CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

November 20, 2023November 18, 2023 by Sponsored Post - No Comments

US and UK Black Friday Deal for GEEKOM Mini IT11 mini PC (Sponsored)

Mini IT11 Core i7-11390H mini PC coupon code

GEEKOM has launched a Black Friday promotion with a deal for their Mini IT11 mini PC powered by an Intel Core i7-11390H quad-core/8-thread Tiger Lake processor with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD for both US and UK customers. In the US, the GEEKOM Mini IT11 mini PC (32GB+1TB) now sells for just $449 US after using the coupon code cnxsoftware25, and British customers can also benefit from the offer by getting it for just ￡449 including taxes with the same coupon code. GEEKOM Mini IT11 (32GB+1TB) specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-11390H quad-core/8-thread Tiger Lake processor @ up 2.9 GHz / 5.0 GHz (Turbo) with 12MB cache, 96EU Intel Iris Xe graphics @ 1.40 GHz; TDP: 28W/35W System Memory – 32GB DDR4 SO-DIMM dual-channel memory, upgradeable up to 64GB Storage 1TB SSD (2280 M.2 PCIe), upgradeable up to 2TB 2.5-inch SATA HDD bay (up to 7mm thick), […]

November 19, 2023November 20, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

International Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023 deals and coupon codes

We’ve been writing about international Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and coupon codes since 2014, as US-centric promotions such as Amazon’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are not always available to the international audience of CNX Software. So once again, we’ve searched at Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023 international promotions and discount codes from specific manufacturers as well as popular online stores such as Aliexpress, Banggood, and others. Aliexpress Black Friday and Cyber Monday event Aliexpress will have a Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) event in 2023, but we have limited details at this time since it will only start on November 23, contrary to some of the other deals we’ll feature below which are already up and running. But the event will have two periods: Nov 20-22 PT – Warm Up event where users can find and add items to the cart before purchasing during the […]

November 18, 2023January 3, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

GEEKOM A5 Review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro tested on an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Mini PC

After unboxing GEEKOM A5 mini PC, checking out the hardware, and booting the device in the first part of the review, we’ve now had time to further test the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H mini PC with Windows 11 Pro operating system. The boot-up is quite fast and generally speaking the device performs well for the various tasks we ran on the mini PC. So in the second part of the GEEKOM A5 review, we will provide an overview of the system information, test features, perform benchmarks, check heat dissipation under load, and measure the power consumption of the mini PC while running on Windows 11 Pro. Software Overview and Feature Testing Going to System->About in Windows settings, we can confirm that the GEEKOM A5 mini PC is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor clocked at 3.20 GHz (base frequency) and 32GB of RAM, and runs Windows 11 Pro […]

November 17, 2023November 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 23 Comments

Allwinner VPU gets open-source Linux driver for its H.264 hardware video encoder

Allwinner V3s open source Linux video encoding driver

Long-time readers of CNX Software may remember Bootlin’s crowdfunding campaign launched in 2018 to bring open-source Allwinner VPU drivers to take care of hardware video encoding and decoding in mainline Linux. They managed to raise enough funds (over 30,000 Euros) from small donors and several companies (Olimex, Pine64, Libre Computer, FriendlyELEC, and Orange Pi) to work on open-source VPU drivers for mainline Linux, but only for MPEG2, H264, and H265 decoding for in a range of Allwinner SoCs such as the A20 and H5, but not quite enough to cover the cost of H264 video encoding. Five years later, Bootlin took it upon themselves to complete the work without backing or support from Allwinner and have now released an open-source Linux-kernel based V4L2 driver to support the H.264 video encoder found in Allwinner V3, V3s, and S3 camera SoCs. The new driver builds upon earlier work by the company to […]

November 17, 2023November 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AAEON PICO-ADN4 Pico-ITX Alder Lake-N SBC features Processor N50 to Atom x7425E SoC

AAEON PICO-ADN4 Pico-ITX SBC comes with a choice of four Alder Lake-N processors – Processor N50, Processor N97, Core i3-N305, or Atom x7425E – and is available in SKUs with both standard (0°C ~ 60°C) and wide-temperature (-40°C ~ 85°C) ranges for industrial applications. The single board computer comes with up to 16GB LPDDR5, SATA and mSATA storage, three display interfaces (HDMI, eDP/LVDS, DDI), dual Ethernet with 2.5GbE and GbE RJ45 ports, USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and M.2 and mPCIe sockets for expansion. The board supports 12V DC power input by default, but AAEON company offers a 9V to 36V DC input option. PICO-ADN4 specifications: Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel Processor N50 dual-core processor up to 3.4 GHz with 6MB cache, 16EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 6W Intel Processor N97 quad-core processor up to 3.6 GHz with 6MB cache, 24EU Intel UHD Graphics; TDP: 12W Intel […]

November 17, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

MessengerPi – A LoRa messenger and walkie-talkie based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 (Crowdfunding)

SB Components MessengerPi is a DIY messenger and walkie-talkie based on a Raspberry Pi RP2040 that relies on LoRa communication for P2P messaging over distances of up to 5 kilometers and calls up to 300 meters away. The company actually provides two boards: the MessengerPi itself for both calls and messaging with a keyboard, and the smaller “Walky Talky” board for audio communication only and without a LoRa module. Messenger Pi specifications: MCU – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 133 MHz with 264KB SRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Wireless Ebyte E22-900T22S LoRa module (also used in the company’s LoRa HAT for Raspberry Pi) Based on the Semtech SX1262 transceiver Operates in the 850 MHz to 930 MHz band Up to 5km LoRa text messaging SB Components marked Walkie-Talkie module 16 FRS channels Tx Power – Up to 17 dBm Rx sensitivity – Up to -98dBm Audio communication […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

LILYGO T-Display S3 Pro – A 2.33-inch ESP32-S3 color touchscreen display with enclosure

LILYGO T-Display S3 Pro is another ESP32-S3 powered WiFi and Bluetooth display from the company with a 2.33-inch color touchscreen LCD, a plastic enclosure, support for USB-OTG, two QWIIC connectors, and a 470 mAh battery. We’re told the T-Display S3 Pro is an update to the T-Display S3 (and by extension of the T-Display S3 Touch and T-Display S3 AMOLED models) but the display is quite bigger at 2.33-inch and with higher resolution (480×222), it comes with an ABS case with an integrated battery by default, adds support for USB OTG, and also includes a few sensors that are missing from the earlier models. T-Display S3 Pro specifications: Wireless MCU – Espressif Systems ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 @ up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration, 512KB RAM, 8MB PSRAM, wireless connectivity Storage – 16MB flash, microSD card slot Connectivity via ESP32-S3 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi 4 […]

November 16, 2023November 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 20 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 gets an M.2 PCIe HAT – Meet PineBerry Pi HatDrive

The Raspberry Pi 5 SBC comes with a PCIe 2.1 x1 interface that has not been overly useful so far since it’s exposed through a non-standard FPC connector. Raspberry Pi Ltd is working on its own HATs to make use of the PCIe connector, but PineBerry Pi may have beaten them to it with the launch of the HatDrive M.2 HAT for Raspberry Pi 5. The HatDrive comes with an M.2 Key-M socket with a PCIe x1 interface and support for 2230 and 2242 modules, so you can install an SSD, an AI accelerator, or another compatible M.2 module. The HAT is connected through a 40mm long 16-pin FPC cable (that supports up to PCIe Gen3) as well as the 40-pin Raspberry Pi GPIO header for the I2C EEPROM required by compliant HATs, plus power supply monitoring and diagnostics, and to let users add another HAT on top if needed. […]