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Xiaomi Mi Box Mini Unboxing

Xiaomi Mi Box Mini is probably the smallest Android media player available so far. It integrates a 100-240V power supply, and only features a single HDMI output port, no micro SD slot, and no USB ports. Although the device is primarily targeting the Chinese market, with a Chinese user interface and CCC certification only, several Chinese e-retailers have started to offer it for $50 or less.  GearBest sells it for $42.98 with coupon MIBOX, and they’ve sent me a sample for review. Today, I’ll post some pictures of the device, before doing a review, including trying to switch to a user interface in English. Mi Box Mini Unboxing I’ve received the package via DHL, and for once I did not have pay custom duty or other tax. On the back of the package, they listed some key features in Chinese, such as H.265 1080p video playback, quad core processor, hexa […]

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Scaleway Provides Dedicated ARM Servers for 10 Euros per Month, 0.02 Euro per Hour

Earlier this year, Online Labs launched a beta hosting program using custom-designed C1 dedicated servers powered by Marvell Armada 370/XP quad core processor. The company has now launched a commercial service called Scaleway providing hosting service on these baremetal servers for 9.99 Euros per month, or 0.02 Euro per hour, as well as a “Infinite Storage” service with 1GB data for 0.02 Euros per month. Here are the details of the 10 Euros plan: Server based on Marvell Armada 370/XP quad core ARMv7 processor Memory – 2GB Memory Storage – 50GB SSD Disk 1x Reserved public IPv4 200Mbit/s – Unmetered bandwith Operating Systems – Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, ArchLinux ARM. Docker supported. That’s not a VPS, but a dedicated server. For reference, I currently pay around $20 per month (Linode) for a server with an Intel Xeon E5-2680 dual core processor with 2 GB RAM and 50 GB SSD storage, and 3 […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Connect a 9.7″ Retina Display (iPAD 3/4) to Your Computer via a DisplayPort Adapter

One way to connect an extra Retina (2048×1536) display to your computer is to purchase Adafruit Qualia 9.7″ DisplayPort Monitor for $224.95. But in case your budget is limited, you could combine an old iPAD 3/4 display with AbuseMark 2048×1536 LCD to DisplayPort Adapter for 3,500 JPY ($29 US). If you don’t have an old iPAD, or would rather not dismantle your “old”-but-still-useful iPAD, you could purchase LG LP097QX1-SPC1/2, LG LP097QX1-SPA1/2/V, or Samsung LTL097QL01-W01 LCD panels instead for about $80 on Amazon US (LP097QX1 / LTL097QL01). If you live in Japan, AbuseMark also ships a complete kit for 12,000 JPY.   Key features listed for the board: Video Input – DisplayPort Display Connector – 51-pin 0.3mm pitch FPC connector STM32F103CB 32-bit Cortex M3 MCU with native USB for firmware update and power/brightness/etc control Dual TI TPS61187 WLED drivers Power – USB or 5V-powered (separate connector) / 1.35A total current draw. Buck […]

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Radxa Rock 2 Square Beta is Now Available for $99 (In Limited Quantities)

Radxa Rock 2 Square is the low cost version of Radxa Rock 2 Full development board. Both board are based on Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 processor, but the former has not quite as many features as the full version. The good news is that about 90 samples of Rock2 Square Beta can now be purchased for $129, with the price dropping to $99 with ROCK2^2BETA coupon (to be used after login to Paypal). The price include a Radxa RK3288 system-on-module with 2GB RAM and 16 GB eMMC, but a 4GB/32GB version is also planned for later. Rock2 Square board specifications: Processor/Memory/Storage –  Via Rock2 SoM including Rockchip RK3288 quad core Cortex A17 processor, 2 to 4 GB RAM, and 16 to 32 GB eMMC. External Storage – SATA and micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0, LVDS connector Audio I/O – HDMI, headphone jack, built-in microphone, and […]

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Tegra X1 Chromebooks Likely in the Works

When Nvidia announced Tegra X1 processor, the company’s main focus appeared to be the automotive market as it introduced Drive PX and CX board for this very market. Since then, Tegra X1 based SHIELD console was unveiled, and I’ve been informed some development activity related to Tegra X1 (Model: Tegra210 / T210) was taking place in Chromium and especially Coreboot source code. There appears to be two hardware platforms based on Tegra X1: smaug and foster which could end-up being Chromebooks or Chromeboxes likely with 4GB RAM. Thanks to David for the information.

