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Rockchip Light Biz OS Improves Android’s Desktop Experience

Android is great for consuming content, but if you’ve ever tried to use it to create content, it can be an hassle, as copy / paste is hard to use, shortcuts aren’t available, and overall the operating system and apps are not designed to work well with a mouse and keyboard. Remix OS is one of the solutions, and Rockchip has been working on improving Android as a desktop replacement for while, starting with multi-window support, and recently they showcased “Light Work OS“. But yesterday Charbax, of ARMDevices.net, uploaded two new videos showing Rockchip Light Biz OS in action, probably renamed from Light Work OS shown a few months ago. The first video is the “official” Light Biz OS video released by Rockchip, which shows the main features including: Based on Android 5.1 with CTS certification Light Biz OS features can be enabled/disabled in Android settings using the Multi-window option […]

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ChromeCast 2.0 and ChromeCast Audio Announced for $35

Google released the original ChromeCast in 2013. The $35 device allows users to stream online video from your smartphone to your big TV, and since then Google and the community has brought various improvement to make more with the device, and thousands of apps can be installed in the little device. Google has now released a new ChromeCast, as well as ChromeCast Audio to stream audio to speakers. The hardware has been upgraded but the complete specifications are not available, but we do know ChromeCast 2.0 support 802.11 b/g/n and 802.11ac for higher quality 1080p video streaming, and Marvell tweeted about the new ChromeCast devices, so it’s likely another Marvell SoC has been used, maybe Armada 1500 Plus (88DE3108) [Update: ChromeCast 2.0 is based on Armada 1500 Mini Plus (88DE3006) dual core Cortex A7 processor] The new ChromeCast still works with iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets, Mac and Windows […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Numato Opsis is an Open Source Hardware FPGA Board with 6 Video Inputs and Outputs (Crowdfunding)

Numato Lab is a Bangalore based company specializing in MCU and FPGA boards such as the low cost Mimas V2 Spartan 6 board, and their latest board is also based on a Spartan 6 FPGA, but a more powerful part with LX45T FPGA, and targets video applications with two HDMI inputs, two HDMI outputs, one DisplayPort output, and one DisplayPort input, among other interfaces. Instead of simply listing specifications of Numato Opsis, I’ll reproduce a table – drawn by Numato – showing Opsis features and specifications against some other FPGA video platforms. Opsis miniSpartan6+ Mixxeo Atlys Nexys Anvyl CVK 2.0 AVDB Make Numato ScarabHardware M‑Labs Digilent Digilent Digilent TED OmniTek License Open Open Open Closed Closed Closed Closed Closed Cost USD $349 USD $105 no stock USD $419 USD $499 USD $539 USD $2,995 USD $999 FPGA Fab Xilinx Xilinx Xilinx Xilinx Xilinx Xilinx Xilinx Altera Family Spartan‑6 Spartan‑6 Spartan‑6 Spartan‑6 Artix‑7 Spartan‑6 Spartan‑6 Cyclone V Part LX45T […]

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Connect an Android Smartphone or Tablet to a Monitor, USB Keyboard and Mouse Easily with a DisplayLink Docking Station

Following my post featuring Zenfone 2 Deluxe Special Edition smartphone with 256GB internal storage and 4GB RAM, I had an interesting discussion about mobile and desktop convergence, and we had different views on how this may pan out and what the consumers want, but we all basically agreed this was still work in progress. Another reader pointed me to his various attempts to conveniently connect his Android smartphone and tablet to a large monitor together with keyboard and mouse. He basically considered – and in most cases tested – four choices: Wireless Display solution (Miracast, Chromecast, EZcast…) together with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse Micro USB port with MHL using a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse Slimport adapter based on MHL but with USB port for keyboard and mouse. Here’s on example of Slimport to HDMI adapter ($10). Displaylink docking station with HDMI and VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 Wireless display […]

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Rockchip’s Light Work OS Makes Android Look Like Windows

Android is not exactly great to use as a desktop PC, so there’s been various attempts to improve this for Android boxes, tablets, and laptops for example with Remix OS, bringing a more desktop-like user experience. Rockchip showcased multi-window supports in some tablets a while ago, and now they have “Light Work OS”,  an operating system based on Android 5.1 that feature a start menu and multiple windows support. PiPo even decided to use a background image with Windows logo in their PiPo X9 tablet powered by Rockchip RK3288. The problem with Android used as a mini PC goes much further than the lack start menu or window mode, but copy/paste can be a pain, and things you take for granted on desktop, simply may not be available in Android apps: some graphics elements may not be clickable, some website features may not work properly (I’m thinking WordPress editing here..), […]

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AMD to Launch ARM Cortex A57 “Amur” Mobile SoCs in 2015, ARM “K12” Mobile SoCs in 2016

AMD started using ARM Cortex A5 to add TrustZone security to their x86 processor, they followed with their ARM based Opteron A1100 processor for server last year, recently they announced Hierofalcon embedded processors powered by up to eight Cortex A57 processor, and starting this year and beyond, the company will launch “ultra-low power’ mobile SoCs  using ARM cores, at least according to a leaked roadmap. Two ARM families are planned: “Amur” APU planned for 2015 with: Up to 4 ARM Cortex A57 cores GCN Graphics Compute Units AMD Secure Processor (Trustzone?) ~2W TDP 20nm process, FT4 BGA package “Styx” APU planned for 2016 with: Up to two “K12” CPU cores. These should be high performance custom-designed ARM cores. Next-gen GCN Graphics Compute Units Full HSA 1.0 support (Heterogeneous System Architecture) AMD Secure Processor ~2W TDP 14 nm process, FT4 BGA package With this kind of thermal dissipation, AMD Android and […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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iPazzPort KP-810-35BTT Backlit Keyboard Features a Switchable Touchpad / Numpad Zone

I’ve read many people praise Logitech K400 Bluetooth keyboard for use with Android mini PCs, as it’s functional and costs just $25 on Amazon. I’ve just come across another similar keyboard with iPazzPort KP-810-35BTT that adds backlit keys and the touchpad zone can be switched to numpad by the touch of a button. Key features listed for the keyboard: Backlit QWERTY keyboard with touchpad supporting multi-touch and scrolling bar. Connectivity – Bluetooth 3.0; max distance: 10m Power Supply – 3x AAA Batteries Dimensions –  314 x 112.5 x 17mm Weight – 218g Material – ABS It’s a standard Bluetooh HID keyboard so it should work with any OS including Windows, Linux, Android, Mac OS, iOS… One possible downside is the lack of left / right mouse buttons. I have such touchpad without separate physical mouse buttons on Acer Aspire E5 laptop, and while a left click is easy to do, […]

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This Multi-function Capacitive Stylus Includes a USB Flash Drive

If you have fat fingers, or somehow capacitive touchs creens don’t work that well with your fingers, or you simply need more accuracy, you may have purchased one of those cheap capacitive stylus, many of which come with a real ball-point pen and/or a flash light. However, I’ve just noticed GeekBuying listed a few USB multi-functional 6-in-1 touch pens with 4 to 32GB internal flash with prices ranging from 8 to 19 dollars. Based on the picture above, you can open the stylus to take out a USB flash drive that you can insert into your computer, laptop or mobile’s micro USB OTG port via an OTG adapter. Specifications include: Use with touchscreen of smartphone or tablet PC Ball-point pen Files storage (USB flash drive) Money inspection (ultra-violet light) Pointer (red laser) Mini flash-light Dimensions – 143 x 12 mm Weight – 25 grams I find the USB drive-in-a-pen idea […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs