UDOO is known for their Linux boards based on NXP and Intel processors for makers and the education market such as UDOO NEO or UDOO x86, but the company has now developed UDOO BLU and BLU SENSE battery powered modules based on Texas Instruments CC2650 ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller, both with Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and 6LOWPAN connectivity, and the SENSE model adds some extra sensors.

UDOO BLU and BLU SENSE specifications:

• Wireless MCU – Texas Instruments CC2650 ARM Cortex M3 MCU @ 48 MHz with 128KB flash, 8KB SRAM with 2.4 GHz radio
• Connectivity – Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ZigBee, 6LoWPAN
• Sensors (BLU SENSE only) –  NXP FX0S8700CQ accelerometer & magnetometer sensor, NXP FXAS21002C gyroscope & temperature sensor
• Expansion
  • 1x 5-pin sensors Snap-In I2C connector for UDOO Bricks
  • 2x 10-pin headers with 8x Digital GPIOs, 6x ADCs, 1x I2C, 1x SPI, 1x UART
• Misc – 3x User Configurable LEDs (Red, Yellow, Green), 2x buttons
• Power Supply
  • CR2032 battery holder
  • 2-pin header for external power supply up to 5.5V
• Dimensions – 45mm x 35mm

The full documentation and resources for the boards are not ready yet, but an Android Library to manage the UDOO BLU board using BLE has been released on Github.

The company is already taking pre-orders for BLU ($17.50) and BLU SENSE ($19.50), and more information may be found on UDOO BLU product page. The company is also attending DROIDCON Italy 2017 in Milan, where you’ll be able to see BLU boards, and other UDOO boards in action, and the company will give some boards away as part of a Hackathon on April 8-9.

Tweet UDOO is known for their Linux boards based on NXP and Intel processors for makers and the education market such as UDOO NEO or UDOO x86, but the company…

Yesterday as I wrote about the Embedded Systems Conference 2017 schedule I came across a potentially interesting talk entitled “Building A Brain With Raspberry Pi and Zulu Embedded JVM” by Azul Systems that will explain how to build a brain emulator using a cluster of Raspberry Pi boards. I wanted to find more about it, but I have not been able to find any details about the project/demo at this stage. However, I could still learn a bit more about Zulu Embedded, which is said to be an open source Java Virtual Machine based on OpenJDK, compliant with Java SE standard, working on 32-bit & 64-bit ARM & x86, MIPS, and PowerPC, as well as  multiple operating systems.

Some of the key features of Zulu Embedded include:

• Java Support – Java 6, 7, 8, and 9 when available
• Java Configurations – Headless, headful, or compact Java Compact Profiles
• Hardware – ARMv7 and 32-bit ARMv8, ARM64, Intel/AMD x86, 32-bit and 64-bit, MIPS, and PowerPC
• Platforms & Operating Systems
  • Linux 32/64-bit – RHEL 5.2+, 6 & 7 or later, SLES 11 sp1/2/3, 12, CentOS 5.2+, 6 & 7 or later, Ubuntu 10.04, 12.04, 14.04 & 16.04, Debian Wheezy & Jessie, Wind River Linux, and Oracle Linux
  • Windows 32/64-bit – Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10/IoT/Mobile, 2008 R2, 2012, 2012R2, Nano
  • Mac OS X
  • Hypervisors – VMware, Hyper-V, KVM
  • Cloud – Azure, AWS, Google, Snappy, Docker
• Packages – ZIP, MSI and DEB are available. Custom packages on request.
• Memory Footprint – 11 MB to 250+ MB

Some of the advantage of Zulu Embedded is that it is 100% open source released under GPLv2 with Classpath Exception (I could not find the source code however), and fully certified and compliant with OpenJDK community technology compatibility kit (TCK) from Oracle.

Zulu Embedded is free to download for ARM Linux 32-bit (hard and soft float), and x86 Windows & Linux 64-bit, as well as x86 Windows 10 IoT Core 32-bit for MinnowBoard MAX. You’ll need to contact the company for other configurations.

It’s been used in program such as openHab 2.0, which replaced Oracle JDK with Zulu Embedded JDK, since it can be freely redistributed (no licenses required), and performance and stability feels exactly the same according to comments on Github. One person explained how to install it on the Raspberry Pi board (note: early access program is not needed anymore, since the binary has been publicly released), and the installation procedure is just the same as with OpenJDK.

You can visit Zulu Embedded product page for more information.

Tweet Yesterday as I wrote about the Embedded Systems Conference 2017 schedule I came across a potentially interesting talk entitled “Building A Brain With Raspberry Pi and Zulu Embedded JVM”…

While there are plenty of ESP32 development boards, and prices have recently plummeted, getting a case for your project can still be a problem especially if you plan to use it outdoor, as you need to protect your hardware from rain and dust. Hornbill project offers two ESP-WROOM-32 based boards, a prototype board, and an IP67 certified case that could be useful for outdoor use.

Hornbill ESP32 Development Boards

Let’s start by checking the boards available starting with ” Hornbill ESP32 Dev” board with the following specs:

• ESP-WROOM-32 module with WiFi, Bluetooth LE,  FCC, CE, IC, MIC (Telec), KCC, and NCC certifications
  
• I/O headers
  • 2x 19-pin headers with GPIOs, I2C, UART, SPI, ADC, DAC, touch interface, VN/VP, 5V, 3.3V and GND
  • Breadboard-friendly
• Debug – Built-in CP21XX USB-to-serial
• Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port, battery header + single cell LiPo charger
• Dimensions – TBD

ESP32 Dev (left) and ESP32 Minima (right)

ESP32 Minima is also based on ESP-WROOM-ESP32 module, but is designed for wearables with its round PCB, it only includes a header for battery power, and is limited to 16 large pads with through holes for I/Os, as well as 6 pins for programming and debugging the board.

Hornbill ESP32 Dev Pinout Diagram – Click to Enlarge

Finally, the company has also designed Hornbill ESP32 Proto board where you can solder ESP32 Dev board, and add whatever components you may need for your project. The Proto board also includes a microSD card slot, an RGB LED, an SHT 31 humidity and temperature sensor, as well as footprints for 6x IR transmitters and 1x IR Receiver.

