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Testing VolksPC’s MicroXwin Android & Debian Distribution in MK808 mini PC

Earlier this week, I wrote about VolksPC mini PC running Debian and Android simultaneously, and the developers decided to send me a unit for testing. The hardware I received is the popular MK808 mini PC based on Rockchip RK3066 with 1Gb RAM, and 8 GB RAM, but loaded with MicroXwin unified distribution. MicroXwin is an implementation of Windows X that’s not using a client/server protocol, for instead communicates directly with the drivers for better performance, especially on low-end hardware. I connected MK808 to my HDMI TV, added a USB hub to connect a USB keyboard as well as Mele Air Mouse, and powered up the device. The boot to Debian takes about 30 seconds, and 50 seconds for Android. As you boot it will enter in Debian with XFCE desktop environment, and you’ll notice two files, namely the Quick Start Guide and Release Notes that explain how to get started […]

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Probox2 EX Quad Core Android Box Comes with an Air Mouse Designed for Gaming

Probox2 EX is an Android TV Box with an enclosure similar to MX3, but with better hardware including Amlogic S802-H, 16GB eMMC Flash, 2GB RAM, dual band Wi-Fi, and more, and an interesting RF air mouse dubbed “Remote+” that can also be used for playing games, and audio chat. Probox2 EX specifications: SoC – AMLogic S802-H quad core ARM Cortex A9r4 at 2.0GHz with ARM Mali-450MP6 GPU up to 600 MHz System Memory – 2GB DDR3 Storage – 16GB eMMC Flash + micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4b  and AV Audio Output – HDMI, AV, and S/PDIF Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet, dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with external antenna, and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2x USB 2.0 host ports + 1x micro USB OTG Misc – IR Sensor, Power LED, power button, and recovery/update switch via AV jack Power Supply – 5V/2A Dimensions – 11.5 x 11.5 […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Tronsmart Mars G01 Wireless Gamepad Review on Android

One way to play games in Android TV Box with a gamepad is to use a Sony Playstation 3 Controller with Sixaxis Controller app. It can work, but you need a device that supports Bluetooth, with the right drivers, and most games require you to do the mapping manually which is not that user-friendly. Now, they make Android compatible Bluetooth Gamepad such as G910 which seems really nice, but I’ve been told it’s rather hit or miss, and some people have problem with the Bluetooth connection. GeekBuying instead recommends Tronsmart Mars G01, based on 2.4 GHz technology, that requires an external USB RF dongle, but which alledgly does not  have connection problems. It works with Android, Windows, and Playstation 3. The company sent me a sample, so I’ve taken some pictures and tried a few games with Tronsmart Vega S89 Elite TV box. Tronsmart Mars G01 Unboxing I’ve received the […]

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VolksPC mini PC runs Debian and Android Simultaneously Thanks to MicroXwin Framework

It’s been possible to run Linux or Android on ARM based board and producs for a while, with some firmware providing dual boot support, or even simultaneous use running a chroot with a VNC server and client combination. Some developers have come up MicroXwin, a X-windows implementation using a custom Xlib library that communicate directly with the graphics drivers, and not using a client/server implement. This provides much faster performance compare to X11, as shown on Raspberry Pi and Cubieboard2 development boards, and it has given them the ability to run Debian LXDE and Android Jelly Bean simultaneously on their upcoming VolksPC, a mini PC based on Rockchip RK3066 with 16GB flash. The first VolksPC will have the following specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3066 dual core ARM Cortex A9 CPU @ 1.4Ghz with Mali-400MP4 GPU System Memory – 1 GB DDR3 Storage – 16 GB NAND flash + SD/MMC/MS card […]

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National Instruments Introduces NI sbRIO-9651 SoM Based on Xilinx Zynq SoC Running Linux Real-time OS

National Instruments has recently announced NI sbRIO-9651 System on Module (SoM) powered by Xilinx Zynq-7020 dual core Cortex A9 + FPGA SoC, based on LabVIEW RIO architecture used in products such as myRIO, and coming with a complete middleware solution as well as NI Linux Real-Time OS. NI sbRIO-9651 hardware specifications: SoC – Xilinx Zynq-7020 with two ARM Cortex-A9 cores @ 667MHz and Artix-7 FPGA with 85K Logic Cells System Memory – 512MB DRAM Storage – 512MB flash Dedicated processor I/O: Gigabit Ethernet USB 2.0 Host, USB 2.0 Host/Device RS232 (TX/RX) SHDC FPGA I/O: 160 single-ended FPGA I/O Configurable peripherals: Gigabit Ethernet, 3x RS232, 2x RS485, 2x CAN Power Consumption – 3 to 5 Watts (typical) Dimensions – 50.8 x 78.2 mm Temperature range – -40 to 85 °C NI SoM is said to integrate a validated board support package (BSP) and device drivers with the MI Linux Real-time OS. […]

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The World’s Cheapest Linux Computer? Pogoplug Mobile Now Sells for $7

Somebody asked “Anyone knows a computer cheaper than a Raspberry Pi with a network interface?” on Google+ mini PCs community. Some OpenWRT routers such as TPLink WR703N selling for about $20, or the VoCore Wi-Fi module selling for about the same price (Wi-Fi only) were parts of the answers, and I also mentioned some HDMI TV dongles that now sell for around $35, which is still a little cheaper than the Raspberry Pi model B when one considers shipping. But I found the answer by dhead666 particularly interesting: Pogoplug Mobile goes for 7$ on Amazon and that includes psu and network cable. It run Linux great (I’m using Arch) but you will want to have a ttl-usb cable and soldering iron available in case you manage to mess u-boot (go to the doozan’s forums for more info about the u-boot). Let’s have a look. Pogoplug Mobile is not a new […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Raspberry Pi Model B+ with 4 USB Ports, a micro SD Slot, and More GPIOs Coming Soon

With over 3 million boards sold, the Raspberry Pi is by far the most popular ARM Linux board on the market, but people are often asking for hardware upgrades with a faster processor, more RAM and so on. The good news is that a new Raspberry Pi board seems on the way, but since the real competitive of the Raspberry Pi is not the cheap hardware only, but software support and the community around the little ARM board. So instead of designing of completely new board, they’ve kept Broadcom BCM2835 and 512MB RAM, and mostly made some changes to the ports, and form factor. Since the board has not been officially announced just yet, the full details are available, but according to various reports, the specs should be as follows: SoC – Broadcom BCM2835 ARM11 processor @ 700MHz with VideoCore IV GPU System Memory – 512 MB SDRAM (PoP) Storage […]

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More Details on Mediatek MT2502 Aster SoC and Linkit Platform for Wearables (Video)

Last month, Mediatek announced their Mediatek MT2502 SoC for wearables, codenamed Aster, as well as the Linkit development platform targeting the developer’s community. But at the time they did show the actual hardware, and thanks to Charbax we know have more interesting details about Aster and Linkit. First they compare a design based on Aster to Samsung Galaxy Fit wearable band, and show why it uses less space, will cost less, and they claim  over twice the battery life. Simple and smaller design (~36% reduction in size) Aster solution – MT2504 (6.2 x 5.4 mm) plus all required resistors, capacitors and inductors require 89.97 mm2 Galaxy Fit – MCU. Bluetooth Transceiver,  external memory, a linear charger, and all required resistors, capacitors and inductors require 140.97 mm2 Battery life – Samsung Galaxy Fit is supposed to last between 1 and 1.5 days on a charge, whereas devices based on Aster should last about […]

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