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Beelink EQ13 is an Intel N200 or N100 mini PC with an integrated power supply

Beelink EQ13 is yet another Alder Lake-N mini PC, but it is offered with either the Intel Processor N100 or the less common Processor N200 CPU and integrates a power supply making it more portable as the user just needs to carry a power cord in his/her bag besides the device itself. The Beelink EQ13 ships with 16GB DDR5 and a 500GB NVMe SSD. It’s an evolution of the earlier N100-based Beelink EQ12 but with a different port arrangement and slightly larger design due to the internal power supply. It still comes with two Ethernet ports, dual HDMI 2.0, an audio jack, three USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and a USB-C port with DisplayPort Alt mode. An extra USB 2.0 port has been added to the rear panel. Beelink EQ13 specifications (with highlights in bold and strikethrough showing differences against the Beelink EQ12) Alder Lake-N SoC (one or the other) Intel […]

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PicoQuake USB vibration sensor is based on the RP2040 MCU and the ICM-42688-P vibration sensor

The PicoQuake is a USB vibration sensor with a MEMS accelerometer covering a wide range of vibrations. It is capable of capturing vibrations in the low-frequency range (tall buildings, bridges) to the high-frequency range (motors, industrial machinery). It can operate as a standalone device and connect to a computer via a USB cable. Furthermore, it is based on the Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller and uses a low-noise MEMS inertial measurement unit, the TDK InvenSense ICM-42688-P, which combines a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer. The low-noise IMU sensor used enables the PicoQuake to profile vibrations of very low magnitude. The PicoQuake sensor is a product from Slovenian maker, PLab, just like the FOCn driver module we took a look at recently. Potential use cases for the PicoQuake include optimizing brushless DC motor vibrations (important in small mobility products such as electric bikes and scooters), tracking trackpad clicks, smart home automation, […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
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Celebrate the 4th Anniversary of Godeal24. Office 2021 Pro key is only $17.25/PC! (Sponsored)

Godeal24 has been selling Microsoft software license keys for over four years. Godeal24 is celebrating the milestone with a special sale, allowing you to buy Microsoft keys at discounted prices through the Godeal24 Fourth Anniversary Sale. Let’s take a look at the biggest offers on Microsoft keys. MS Office 2021 Pro key starts from $17.25 per PC! A historically low-priced software key that is available today! Microsoft Office 2021 Professional Plus is a lifetime license with instant delivery and download. It allows you to utilize Microsoft’s most popular apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and more. If you just want to buy one key for a single PC, then you only need to pay $27.25 to get a lifetime Office 2021 Pro key! Group purchases made together with family or friends unlock the most cost-effective offers! Godeal24 also sells Office 2019 Pro for $19.99 and Windows 11 Pro for $13.25. […]

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GEEKOM A8 Review – Part 2: An AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

In the first part of the review, we’ve already gone through a teardown and an unboxing of the GEEKOM A8 AI mini PC powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor with AMD Radeon 780M Graphics, 32GB RAM (upgradeable up to 64GB) and a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD. We’ve now had more time to play with the GEEKOM A8, so we will report our experience with the Windows 11 Pro operating system in the second part of the review testing features, running benchmarks, evaluating networking and storage performance, testing the thermal design, and taking measurements for fan noise and power consumption. Software overview and features testing The System->About window in the Settings confirms we have an A8 Mini PC powered by a 4.0 GHz (base frequency) AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor with Radeon 780M Graphics and 32GB of RAM running Windows 11 Pro 23H2 build 22631.3593. HWiNFO64 provides more details […]

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DFM8001 indoor energy harvesting kit harnesses solar energy (and mechanical, thermal, RF energy with extra hardware)