Hornbill Weather Proof Case and Kits

Beside the boards, the developers also provide an IP67 case for it, as well as kits leveraging the case:

• Hornbill OUR (Open Remote Control) – Bluetooth (BLE) to Infrared (IR) bridge to control IR devices with your smartphone
• Hornbill Lights – Control RGB LED strips over Bluetooth Smart
• Hornbill IDL (Industrial Data Logger) – Logs power and temperature values, and upload them securely to the cloud.

There’s also Hornbill Makers Kit without the case, but with Hornbill ESP32 Dev and plenty of modules to play with, such as relays, various sensors, LEDs, a buzzer, an OLED display, a mini breadboard and so on… You’ll find ESP32 firmware and Android app source code for all kits on ExploreEmbedded github account.

Hornbill project has just launched on CrowdSupply with the goal of raising at least $2,000. A $12 pledge is asked for Hornbill ESP32 Dev or Hornbill Minima, $15 for the case, and the kits go from $39 (Hornbill ESP32 Dev + Proto board + Case) to $79 for Hornbill Lights with a WS2812 LED strip. Worldwide shipping is included in the price, and delivery is scheduled for June 2017. Noe that this is not the first project from ExploreEmbedded, as they previously launched Explorer M3 board based on NXP LPC microcontroller. However, since CrowdSupply do not show backers’ comments, I could not check whether backers are happy, or the project shipped on time.

Tweet While there are plenty of ESP32 development boards, and prices have recently plummeted, getting a case for your project can still be a problem especially if you plan to…

USB to serial boards are necessary to program and debug boards, and/or access the serial console, and while they are very cheap, you may be in a situation where you don’t have any around, but you do have some Arduino compatible boards. It’s been possible to transform an Arduino board into a USB to TTL debug for several years using ArduinoSerialBypass.ino sketch, but I’ve been informed this also works on ESP8266 boards such as Wemos D1 Mini.

The sketch could not be simpler:

The code simply makes sure that Tx and Rx pins are set as inputs in order not to disturb the serial connection as explained below:

This code makes the Arduino not interfere with pins 0 and 1 which are connected to RX and TX on the FTDI chip. This allows the data coming from the FTDI USB 2 Serial chip to flow directly to another device. Since RX and TX are labeled from the Arduino’s point of view, don’t cross the wires, but plug the device’s RX wire into the RX pin 0 and the TX wire into the TX pin 0

This should work with any Arduino compatible boards with a USB to serial chip, but it’s nice that it has been confirmed to work on Wemos D1 mini. If you’d rather get a WiFi to serial bridge, that’s what ESPLink firmware is for.

Thanks to Zoobab for the tip.

Tweet USB to serial boards are necessary to program and debug boards, and/or access the serial console, and while they are very cheap, you may be in a situation where…

Many development boards are powered over USB, usually via a micro USB ports, and if you have one board, you’d just use a 5V USB adapter with the right amperage, and it will work fine as long as you have a low resistance USB cable (AWG20 cables recommended for higher loads).  But when you start to running multiple boards using power strips with USB adapter start to take space, so USB hubs are much more convenient. However, you need to find one that delivers enough power, is reliable, and possible allows per port power control. The guys at LAVA (Linaro Automated Validation Architecture) are using a lot of boards to validate software developed by Linaro and their members, with the boards having to run 24/7, and they had various misfortunes with USB hubs, but as Dave Pigott reports they’ve now found that USB hub of their dream with a 15-port USB hub from Cambrionix which should be their PowerPad 15S model.

Cambrionix PowerPad15S technical specifications:

Each port of the USB Hub can be controlled individually (charging, syncing, or off modes), allows retrieval of VID/PID data, and records power consumption (amps, charging time, total power consumed).  The hub can be monitored and controlled using LiveViewer App for Window or Mac OS, but if you want to automate the USB port, for example to power cycle a board that does not answer to ping request, you may want to use the Cambrionix API available for Linux x86/ARM, Windows, and Mac OS.

When Dave connect the HUB to his (Linux) laptop he noticed it was detected as  a serial device only, and after configuring ser2net, he could login via telnet, and help listed a bunch of commands to control each port. As he connected a Hikey boar, he found a command to check all the ports status with their current draw, so he wrote a Python script to control the port as he wanted.

They also found EtherSync Hub from the same company with that’s running Linux, and can be controlled from the network over Ethernet. LAVA team has been running both types of hubs for a while and found them to be reliable, and will update the complete lab with them.

Cambrionix has other USB charging product with various number of ports, and form factor, including a USB charging 1U rack, or a 54-port data transfer USB hub. Check out their products page for details. Those are all nifty USB hubs, but as expected price is pretty high with PowerPad 15 sells for $660 on Amazon US (that’s $44 per USB port), and while there are some other cheaper Cambrionix models on Amazon UK, they probably lack advanced functions like power monitoring. [Update: I’ve been informed model PowerPad 15C (notice the extra C) is much cheaper, as it sells for £159 ex vat (~$200) on Multipad UK. The main difference is that it does not support sync mode compared to PowerPad 15S model].

Tweet Many development boards are powered over USB, usually via a micro USB ports, and if you have one board, you’d just use a 5V USB adapter with the right…

ESPurna is an open source firmware for ESP8266 based wireless switch as such Sonoff POW, which I’ve been personally using to monitor my office’s power consumption. The developer, Xose Pérez (aka tinkerman), has now developed his own hardware with ESPurna-H board, as existing wireless switches with power monitoring functions would not fit into a gang box.

ESPurna-H board specifications:

• WiFi Module – ESP12 with Espressif ESP8266 WiSoC
• Relay – Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C 10A relay with NO and NC connection
• Power Monitoring – HLW8012 chip as found in Sonoff POW
• Expansion – 2x 5-pin header with the programming GPIOs, and two connections for external button and LEDs
• Misc – Reset button
• Power Supply
• Safety – Optical isolation between the logic circuit and the relay circuit
• Dimensions – 50x50x20mm

Xose designed the board with Eagle 8.0 and released the schematics, PCB layout, BoM and other hardware design files under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA 3.0). You’ll find the files on github.

ESPurna-H with Custom 3D Printed Plate before Installation in Gangbox – Click to Enlarge

The board is not for sale, but you could purchase the PCB on OSH Park, purchase the components separately, and finally do the soldering yourself. Since this is a hobby project, not specific safety testing has been done, and you’d better understand what you are doing since the board is meant to be connected to the mains. Even companies do it wrong from time to time. If there’s a design flaw with the board it could overheat melting the plastic around, and in the worst case even start a fire.

