Six months have passed since Android 11 developer preview was released in February and at the time we noted enhancements for foldables and 5G, new call-screening APIs, new media & camera capabilities including animated HEIF support, as well as machine learning improvements. Google has now officially released Android 11 that is currently rolling out to select Google Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Realme phones. More phones will be upgraded/supported in the future, and Google also introduced some Pixel-first features that will (initially?) end up on Pixel phones exclusively. All Android 11 phones will support chat bubbles to message on top of other applications, built-in screen & audio, wireless Android Auto support with compatible cars, one-time permission for increased privacy, and more. But Google may have changed strategy trying to make Pixel phones more attractive to prospective buyers and increase sales as the Android 11 release comes with the following Pixel-exclusive […]
Amlogic S905X3-B SoC Powers Android 9.0 TV Boxes with Dolby Audio License
Amlogic S905X3 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor has been found in various TV boxes and single board computers such as ODROID-C4 for about a year. But I’ve just been informed some new TV models come with Amlogic S905X3-B processor adding a Dolby Audio license. AX95 DB is one of those with the S905X3-B Android 9.0 TV box equipped with 4GB RAM, up to 128GB storage, HDMI 2.1 output up to 4Kp60, as well as Fast Ethernet, and USB 3.0/2.0 ports. AX95 DB specifications: SoC – Amlogic S905X3-B quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0 GHz with Arm Mali-G31MP2 GPU, Dolby audio license System Memory – 4GB DDR3 Storage – 64GB flash (32GB or 128GB optional), MicroSD card slt up to 32GB Video & Audio Output HDMI 2.1 up to 4K @ 60Hz or 8K @ 24Hz 3.5mm AV jack for composite video and stereo audio Optical S/PDIF with Dobly Digital audio support Video […]
$10 System-on-Module Drives Full HD Smart Displays via SigmaStar SSD201 SoC
SigmaStar makes some of the cheapest processors for cameras on the market such as MStar MSC313E SoC. I’ve now been informed about a new low-cost module – IDO-SOM2D01 – based on SigmaStar SSD201 dual-core Cortex-A7 Full HD SoC with 64MB embedded DDR2, 128MB flash, as well as support for Ethernet and WiFi. As far as I understand, there’s no camera input, and instead, the SSD201 processor targets applications leveraging Full HD display for the Smart Home, industrial HMI, and home control systems. Industio IDO-SOM2D01 system-on-module specifications: SoC – SigmaStar SSD201 dual-core Cortex-A7 processor @ 1.2 GHz with 2D GPU, 64MB DDR2 RAM (QFN128 package) Storage – 128MB SPI NAND flash (option up to 2GB) Video Decoder – H.264/H.265 up to 1920×1080 @ 60 fps 96x castellated holes (1.1mm pitch) with Video Output – 4-lane MIPI DSI up to 1080p60 Audio – 1x analog microphone input, 2x DMIC inputs, 1x Line […]
USBImager – A Lightweight Alternative to balenaEtcher
The common way to flash OS images to SD cards used to be “dd”. But you could potentially damage your system with a wrong command, it will not do verification after writing the firmware image, and it was not available in Windows, so people had to use Win32DiskImager, and last time I check it did not do verification either. So Etcher, now called balenaEtcher, became a popular cross-operating systems tool to flash images for Raspberry Pi and other SBCs. It’s easy to use and does verification after flashing. However, the binary is rather large at around 130 MB, and the company started to show sponsors to fund the development of the program, and this was not to the liking of everyone. During my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 laptop, I encountered an issue with balenaEtcher, which was quickly fixed once I updated the program to the latest version. But […]
IBASE Outs Fanless Embedded Systems with AMD Ryzen V1605B, V1202B, R1606G, or R1505G SoC
Taiwan based IBASE Technology has launched the ASB200-918 series fanless embedded systems based on the company’s IB918 AMD Ryzen Embedded SBC which we covered last year, runs Windows or Linux distributions, and supports up to 4K displays. ASB200-918-series rugged computers are powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B/V1202B or R1606G/R1505G processors with 16GB ECC memory, a 64GB SSD, various I/Os including two HDMI 2.0a output for industrial control, factory, kiosks, and other space-constrained applications. ASB200-918 key features and specifications: SBC – IBASE IB918 3.5-inch single board computer with AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000/R1000-series SoC (V1605B, V1202B, R1606G, or R1505G) System Memory – 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM, upgradable to up to 32GB RAM, ECC supported Storage – 64 GB TLC 2.5-inch SSD (default), optional M.2 NVMe SSD Video Output – 2x HDMI 2.0a ports up to 4Kp60 resolution Audio – 3.5mm audio jack for Line-out, Line-in, and MIC-in Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet via […]
CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Education Laptop Review
I started my review of CrowPi2 Raspberry Pi 4 Learning Kit a while ago and at the time I showed content from the kit and its first boot. I’ve now spent more time with this very special Raspberry Pi 4 laptop and will focus this review on the education part, namely CrowPi2 software, but will also look at thermal cooling under stress with and without a fan, and try to install another Raspberry Pi compatible board inside the laptop shell. CrowPi2 Education Software It’s quite important to read the user manual before getting started as there are a few non-intuitive steps you may have to take. First I assume the wireless keyboard would just connect after pressing the power button, but it did not. The user manual explains the RF dongle is inside the mouse, and once you connect it you’ll be able to use the keyboard that has some […]
Arrow Chameleon96 Arm + Cyclone V FPGA Board Sold for $32 (Promo)
First introduced in 2017, Arrow Chameleon96 96Boards SBC comes with an Intel / Altera Cyclone V SE SoC featuring a dual-core Arm Cortex A9 processor clocked at up to 800 MHz and FPGA fabric with 110K Logic Elements. It used to sell for $129, but Arrow & appears to have a promotion now where the Novtech board sells for just $31.34 with free shipping[Update: all available boards are gone, and the product is now out of stock]. It looks like a good opportunity for people interested in playing around with an Arm Linux FPGA platform. Here’s a reminder of Chameleon96 board specifications which the company shamelessly copied from CNX Software: SoC – Intel PSG / Altera Cyclone V SE 5CSEBA6U19I7N with a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor @ up to 800 MHz and FPGA fabric with 110K Logic Elements Chips, Ports, and Features connected to FPGA: Integrated USB-Blaster II JTAG […]
PicoRio Linux RISC-V SBC is an Open Source Alternative to Raspberry Pi Board
There’s a lot of interest/hype around RISC-V, and low-cost boards such as Longan Nano or Maixduino are already available, but those are based on microcontroller-class chips, even though it’s possible to run Linux on Kendryte K210 RISC-V board, it comes without MMU, so it’s not for everyone. Linux capable RISC-V boards do exist but cost several hundred dollars or more with the likes of HiFive Unleashed and PolarFire SoC Icicle development kit. If only there was a RISC-V board similar to the Raspberry Pi board and with a similar price point… The good news is that the RISC-V International Open Source (RIOS) Laboratory is collaborating with Imagination technologies to bring PicoRio RISC-V SBC to market at a price point similar to Raspberry Pi. The PicoRio board was presented at the RISC-V Global Forum on September 3rd. I could not find the full presentation slides yet, but there are some screenshots […]