CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

Eclipsa Audio is an open, royalty-free alternative to Dolby Audio

Samsung announced Eclipsa Audio 3D technology, a royalty-free alternative to Dolby Audio, would be integrated into TVs and Soundbars in its 2025 lineup at CES 2025. The press release explains the 3D audio technology was developed in partnership with Google and that “Eclipsa Audio allows creators to adjust audio data such as the location and intensity of sounds, along with spatial reflections, to create an immersive three-dimensional sound experience”. Like 90% of announcements at CES 2025, Eclipsa Audio appeared to be mostly fluff. I also noticed it was developed through the Alliance for Open Media which manages the now-widely-used AV1 video codec, but a search for Eclipsa did not return anything. Luckily the “Arm Editorial Team” saved the day with an interesting article published a couple of days ago with more information about Eclipsa Audio. So let’s have a look. Eclipsa Audio is a multi-channel audio surround format that leverages […]

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Tomisin Olujinmi - 12 Comments

Tactility “operating system” for the ESP32 microcontroller family supports built-in and external applications

Tactility is an operating system that runs on the ESP32 microcontroller series. Created by Dutch software developer, Ken Van Hoeylandt (also known as ByteWelder), Tactility is a project one year in the making inspired by the Flipper Zero and its application platform. The ESP32 operating system can run built-in apps and helper services from flash storage as well as external applications from an SD card. It leverages the Espressif ELF(Executable and Linkable Format) loader to load ELF files from external storage to the executable memory area. Tactility is built to run on any ESP32-based device with a touchscreen since drivers (display, touch, and SD card) can be implemented for any hardware. ESP32-S3 devices are “the best option” due to their performance and larger memory. The LILYGO T-Deck series is highly recommended for its onboard keyboard and sizable display. Preset configurations are available for the LILYGO T-Deck Plus, LILYGO T-Deck, M5Stack […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 edge AI computer ships with 8GB RAM, Hailo-8 AI module, supports Frigate NVR

Seeed Studio’s reComputer AI R2130-12 is an Edge AI computer with a Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with 8GB RAM and a Hailo-8 module with 26 TOPS of AI performance, suitable for video analytics, machine vision, and intelligent edge computing. The computer comes with a HAT+ with two M.2 sockets, one occupied by the Hailo-8 AI accelerator and the other available for an M.2 NVMe SSD. In some ways, it’s just a nicely packaged Raspberry Pi 5 SBC with Hailo-8 AI accelerator that we reviewed last year. reComputer AI R2130-12 specifications: SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM AI Processor – Hailo-8 M.2 AI accelerator module with 26 TOPS Storage microSD card slot, with support for high-speed SDR104 mode Optional M.2 NVMe SSD via M.2 PCIe 3.0 slot Video Output – 2x micro HDMI ports up to 4Kp60 Camera/Display I/F – 2x 4-lane MIPI camera/display transceivers Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 […]

January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Tanmatsu handheld terminal features ESP32-P4 RISC-V MCU, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, 802.15.4, and LoRa connectivity

Tanmatsu is a handheld terminal device for hackers, makers, and tech enthusiasts based on the 400 MHz ESP32-P4 RISC-V microcontroller, including a QWERTY keyboard, and supporting various connectivity options with WiFi, Bluetooth LE, 802.15.4, and even LoRa in the 433 MHz or 868/915MHz bands. The handheld computer also features a 3.97-inch MIPI DSI display, a built-in speaker and a 3.5mm audio jack, and various expansion connectors such as a Qwiic connector for I2C/I3C modules, and PMOD and SAO expansion connectors. Tanmatsu specifications: Microcontrollers Espressif ESP32-P4 dual-core RISC-V microcontroller @ 400MHz with 32MB of built-in PSRAM WCH CH32V203C8T6 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor @ up to 144 MHz with 20KB SRAM, 64KB flash used for keyboard matrix and power management Storage 16MB flash for firmware MicroSD card slot supporting SD cards at 3.3v and 1.8v voltage levels (SDIO 3) Display – 3.97-inch MIPI DSI display with 800 x 480 resolution, 65,536 colors Audio […]

January 9, 2025January 9, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

SONOFF MINI-D – A Matter-compatible WiFi smart switch with dry contact output for garage doors, boilers, etc…