Xose completed the setup with a capacitive touch switch attached to the cover, in order to turn on and off the light, and the final results above looks quite neat.

Tweet ESPurna is an open source firmware for ESP8266 based wireless switch as such Sonoff POW, which I’ve been personally using to monitor my office’s power consumption. The developer, Xose…

Rikomagic RKM R1 is a projector running Android 4.4.4, and powered by Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1GB RAM, and 32GB storage. It has a particular feature as it comes with a touchpad on the top of the case as we’ve seen in the unboxing and teardown part of the Rikomagic R1 review. Today, I’ll report my experience with the projector playing games in Android, 1080p videos with Kodi 14.2, using the touchpad, and connecting a laptop through the HDMI input port. I’ll also run some benchmarks as usual.

RKM R1 Android User Experience and HDMI Input

I wanted to relax and use the projector on the bed pointing to the ceiling. RKM R1 comes with a tripod, but it’s quite small, not the projector would fall off, so I used my own tripod, connected a USB keyboard, and the USB RF dongle for Tronsmart Mars G01 gamepad as I planed to play some games.

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I turned it on, and it was already all good to use, as I had already configured WiFi using the touchpad and USB keyboard, and installed various apps and games using Google Play, all without any issue whatsoever. It was a big difference in terms of user-friendlyness compared to Doogee P1 projector when it comes to initial setup, as you don’t need to go through various steps to scan a QR Code, install the control app on your smartphone and so on.

I had my (thick) curtain closed, and once I adjusted the focus with the wheel on the side of the projector the output projector looks like that.

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I would have wished for a brighter picture, so RKM R1 is better suited in really dark room or at night. If you want more control about the display there’s a setting section for this. The auto-rotate screen has nothing to do with landscape or portrait like in tablets or phone, but makes sure the bottom of the screen always faces down. For example, if you move the projector from the bed and turn it up to screw on the ceiling it will rotate the display 180 degrees so that it shows properly.

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I started playing Beach Buggy Racing with the gamepad, and it worked very smoothly in the tutorial, but then I noticed some degradation of performance in gameplay. Note that the framebuffer resolution is set to 1280×720 which makes it easier compared to most recent TV boxes where it is set to 1920×1080. Before considering we are using an old Mali-400MP GPU, it’s not too bad, the game as set the maximum graphics setting by default probably due to the low resolution.

By default the volume was very, so I used the remote control to turn up the volume, and while I could hear music and audio effects during the game, the quality was quite poor. I decided to connect my headphones to the 3.5mm audio jack, and the audio was quite saturated. I could eventually find a sweet spot by not pushing the audio jack fully, but obviously it’s not ideal. I would not say the fan is very noisy, but it will be a problem for some people, as it’s noisier than some mini PCs I’ve tried in the past.

I moved the projector outdoors evening time, and connected some USB powered speakers, but sill using the 3.5mm audio jack. I have not mention the power supply simply because the projector is battery powered, and I can last 4 to 5 hours for the projector on playing videos at times, and in the launcher at other times.

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Instead of playing games, I decided to start YouTube to play a few videos, and the only problem I really had was to switch to full screen mode. For some reason the full screen icon on shows a very short time, and when using the touchpad to go full screen I would often switch to another video or jump to the end of the current video. Apart from that, no problem, and the quality is OK, just like the one you may get if you watch a sports event at a bar. Of course this is standard resolution, so don’t expect miracles.

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The touchpad supports multi-finger gestures such as taping with two fingers for going back, or sliding with two fingers upwards for page up, and downwards or page down.

RKM R1 also comes with an HDMI input which can be convenient for presentation or any media that you prefer to play on another device. I connected CHUWI Laptbook 14.1 Windows 10 laptop, and enabled HDMI Input in the settings.

Within a few seconds I could the Windows 10 desktop from my laptop on the projected display, opened a few apps, and played a YouTube video. No problem, except audio saturation in the speakers. Audio really seems to be one of the weaknesses of this projector.

You can watch a quick demo of RKM R1 projector in the embedded video below.
[embedded content]

Rikomagic RKM R1 Kodi Video Playback

As beside Android 4.4.4, it’s also running the older Kodi 14.2, so RKM R1 feels some sort of time machine, going back about 2 years in times.

Click for Original Size

Since the projector resolution is 854×480 native, and the video decoder is limited to 1080p60, I’ll skip the usual 4K video decoding and audio pass-through (since there’s no hardware for it), and only went through some 1080p videos (Linaro samples) played over a SAMBA share:

• H.264 codec / MP4 container (Big Buck Bunny) – 1080p – OK
• MPEG2 codec / MPG container –  1080p – OK
• MPEG4 codec, AVI container – 1080p – Plays, but frequent buffering
• VC1 codec (WMV) – 1080p – 1080p – Audio only, frequent audio cuts
• Real Media (RMVB), 720p / 5Mbps – Plays in slow motion (software decode)
• WebM / VP8 – 1080p – Plays in slow motion (software decode), frequent buffering.
• H.265 codec / MPEG TS container  – 1080p – Not smooth at all (software decode)

That was no good, so I repeated the tests from a USB hard drive instead, and while I could browse the hard drive, none of the videos would start to play. Last change with a USB flash drive instead (lower power consumption):

• H.264 codec / MP4 container (Big Buck Bunny) – 1080p – OK
• MPEG2 codec / MPG container –  1080p – OK
• MPEG4 codec, AVI container – 1080p – OK
• VC1 codec (WMV) – 1080p – 1080p – Audio only, and it cuts after a while (stuck at 00:08 time mark)
• Real Media (RMVB), 720p / 5Mbps – Plays in slow motion (software decode)
• WebM / VP8 – 1080p – Plays in slow motion
• H.265 codec / MPEG TS container  – 1080p – Not smooth at all (software decode)

So it’s clearly not the best platform for Kodi, but if you are only playing the most common videos codec like H.264 or MPEG2, you’ll probably do fine.

Rikomagic RKM R1 System Information

During the teardown I found two flash chips, and since there were advertised as 16 Gbit each on several websites, I believed there was only 4GB storage on the projector, but apparently this is a mistake as there’s just under 32 GB flash on the board with a 1.91GB internal storage partition, and a 32GB (less than that in reality, maybe ~28GB) “NAND flash” partition. The firmware is rooted by default.

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The system completely lacks DRM, but considering the projector is only running Android 4.4, I’m not even sure that’s a problem.

