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DENX Computer Systems Introduces Atmel SAMA5D44 and Freescale i.MX6 System-on-Modules

Embedded World 2015 exhibition and conference will take place in Nuremberg, Germany on February 24-26, 2015, and we should expect interesting news related to MCU, industrial processors, and related development kits and boards next week. DENX Computer Systems has already unveiled two new SoM families with MA5D4 based on Atmel SAMA5D44 Cortex A5 processor, and M6R based on Freescale i.MX 6 Cortex A9 processors. DENX MA5D4 System-on-Module MA5D4 SoM specifications: Processor – Atmel SAMA5D44 Cortex A5 @ 528MHz with 720p hardware video decoder supporting H264/263, VP8, JPEG. System Memory – 128 – 512MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 4 – 32GB eMMC Flash (or optionally 256MB NAND Flash); 4 MB MByte SPI NOR-Flash; I/Os via 230-pin MXM2 edge connector Video Out / Display Support –  HDMI.  TFT controller, overlay support for image composition, resitive Touchscreen controller Camera – CMOS image sensor interface external bus A/D 25/16 bit 2x 10/100MBit Ethernet, IEEE1588 […]

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Toucan-0700 HMI Panel Runs Linux or Android on Freescale i.MX6 Processors

TechNexion Toucan-0700 is an HMI (Human Machine Interface) panel based on Freescale i.MX6 modules and a baseboard following EDM standard for system-on-modules. The 7″ panel PC features the same EDM1-CF-IMX6 SoM used in Wandboard development boards, and runs various Linux distributions, as well as Android 4.3 or 4.4. Toucan-0700 specifications: SoC – Freescale i.MX6 Solo/Duallite Cortex A9 processor with Vivante GPUs (i.MX6 Dual/Quad on request) System Memory – 512MB (Solo), 1GB (Duallite) Storage – 4GB eMMC + micro SD slot Display – 7″ LCD display with LED backlight, 1024×600 resolution;  16M colors;  500 cd/m²; 4 points touchscreen Video Output – HDMI 1.4 for external display Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet with POE function 802.3at, and optional WiFi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0 (Broadcom BCM4330) USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x USB OTG 3.0 connector, 2x internal pin headers Serial – 1x RS-232 (galvanic isolated), 1x RS-232/422/485 (galvanic isolated), 2x […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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SoundMate WM201 Wi-Fi Music Streamer (EZMusic) Review

Last year I reviewed SoundMate M2 Wi-Fi audio streamer, and Uyesee has sent me a sample of their new SoundMate WM201 powered by Actions Semi AM8253, and based on EZCast app for audio calld EZMusic (EZCast Music). SoundMate WM201 Unboxing Pictures That’s the package for the device. The device comes with two audio cables, a micro USB to USB cable for power, and “SoundMate WiFi Music Streamer” user manual. Let’s have a closer look at the tiny box. Two LEDs are located on the front for power and connection, a micro SD slot can be found on the side, and the rear panel has most of the connection: micro USB port for power, reset pinhole, optical SPDIF, 3.5mm stereo jack, and USB 2.0 host for mass storage. SoundMate WM210 Teardown Take out of four sticky rubber pad on the bottom of the case, and loosen four screws to remove the […]

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HPH NT-V6 Firmware V1.4.4 (Rockchip RK3288) Fixes Ethernet Performance, Adds Smartphone App

When I first started to review Rockchip RK3288 based TV boxes I noticed several had critical issues with Ethernet including Nagrace HPH NT-V6 and Kingnovel K-R6. The main cons of the Nagrace media player included: XBMC has too many issues: VC1 not supported, H.265 support only partial, audio/video sync issue, some MPEG-2 and XVID videos are skipping frames, some of the 4K videos I used could play properly, etc… Some MPEG-2 file won’t play smooth in either XBMC or MX Player Potential Ethernet issues, confirmed with my Gigabit switch (D-Link DSG-1005A) and 10/100Mbps D-Link router (configured as a switch). Since then SPMC and Kodi must have improved video playback issues, but as late as last month I still got feedback from one person (Mr. B.) complaining about Ethernet on HPH NT-V6, but he finally got an email with a new firmware that is said to fix the Ethernet issues and […]