DFRobot DFM8001 indoor ambient energy harvesting kit can power IoT devices by harnessing solar energy, and the company claims it can also capture mechanical, thermal, and RF energy from the local environment but there’s no way to do that with that kit without additional hardware. The DFRobot kit is comprised of an evaluation board with the company DFM8001 energy harvesting module, two pluggable supercapacitors, and a solar panel used as power input. You could also use other sources emitting at least 150 mV gathering energy from RF, thermal, or mechanical sources. The board features two outputs one low-voltage (1.2-1.8V) terminal up to 20mA, and a high-voltage (1.8V-4.1V) terminal up to 80mA, and two battery connectors plus a few jumpers for configuration. DFM8001 energy harvesting kit specifications: Operating voltage – 3.3V to 5.5V DC Cold start condition – Input > 400mV 15uW Sustaining voltage after cold start – 150mV. Input voltage […]

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GCT GDM7243SL is a dual-core RISC-V 5G/4G LTE modem with support for NTN, NB-IoT, LTE Cat M, Cat1bis, Cat1 and/or Cat4

CT Semiconductor Holding GDM7243SL is a multi-mode 5G/4G LTE IoT modem with two 400 MHz RISC-V cores capable of operating in Cat 4, Cat 1bis, Cat M1, Cat NB1/NB2 (NB-IoT) and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in order to work anywhere on earth. If I remember correctly, one of the first commercial RISC-V SoCs I saw was a storage controller from Western Digital introduced in 2019. But since then, we’ve seen more and more RISC-V chips come to market from entry-level microcontrollers up to Linux-capable application processors, and even chips for datacenters that are out of the scope of topics covered on CNX Software. But with GDM7243SL, I think it’s the first time I’ve encountered a RISC-V modem, so let’s have a closer look. There are two models, the GDM7243SL1 and GDM7243SL2, with different memory and storage options, and the L1 lacks support for LTE Cat 4. GDM7243SL key features: CPU 400 […]

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
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SBC software news – Armbian 24.5.1, DietPi 9.4, and Otii server for the Raspberry Pi 4/5

There’s been some notable software news for single board computers (SBCs) in the last few weeks with the release of Armbian 24.5.1 Havier with a focus on stability and UX improvement, the release of DietPi 9.4 lightweight Debian distritions for SBCs, and Otii server, the software for Qoitech Arc power supply, meter, and DAQ, has been finally released for the Raspberry Pi 4/5. Armbian 24.5.1 Havier Armbian announced 24.5.1 Havier on May 25 with bug fixes and improvements as a point release, but also some new boards. Here are some of the highlights. New boards Orange Pi 5 Pro FriendlyElec CM3588 NAS board Radxa ROCK 5 ITX Radxa Zero 3E/3W Avaota A1 SBC SK-AM68 board tqma8mpxl board CSC Hinlink H6xk boards RK3588-based Cool Pi CM5 EVB Improve Khadas support Resolve Rockchip patch maintenance nightmare Add functionality to freeze git resources Improve support for Radxa Rock S 0 and test USB […]

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Mekotronics R57 – A Rockchip RK3576 Edge AI fanless mini PC with HDMI input/output, dual GbE, RS232, RS485, DIO…

Mekotronics R57 is a fanless edge AI mini PC powered by a Rockchip RK3576 octa-core Cortex-A72/A53 SoC with a 6 TOPS NPU, 4GB LPDDR5, a 32GB eMMC flash, and features such as RS485 and dual gigabit Ethernet that makes it suitable for industrial automation. I initially thought it was a cost-down version of the Mekotronics R58 mini PC that I reviewed with Android 12 as my first ever Rockchip RK3588 device. But while the mechanical design is similar and some of the ports are in the same position, there are some changes with the new model equipped with only one HDMI output, one HDMI input, two GbE jacks, and a terminal block with RS232, RS485, and digital inputs and outputs. Mekotronics R57 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3576 CPU 4x Cortex-A72 cores @ 2.2GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores @ 1.8GHz Arm Cortex-M0 MCU at 400MHz GPU – ARM Mali-G52 MC3 GPU with […]

Khadas VIM4 SBC