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CPU-Z wrongly reports a “Rockchip RK3066” processor, but it gets the rest correct with a quad core Cortex A7 processor clocked at 216 MHz to1.20 GHz with a Mali-400MP GPU. Android 4.4.4 runs on top of Linux 3.10.0 in rk30sdk board. 999MB total RAM is available to the system, but at the time I ran CPU-Z only 448 MB was available.

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Rikomagic RKM R1 Benchmarks

Antutu 6.x confirms Rockchip RK3128 is not exactly a beast, and the projector performance may not satisfy everybody, depending on which apps you play to run. Performance may not be that important if you only plan to watch videos, or use the HDMI input.

While the processor is slow I never had “app not working: windows, likely because the internal flash performance is quite decent at 39.91 MB/s (R) and 31.46 MB/s (W)

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Finally, let’s have a look at network performance by copying a file over WiFi + SAMBA with ES File Explorer in both direction. The results are rather weak (1.8 MB/s on average), and may explain why some videos were buffering in Kodi.

WiFi Throughput in MB/s – Click to Enlarge

I also did some tests with iperf in case the culprit is SAMBA as with Amlogic Android Marshmallow firmware, but results with iperf are also rather low (about 3 MB/s):

Upload:

Download:

Conclusion

Rikomagic RKM R1 Android projector works much better than Doogee P1, is much easier to use, and also comes with HDMI input. The projector is also mostly bug free, and I had almost no problems playing YouTube videos, but that does not mean the user experience is perfect. First the processor is quite low end, and relying on older software like Android 4.4 and Kodi 14.2, possibly because of all the extra work needed to make the DLP projector work.

PROS

• Mostly bug-free and responsive firmware
• Projector works well in dark room
• The touchpad on top of the project is an amazing idea, and works really well, also supporting multi-finger gestures.
• HDMI input to connect another computer or laptop
• Built-in battery  that last about 4 to 5 hours with the projector
• Google Play install, and no problem to install and use apps such as YouTube
• OTA firmware update appears to be supported

CONS

• Low end SoC with quad core Cortex A7 and Mali-400MP GPU
• The projector runs somewhat older software: Android 4.4 and Kodi 14.2
• Kodi 14.2 does not work with all video codec, for example H.265 and VC1 are not supported
• WiFi performance is rather poor
• Built-in speaker of low quality, and audio is often distorted or saturates via the 3.5mm audio jack (headphone and external speakers)
• Lack of DRM support
• Higher brightness would be beneficial in some situations
• Focus appears to be slightly different on left and right sides of display (at least with my sample)

I’d like to thank Rikomagic for providing a sample, and if you are interested you could purchase the projector for around $246 shipped by DHL, or if you plan to order in quantities, contact the company via the product page.

Tweet Rikomagic RKM R1 is a projector running Android 4.4.4, and powered by Rockchip RK3128 quad core Cortex A7 processor with 1GB RAM, and 32GB storage. It has a particular…

Many Apollo Lake mini PCs have come to market, but it’s still pretty hard to find a fanless consumer mini PC based on Intel Apollo Lake processor, and even harder if you also want  HDMI 2.0 output for 4K @ 60 Hz support. MeLE has been working on an upgrade of their PCG03 mini PC that brings all those features. PCG03 Apo fanless mini PC is powered by an Intel Celeron N3350 dual core processor with 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, and features HDMI 2.0 and VGA ports.

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MeLE PCG03 Apo mini PC specifications:

• SoC – Intel Celeron N3350 dual core “Apollo Lake” processor @ 1.10 / 2.40 Ghz with 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 (6W TDP)
  
• System Memory – 4GB DDRL3L (soldered)
• Storage – 32GB eMMC 5.0 flash (soldered), 1x M.2 SSD slot, 1x micro SD slot
• Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz, and VGA
• Audio – Via HDMI, 3.5mm audio combo jack
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 ac WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0
• USB – 3x USB 3.0 ports, 1x USB 2.0 port, 1x USB3.0 Type-C port
• Misc – Power button, Kensington Lock, 75x75mm VESA mount support, BIOS features: PXE boot, Wake-on-LAN, BIOS reset button, auto power-on after power loss
• Power Supply  – Input: AC 100-240V, Output: DC 12V / 1A with UL, UK, GS, and SAA plugs
• Dimensions – 150 x 103 x 37 mm
• Weight – 500 grams

The mini PC will run Windows 10 Home (64-bit) with English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Polish, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Russian and Arabic languages pre-installed. Linux support is not a given on Apollo Lake mini PCs, as I’ve recently found out with Beelink AP42 whose BIOS does not support Linux, despite being advertised with Linux support. Maybe there’s a better chance of Linux support with MeLE, since they’ve sold Ubuntu mini PCs in the past.

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We’ll still have to wait for more details about pricing and availability, but the mini PC will surely be sold on MeLE’s Aliexpress store once it launches.

Via AndroidPC.es

Tweet Many Apollo Lake mini PCs have come to market, but it’s still pretty hard to find a fanless consumer mini PC based on Intel Apollo Lake processor, and even…

MAXOAK K2 is a large capacity (50,000 mAh) power bank designed for laptop with ~20V and 12V outputs, but it can also charge USB devices thanks to its 4 USB ports. Since I’ve already checkout the device and specifications in the first part of the review, I’ll report results from my tests with the power bank in the last couple of weeks.

Since the power bank had some charge, more exactly between 50 and 75% (2x LEDs on, 1x LED blinking, 1x LED off), I decided to start by charging my phone, Vernee Apollo Lite, which is equipped with a 3,180 mAh battery. So I connected the phone to one of the two 5V/2.1A USB port, together with USB Charger Doctor to monitor voltage and current, and with 50% charge, the phone would draw around 5.07V @ 1.15 A. Note that the voltage and amperage will change depending on battery charge level, and other parameters.

That worked, but since the phone comes with a fast charger through its USB-C port, a full charge normally takes 1 hours, while a charge with the power bank, or any other 5V/2A power adapter will take 3 to 4 hours. Switching to one of the two 5V/1.0A ports, it would charge at 5.07V @ 0.97A. I could charge the phone 6 times in total until the power bank’s battery was completely depleted. If we can extrapolate from a fully charged power bank that means between 10 and 12 charges for the phone. I’d normally charge the phone when the battery level was between 5 to 25%.

Then I recharged the power bank connecting the provided 16.8V/2.5A power supply, and it took a little over 7 hours for a full charge.

