Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on $59 HiFive1 Arduino Compatible Board is Powered by Sifive Open Source RISC-V MCU (Crowdfunding)

$59 HiFive1 Arduino Compatible Board is Powered by Sifive Open Source RISC-V MCU (Crowdfunding)

Royalty-free RISC-V instruction sets has been getting in the news in the last few years with various MMU designs from companies or projects like lowRISC, PULPino, and SiFive, and recently there are been rumors that Samsung may use RISC-V in their future IoT SoCs. Many projects are still in progress, and while you can get involved in OnChip Open-V MCU crowdfunding campaign to their get the MCU or a development board, the cost for the MCU ($49) and development board ($99) is a little on the high side, and delivery is expected in 2018 for most rewards. SiFive appears to have a more interesting open source RISC-V solution with HiFive1 Arduino compatible board going for $59 and slated to ship between December 2016 and February 2017. HiFive1 development board specifications: MCU – SiFive Freedom E310 (FE310) 32-bit RV32IMAC processor @ up to 320+ MHz (1.61 DMIPS/MHz) Storage – 128 Mbit […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 17 Comments on LeMaker HiKey 96Boards Board Sells for $29.70 (Promo)

LeMaker HiKey 96Boards Board Sells for $29.70 (Promo)

[Update: The promo is over back!] You’d think Cyber Monday should be over by now, but ITEAD Studio still has a clearance with real 70% discount, as 96Boards hardware compliant LeMaker Hikey board is now sold for just $29.70 instead of the usual $99 price. A quick reminder of the specifications: SoC – HiSilicon Kirin 620 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-450MP4 GPU System Memory – 2 GB LPDDR3 @ 800 MHz Storage – 8GB eMMC + micro SD slot Video Output / Display – HDMI up to 1080p, MIPI-DSI interface Connectivity – 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 LE (WL1835MOD module) USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports, 1x micro USB OTG Camera – MIPI CSI interface Debugging – UART header), unpopulated 10-pin JTAG header (back) Expansion headers 40-pin LS (Low Speed) Expansion connector – UART, I2C, 12x GPIOs, SPI, PCM, PWM, SYS_DCIN, 1.8V, 5V, […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments on Grid-EYE Breakout Board is a $49 Low Resolution Thermal Camera Module

Grid-EYE Breakout Board is a $49 Low Resolution Thermal Camera Module

Thermal cameras can be really expensive pieces of equipment, and even the cheap 60×60 thermal cameras available on Aliexpress costs a little over $200. However, PURE Engineering has made an breakout board with Panasonic Grid-EYE infrared 8×8 array sensor that allows you to experiment with the technology, or integrate into your own projects for just $49. Grid-EYE breakout board features: Panasonic Grid-EYE AMG8834 64 pixel infrared / thermal camera sensor with 60 degree viewing angle using MEMS thermopile technology Pinout compatible with Arduino Zero,  ST-NUCLEO board, and other 3.3V boards with I2C, VDD, GND, INT, and AD pins PUREModules PCB edge connectors with UART, GPIO, to interface with the company’s IoT board Power Supply – On-board regulator handles 3 to 5V input The Panasonic sensor transfers thermal presence, direction, and temperature values over I2C. The company wrote a demo for the module with an Arduino sketech and a Processing sketch […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Canon 4K600STZ 4K UHD Laser Projector Delivers up to 6,000 Lumens

Canon 4K600STZ 4K UHD Laser Projector Delivers up to 6,000 Lumens

At the beginning of the year, I wrote about Texas Instruments’ DLP technology for affordable 4K projectors, and the company’s DLP 0.67″ digital micromirror device (DMD) was expected to be found in 4K projector in the second half of 2016. So I went on Amazon, and I could find lots of “4K UHD projectors” with prices starting at $599, but if we look into details we may find some of those are “4K projector” with a 1280×800 resolution… And many of the ones selling in the $2,000+ range don’t list their native resolution with many able to handle 4K input, but actually projecting at 1920×1080 as can be seen in the table below. The most honest companies promote those models as “projectors with 4K Enhancement”, but if you want a true 4K projector, the cheapest option is probably Sony VPL-VW350ES that goes for close to $10,000 on Amazon. CNET has […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Theobroma Announces Rockchip RK3368 and RK3399 Qseven System-on-Modules

