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Android 2.2 Media Player: Cidecko Simple Box AB03

Cidecko, a Taiwanese company, demoed its new Android media player the Cidecko Simple Box AB03 running Android 2.2 on an undisclosed  500 Mhz CPU  (Based on this frequency, could it be one of Sigma Designs SMP8650 series, e.g. SMP8653?) at CeBit 2011. They have an innovative remote control (named Air Keyboard AK02d) in the shape of a game controller with a full keyboard, an accelerometer and of gyroscope to control the menu. The set-top box has HDMI, component (YPbPr) and composite video outputs, optical audio output, 2x USB Host, an SD card reader (supports SDHC),  an Ethernet port and support Wifi (802.11n)  via an external dongle. Although it’s running Android 2.2, note that it does not support full flash, but only Flashlite 9.0. It can support the most popular video codecs including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, RMVB and VC-1 and audio codecs such as MPEG, Dolby, DTS.. The retail price of the […]

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Android 2.2 IETV Smart Player by Shenzhen Ider Technology

Shenzhen Ider Technology (亿典华科技) showcased two Android 2.2 media player prototypes based on a Samsung ARM Cortex A8 Processor (Probably Samsung SOPC100) at CeBit 2011.  They feature an Ethernet port, one or several video output ports(HDMI / Component / Composite),  several USB Host ports and can output up to 1080p. The low cost version on have HDMI ouput, whereas the other version has HDMI, component and composite. Both devices support wireless mouse and keyboard and come with a magic remote (wii-like) to control Android. This is interesting to note that whereas other set-top boxes doe not use the Android home as there main menu, those media players do. The low cost version would be around 60 to 80 USD for order larger than 1000 pieces and the higher cost version slightly over 80 USD.

ArmSoM CM5 Raspberry Pi CM4 alternative with Rockchip RK3576 SoC
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Freescale Home Energy Gateway Reference Platform

I’ve previously introduced Atmel / Mentor Embedded smart grid solutions, specifically Atmel In-Home Display hardware with Mentor’s Inflexion User Interface. Today, I’ll present Freescale Home Energy Gateway Reference Platform based on i.MX283 ARM 9 MCU, MC13224V Zigbee IC, 9S08QE32 MCU & MC34726 Regulator and running Windows® Embedded Compact 7. The home energy gateway is the interface between the utility-controlled smart grid and energy-consuming in-house objects. The graphical user interface (GUI) has been  design with Silverlight. Functions of the Home Energy Gateway Collect real-time energy consumption from smart meter and power consumption data from various in-house objects Control activation/deactivation of home appliances Generate dashboard to provide feedback about power usage Provide control menus to control appliances Provide a ubiquitous link to the broadband Internet Freescale home energy gateway solutions allow every point of the smart home to be connected and controlled from a central point, enabling power efficiency and energy optimization. […]

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Another Monster Processor: Qualcomm Quad Core Snapdragon APQ8064

Qualcomm SnapDragon APQ8064 quad-core processor clocked at 2.5 GHz, will make NVidia Tegra 2 look like your (grand-) father processor and even make Texas Instrument OMAP 5 processor look slow. This new processor will available in earlier 2012 and will probably make it to devices by end 2012, beginning 2013. Here’s a press release excerpt: Barcelona, Spain – February 14, 2011 – Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced its quad-core Snapdragon™ chipset designed to meet the requirements of next generation tablets and computing devices. The new quad-core APQ8064™ is the flagship chipset in the new family of Snapdragon chipsets and is based on the new micro-architecture code named “Krait.” With the purpose of being built for mobile devices, this 28nm micro-architecture will redefine performance, achieving speeds of up to 2.5GHz per core and minimizing power consumption and heat generation to enable new, thin and light form factors. The Snapdragon APQ8064 […]

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Texas Instruments OMAP 5 based on ARM Cortex A15 Core

Texas Instruments announced its new generation of mobile chips OMAP 5 based on the latest ARM core Cortex A15.  Press release excerpt: DALLAS (Feb. 7, 2011) /PRNewswire/ — Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) announced today the next generation of its popular OMAP™ family: the OMAP 5 mobile applications platform, which is positioned to transform how mobile devices, such as Smartphones, tablets and other mobile form factors are used, making them even more valuable in our daily lives. … The 28 nanometer OMAP 5 applications processors carry on the OMAP family tradition of delivering significant increases in performance and functionality, while lowering power consumption compared to their predecessors. Specifically, they offer up to 3x processing performance and five-fold 3D graphics improvement, yet provide a nearly 60 percent average power reduction compared to a sample user experience on the OMAP 4 platform. Additionally, the OMAP 5 platform’s software is designed for […]

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Near Field Communication (NFC) in Public Transport

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association that advances the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, has recently published a White Paper entitled “NFC in Public Transport” and show how you can leverage NFC technology in such environment. The whitepaper mainly focuses on mobile phones, readers and smart posters. If you need an introduction about NFC, including starting points for developing hardware and software, please read our previous blog entry first. What can NFC do in public transport ? After a short NFC introduction, the whitepaper deals with the possible applications related to public transport including: Transport timetables Link to an up-to-date weather report website Special discounted travel offers Location relevant maps Next bus arrival time Taxi services Emergency calls Phone-to-phone transfer of destination addresses and maps to taxi driver and how NFC can be used before the journey (e.g. paying for parking, using smart poster for products/services promotions […]

Rockchip RK3568, RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs and SoMs in 2025
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Android 3.0 SDK Preview and Platform Highlights

Google has just released Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) preview SDK and platform highlights. Android 3.0 Highlights Summary New User Features: New UI designed from the ground up for tablets (larger screens) System Bar, for global status and notifications Action Bar, for application control: access to contextual options, navigation, widgets, or other types of content in the Action Bar, displayed at the top of the screen. Five Customizable Home screens with widgets, app shortcuts, and wallpapers using a dedicated visual layout mode. Recent Apps, for easy visual multitasking Redesigned keyboard to improve typing speed/accuracy on tablets. Improved text selection, copy and paste New connectivity options such as Media/Photo Transfer Protocol, USB / Bluetooth keyboards Updated set of standard apps for larger screens. Browser Improvements: Multi-tabs support,  “incognito” mode, better browsing experience at non-mobile sites through an improved zoom and viewport model, overflow scrolling, support for fixed positioning, and more. Camera and Gallery: […]

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How-to Make WordPress iNove Theme Adsense Friendly

When I initially selected my WordPress theme,  I did not really plan on using Adsense, so I just chose one which looked nice to me and fulfilled some other requirements. I finally went with iNove theme. However, after 3 or 4 months, I decided to give a go at Google Adsense and installed Advertising Manager plugin. I created a new Ad unit with a 300×250 resolution to put in the side bar, it was slightly cut on the right but was still looking OK. Later, I wanted to add a leaderboard ad (728×90) on top of the page to hopefully increase the CTR. However, that one was cut even more, although it looked OK in Chrome OS and Firefox, it looked awful in Internet Explorer. So I decided to adjust the size of the main section and the sidebar for iNove theme. Here are the steps to follow to resize […]

Boardcon EM3562 Rockchip RK3562 SBC with 8 analog camera inputs