Next up, I connected CHUWI LapBook 14.1 laptop that takes 12V input. None of the 14 connector adapters provided with the power bank worked, so I had to use a connector adapter from my own power adapter kit in order to be able to plug the power bank cable into the DC jack of the laptop.

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I could charge the laptop from 10% to 100% in about 3 hours and 20 minutes, which is about the time it takes to charge with the laptop power supply. There were still 4 LEDs on or blinking after charging, but shortly after it went to three, which would mean the laptop could be charged 4 times with the power bank. However, since the laptop’s battery has a capacity of 9,000 mAh @ 7.4V (66.6Wh), you should be able to charge it around 2.5 times with the 50,000 mAh @ 3.7V (185 Wh) power bank. Once the laptop is fully charged, the power bank will turn off automatically, as it should.

Most laptops have 19V to 20V power input, so I also tested an old Dell Inspiron normally powered by a 19.5V power adapter. The battery of the laptop does not work anymore, and I could not find a working replacement, which means we only use it when connected to the mains. It would be interesting to see whether K2 can power the laptop, and also be used as a UPS for “battery-less laptops”. Again I had to take a connector adapter from my own kit, as the ones provided with the power bank would not fit. Once I connect the laptop to the 20V/3A output of the power bank, I could start the laptop, but it complained about the AC adapter and battery, most probably because the battery is missing.

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No problem, I just press F3 key to carry on, and the laptop could boot to the Windows desktop. I could also charge the smartphone at the same time, but note that you can use both 12V and 20V based on the user’s manual.

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To stress test the power bank a little, I loaded Aida64, and run the stability test to draw more power, and I let it run for 45 minutes, and there was no problem at all to use the laptop. I also simulated several power failure during while Aida64 was running, by connecting and disconnecting the 16.8V/2.5A power adapter for the power bank, and no problem. That looks all good for that use case, especially since in summer and during the rainy season we frequently get power failures at home, most of the time micro-power failures, i.e. that just last a few seconds or even less.

Finally, I checked whether it could be used to power multiple development board via its four USB ports. So I connected a Raspberry Pi 2 board and NanoPi NEO 2 board + USB hard drive to the 5V/2.1A ports, and lower power Mediatek LinkIt Smart MT7688 Duo, and Onion Omega2+ WiFi boards to the 5V/1A ports.

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I pressed the power button on the power bank, and all four board could start with issue. Later I connect the power supply to the power bank, and simulate a power failure. After disconnecting power from the mains, the boards would still run (good), after reconnecting it the mains, all 4 USB ports would turn off (bad). I tried again with only one board connected the USB, and the same result, so the USB ports are turned off when you connect the power bank to the mains. I tried again but connecting the Dell laptop to 20V and my phone to one of the USB ports, and the laptop keeps running when I insert the power supply, but my phone stops charging. The only way to restart charging is to press the power button. The first time, it will turn off all port, including the 20V port supplying my laptop, and the second time it will power at all. Note the kind of behavior you want if you are running a device without battery from the power bank. Nevertheless, it’s not exactly the main purpose.

The power bank also has over current and under-current cut-offs which may need to be taken into account:  20V > 4.5A; 20V < 200 mA;  12V < 150 Ma; 5V < 70 mA. I have not attempted a teardown of the power bank, since I could not find an obvious (and non-destructive) ways to do so.

MAXOAK K2 laptop power bank is sold for $135.99 on Amazon US, as well as eBay. You may also be able to find more info on maxoak’s website.

Tweet MAXOAK K2 is a large capacity (50,000 mAh) power bank designed for laptop with ~20V and 12V outputs, but it can also charge USB devices thanks to its 4…

The first Wandboard development boards launched in 2012 nearly 5 years ago based on Freescale i.MX6 Solo and Dual processor, with Wandboard Quad launched a few months later. The boards were fairly popular at the time due to their better specifications, and especially Freescale’s much better documentation and software compared to the competition such as Broadcom (Raspberry Pi) and Allwinner (Cubieboard). Since the boards are based on TechNexion EDM system-on-modules they could also be used by companies working on their own products based on the system-on-module. It’s also a good platform if you want to test various version of Android, because the company released Jelly Bean, Kitkat, Lollipop, and Marshmallow images for the boards, and I’m expecting a Lollipop version soon.

However, albeit the company worked on other NXP boards such as PICO-IM6UL Android Things, there had not been any hardware upgrade for Wandboard for nearly 4 years, but last month Wandboard QuadPLUS was released with NXP i.MX 6QuadPlus processor boasting a faster GC2000+ GPU, an upgrade to 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity, the addition of a power management IC, and a fix for HDMI EDID + CEC.

Wandboard QuadPLUS without Heatsink – Click to Enlarge

Wandboard QuadPLUS board specifications:

• SoC – NXP i.MX 6QuadPlus quad core Cortex A9 processor @ 1.0 GHz + Vivante GC2000+ 3D GPU + Vivante GC355 + Vivante GC320 2D compositor
  
• System Memory – 2GB RAM
• Storage – 2x micro SD card slot + SATA connector
• Video Output – HDMI with CEC
• Audio I/O – HDMI, S/PDIF (optical), 3x 3.5mm jacks for Line In, Line Out, and Mic In.
• Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet (Atheros AR8035) + Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.1 (Broadcom BCM4339)
• USB – 1x USB 2.0 host port, + 1x mini USB OTG port
• Debug – 1x RS232 port; UART & JTAG via through holes
• Expansion Headers
  • 4x 20-pin headers with GPIO, I²C, PWM, SATA, SPI, UART…
  • 4-lane MIPI CSI connector
• Power Supply – 5V DC via power barrel (5.5/2.1mm) ; NXP MMPF0100 PMIC
• Dimensions – 95 mm x 95 mm
• Weight – 100 grams

Beside Android, the board can also run Ubuntu, and Linux built with the Yocto Project. The company also introduced an official camera module for the board with CAM-OV5645 module based on Omnivision OV5645, and supported in Linux 4.1.15 and greater.

Wandboard QuadPLUS is sold for $139, CAM-OV5645 camera module for $25 directly on TechNexion website. The price of older boards have also been reduced by $10. You’ll find more details on Wandboard.org with firmware and source code downloads, a Wiki page, and forums, but most information has not been updated to include QuadPLUS board.

Thanks to Fran for the tip.