Theobroma Announces Rockchip RK3368 and RK3399 Qseven System-on-Modules

Theobroma Systems, an embedded system company based in Austria, has designed several Allwinner systems-on-module compliant with μQseven & Qseven standards in the past. The company has now started to work with Rockchip and reached “an advanced design stage” for the development of μQseven and QSeven systems-on-module powered by RK3368 and RK3399 processors. RK3368-uQ7 module specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3368 octa-Core ARM Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.2GHz with Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6110 GPU System Memory – up to 4GB DDR3-1600 SDRAM on-module (512MB, 1GB, 2GB (default) and 4GB configuration available) Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash on-module (8GB default), 16 Mbit to 128 Mbit SPI NOR flash on-module Video Capabilities –  H.264 decoding up to 2160p30, H.265 decoding up to 2160p60, video encoding up to 1080p30 Connectivity – GbE PHY on-module CAN – On-module communication offload controller for CAN 230-pin MXM edge connector with: 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet USB – 1x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 60 Comments on How to Play Netflix HD on any Android Device with Widevine Level 1 DRM

How to Play Netflix HD on any Android Device with Widevine Level 1 DRM

A while ago I wrote an article entitled “Why Doesn’t your Android TV Box Play Full HD or 4K Videos in Netflix?” basically explaining that most TV boxes running Android could only play SD quality, because HD and higher quality requires both Widevine Level 1 DRM, and Netflix certification, and the second part is the most difficult since Netflix need to spend time testing a given product, and may not agree to do so for smaller manufacturers. The end result is that only a small subset of devices can play Netflix HD. Samsung Tab S2 is one of the device with Widevine Level 1, but is not certified by Netflix, and by default can only play SD quality. But XDA Forum user chenxiaolong apparently found a workaround and as the photo above shows is now able to reach HD resolutions (e.g. 1920×1080) with Netflix using his tablet. After analyzing packets […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments on Getting Started with Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp – Part 2: Serial Console, GCC SDK, Flashing & Debugging Code

Getting Started with Pine64 PADI IoT Stamp – Part 2: Serial Console, GCC SDK, Flashing & Debugging Code

PADI IoT Stamp module powered by Realtek RTL8710AF ARM Cortex M3 WiFi SoC is a potential competitor to Espressif ESP8266 modules.  Pine64, the manufacturer of the module, sent me their kit with a $2 IoT stamp, a breakout board, a USB to TTL debug board and a J-Link debug board. In the first part of the review I’ve shown the hardware and how to assemble PADI IoT stamp kit. In the second part I’m going to write a tutorial / getting start guide showing how to control the board with AT commands, build the firmware with GCC SDK, and finally demonstrate how to flash and debug the firmware with the J-Link debugger. The Quick Start Guide indicates you need to connect the USB to TTL debug board to UART2 instead of UART1 as I did on the very similar B&T RTL-00 RTL8710AF module, and set connection settings to 38400 8N1. […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Intel Apollo Lake Compute Sticks Coming in Q2 2017

Intel Apollo Lake Compute Sticks Coming in Q2 2017

Apollo Lake processors have been announced in mini PCs, laptops, development boards, systems-on-module, as well as in Intel’s own NUCs. A new leaked roadmap has now revealed that Intel plans to two Apollo Lake “Michigan City” compute sticks sometimes around Q2 2017. There will be two yet-to-be-named models: Windows OS – 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC flash No OS – 4GB RAM, 64 GB eMMC flash Both devices will come with 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI port with CEC support, as well as a 1- year warranty. That’s all we know from the leaked roadmap. Price should probably be only slightly higher than to the one of Atom Cherry Trail HDMI TV sticks, considering UP2 Board is selling for 89 Euros (Celeron N3350 dual core version) and 169 Euros (Pentium N4200 quad core version) , and […]

Boardcon CM3588 Rockchip RK3588 System-on-Module designed for AI and IoT applications