CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 5, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

MK809III Quad Core Android mini PC May Soon Be Available With 4GB RAM, 16GB Flash

The price of quad core Android mini PCs keeps dropping and MK809III (aka QC802) is now available for just over $60 with Rockchip RK3188 SoC, 2GB RAM, and 8GB flash. The recent price drop is not quite large enough to be newsworthy, but one reader (and commenter) noticed something interesting in one product description. So this seller is apparently able to sell MK809III with 4GB RAM and 16GB Flash. 4GB RAM is probably overkill for Android, but it could be useful for those who want to run Linux. The sellers told him MK809III with 4GB RAM (and 8GB Flash) is available for $75, but the minimum order quantity (MOQ) is 20 pieces. I’ve also contacted the seller myself, and initially was told about the “MOQ 20” requirement, and that both 4GB RAM/8GB flash and 4GB RAM/16GB Flash could be made available. But when I asked about the price and lead […]

August 4, 2013August 4, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

The “Smart Charger” Is Butane Powered, Tiny, and Holds About a Week of Power for your Smartphone

If you are on the go it may be problematic to keep your smartphone or/and tablet batteries charged at all times. You can always buy extra batteries but you need to remember to charge them before you go, and they may not hold enough power for your needs. Kobion is trying solve this problem with the “Smart Charger”, a charger powered by Butane holding up to 37.2 Wh of power (about 5 to 10 times a typical smartphone’s battery capacity) that you can carry around with you. The charger is in development, and the company is looking for funds in Indiegogo, asking for pledges of $59 (early bird), and then $69 to get the product manufactured at a low cost. You’ll also need to add $5 for shipping. Here are the technical specifications: Dimensions – 120 x 60 x 20 mm Weight – Around 200 grams (empty) Nominal Energy – […]

August 3, 2013August 3, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Leadcore Introduces LC1810, LC1811, LC1813, and LC1913 SoCs for Smartphones and Tablets

Mediatek, Rockchip, AllWinner among others are now well-known Chinese ARM SoC manufacturers for tablets, smartphones and set-top boxes. However, you may never have head about Leadcore Technology, a company based in Shanghai with over 1,000 employees, and a subsidiary of Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group (Another company I had never heard of). The company has “recently” announced two dual core Cortex A9 SoCs for smartphones: LC1810 and lc1811, and two quad core Cortex A7 SoC for tablets: LC1813 and LC1913. LC1810 and LC1811 come with the following features: Dual-core Cortex A9 up to 1.2 GHz MALI-400 MP2 GPU LPDDR2 (both) and DDR3/LPDDR for LC1811 Maximum screen resolution: LC1810 – 1080p LC1811 – 1280×800 (WXGA) 1080p video encode and decode Camera: LC1810 – Up to 20MP LC1811 – Up to 8MP Video Out – HDMI 1.4a, 3D HD Network – GSM + GSM DSDA (Both), TD-HSPA+ (LC1810), and TD-HSPA (LC1811) […]

August 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Android 4.3 x86 Test Image Is Now Available For Tablets and Netbooks

Android-x86 project has been working on porting Android OS to Intel and AMD Desktop PC and Laptop, and just about a week after Android 4.3 has been released in AOSP, the project’s team has already managed to provide an Android 4.3 x86 test image for desktop and laptop, probably helped by the recent push by Intel to have Android device powered by x86 processor. The test build (20130725) is based on Android 4.3 release (Jelly Bean-MR2 branch), and they’ve modified parts of the code to make it work with x86, especially on x86 tablets and netbooks. What’s impressive is that most of features appear to work, and they’ve almost managed to add some additional features. The key features in this release are Upgrade to the latest kernel 3.10.2 to support more drivers. Upgrade Mesa OpenGL ES library to 9.2-devel branch to support hardware acceleration for AMD Radeon and Intel chipsets (not […]

August 2, 2013December 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

$49 OVO Egg-Shaped Media Player Helps You Collect and Organize Online Videos With your Smartphone

If you’re often watching online videos on your smartphone, and when back home, you’d rather continue watching those on your television, OVO may be for you. The device is a tiny media player shaped like an egg, with a multimedia processor, a minimum amount of RAM and flash, and Wi-Fi. The full specifications haven’t been provided, but here’s what we know about the hardware: SoC- Full HD Media Processor System Memory – 2Gbit DDR3 (256 MB) Storage – 2GBit NAND Flash (256 MB) Connectivity – 2×2 WiFi 802.11b/g/n single-band Video Output – HDMI 1.4 Dimensions – 61.85 mm (h), 63.32 mm (w), 72.78 mm (d) Weight – 77 grams There’s no word about the OS, but it’s probably running some sort of Embedded Linux distribution. Another interesting point about the hardware is that the Wi-Fi module is not placed horizontally, but inclined, and according to the company this improves Wi-Fi […]

August 2, 2013December 24, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

$480 Hewlett-Packard SlateBook x2 Is an Android Tablet/Notebook Hybrid Powered by Nvidia Tegra 4

Although not really designed for this purpose, Android has been used in devices such as set-top boxes, netbooks and mini PCs for a while, mainly in Chinese products, but recently Hewlett-Packard has announced an All-in-One PC running Android 4.2. The company is persevering its Android push on “legacy” computing devices with a 10.1″ Laptop / Tablet hybrid powered by Nvidia Tegra 4, and running Android 4.2, called SlateBook x2 (Full name: SlateBook x2 10-h010nr). Here are the specifications of this laptop: SoC – Nvidia Tegra 4 (T40S) Quad Core processor @ 1.8 GHz System Memory – 2GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC + Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader Display – 10.1″ diagonal WUXGA LED-backlit touchscreen display (1920×1200) Connectivity – 1×1 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth External Ports: 1x USB 2.0 on base 1x HDMI on base 1x Headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack Keyboard – Full-size island-style QWERTY keyboard Battery: 2-cell […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

August 2, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

USB 3.1 Specifications Published, Supports Speeds Up to 10 Gbps

USB 3.0 specifications has been introduced in 2008 with support for up to 5Gbps bandwidth. Although, my PC has two USB 3.0 ports, I’m still very much living in a USB 2.0 world, as I’ve yet to use USB 3.0 peripherals… But progress never stops, and the USB 3.0 Promoter Group just approved the new USB 3.1 specification (PDF file) which can support data speeds up to 10 Gbps. So after Full Speed (12 Mbps, USB 1.1), High Speed (480 Mbps, USB 2.0), SuperSpeed (5Gbps, USB 3.0), we’ve now got SuperSpeed 10Gpbs (SUPERSPEED+) with USB 3.1. The standard is backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, but apparently not USB 1.1. It will also allow for up to 100W to be sent through a USB cable. If you are a developer, three developer conferences are planned in order to provide technical details about USB 3.1: USB 3.1 Developers Day […]

August 1, 2013August 1, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ARM TechCon 2013 Schedule – ARM Servers, Internet of Things, Multicore, Hardware and Software Optimization and More

ARM Technology Conference (TechCon) 2013 will take place on October 29 – 31, 2013, in Santa Clara, and the detailed schedule for the event has just been made available. In the previous years, the conference was divided into Chip Designs day (1 day), and the other 2 days were reserved for Software & System Design, but this year it does not appear to be the case. Whether you’ll be able to attend the event or not, it’s worth having a look at what will be discussed there in order to have a better understanding of what will be the key ARM developments in the near future in terms of hardware and software. There will be around 90 sessions categorized into 15 tracks: Accelerating Hardware Development – This track explores the resources, tools, and techniques that designers can employ to quickly bring hardware to market. Topics include multicore design, ARM IP, […]