CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 14, 2013January 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments

$14 Marstek MPR-N9 WiFi/3G Router with 2,400 mAh Battery

One of my readers (Onebir) brought Poray M3 mini Router to my attention a few days ago, as it just cost $17 at the time (now over $20) and OpenWRT developer Squonk seems very interested about it since it features microSD and SD card slots missing in TL-WR703N. However, the device only has 16 MB memory which makes it somewhat difficult to run OpenWRT, or at least some of its features. But today, I’m not going to talk about this. Mentions of Poray M3 router came in HAME MPR-A1 OpenWRT forum thread, and I discovered a new (to me) type of low cost, small form factor device: portable Wi-Fi/3G routers. Those devices are about the size of android mini-PC and contain the chips to handle Wi-Fi, USB host (for external 3G dongle), and comes with a built-in battery so that you can use them anywhere (beach, mountain, car…), as long […]

January 14, 2013January 14, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

InfoTMIC iMAPx15 Dual Cortex-A5 SoC To Power $35 Android Tablets

InfoTMIC has recently launched the iMAPx15 SoC featuring 2 Cortex A5 and a Mali-400 GPU. Infotmic iMAPx15 is a low cost version of iMAPx820 that is cost optimized for tablets, and lacks features such as SATA and GPS. Charbax interviewed InfoTMIC marketing director at CES 2013, where they discussed the new processor, and showcased a 7″ Android 4.1 tablet powered by iMAPx15 that is said to cost just $35. The device is not sold on Chinese websites yet, so I could not confirm this claim. At first, I thought it would be unlikely to be the retail price, but there are some 7″ Android tablets selling for about $40 on Aliexpress (Update: The sellers at this price don’t have feedback, so those could be scams). So the $35 price tag could either be the unit price for 1K orders or the retail price in China. iMAPx15 is not listed on […]

January 13, 2013January 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Android Cortex A8 Keyboard / Advanced Remote for TV

Remote Solution, a small technology company based in Hong Kong South Korea, has shown off an Android 4.0 powered keyboard controlling an Android STB at CES 2013. The device is designed to be used as an advanced TV remote control, looks like a small tablet with 8 control button, and can be inserted into a full sized QWERTY keyboard for faster typing. The specifications are as follows: SoC – ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ 720 MHz (I’d guess a TI OMAP3 or Sitara processor at this freq) System Memory – 512MB RAM Storage – 2GB flash Display – 3.5″ touchscreen display (480 x 320) Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth Misc – IR port to be used as a universal remote. The touchscreen allows you to launch apps on your TV, move a cursor by using a virtual touch-pad, use an on-screen keyboard (when the screen is not connected to the keyboard), […]

January 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Etnaviv Project Vivante GCxxx GPU Open Source Driver

You have most probably heard of Lima, an initiative to provide fully open source Mali-200 & Mali-400 drivers by reverse-engineering the closed source Mali GPU drivers. A separate effort, Etnaviv Project, has now started to offer open source drivers for Vivante GCxxx GPU used in SoC such as Marvell Armada 1500 (notably used in mainly Google TV platforms), Rockchip RK2918 (present in many older tablets), Freescale i.MX6 (used in newer tablets, low cost development boards, some SoMs and GK802/Hi802 mini PCs). The project is called Etnaviv. The introduction of Etnaviv Project reads as follows on the corresponding Github account: Project Etnaviv is an attempt to make an open source user-space driver for the Vivante GCxxx series of embedded GPUs. The current state of the project is experimental. It is currently only of use to developers interested in helping develop open source drivers for the hardware, reverse engineering, or in interfacing […]

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Crystalfontz CFA-10036 ARM9 Embedded Module Running Linux 3.7

Crystalfontz America, a supplier of LCD and OLED display modules used in embedded systems, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund manufacturing and lower the cost of a system-on-module powered by Freescale i.MX28 featuring a small 128×32 OLED display, and lots of GPIOs. Here are the specs of CFA-10036 SoM: Processor – Freescale i.MX283 @ 454MHz (Optionally i.MX287) System Memory – 128 MB DDR2 (Optionally 256MB) Storage – microSD socket (Up to 64GB) Interfaces: 2x CAN interfaces 4x synchronous serial ports 10/100-Mbps 802.3 Ethernet MAC USB 2.0 OTG (connected to microUSB AB on CFA-10036. Used for development purpose) USB 2.0 host controller and PHY 5x UART plus one dedicated debug UART 2x I2C (OLED shares one of these) LCD, touch screen, keypad, and rotary encoder support RTC with 32KHz crystal (requires continuous power) 4x 32-bit timers 8x PWM 5x 12-bit 428KS/s ADC channels 1x 12 bit 2MS/s ADC channel 91 GPIO […]

January 11, 2013January 13, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Audi Piloted Parking – How to Park Your Car Automatically with Your Smartphone

Audi is currently showcasing an autopilot car at CES 2013, and more specifically “Audi Piloted Parking” which allows you to get out of the car before your enter the parking, run an app on your smartphone, and tap somewhere to let the car park itself, as you go shopping or attend a meeting. Once you’re done with your business, walk by the street, run the same app, and call your car back, sit on the driver seat and drive home. The car is said to use 12 ultrasound sensors to navigate and avoid obstacles, and it can park itself using those sensors, as well as sensors in the garage & road, and information provided by the parking computer(s) to let it know where a parking space is available. The car is able to make turns on its own and knows how to maneuver around the garage with external laser sensors. […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs

January 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Panasonic Unveils 20″ Tablet With 4K Resolution

For those of you in need of high resolution tablet, Panasonic has unveiled a 20″ tablet powered by an Intel Core i5 processor running Windows 8 Pro with 3840 x 2560 resolution. This tablet is mainly targeted at professionals, and Panasonic has demos for 3 use cases at CES 2013: car dealers, designers and architects, and photographers. The specifications of Panasonic tablet are as follows, but may slightly change once the product is officially available: Processor – Intel Corei5 3427U vPro 1.8 Ghz CPU GPU – NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Memory – 4GB memory (16GB max) Storage – 128GB SSD + 1x micro SD card (SDXC) Display – 20-inch IPS-alpha display panel with 3840 x 2560 (230ppi) resolution (15:10 aspect ratio) Connectivity – IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth V4.0 wireless 1x USB 2.0 High resolution digital pen (Anoto live pen) Camera – HD 720p front camera Battery life – Up to 2 hours Dimensions […]

January 10, 2013January 10, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Rockchip Shows Off RK3188 Quad Cortex A9 Processor and Miracast Dongles

There has been some leaks about Rockchip RK3188 processor, and Cube Pea tablet based on this SoC, but no device are available for purchase to date. Rockchip is currently at CES 2013 showcasing their solutions, and they are showcasing RK3188 tablet development platform at the show, but no RK3188 tablet as final products should only start to be available in March. Charbax is at CES 2013 now, and could ask a few questions about Rockchip upcoming SoC. RK3188 is a quad core Cortex A9 processor clocked up to 1.8-2.0 GHz, manufactured using 28nm HKMG process technology. The SoC features a quad-core Mali-400MP GPU, 1080p video decoder & encoder, and they can easily provide 4G/LTE support. RK3188 should be 20 to 30% faster than Nvidia Tegra 3, and have the same performance as Samsung Exynos 4412. Rockchip representative also stress that performance/cost ratio will be better than (Chinese) competitor basing their […]