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Grain Media 8136S / 8138S are Low Cost HD IP Camera SoCs

A few times, my readers told me they really like comments on this blog, and they liked to check recent comments on the left sidebar, and some even subscribed to the Comments RSS Feed, although it might quite busy at times, especially during giveaways. Recently, an interesting conversation started in the comments section about low cost IP camera chips by Grain Media 8136S and 8138S SoCs respectively supporting 720p and 1080p video recording, and cheap enough to make a sub-$10 IP camera board (BoM cost). Beside the maximum resolution supported, GM8136S and GM8138S are mostly similar except the later also supports Gigabit Ethernet against Fast Ethernet for the lower end version, different clock speeds, and some other (minor?) differences. There’s also GM8135S with 512 Mbit RAM (SiP) against 1Gbit RAM (SiP) for GM8136S, and GM8138 including a DDR controller for external memory, while GM8138S including 1Gbit RAM (SiP). Grain Media […]

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Freescale Introduces a Coin-sized Single Chip Module (SCM) Based on Freescale i.MX 6Dual

As the Freescale Technology Forum 2015 is taking place in Austin, Texas, the company will announce a few new products over the 4-day conference. After the official launch of Freescale i.MX 7 series processors, Freescale unveiled a new product based on their existing i.MX6 platform with “i.MX 6Dual SCM” (Single Chip Module) that integrate a dual core i.MX 6Dual processor with 1 or 2 GB LPDDR2 (PoP), a 16MB NOR flash and a PMIC in a tiny, coin-sized module. Key feature of SCM-i.MX6D module: Freescale i.MX 6Dual application processor with two ARM Cortex A9 core @ 800 MHz and Vivante GPUs (2D/3D) System Memory – 1 or 2 GB LPDDR2 (PoP configuration) Storage – 16 MB SPI NOR (Micron N25Q128A13) Power Supply – Freescale PMIC PF0100 Dimensions – 17mm x 14mm x 1.7mm There are also 109 discrete components on the module. BSPs for Linux and Android will be provided. […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Freescale Launches i.MX 7 Series Cortex A7 + Cortex M4 Processors for IoT Applications

Freescale announced plans for i.MX 7 and i.MX 8 processors in 2013, but it’s only in the last few months there have been some patchsets submitted to the ARM Linux Kernel mailing list, and so far all documentation was only available to companies and developers under NDA. Now the company has officially launched i.MX 7 series, and although all documents are not available yet, Freescale has released a factsheet providing an overview about the processors. Freescale i.MX 7 series processors targets applications such as wearables, e-readers, secure point-of-sale equipment, smart home controls, industrial automation products and other IoT solutions. Two processors are currently available: the single core i.MX 7Solo processor, and the dual core i.MX 7Dual processor. Both basically share the same specifications, but beside the extra Cortex A7 core, i.MX 7Dual also adds on extra USB host port, a PCIe interface, an extra Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 4th […]

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$28 CX939 Android TV Stick is Powered by Rockchip RK3128 Processor

We’ve seen a few low costs devices powered by Rockchip RK3128 quad core processor recently, such as FirePrime development board, or Ruach A20s TV box, but CX939 is an even cheaper device, in HDMI TV stick form factor that currently sells for $28.20 on Aliexpress. Transpeed CX939 TV dongle specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash + micro SD card slot Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi with external antenna, and Bluetooth Video & Audio Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p USB – 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x micro USB OTG port, 1x micro USB port for power Misc – Button (for power?) Power Supply – 5V/2A via micro USB port Dimensions – N/A The device runs Android 4.4.2, and is said to be pre-loaded […]

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Ruach A20s is a $35 Android TV Box Powered by Rockchip RK3128 SoC

Ruach A20 was a media player based on Allwinner A20 processor released about a year ago. Now Ruach Electronics launched an updated model featuring Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with the somewhat confusing name Ruach A20s. Ruach A20s specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3128 quad core ARM Cortex A7 @ 1.2 GHz with ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 500 MHz System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB NAND flash Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Video Output – HDMI 1.4 up to 1080p, composite (RCA) Audio Output – HDMI, stereo audio output (RCA) USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports Misc – IR sensor, power button (mechanical On/Off switch), recovery pin hole Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 11.8 x 7.8 x 3.0 cm The features and ports are just like the older model, so the main difference is really only the Rockchip processor. The model still […]

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IoT Wi-Fi Modules Comparison Table – ESP8266 vs CC3000 vs RN131 vs HDG204

We now have several options to add WiFi to IoT / embedded projects at relatively low cost, and ESP8266 based solutions clearly wins on costs, but are there some advantages to other higher priced modules? To help us find out, Mike Barela has put up a comparison table with some Wi-FI modules based on Espressif ESP8266, Texas Instruments CC3000, Microchip RN131, and H&D Wireless HDG204 processors. Note 1 – Also comes in Arduino Shield size with SD card slot for $39.95 Note 2 & 3 – Adafruit and Sparkfun sell tested units with AT Firmware for $6.95. lower prices are available on eBay, but quality may vary. Note 4 – Currents are probably somewhat higher than stock ESP-12 due to onboard LED and regulator. The comparison is not exhaustive, but it still appears to show ESP8266 solutions support most features than pricer competing modules. There are however case where competing […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Tronsmart Draco H3 TV Stick Firmware and SDK Released

Tronsmart Draco H3 is a low cost HDMI TV stick powered by Allwinner H3 quad core processor. At $35, the device costs about $5 more than Amlogic S805 based sticks like MK808B Plus with about the same specs (quad core Cortex A7/A5, 1GB RAM, 8GB flash, HDMI out..), but with the added benefit of 4K @ 30Hz support. Tronsmart has now released some firmware files as well as Linux kernel and an Android SDK. Two firmware files have been released: Tronsmart_Draco_H3_720p_Kernel_20150526.zip – Firmware with 1280×720 framebuffer for better performance Tronsmart_Draco_H3_1080p_Kernel_20150526.zip – Firmware with 1920×1080 framebuffer for higher resolution Please note that the resolution will only affect the user interface, and when you play videos you should get the resolution selected in Android settings. So if you play a 4K videos it will truly show as a 4K video on your TV, even though the user interface is only 720p, at […]

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Allwinner R8 Module Datasheet and Price. Is the $9 C.H.I.P Computer Selling at a Loss?

Allwinner R8 Cortex A8 processor, very similar to Allwinner A13, but optimized for IoT applications, was first unveiled via the $9 C.H.I.P computer crowdfunding campaign, but at the time we did not have that many technical details. However, Olimex had already made several Allwinner boards in the past, such as A20-OLinuXino-LIME, so they decided to investigate if they too could use Allwinner R8 processor, or rather Allwinner R8 Module (R8M) with R8 SoC, 4/8GB NAND Flash and 512 MB RAM. So they managed to get R8M datasheet, and got quoted $4.8 for Allwinner R8 and $16 for Allwinner R8M with 512 MB RAM and 8GB NAND Flash for 5,000 unit orders. Wait… If R8M module is $16, how can C.H.I.P sell it for $9? One difference is that C.H.I.P module only has 4GB NAND flash, but the module quoted to Olimex appears to come with 8GB flash, but it’s not […]

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