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Arduino Unveils the Arduino Robot at Maker Faire

On top of announcing its first Linux powered board, Arduino also announced its first official robot at Maker Faire Bay Area called “Arduino Robot”. The robot comes with 2 wheels and  two boards: The Motor Board controlling the motors. The Control Board reading sensors and deciding how to operate. Each board, based on Atmel ATmega32u4 MCU, is programmable like any other Arduino board using the Arduino IDE. Control board specifications: MCU – Atmel ATmega32u4 @ 16 MHz with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, and 1KB EEPROM External Storage – 512 Kbit EEPROM (I2C) + SD card reader for FAT16 formatted cards Display – Full color LCD over SPI communication I/O interfaces: 5x Digital I/O Pins 6x PWM Channels 4x Analog Input Channels  (of the Digital I/O pins) 8x Analog Input Channels (multiplexed) Misc – 5 keys keypad, Knob potentiometer attached to analog pin, 8 Ohm speaker, digital compass “Playground” – 3x I2C […]

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Review of Kimdecent CS868 mini PC Powered by AllWinner A31

Kimdecent sells some cheap RK3188 mini PCs such as QC802 for $76, but instead of sending me yet another RK3188 device, they agreed to send CS868, an HDMI TV dongle powered by AllWinner A31 quad core processor, so that I could review it. This mini PC comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB Flash, the latter being larger than the 8GB flash found in most other devices, and is available for $95 on Kimdecent Aliexpress store. More details about the specifications are available on Unuiga U28 post since the hardware is the same. In theory, AllWinner A31 has a much slower CPU than Rockchip RK3188, but its PowerVR 544MP2 GPU should outperform the Mali-400 MP4 found it the Rockchip processor, and A31 supports 4K2K video decoding. In this post, I’ll show some unboxing picture, give my first impressions, test Wi-Fi performance, video playback capabilities, and run some benchmarks. CS868 Unboxing Pictures […]

ArmSoM RK3588 AIModule7 NVIDIA Jetson Nano-compatible SOM
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How to Play Games in Android mini PCs / STBs With a PS3 Bluetooth Controller

Android mini PCs ( HDMI TV dongles) are great to make your TV smart, and you may expect to be able to play Android games on your TV easily. The reality is that the keyboard and mouse, or remote controls used with those devices, are not suitable for games, and most games do not play at all. Of course, OUYA and GameStick projects will take care of this, as well as the recently available Project SHIELD ($349) , but if you already have one of those mini PCs, you may not want to spend the money for another device. Luckily there’s a solution, and with some efforts, you can play many games, but not all, with a PS3 Bluetooth controller connected to your Android mini PC or Set-Top Box. I decided to give it a try by buying “GOIGAME Rechargeable Bluetooth Wireless DoubleShock III Controller for PS3” for $16.60, which […]

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Raspberry Pi Camera Module Is Now Available, How-to Use It

About one year after showing the first image from the camera module prototype, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced the Camera board is now available for purchase on RS Component or Element14. Navigating either of these sites is a nightmare, but, if you’re lucky, you should eventually find the camera board for around $25 before taxes and shipping. “Raspicam” features the following hardware specifications: Omnivision 5647 sensor in a fixed-focus module 5MPixel sensor Still picture resolution: 2592 x 1944 Max video resolution: 1080p Max frame rate: 30fps Size: 20 x 25 x 10mm Connection by flat ribbon cable to 15-pin MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) connector S5 on Raspberry Pi computer board The first thing you’ll have to do with the camera is to connect it to the CSI connector on your Raspberry Pi, just behind the Ethernet connector on model B. James explains it very clearly in the video below. […]

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DealExtreme 50% Discount on Mini PCs, Class 10 SD Cards, RF Remote Controls and More

DealExtreme has started a promotion that is taking place on May, 15-20 offering 50% discount on selected products. I’ve gone through the list, and found several RK3066 Android mini PCs all priced between $23 and $27, as well as some other items that may be of interest to readers of this blog. [Update: Sorry, in just a couple of hours, all items listed below are already sold out] Android Mini PCs: MK808 – $25.00 – One of the most used Android mini PC. Powered by Rockchip RK3066 with 1GB RAM, 8GB Flash. The version in DX runs Android 4.1.1, but a beta Android 4.2.2 firmware is also available. MK808B –  $23.50 – Same as MK808, but with Bluetooth, and somehow it’s cheaper… Rikomagic MK802 IIIS – $27.10 – Rockchip RK3066 powered mini PC with 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash. Contrary to the previous 2 that feature a HDMI female connector, […]

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Tronsmart T428 mini PC Review

Geekbuying was kind enough to send me another RK3188 mini PCs for review. Tronsmart T428 is very similar to MK908 I reviewed earlier, with 2GB RAM and 8GB flash, but the latest device runs Android 4.2.2, its Wi-Fi module supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, and T428 can also be used as a Miracast Display. Geekbuying sells for the device for $96.99 including shipping, but before to buy the device I strongly recommend you read the review. I’ll post some unboxing pictures first, then carry on with my first impressions, video playback capabilities, Wi-Fi performance and some benchmarks. Tronsmart T428 Unboxing I received the device is in the package below. T428 comes with a short HDMI cable, a 5V/2A power supply, and a USB to microUSB cable for power. A close look at this mini PC shows the casing is made of plastic and metal (on the lengths), comes with […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Mele F10 Fly Mouse Review and Hands-on Video

Up to now, I always connected USB keyboard and mouse to Android mini PCs I tested. It works but it’s not always fun to use. Mele F10 Fly mouse is a dual sided 2.4GHz remote control with one side being somewhat of a standard remote, while the other side is a QWERTY keyboard. A gyroscope is also integrated in to the remote, which allows it to be used as a “magic” remote and mouse the mouse pointer. I’ve bought one on DealExtreme for $25.20, and I’ll do a short review about the remote today, even though it’s not exactly a new device. Mele F10 Unboxing I’ve received the F10 in a slightly damaged package. This happens often as to save on costs packages are often sent in bubble mailers, but all items I’ve received have usually worked fine. The other sides of the package indicate Mele F10 can be used […]

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AllWinner A31 Mele Media Player Pictures, Screenshots and Antutu Benchmark

Mele A1000G Quad is an Android set-top box featuring AllWinner A31 quad core Cortex A7 processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB Flash. You can check the full specifications in my previous post. Eddy Lab got hold of an engineering sample with a similar model but without SATA that looks like A3700 [Update: Model name is apparently G39A04], and he, or they, took a few pictures, and tested the device (Link in Korean). I’ll re-post some of their unboxing pictures, and share some of their screenshots and benchmarks in this post. The device comes with a 5V/2.4A power adapter, an HDMI cable, and an IR remote. The device features an Audio out jack, a micro USB socket, a power jack, and HDMI connector, an RJ45 Ethernet connectors, 3x USB host ports, SPDIF output (Optical), and an SD card slot. It’s very similar to the original Mele A1000 except VGA and AV […]

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