Tweet The first Wandboard development boards launched in 2012 nearly 5 years ago based on Freescale i.MX6 Solo and Dual processor, with Wandboard Quad launched a few months later. The…

Motorola Lapdock may have been ahead of its time, as laptop docks for smartphone are back in vogue with products like NexDock, and Apple could soon launch their own iPhone laptop dock. Another option is Miraxess Mirabook laptop dock with a 13.3″ display, and a battery lasting up to 24 hours, that works for smartphones, development boards, and HDMI TV sticks thanks to its USB type C port.

Mirabook specifications:

• Display – 13.3″ IPS display with 1920×1080 resolution (non-touch, except if they raise $2 millions…)
• Audio – Speakers, 3.5mm audio jack
• Video Output – HDMI port
• Storage – SD card slot
• QWERTY keyboard & multi-touch trackpad
• USB
  • Integrated USB type C cable to connect to phone, board or HDMI TV stick
  • USB type C port to charge the Mirabook battery
  • 2x USB type A host port
• Battery – TBD capacity good for 24 hours while charging your phone
• Dimensions – 320 x 220 x 15 mm
• Weight – 1 kg

The solution relies on SlimPort to provide video & audio over USB as it works for many products, and does not require as much (CPU) resources as DisplayLink. The latter will however be considered as a stretch goal if the campaign raises over $300,000.

The company explains that “convergence” operating systems such as Windows Continuum, Samsung DeX, Auxens Oxi OS, or Remix Singularity, are particularly well suited for the Mirabook, as they provide a desktop experience when the phone is connected to a larger display. They also mentioned Leena OS which I had not come across before, and works on any Android 4.2 or greater smartphone with a free version supporting multi-window, web apps, and a browser, and a Pro version  adding some extra features like a native PDF reader, and the possibly to put icons on the desktop.

[embedded content]

The project has launched on Indiegogo with Miraxess aiming to raise at least $50,000. A $180 Early bird pledge should get you a Mirabook, while the retail price after the Indiegogo campaign is expected to be $299. Shipping will add around $15, and delivery is scheduled for December 2017.

Via Liliputing

Tweet Motorola Lapdock may have been ahead of its time, as laptop docks for smartphone are back in vogue with products like NexDock, and Apple could soon launch their own…

Intel is planning to launch “Michigan City” Apollo Lake Compute Sticks sometimes with year, but Bben, after launching MN17A Apollo Lake mini PC, may be able to launch their own Celeron N3450 TV stick before Intel does, as Netbook Italia reports the company showcased such product at the Hong Kong Global Sources Electronics Fair.

Bben Applo Lake “Micro Computer” (foreground) vs Cherry Trail Stick (background)

Bben Micro computer  specifications:

• SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz, 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz; 6W TDP
• System Memory – 2 to 4GB DDR3
• Storage – 32 or 64 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot
• Video Output – HDMI port (likely limited to 1.4 version with 4K @ 30 Hz max resolution/framerate)
• Audio – HDMI + 3.5mm audio jack
• Connectivity – Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.2
• USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports
• Misc – Fan and ventilation holes
• Power Supply – TBD via power barrel
• Dimensions & Weight – TBD (Metal housing)

The stick, whose name is still to be decided, will run Windows 10 or Android (version TBD), including a dual boot version. The first part of the video below introduced the Cherry Trail TV sticks, before a short description of the Apollo Lake one, and other products.
[embedded content]

The new TV stick should be released this summer for a yet-to-be-determined price. You’ll likely be able to purchase it from Bben Official Aliexpress store once it comes out.

Tweet Intel is planning to launch “Michigan City” Apollo Lake Compute Sticks sometimes with year, but Bben, after launching MN17A Apollo Lake mini PC, may be able to launch their…

Last year, Octavo Systems introduced OSD3358 System-in-Package (SiP) that includes Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358 processor, 256MB to 1GB RAM, a PMIC and an LDO into a single package. Since then the SiP has been found in BeagleBone Black Wireless and BeagleBone Blue, and at the time of launch there was also some development around PocketBone, a tiny open source hardware Smalls mint tin sized board based on OSD3358, which is smaller than a CHIP board, but a little bigger than NanoPi NEO board.

Click to Enlarge

There’s now been some progress with prototypes of the board manufactured with the following specifications:

• SiP (System-in-Package) – Octavo Systems OSD3358 with TI Sitara AM3358 ARM Cortex-A8 processor @ up to 1 GHz,  PowerVR SGX530 GPU, PMIC + LDO, and 512MB DDR3
  
• Storage – micro SD slot
• USB – 2x micro USB port one for power, one OTG port
• Expansion – 10-pin header (unpopulated) with SPI, I2C, UART, GND, and 3.3V signal
• Misc – Power & reset buttons
• Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port; 4-pin header for 3.7 LiPo battery
• Dimensions – ~54mm x ~33mm (fits in Altoid Smalls mint tin box).

The first version of the board was designed with Eagle, but the schematics and PCB layout have been redesigned with KiCad open source software instead, and all hardware design files are released under CERN Open Hardware License v1.2. The boards should be able to run any distributions that works on BeagleBone Black derived boards such as Debian, Angstrom, Ubuntu, etc…

PocketBone is not for sale yet, but if you are interested you could fill out a survey, which could either end-up starting a group buy, or – if there is more interest than expected – a crowdfunding campaign. More details about the project can be found on its hackaday.io page.

Tweet Last year, Octavo Systems introduced OSD3358 System-in-Package (SiP) that includes Texas Instruments Sitara AM3358 processor, 256MB to 1GB RAM, a PMIC and an LDO into a single package. Since…

Orange Pi 2G IoT board was released a couple of weeks ago, shortly followed by Android and Ubuntu images, but since it was not based on Allwinner, but an RDA Micro  8810PL processor, we did not have any source code so far, which can be a real problem for a development board… Shenzhen Xunlong has now managed to upload a 6.7GB Android SDK to MEGA, with the link published via Orange Pi Resources page.

MEGA has a download limit which depends on how much traffic they get at the time, and after 5.3 GB download,  I was asked to register for a PRO account, or wait for four hours before resuming the download. If you want to avoid this limit for any large MEGA download, you can run megadl instead. That’s what I did in Ubuntu 16.04 (remember to escape any special characters with ):

Once the download is done, none of the files have extension, but the first file is a gzip compressed files, while others are just raw data, so I concatenated all 6 files into a gzip file before uncompressing it, at which point I realized it was a tar file too:

The company has made it unnecessary difficult for that part, but I was finally successful, and that’s what the content of the SDK looks like.