SONOFF MINI D WiFI Smart Switch Dry Contacts

SONOFF MINI-D, also called SONOFF Mini Dry WiFi Smart Switch, is a Matter-compatible smart switch with dry contact output suitable for controlling devices like garage doors, boilers, air conditioners, and other dry contact input equipment, as well as small DC motors (8W max) such as pumps and solenoid valves. It’s designed to support 12-48V AC or DC inputs, handle low-power DC motors up to 8W, and can be wired as Normally Open (NO) and Normally Closed (NC). Like other SONOFF devices, it’s controlled with the eWelink app, but Matter support means it can integrate with other apps such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, etc… SONOFF MINI-D specifications: Wireless SoC – Espressif ESP32-D0WDR2 (so ESPHome firmware support is likely… eventually) Connectivity – 2.4GHz WiFi Misc LED for network status, pairing mode, and switch type selection Button for ON/OFF, pairing mode, and external switch type selection. Max load 24V DC/2A […]

January 9, 2025January 9, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Raspberry Pi 5 with 16GB RAM launched for $120

Considering the Raspberry Pi CM5 is available with up to 16GB RAM, it should come as no surprise that the Raspberry Pi 5 also got its own 16GB LPDDR4 RAM upgrade. But the extra memory does come at a premium since the new board sells for $120, a $40 markup compared to the Raspberry Pi 5 with 8GB RAM. The extra memory should bring the user experience closer to a desktop machine for browsing the web with multiple tabs, checking emails, watching YouTube videos, and more all at the same time. Besides multitasking, the 16GB RAM may also be beneficial when running generative AI workloads like LLMs and VLMs which are known to be memory-hungry. Raspberry Pi 5 16GB specifications: SoC – Broadcom BCM2712 “D0” stepping CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A76 processor @ 2.4 GHz with crypto extensions, 512KB per-core L2 caches, 2MB shared L3 cache GPU – VideoCore VII […]

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

January 9, 2025 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Pilet is a Raspberry Pi 5-powered modular, portable computer with 5-inch or 7-inch display, optional built-in keyboard (Crowdfunding)

Pilet is a modular, open-source hardware, portable computer designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 SBC, and equipped with a choice of displays, keyboards, and an optional battery module that can last for up to 7 hours. Two models are available: the Pilet 5 with a 5-inch display, an integrated keyboard, a trackball, a scroll wheel, a navigational switch (D-Pad), and game buttons, and the Pilet 7 with a larger 7-inch display and support for detachable modules such as a keyboard, gamepad, or deck. Pilet specifications: Supported SBC – Raspberry Pi 5 Storage – MicroSD card, NVMe SSD via module Display Pilet 5 – 5-inch IPS MIPI DSI display with 1280×800 resolution, capacitive touch screen. Pilet 7 – 7-inch IPS MIPI DSI display with 1280×800 resolution, capacitive touch screen. Video Output- 2x micro HDMI ports Networking Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port 802.11ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 Optional LTE cellular via module […]

January 9, 2025January 10, 2025 by Debashis Das - 20 Comments

Qualcomm QCS6490-based Rubik Pi 3 AI SBC supports Android, Linux, and LU operating systems

Thundercomm has officially launched the Rubik Pi 3 SBC built around the Qualcomm QCS6490 SoC with a 12.5 TOPS AI accelerator. The SBC comes in a “PI-CO ITX” form factor that combines the Pico-ITX standard and the 40-pin GPIO header found on Raspberry Pi SBCs. The SBC comes with a standard set of interfaces, including USB, HDMI out, MIPI-CSI camera support, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and much more. Additionally, the SBC features a 40-pin header for GPIO, UART for debugging, audio output, and RTC battery support. The company mentions that it is the first Pi-based system using Qualcomm’s AI platforms, hence it supports Raspberry Pi HAT/HAT+ expansion boards, making it suitable for various AI, IoT, and edge computing projects. Rubik Pi 3 SBC specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QCS6490 CPU – Octa-core Kryo 670 with 1x Gold Plus core (Cortex-A78) @ 2.7 GHz, 3x Gold cores (Cortex-A78) @ 2.4 GHz, 4x […]