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Android 4.1 vs Android 5.0 Performance Comparison

Most of the time people compare the performance of different hardware platforms, but since Wandboard released an Android 5.0 image in the last few days, I wondered what difference two years of software development may make by comparing benchmark results. So I ran both Antutu 5.6.1 and Vellamo 3.1 on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean (android-4.1.2-wand-dual-20130411.zip) and the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop firmware for Wandboard Dual (Freescale i.MX6 Dual) development board. Android 4.1.2 Benchmark Results Antutu 5.6.1 Vellamo 3.1 You’ll notice the yellow triangle on the top right corner of the multicore and browser results due to some warning related to missing CPU frequency information, and a DOM timeout. Android 5.0 Benchmark Results Antutu 5.6.1 The 2D graphics looked weird at some point as it zoomed out on1/4 of the display. The screenshot did not show the total score, so I added it manually to the picture above. Vellamo 3.1 Vellamo […]

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Freetronics Introduces an Arduino Shield for ESP8266 ESP-01 Wi-Fi Module

ESP8622 has drastically brought down the price of adding Wi-Fi to MCU boards such as Arduino UNO,  but you need to add some cables, and take care of 3.3V to 5V conversion for the UART pins either with a divider made of 2 resistors, or a FET level shifter, and you may not be able to access all I/O of ESP8622 on the popular ESP-01 version of the module. For a neater solution, Freetronics had designed ESP-01 WiFi Module Shield that takes care of all these small issues. Key features of the shield: 3.3V regulator dedicated to the module Logic level shifters on TX/RX lines: compatible with both 3.3V and 5V Arduino models Selectable TX/RX pins: use D0/D1 for hardware serial, or D2 – D7 for software serial CH_PD pin on ESP-01 module pre-biased for correct operation mode Extra ESP-01 pins broken out for your own connections Prototyping area with […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Voltera V-One is a Low Cost PCB Printer and Solder Paste Dispenser (Crowdfunding)

The traditional hardware development cycle involve sending PCB Gerber files to a manufacturer, wait a few days (or weeks), get the boards back, find and fix bugs, send a new revision of the gerber files to the manufacturer and so on. This wastes a lot of time, so PCB printers capable of handline single and dual layer PCBs have started to see the light of the day, for example with BotFactory Squink. The latter can also do pick and place, but costs over $3,500. Luckily if you’d like something cheaper, Voltera V-One will do many of the same tasks, for but for only $1,500. Voltera V-One specifications: Minimum Trace Width – 8mil (~0.2mm) Minimum Passive Size – 0603 (0402 for solder paste) Minimum Pin-to-Pin Pitch – 0.8mm (0.5mm for solder paste) Resistance – >12 mOhm/sq @ 70um height Max Heated Bed Temperature – 250C Heated Bed Ramp Rate – ~2C/s […]

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Power Consumption of Amlogic S812 and Rockchip RK3288 TV Boxes

The recent post comparing the power consumption of ODROID-C1 vs Raspberry Pi boards, as made me want to give another try at power consumption measurements. Regular reader already know I made a power measurement board and cables capable of hading different connectors (micro USB, mini USB, power barrels,  etc..), but eventually it failed to deliver enough current to the boards for any meaning testing. But since I now have a better power supply, and multi-meter, it was worth another try, especially since I could draw some pretty charts. I decided to test the three most popular Chinese SoCs for mini PCs namely Amlogic S812 (4x Cortex A9), Rockchip RK3288 (4x Cortex A17), and Allwinner A80 (4x Cortex A15 + 4x Cortex A7) using respectively Eny M8S, Open Hour Chameleon, and A80 OptimusBoard. If you are paying attention, you must have noticed Allwinner A80 is not part of the title, that […]

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