOM features 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM and a microSD socket, I/O including gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, 3D camera, and HDMI. Variscite also announced the VAR-OM44CustomBoard, a development board that can be customized to match specific customers requirement as well as the VAR-DVK-OM44, a complete development kit with touchscreen for evaluation and application development purposes. Here are the VAR-SOM-OM44 SOM specifications: CPU: Texas Instruments OMAP4460 Processor (1.2GHz – 1.5GHz) dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore GPU: PowerVR™ SGX540 graphics core @384MHz Memory: 512-1024MB 400MHz LPDDR2 Built-In micro-SD Socket Display: LCD interface – Supporting 24bpp resolutions up to WXGA HDMI interface – Supporting 1080p 4-wire touch screen panel interface Audio: Line-in Stereo Headphone out Digital microphone S/PDIF Out Network: 10/100/1000Mbps […]

October 6, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

AMD G-Series QSeven Module Conga-QAF by Congatec

Congatec announced the Conga-QAF, a Qseven module powered by AMD G-Series embedded processors. The module will come with either the AMD G-T40R single core or the AMD G-T40E dual core processor, with 2 GB DRAM by default (expandable to 4GB), numerous I/O interfaces and an optional on-board SSD with a capacity of up to 32 GB. If you are not familiar with the QSeven Form Factor and why it is used, please read the beginning of the blog post entitled “QSeven Form Factor Embedded Boards by Seco“. To summarize, this is a standard to allow developers to use modules (based on QSeven specs) to test their software on several processors by inserting those modules in a common main board. Here are the specification of the Conga-QAF Qseven module: CPU AMD G-T40E 1.0 GHz Dual Core (L1 cache 64KB, L2 cache 512kB x2, 6.4 W) AMD G-T40R 1.0 GHz Single Core […]

October 6, 2011October 6, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

60 USD Android Tablet: Aakash UbiSlate 7 Tablet

After much delay, the low cost tablet promised by the Indian government is finally released. The Aakash UbiSlate 7 is designed primarily for Indian students and will be sold to them at a discount. The tablet will be manufactured by Datawind in Hyderabad, India. The retail price will be 2,999 Rupees (~61 USD), but it will be sold to the government for 2250 Rupees (~46 USD) and will end up in the hands of students for a sponsored price of 1300 Rupees (~26 USD). Here are Aakash UbiSlate 7 Tablet Specifications: Processor: 366MHz Conexant Processor Memory: 256MB RAM Storage: 2GB Flash memory + 2GB Micro SD card (expandable to 32GB) OS: Android 2.2 with Getjar Marketplace (not the default Android Marketplace) Display: 7″ resistive touchscreen Network: Wifi only. Later models will be GPRS and SIM enabled. USB: 2 x ports Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack Battery: […]

September 28, 2011November 1, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

CraneBoard: Low Cost Development Board based on TI AM3517

The CraneBoard is a low-cost, open-source hardware development platform based on the AM3517 Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 microprocessor. The CraneBoard was announced in December 2010, can be purchased for 199 USD and can be an alternative to the Beagleboard-xM. AM3517 is especially suited to industrial applications and would be a preferable platform if your project needs CAN or PoE support. The board has less RAM (256 MB vs. 512MB) and no camera port. Here are the features and specifications of the board (I highlighted the differences with Beagleboard-xM in green): AM3517 Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 – 600MHz Integrated 3D Graphics Accelerator RAM: 256 MB NAND Flash: 256MB Support for on-chip peripherals: 10/100 EMAC USB OTG utilizing on-processor PHY 3.3V I/O CAN Bus DDR2 Power over Ethernet and other power options including USB and DC MMC/SD Card Support Fully open-source four-layer PCB Fully Open Source Linux Board Support package (2.6.32) Based on existing […]

September 22, 2011September 22, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

99 USD OMAP3 Based Overo Computer On Module by Gumstix

Gumstix has manufactured its Overo COMS based on OMAP3503 and OMAP3530 since 2008. They have now announced a new low cost version named Overa Sand that sells for 115 USD per unit or less than 99 USD per unit for orders of 1,000 units or more. Overo Sand COM is Gumstix’s most basic computer-on-module with 256MB RAM and no on-board NAND. Here are the board specifications and features: Processor: Texas Instruments OMAP 3503 Applications Processor: – ARM Cortex-A8 CPU @ 600 Mhz Memory: 256MB RAM NO On-Board NAND Included Features: microSD card slot TPS65950 Power Management Expandability: via one 140-pin expansion board of Gumstix Overo series or custom, 140-pin expansion board via 27-pin camera board Connections: – (2) 70-pin connectors with 140 signals for: – I2C, PWM lines (6), A/D (6), 1-wire – UART, SPI, Extra MMC lines – Headset, Microphone – Backup battery – High Speed USB Host and […]

September 21, 2011September 21, 2011 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Archos G9 Android 3.2 Tablets Are Now Officially Available

Archos announced that Archos G9 Tablets are now available. There is of course a caveat to this… Only Archos 80 G9 Tablet can be purchased on Archos Store (limited availability) for 299.99 USD, all other models show the dreaded icon “Coming Soon”. However, all Archos G9 models can be pre-ordered on Amazon France but they are not yet available on Amazon US. The other disappointment is that the Turbo versions appear to have been clocked down to 1.2 Ghz, whereas they were previously announced at 1.5 Ghz. Having said that, if you click on “Product Information” on Archos website, it still says “ARM dual-core CORTEX A9 OMAP™ 4 up to 1.5 GHz”. There is also still a lot of confusion about the amount of RAM in the device 512 MB or 1 GB as this is not shown in the specifications. That’s quite a mess, it’s confusing and somewhat frustrating. […]