CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Making-of Video for the MinnowBoard

A second, and last, fun video for today. After uploading a making of video for the Beaglebone Black, CircuitCo has done it again, but this time with the MinnowBoard, an Intel Atom embedded board, and uploaded a video showing how the board is manufactured in their factory in Dallas, Texas. The main steps are very similar to the one performed by the Beaglebone Black, but they apparently skipped a few steps in the video: A machine applies solder paste to the PCB, and inspects the solder paste. Two SMT machine mount up to 33,400 chips per hour. The Intel Atom processor is placed on the board by another machine Reflow soldering for SMT components Optical inspection via an automatic optical inspection (AOI) machine (Model AV 862) Functional testing Packing

August 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

KVM on 64-Bit ARM with AppliedMicro X-Gene Developement Platform

Applied Micro announced X-Gene 64-Bit ARMv8 Server-on-Chip at ARM Techcon 2011, and later in 2012, they showcased Apache2 on an FPGA implementation of the chip. More recently, they showcased KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) on their X-C1 hardware platform with an actual X-Gene SoC at Linaro Connect Europe 2013, and Linaro has just uploaded the video of the demo. The development board features 8 ARMv8 64-bit processors, PCI network, up to 6 SATA drives (but only one used in the demo), and they also have hardware fitted into a 1U rack. The demo below runs 4 SMP Linux virtual machines (with 2 VCPUs), including 2 ARMv7 32-bit, and 2 ARMv8 64-bit guests, running web servers concurrently on each VM using VirtIO-based network virtualization.

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

$200 Direct Insight Triton-TXEK EvalKit for iMX6 Features Freescale i.MX 6Quad Processor

With Wandboard Quad, SABRE Lite, Nitrogen6X, and UDOO, we already have some choices when it comes to low cost Freescale i.MX 6Quad development platforms. Direct Insight, a British company, has developed another called TRITON-TXEK EvalKit for iMX6 that includes the company’s Triton-TX6Q SoM, for 130 GBP (about $200). TRITON-TXEK for iMX6 Specifications: Specifications listed for the Triton-TXEK evaluation kit include: SoC – Freescale i.MX 6Quad quad core Cortex-A9 @ 1GHz with Vivante GC2000 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 128MB NAND flash + SD card slot Display – TFT panel via 40-pin LCD flat cable header Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet USB – USB 2.0 host + mini USB 2.0 host/device Serial – RS232on D-Sub connector Audio – 3.5mm headphone jack Power Supply – 5V Dimensions – Module: 68mm × 31mm, Baseboard: Who knows… Operating temperature – -20 to 70°C Since the only easily accessible display option is the […]

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

SparqEE CELLv1.0 Devkit Adds a SIM Card to Your Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or Other Hardware

There are several ways to add wireless connectivity to your sensors, relays, motors, or other devices. Bluetooth, Zigbee and Wi-Fi can all do a good job for short ranges, and the Weigthless standard will eventually provide ranges up to 10km with ultra low power on free spectrum, but it is not available right now, and a good way to achieve longer ranges is to use cellular networks. SparqEE has designed a development kit called CELLv1.0 to add GSM and 3G connectivity to the Internet of things, including (optional) shields for Arduino and Raspberry Pi boards. Here are some technical specifications for the kit: Cellular Networks – WCDMA/HSDPA 2100/1900/900MHz, GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 384Kbps, DL3.6Mbps HSDPA via ZTE modem Protocols – Data (TCP/UDP), SMS ready Serial interface – Serial (UART, From Cellular Board is 1.8V, From Jumper board is any voltage (ex. 3.3V, 5V)) USB – (power, USART, and modem) Input Voltage – […]

August 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Rockchip RK3066 Android 4.2.2 HDMI TV Stick SDK Leaked

About 10 days ago, Android 4.2.2 SDK for MK908 (RK3188) HDMI TV Stick was leaked, and now, I’m reporting another leak, this time for the Android 4.2.2 SDK for the Android TV Boxes based on the older Rockchip RK3066 dual core processor. The files were first found on an FTP server, but one of Freaktab members uploaded a compressed image of all files, RK3066_R-BOX.7z (3.2GB) to MEGA.co.nz. The content of the SDK directory comes with a bit of documentation, AVC and VP8 encoding and decoding demos, and the SDK itself as a 3.2GB tar. I’ve haven’t download the file yet. If you switch to the parent directory, you’ll find more documentation such as several datasheets and RK3066 technical reference manual, hardware files (Schematics, PCB layout, BoM), and some manufacturing files. If you go up to the parent directory, you’ll also find an A20 directory with AllWinner A20 Android SDK (homlet […]

August 20, 2013May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

$48 Ninss Tech BBA22 Android STB Powered by AllWinner A20

Ninss Tech BBA22 is an ultra cheap AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 Android 4.2 media player with 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash, Wi-Fi and Ethernet. It lacks SATA, but if you don’t absolutely need this particular feature, it’s amazingly about 30 to 40 USD cheaper that competing products such as Jesurun A19 or Mele M5. Here’s an attempt at the specifications: SoC – AllWinner A20 dual core Cortex A7 @ 1.2GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 (256*8*4) Storage – 4GB NAND Flash (Optionally: 8 or 16 GB) + micro SD card slot Video output – HDMI, CVBS Audio output – HDMI, CVBS, and optical S/PDIF Connectivity – WI-FI 802.11 b/g/n (USB RTL8188) + 10/100M Ethernet USB – 3x USB 2.0 Host + 1x micro USB OTG Misc – IR Sensor, reset button, function key (for USB), power and status LEDs Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 148mm […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025

August 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Ostec Wi-Fi Telescopes, Wi-Fi and USB Portable Microscopes for iOS, Android, and PCs

Ostec Electro-Optical Science and Technology, is a company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, with a factory based in Guangzhou, that manufactures optical devices such as telescopes, microphones, endoscopes, and scanners that connects to your computer, or tablet via USB or Wi-Fi. Charbax of armdevices.net interviewed the company in April at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, and uploaded the video (see bottom of post) very recently. Let’s have a closer at some of the products. KoPa WiFi Telescope (Model TW501) The first device is TW501 Wi-Fi telescope that comes with a tablet holder, and allows you to visualize the picture directly on your smartphone, tablet, or other Wi-Fi capable device either via specific Apps or via the web browser. It apparently not suited for astronomy, but can be used for bird watching, building surveillance, hiking, and any application where you may need to take close-up pictures or videos. Wi-Fi Telescope Specifications: Sensor […]

August 20, 2013 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

CheapCast ChromeCast Emulator For Android Source Code Released

CheapCast is an Android app that lets you emulate ChromeCast hardware on any Android 4.x devices such as smartphone, tablet, and mini PCs. I’ve tried CheapCast last week unsuccessfully on several hardware, but a recent update fixed that and I could use Tronsmart T428 to stream videos from YouTube with the Cast button just like you would do with a real ChromeCast. There’s more work to be done however, and the only application that currently work are YouTube and Google Music, which is nice, but more work is needed to bring CheapCast functionalities closer to what’s possible with ChromeCast. That’s why Sebastian Mauer, CheapCast developer, has decided to release the source code under Apache License Version 2.0. You can get the source code from Cheapcast repo on github:

git clone https://github.com/mauimauer/cheapcast.git

1	git clone https://github.com/mauimauer/cheapcast.git

Finally import it into Android Studio or Eclipse, and start hacking and contribute back to the project.