CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

May 25, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

Olimex A20-OLinuXino Prototype, AllWinner A20 SoM In The Work

Yesterday, Olimex showed their new A20-OLinuXino board. This AllWinner A20 board is still a prototype, and there are currently 3 of them only, but the good news is that it appears to be working, 50 developer edition boards will be manufactured shortly, and mass production should start in June. AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 can clearly be seen in the middle of the board, but if you look close to the top left, you’ll see a marking: “A10-OLINUXINO-MICRO”. That’s because, as planned, they managed to design one PCB for both AllWinner A10 and A20 processors, and they’ll sell both versions. Olimex A10/A20-Olinuxino boards have the followings specifications: SoC – AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 processor or AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 processor, both running @1Ghz System Memory – 512MB or 1GB DDR3 memory depending on model Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (optional), 2x microSD card slot, and SATA connector […]

May 24, 2013May 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Kimdecent QC802 Review

QC802 is one of the cheapest RK3188 mini PCs available on the market, as it sells for just $76 on Kimdecent aliexpress store ($73 after you get an Aliexpress coupon). AndroidPC.es got one sample, and posted a review in Spanish. I’ll post a summary in English of this review, but first let’s have quick look at the specs: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6 Ghz + Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB internal flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1 Video Output – HDMI (male) USB – 1x USB Host 2.0, 2x micro USB ports including one for power, one USB Host (or OTG?) So the specs are comparable to other devices. QC802 Unboxing Pictures The package contains the device itself, a 5V/2Apower supply, an HDMI cable, a micro USB to USB […]

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC

May 24, 2013May 24, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments

Smartvote SmartCandy is a Tiny RK3066 mini PC with an External Wi-Fi/USB Cable

To date, the smallest mini PC I’ve even seen is probably CX-01 powered by Telechips TCC8925 Cortex A5 processor, but Smartvote, a Hong Kong based company, has designed an even smaller device based on Rockchip RK3066 called SmartCandy, a feat achieved by locating the Wi-Fi module and full USB ports in an external cable. SmartCandy specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 @ 1.6 GHz + Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 1GB Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + microSD slot USB – 1x USB OTG Video Output – HDMI 1.4a Dimensions – 68 x 29 x 12mm That’s it, no Wi-Fi, no full USB ports. Luckily, it’s sold with an external cable / box that you can connect to the microUSB port to add: Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n USB – 1x or 3x USB port, depending on model Ethernet – With 3x USB port model only The device runs Android 4.1 […]

May 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Digia Brings Qt to Embedded Android Devices with Boot to Qt

Digia has recently announced Boot to Qt Technology Preview, a commercial offering that provides a solution for the creation of user interfaces on embedded systems. For the first version, they stripped out Android of Java, or other unnecessary parts (Zygote, SurfaceFlinger), added Qt/QML, and tested it on on ARM and x86 hardware. Boot to Qt includes the following main features: A light-weight UI stack for embedded Linux, based on the Qt Framework – Boot to Qt is built on an Android kernel/baselayer and offers an elegant means of developing beautiful and performant embedded devices. Ready-made images – We have images for several different devices which include the Boot to Qt software stack, making it possible to get up and running with minimal effort from day one. Full Qt Creator Integration – One-click deploy and run on hardware and a fully featured development environment. Simulator – A VirtualBox based simulator which allows device development […]

May 23, 2013May 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

How to Find Configuration Options Quickly in Make Menuconfig

If you’ve ever compiled the Linux kernel, you’ll know make menuconfig is the command line used to unset/set options, disable/enable modules in order to match your hardware and requirements. I used to simply browse in the menu to find the option, and just remember the correct path. Sometimes I just looked at .config to locate the option I needed, and the possible path in make menuconfig. The first time you use a new option it can be time consuming. But I’ve just found there is a better way via Google+. “/” is actually available in make menuconfig, just like it is in vi/vim. If you want to enable NFS server in your kernel, press “/”, and search for NFSD. It will show the list of results with “NFSD” strings. NFS server support is right at the top, and the path is shown to be File Systems->Network File Systems. The neat […]

May 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

$88.50 Jesurun NX003II Quad Core mini PC Comes with a Webcam and an External Wi-Fi Antenna

Do you remember MK812, a dual core mini PC with a built-in camera, and an external high-gain Wi-Fi antenna? Well, I’ve just noticed a similar device called Jesurun NX003II on DealExtreme, but instead of the dual core processor (RK3066) and 1GB RAM, it comes with Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 processor, 2GB RAM, and yes, the camera and external antenna are still there. Jesurun NX003II Specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3188 Quad core Cortex A9 @ 1.6Ghz with Mali-400 MP4 GPU System Memory – 2GB DDRIII Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + microSD card (up to 32GB) Connectivity: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n with external Antenna Bluetooth v2.1 Video Output – HDMI 1.4 (1080p, 3D support) Video Codecs – MPEG1/2/4, H.264, VC-1, Divx, Xvid, RM8/9/10, VP6 Audio Codecs – MP3, WM, WMA, WAV, OGG, AAC, MPEG Audio, PCM LPCM, M4A, AC3, DTS Camera – Built-in 2.0MP camera USB – USB OTG […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs abd SoMs

May 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

AMD Launches Three New Mobile APU Families: Elite Mobility, Mainstream, and Performance

AMD has just announced three new Mobile Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) lineup, which better performance and power efficiency. AMD’s APU brings the CPU and GPU on a single chip, and connects to an external chipset to handle peripherals. Here are the three new families of processors from lower to higher performance: 2013 AMD Elite Mobility APU (codenamed “Temash”) – 28nm, dual and quad-core x86 APU designed for touch small form-factor notebooks (i.e. netbooks), tablets, and hybrids 13-inches and below; Performance between Intel Atom and Core i3. 3.9 to 8W TDP. The 2013 AMD Mainstream APU (codenamed “Kabini”) – Quad-core x86 SoC solution for entry-level and small-form factor touch notebooks; Performance equivalent to Intel Pentium and Core i3 depending on model. 9 to 25W TDP 2013 AMD Elite Performance APU (codenamed “Richland”) – For premium ultrathin notebooks. Equivalent to Intel Core i3 to Core i5, depending on model. 17 to 35W […]

May 23, 2013May 23, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Pidora 18 (Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix 18) Released

John Chiappetta, working for Seneca Centre for Development of Open Technology, has recently announced the release of Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix 18, which will be now known as Pidora 18. If you were there at the time of Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix 14 release, the first ever Linux distribution released for the Raspberry Pi, you may remember it had many issues, and the Raspberry Pi foundation decided to remove it from their Download page. This fourth release will hopefully fix many issues, and they’ll end up back on Raspberry Pi site. Based on the Changelog vs R-Pi Fedora Remix 17, Pidora 18 features look promising: Almost all of the Fedora 18 package set available via yum (thousands of packages were built from the official Fedora repository and made available online) Compiled specifically to take advantage of the hardware already built into the Raspberry Pi Graphical firstboot configuration (with additional modules […]