Click to Enlarge

The Android SDK  relies on Linux 3.10.62, and I’ve been told while the Android part is quite poor, the Linux part looks better, even though the version is not quite the latest. U-boot source code is also included, and part of the 2G modem code can be found in the modem directory.

I got the news through ParrotGeek1 who plans to rebase the code to Linux 3.10.65 and release a Debian image. He has setup a RDA8810 github account with the Linux kernel. So you’ll have to be patient, or join the fun to get a better Linux image. There’s not clear roadmap for Orange Pi 3G-IoT or 4G-IoT based on other RDA Micro processors, but that would certainly help motivating a few more people if such boards were planned.

Tweet Orange Pi 2G IoT board was released a couple of weeks ago, shortly followed by Android and Ubuntu images, but since it was not based on Allwinner, but an…

Healthcare takes around 10% of worldwide GDP, and while in some cases an increase in the healthcare to GDP ratio means better care for people, in other cases it may  lead to a decrease in the population’s living standards. There are political, business, and legal issues involved in the costs, but overtime I’m confident that technology can both improve care and lower the costs, in some instances dramatically, especially if open source designs become more common, and there’s some work in that respect with open source projects for prosthetics, opthalmoscope, and even surgical robots. Some commercial projects also aim(ed) to lower the costs of diagnosis tools such as Sia Lab’s medical lab dongle or Scanadu medical tricorder. The latter project sadly did not manage to pass FDA approval, and the company will stop supporting it on May 15, 2017, but that does not mean others have given up on developing a Star Trek like tricorder project, and Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE – which aims at diagnosing 13 disease states – selected two winners for the competition: Final Frontier Medical Devices and Dynamical Biomarkers Group.

Final Frontier Medical Devices DxtER Tricorder

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Final Frontier Medical Devices is a US based team of engineers and medical professionals that realized 90% of patients going to emergency services just wanted a diagnostics for their problem, and decided to work on a DxtER tricorder, which “includes a group of non-invasive sensors that are designed to collect data about vital signs, body chemistry and biological functions. This information is then synthesized in the device’s diagnostic engine to make a quick and accurate assessment”.

Final Frontier Mediacal Devices got $2.5 million for their achievements, not bad considering they worked part-time on the project. The video below explains a little more about the team, their work, and the problem they try to solve, but does not give much details about the actual product and different sensors used.

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DxtER cannot identify all 13 conditions from the XPRIZE challenge, but their algorithms are said to be able to diagnose 34 health conditions including diabetes, atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, urinary tract infection, sleep apnea, leukocytosis, pertussis, stroke, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.

That aren’t much more details in DxtER’s product page for now.

Dynamical Biomarkers Group Tricorder

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Dynamical Biomarkers Group is a 39 persons team based in Taiwan, supported by HTC Research, and  led by Harvard Medical School Associate Professor Chung-Kang Peng. The team got the second prize, still a cool $1 million, for their tricorder prototype comprised of three modules:

• Smart Vital-Sense Monitor – Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and oxygen saturation.
• Smart Blood-Urine-Breath Test Kit – Analyze fluids or breath dynamics to diagnose conditions such as urinary tract infection, diabetes, and COPD
• Smart Scope Module – Bluetooth enabled magnifying camera to obtain high-resolution images of the skin and tympanic (ear) membrane. Used for diseases such as melanoma or otitis media.

These modules allow “physiologic signal analysis, image processing, biomarker detection”, and have been designed to be easy to use through a smartphone with an app that guide the patient through specific tests to generate a diagnosis.

The video below, again does not give much details about the product itself, but present the team, and explain the motivations such as controlling the cost of medical resources in Taiwan, and especially providing quality healthcare in rural areas of Greater China.

[embedded content]

From the video, they seem to have greater resources for development than the US based team. Some more details about the tricoder can be found in the Center for Dynamical Biomarkers’ (DBIOM) XPRIZE page.

Via Liliputing

Tweet Healthcare takes around 10% of worldwide GDP, and while in some cases an increase in the healthcare to GDP ratio means better care for people, in other cases it…

GIGABYTE has introduced an update to Bay Trail based GA-J1900-D3V and Braswell based GA-N3150N-D3V motherboards with the launch of GIGABYTE GA-J3455N-D3H mini-ITX motherboard powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 Apollo Lake processor, and equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, four SATA interfaces, and support for up to 16GB RAM.

Click to Enlarge

GA-J3455N-D3H specifications:

• SoC – Intel Celeron J3455 quad core processor @ 1.50 / 2.3 GHz with 12EU Intel HD Graphics 500, 2 MB Cache; 10W TDP
• System Memory – 2x DDR3L SO-DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB RAM; Dual channel; DDR3L 1866/1600/1333 MHz non-ECC memory modules supported
• Storage
  • 2x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0 & 1) via SoC, 2x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 2 & 3) via ASMedia ASM1061 chip
  • 1x 64 Mbit flash for licensed AMI UEFI BIOS with PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
• Video Output
• Audio
  • Realtek ALC887 codec; 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel (to configure 7.1-channel audio, you have to use an HD front panel audio module)
  • 3x audio jacks (Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
• Connectivity – 2x Realtek GbE LAN chips (10/100/1000 Mbit)
• Expansion Slots – 1 x PCI slot
• USB – 4x USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header) via SoC, 6x USB 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) via SoC + GENESYS LOGIC USB 2.0 Hub
• Other internal I/O Connectors
  • 1x 24-pin ATX main power connector; 1x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
  • 1x CPU fan header; 1x system fan header
  • 1x front panel header; 1x front panel audio header
  • 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 header; 2  USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  • 1x parallel port header
  • 1x Clear CMOS jumper
  • 1x chassis intrusion header
• Misc – 1x PS/2 keyboard port, 1x PS/2 mouse port, 2x serial ports (DB9), H/W Monitoring (voltage, temperature, fan speed detection & control)
• Power Supply – ATX
• Dimensions – 17 x 17 cm (mini-ITX form factor)

If two Gigabit Ethernet ports are not enough for your application,  you could also add a PCIe network card. The company only claims Windows 10 64-bit support for the motherboard, but Linux distributions are likely to work too, provided it is not somehow locked by the BIOS/UEFI.

It does not appear to be for sale just yet, and we do not know the price either, but it could be in the $100 range for the barebone motherboard. More details may be available on the product page.

