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This is How the BeagleBone Black is Manufactured

CircuitCo has recently uploaded an interesting “Make of the BeagleBone Black” video showing how the BeagleBone Black is manufactured in their facilities in Richardson, Texas, USA. The main steps are as follows: A machine applies solder paste to the PCB Pick and place components Reflow soldering for SMT components Hand placement of through hole components such as the Ethernet connector Selective soldering PCB washing Optical inspection via an automatic optical inspection (AOI) machine Manual inspection Burn-in tests after flashing the board with factory firmware Functional testing Packing and shipping Beside the overall process, one interesting point is that human hands are only involved with through-hole components placement, functional testing and packing & shipping. Even those steps may eventually be automatized in the future with robots such as Baxter. Watch the video, it’s worth a look.

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Unu is an Android Tablet, a Gaming Console and a Smart TV

In the last year or so, we’ve started using Android set-top boxes or mini-PCs to make our TV smart and play games, and some products such as Ouya and Gamestick, using similar hardware, have been specifically designed for game play. But Unu Tablet, which can be used as a tablet (really), can also transform your TV into a gaming platform, and a smart connected TV, thanks to a docking station, and a game controller. Here are the known specifications for Unu tablet: SoC – 1.6 GHz quad-core chip (I’m guessing Rockchip RK3188). System Memory – Unknown Storage – 8GB NAND Flash + microSD card slot Display – 7″ IPS display, 1280×800 resolution. Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 2 microUSB ports Video Output – mini HDMI jack Camera – 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera This Android 4.2.2 tablet comes with a docking station that handles charging and […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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Texas Instruments Introduces SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack

Texas Instrument launched SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 in Q1 2012 in order to bring WiFi connectivity to any device including 8-bit or 16-bit MCU, as CC3300 internally handled all networking tasks, and exchange data with the MCU via an SPI interface. This Wi-Fi processor allows to use Wi-Fi for data transmission for the Internet of Things, and offers much better battery than other system relying on software to handle network traffic. Today, the company has just announced SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack, a low cost evaluation platform that works with both MSP430 and Tiva C Series LaunchPad evaluation kits, and sells for $35. SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack features and benefits as seen in the press release: SmartConfig technology: One-step Wi-Fi configuration using smartphones, tablets or PCs Easy network setup for display-less (headless) devices Simultaneous multiple device provisioning iOS, Android and Java sample applications available Royalty-free software Flexible memory size – Small memory foot print […]

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Mele F10 Pro “Fly Mouse” Comes with Microphone and Speaker

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Mele F10, a dual sided 2.4 GHz remote with a QWERTY keyboard and gyroscope, and found it to be a very good complement to any Android STB or mini-PC, with some caveats such as none optimal key arrangements, a lack of play/pause button… You can also use it with Windows and Linux. This product has been available for sale for a while, and Mele has just introduced a new version, called Mele F10 Pro, with better accuracy, and a built-in microphone and speaker for voice command or video chat apps such as Skype and Google Hangout. The new RF receiver dongle is much bigger than the original one which could be a problem if you use it with a mini-PC directly connected to the HDMI port of your TV, but I’ve been told the larger size is due to extra components to handle […]

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Variscite DART-4460 SoM is Small, Very Small, and Powered by TI OMAP4460

Variscite announced DART-4460, a new system-on-module based on Texas Instruments OMAP4460, with up to 1GB LPDDR2 RAM and 8GB eMMC flash. The key differentiating point of this module is its size (17 mm x 52 mm), which could make it the world smallest dual core module, although Logic PD’s DM3730 / AM3730 Torpedo SOM might be the smallest of all in single core configuration. DART-4460 system-on-module specifications: SoC – Texas Instruments OMAP4460 dual core cortex A9 @ 1.5 GHz max + PowerVR SGX540 GPU System Memory – 512 to 1024 MB LP-DDR2 Storage – Up to 8 GB eMMC + 2x SD / MMC Video – 1080p30 H.264 Encode / Decode Camera Interfaces – 2x CSI, 1x CPI Display HDMI 1.3a 1920 x 1080 24-bit RGB 1400 x 1050 24-bit DSI 1400 x 1050 4-wire resistive touch Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 Audio – Headphone, digital microphone, S/PDIF, Line […]

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Souliss Automation and IoT Framework Makes Your Home Smarter

Souliss is an open-source framework written in C/C++ for the Internet of Things and home automation that runs on Arduino boards, or other Atmel AVR MCU based boards, and let your control lighting, heating, or anything else you can think of via your Android device, or switches connected to your board(s). You can get started with Souliss in 3 steps: Getting the building blocks, for example: Arduino, Olimex, or other AVR boards (See list of supported boards) Relay boards ON/OFF Switches, Lights, etc… Wi-Fi router Download and load Souliss to an AVR powered board controlling real things such as lights. Monitor and/or control via Souliss Home Automation App for Android. A detailed getting started guide is provided on Souliss Google Code page. Internally, the framework is composed of three parts: Souliss, an application level layer, MaCaco, a communication protocol and vNet, a transport layer. I’ll skip details in this post, […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Compulab CM-T335 CoM with TI Sitara AM335x Sells for $27

Compulab, an Israeli company specialized in embedded computing, has just released CM-T335, a family of low cost computer-on-module powered by Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x SoC, and sells for as low as $27 per unit for the AM3352 version (no GPU) for 1k orders. The module is available in commercial, extended and industrial grades, and features up to 512 MB RAM, and 1 GB Flash. Specifications: SoC –  Texas Instruments AM3352 CPU @ 275MHz, or AM3354 @ 600MHz + PowerVR SGX530 GPU System Memory – 128MB to 512MB DDR3-1066, 16-bit bus width Storage – 128MB to 1GB on-board NAND flash, 8bit, SLC Display – 24-bit Parallel display interface – up to 1366 x 768 Touchscreen – 4/5/8-wire resistive touch-screen support, capacitive touch-screen support through SPI interface Connectivity: Ethernet – 1000Base-T Ethernet interface implemented with AM335x integrated MAC and the Atheros AR8033 RGMII PHY WiFi – 802.11b/g/n implemented with TI WL1271 chipset […]

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Measy U4K – AllWinner A31 Powered Mini PC for 4K2K Video Playback

Apart from CS868, I had not seen other HDMI TV sticks based on AllWinner A31, the main reason being the performance to price ratio, with RK3188 devices cheaper than AllWinner A31 ones, and benchmarks such as Antutu showing better score for RK3188. 2D/3D performance is about the same as RK3188 (based on Antutu benchmark), despite A31’s PowerVR SGX544 MP2 GPU. So the only remaining advantage of A31 over RK3188 is 4K2K (UHD) video playback, which is probably why Measy called their A31 mini PC “Measy U4K”. Measy U4K Specifications: SoC –  Allwinner A31 quad-core cortex A7 @ 1.0GHz + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU System Memory – 2GB dual channel 64-bit DDR3 Storage – 8GB Nand dual channel 16-bit Flash + micro SD card slot (Up to 32 GB) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (Ralink8188) + Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x micro USB OTG for power, and 1x USB 2.0 host Video Output […]

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