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A5-V11 Mini Router Runs OpenWRT (Linux) For Just $8

In case you you still think OpenWRT capable NEXX WT1520 router is still too expensive at $15, what about an $8 OpenWRT router? That’s what LY mini wireless router costs including shipping, and it’s better known as A5-V11, the name of its PCB. It’s not exactly a 3G/4G router as the casing implied, but it does support external USB 3G/4G dongles like most other routers with USB on the market. A5-V11 specifications: SoC – Mediatek/Ralink) RT5350F MIPS processor @ 360MHz System Memory – 32MB RAM (W9825G6EH-75). Some people reported theirs only have 16MB RAM, so YMMV. Storage – 4MB NAND flash (Pm25LQ032) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n up to 150 Mbps; 1x 10/100M Ethernet USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, 1x micro USB port for power Misc – Power LED, factory reset pinhole Power – 5V via micro USB port Dimensions –  6.1 x 2.3 x 1.4 cm Contrary to […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Linaro 15.03 Release with Linux 4.0 and Android 5.1

Linaro has just announced their 15.03 release with Linux 4.0-rc4 (baseline), Linux 3.10.72 and 3.14.36 (LSK), and Android 5.1. The organization has worked on hardware platforms from members namely Qualcomm, ARM, HiSilicon, Samsung, and STMicro, including the recently announced 96Boards boards, and other ARMv8 platforms. Highlights of the release: Linux Linaro 4.0-rc4-2015.03 updated linaro-android topic added a few build/boot fixes for Arndale (llct-misc-fixes topic) GATOR topic: version 5.20.1 updated integration-linaro-vexpress64 topic by ARM LT (FVP Base and Foundation models, and Juno support) updated topic from Qualcomm LT (ifc6410 board support) simple EEPROM framework (via Qualcomm LT’s topic) updated topic from HiSilicon LT (Hi36xx, HiP04, and X5HD2 families support) rebased “ILP32 patch set v3” onto 4.0-rc2 Linaro builds of AOSP 15.03 updated all the baselines to AOSP 5.1 added commit based trigger feature to CI builds Linaro OpenEmbedded 2015.03 integrated Linaro GCC 4.9-2015.03 dismantled meta-aarch64 layer created meta-ilp32 layer cleaned out […]

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AMD “Hierofalcon” Octa-core ARM Cortex A57 Embedded Processors to Ship in H1 2015

AMD started using the ARM license(s) by embedding ARM Cortex A5 cores into some of their x86 processors to add TrustZone security, followed up with Opteron A1100 ARM Cortex A57 processors for servers, and now they’ll soon ship AMD Embedded R-Series SoCs featuring up to 8 Cortex A57 processors. The processors, codenamed “Hierofalcon”, target embedded data center applications, communications infrastructure, and industrial solutions. AMD Embedded R-Series SoC will have the following key features: Up to 8 ARM Cortex A57 cores with 4MB L2 cache (total) Cache Coherent Network with 8MB L3 cache Memory – 2x 64-bit DD3/4 channels with ECC up to 1866MHz; up to 128GB per CPU I/Os: Two 10GbE KR 8x SATA 3 (6Gb/s) ports 8 lanes PCIe Gen 3 (1×8, 2×4 or  1×4+2×2 configurations) SPI, UART, I2C interfaces System Control Processor – ARM Cortex A5 for TrustZone technology and 1Gb Ethernet port for system management Crypto co-processor […]

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