Thanks to Paul for the tip.

Tweet GIGABYTE has introduced an update to Bay Trail based GA-J1900-D3V and Braswell based GA-N3150N-D3V motherboards with the launch of GIGABYTE GA-J3455N-D3H mini-ITX motherboard powered by an Intel Celeron J3455…

Rockchip has launched four more processors at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2017, with three SoCs specifically targeting tablets namely RK3126C, RK3326 and RK3366, and one SoC, RK3368H modified from RK3368, designed to provide a lower cost alternative to RK3288 and RK3399 for 2-in-1 hybrid laptops and tablets.

The company only provided limited information with regards to the tablet SoCs specifications:

• RK3126C quad core processor supporting 1080p video decoding and HD (720p?) displays for entry-level tablets
• RK3326 quad core ARM Cortex A35 processor with a quad core Mali GPU, DDR3/LPDDR memory interface, 1080p60 H.264, MPEG-4/-2 video decoding, and 1080p30 H.264 video encoding
• RK3366 quad core ARM Cortex A53 processor with a quad core Mali GPU, DDR3/LPDDR memory interface, USB 3.0 interface, and 4K H.265 video decoding

All three processors will be running Android 7.1. I could not find any tablets based on the processor yet, so we may have to wait a few more month.

We have more details about RK3368H processor since it’s an update of RK3368 processor, and a tablet was showcased at the event.

Rockchip RK3368H key specifications:

• CPU – Octa-core ARM Cortex A53 processor @ 1.5 Ghz
• GPU – Imagination PowerVR SDX6110 GPU @ 600 MHz
• Memory I/F – 32-bit DDR/LPDDR
• Display I/F  – Full HD Display supported
• Video – 4K H.265 and H.264 video decoding
• Ethernet and HDMI port “reduced” (likely meaning removed) for lower costs
• 28nm process

The processor can run Android 7.1 operating systems, including desktop optimized version such as Remix OS, Phoenix OS, or Light Biz OS. The company claims the tablet shown above gets around 48,000 points in Antutu benchmark. Netbook Italia also posted a video of the tablet (in Italian) showing it’s made by Chiptrip, but they have not updated their MID page with the new tablet just yet.

[embedded content]

Via AndroidPC.es

Tweet Rockchip has launched four more processors at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair 2017, with three SoCs specifically targeting tablets namely RK3126C, RK3326 and RK3366, and one SoC, RK3368H modified…

Most of us now listen to music on the go using our phones, but once upon a not-so-distant time, portable MP3 players were a popular way to listen music. They have not completely disappeared, and Brad Linder of Liliputing needed some for one of his projects, so he bought four inexpensive MP3 players on GearBest with prices ranging from $1.51 to $3.75 to check them out. It turns out the one with the best audio quality and sturdiness was Simplicity Fashion Pocket MP3 Player going for $1.51 shipped.

So let’s see what we get for that price:

• Audio – 3.5mm audio jack
• Storage – micro SD slot up to 16GB (no internal storage)
• USB – mini USB port for charging, and connect to PC which detects the MP3 player as an SD card reader (but it’s rather slow)
• Misc – Power, volume, next, previous, and play/pause buttons; metal clip; power LED
• Battery – 90mAh battery good for around 2 to 3 hours of playback
• Dimensions – 4.10 x 2.80 x 1.10 cm
• Weight – 20 grams

The package only includes the MP3 player, and you still have to provide your own mini USB to USB cable, headphone, and micro SD card. Brad compares all his four MP3 players in the 5-minute video below.

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Since $1.5 is not that far from $1, I decided to look for even cheaper MP3 player, hopefully close to, or under, the $1 mark.  It was not difficult to find. I started on eBay where I could find a $0.99 MP3 player including shipping, but you need to select the pink model to get that price, as all other colors go for $1.38. It’s much easier to find sub $1 models on Aliexpress, including an 81 cents MP3 Player, again including shipping.  At those price, they could even be used as promotional items at event that you’d give away to potential customers. Just don’t expect them to last for a very long time.

Tweet Most of us now listen to music on the go using our phones, but once upon a not-so-distant time, portable MP3 players were a popular way to listen music….

Arduino MKRFOX1200 is the first official Arduino board to feature LPWAN technology thanks to a Microchip ATA8520 Sigfox module combined with a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex M0+ micro-controller, all that in the same form factor as MKRZero or MKR1000 boards.

Click to Enlarge

Arduino MKRFOX1200 specifications:

• MCU – Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+  MCU @ 48 MHz with 256KB flash, 32KB SRAM
• Connectivity – Microchip AT8520 Sigfox module operating @ 868 MHz with 2dB “GSM” antenna connected to u.FL connector
• 2x 14-pin headers for I/Os:
  • 8x digital I/O
  • 8x external interrupts (0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, A1 -or 16-, A2 – or 17)
  • 7x analog inputs (8/10/12-bit ADC)
  • 1x analog out (10-bit DAC)
  • 12x PWM pins ((0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, A3 – or 18 -, A4 -or 19)
  • 1x UART, 1x SPI, 1x I2C
  • 3.3V operating voltage
  • DC Current per I/O Pin 7 mA
• USB – 1x full speed micro USB device and embedded host
• Misc – Reset button, LED
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB or VIN pin
  • 2x AA or AAA batteries good for up to 6 months (connected via green screw terminals)
• Dimensions – 67.64 x 25 mm
• Weight – 32 grams

Since the Sigfox module is limited to 868 MHz, the board can only be used in Europe, Africa, and Middle East. You’ll get 2-year free subscription to Sigfox network with the board (for up to 140 messages per day), as well as free access to Spot’it geolocation service that allows you to track the board without GPS or any extra hardware. How well that works will depend on the coverage in your area, and I could not find no accuracy information allowing us to compare it to GPS. Just like other Arduino board, MKRFOX1200 is fully open source hardware, and can be programmed with the Arduino IDE. You’ll find the full documentation in the Getting Started Guide.
[embedded content]

Official Arduino boards are usually fairly expensive compared to the competition, but I find Arduino MKRFOX1200 to be pretty good value at 35 Euros (Select European website) considering you also get 2-year of Sigfox network access, and geolocation tracking.

Tweet Arduino MKRFOX1200 is the first official Arduino board to feature LPWAN technology thanks to a Microchip ATA8520 Sigfox module combined with a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex M0+ micro-controller, all…