CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments

Wimoto Motes are Tiny Bluetooth Sensors for iOS, Android, and Linux Devices

Wimoto Motes are small (30x30x8mm) wireless sensors that communicate temperature, humidity, soil moisture… values to your iPhone, iPad, Android, and Linux (yes, including the Raspberry Pi) devices via Bluetooth. They are said to last for about a year on a single CR2032 battery and don’t require an Internet connection to work, but you can still upload your data to Wimoto cloud service via the app, or use an optional mote.cloud bridge to do it for you in realtime via Wifi. There are currently 4 Motes: Climote – Measures light (0 to 60,000 lux), temperature (-25 to 85 C) and humidity. Used to monitor a room environment (bedroom, cellar, greenhouse,…), and tell you if you need to make adjustment Growmote – Measures sunlight (0 to 60,000 lux), soil moisture (5 levels) and temperature (-25 to 85 C), to make sure your lawn or flowers are not thirsty. Thermote – Measures an object temperature […]

May 30, 2013February 26, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

EnSilica eSi-ZM1 System-on-Module Features Xilinx Zynq XC7Z020 SoC

EnSilica has introduced the eSi-ZM1 SoM powered by Zynq ZC7Z020 SoC featuring 2 ARM Cortex A9 core, and an Artix-7 FPGA with 85K logic cells. The module also comes with 1GB RAM, 1GB NAND flash, and 16MB QSPI Boot Flash. ZC7Z020 SoC is notably used in ZedBoard development board, so if you have developed an application around this board, and want to commercialize it, using eSi-ZM1 module with your own custom baseboard could be an option. eSi-ZM1 system-on-module specifications: SoC – Xilinx Zynq XC7Z020 dual-core Cortex A9 processor @ 666 MHz, 85 K logic cells, 560 KB block RAM, and 220 DSP Slices. CLG484 package type System Memory – 1 GB, 1.35 V, 32-bit wide DDR3 SDRAM @ 533 MHz Storage: 1 GB, 1.8 V, 8-bit wide NAND FLASH 16 MB QSPI flash 1 or 2 Kb I2C EEPROM (and not 1MB as mentioned in the block diagram ) uSD card […]

May 30, 2013May 30, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Mediatek Introduces MT8125 Quad Core SoC for 3G and Wi-Fi Tablets

MediaTek has just announced the availability of MT8125 quad core Cortex A7 SoC designed for tablets. The processor can run up to 1.5GHz, integrates a PowerVR Series5XT GPU, and comes in 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and Wi-Fi versions, all of which are pin-to-pin compatible. MT8125 supports Full HD 1080p video playback and recording, 13MP camera with integrated ISP and Full HD (1920 x 1200) displays. It also support Mediatek’s MiraVision technology that’s suppose it improve picture quality. As with other Mediatek SoCs, this processor also includes support for MediaTek’s 4-in-1 connectivity combo (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM), as well as Wi-Fi certified Miracast. That’s about all we know about the SoC itself for now. Tablets incorporating MT8125 SoC will soon be available including Lenovo IdeaTab S6000 series. Via Liliputing

May 29, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

RebeccaBlackOS is a Linux Distribution Showcasing Wayland

nerdopolis, a developer and a Rebecca Black fan, has been maintaining a Linux distribution called RebeccaBlackOS that uses Wayland’s reference compositor Weston as the default for handling its graphical user interface, and automatically start “Friday” song as it boots. This distribution actually supports both Wayland and X, as even though QT, GTK, EFL (Enlightenment Foundation Libraries), Clutter, and SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) have all been compiled to support Wayland, many apps don’t work with Wayland, so Xwayland provides a way to run many, but not all, X apps in Wayland. You can try the latest 1.8 GB ISO image (24 May 2013), which is based on 32-bit Kubuntu 13.04, by transferring it to a USB flash drive via Unetbootin, or by using the ISO directly in VirtualBox (it will then use the framebuffer). I planned to try it before writing this post, by the “18 hours, 10 minutes remaining” message […]

May 29, 2013May 29, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

XBMC Linux Coming to AMLogic AML8726-MX Based Media Players

XBMC now works pretty well on several Android set-top boxes, but if XBMC is the only application you’re going to run on your device, you may prefer running XBMC in Linux to gain a bit in terms of performance. The only catch is that it’s not available yet, but J1nx posted a teaser video showing XBMC running in Geniatech ATV1200 set-top box. The demo above outputs at 720p, hardware video decoding appears to be working, the user interface is rendered at 30fps with a video played in the background, and CPU usage is about 10 to 20%. Under the hood, the box is running Linux 3.0.50, with Linaro 2013.02 armhf rootfs and BusyBox 1.21. An image is not available yet, and there’s no ETA.

May 29, 2013June 1, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments

$40 SunnyCube V7 Tablet Powered by WonderMedia WM8880 Dual Core SoC

There’s a war going on in China at this very moment, a war fought between Chinese tablet SoC manufacturers to get the cheapest dual core tablet on the market, and according to diverse reports, it seems VIA Wondermedia may have won a battle with WM8880 dual core SoC, as the upcoming SunnyCube V7 tablet will sell for 249 RMB (About $40 US), just 20 RMB (~$3) more than AllWinner A13 based tablets. The rest of the world should be able to get it for about $50 – $55 from websites such as Aliexpress, after paying for “free” shipping. SunnyCube V7 Specifications: SoC – VIA WM8880 Dual core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.5GHz + Mali-400 MP2 GPU System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 4GB Flash Display – 7-inch WVGA (800×480) display Video Playback – H.264, WMV, MPEG2/4, VP8 (up to 1080p) Camera – Front and rear cameras Battery – Unknown […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

May 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Aithon Motor Control Board Runs Chibios/RT RTOS

The Aithon board is a board powered by an STM32 Cortex M4 MCU destined at controlling motors and robotics applications. The board runs Chibios/RT, an open source RTOS, and a set of libraries are also provided to make programming the 2-channel motor driver, and other peripherals/sensors easier. Here are the specifications of the board: MCU – STMicroelectronics STM32F407 ARM Cortex-M4 @ 168 MHz, FPU, 512KB flash and 192KB RAM, up to 17 timers, an RTC, and 12-bit ADC I/O (All digital I/Os are 5V tolerant): 15 GPIO 8 ADC inputs and 8 PWM servo outputs Up to 3 USART (one shared with 1 I2C port + XBee) Up to 4 I2C (split between two independent buses) 1 SPI header 1 SWD header 1 12-bit DAC output (shared with SPI SCLK) USB – mini-USB (device) and standard USB (host) ports Expansion Headers: XBee socket Bluetooth header for optional Roving Networks RN42 […]

May 28, 2013May 28, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

The Smarter Phone is Upgradeable Just Like a PC

The “Smarter Phone“, which is just a concept right now, would allow users to easily upgrade or repair it by changing key modules. Your phone currently has a 5MP camera, and you’ll like to upgrade for a 12MP. No problem, just replace the camera module. We’re now in 2016. The quad core processor in your smartphone feels really slow, and memory is tight, so you’d like to replace it with the latest Exynos 7 20-core processor with extra-large.big.medium.little.tiny processing technology, and finally get 8GB RAM. You can do so by just updating the CPU module, and on and on. Basically, your smartphone would be just as upgradeable as your PC, which is probably timely since in a couple of years, your phone may become your PC. This concept designed by Bernat Lozano (Product Designer), and Rocío García (Architect & Product Designer), would help save consumers’ money, and reduce e-waste, as they […]