BredOS is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux Arm and optimized to run on Rockchip RK3588/RK3588S single board computers (SBCs) with currently support for 22 boards from Radxa, Orange Pi, Khadas, and others. Board vendors will usually provide OS images for their SBCs, but the quality and support may be limited, so projects like Armbian and DietPi are maintaining Ubuntu and/or Debian images for popular single board computers. But if you’re an Arch Linux (Arm) fan, there are fewer choices, and you may have to roll your own port for your board. BredOS provides an easy-to-use alternative based on Arch Arm Linux. BredOS highlights (provided by the developers): User-Friendly Interface – A simplified and intuitive user interface for easy navigation and use. Arch-Based – Built on top of Arch Linux, ensuring access to a vast repository of packages and a rolling release model. Arm Support – Optimized for Arm-based [...]

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We have received the latest tiny indoor security camera from SONOFF: the second generation of the CAM Slim series known as the CAM Slim Gen2 (or CAM S2 for shorts). Some of you might remember the first-generation CAM Slim model reviewed by Jean-Luc about two years ago. The Gen2 version keeps the same 1080p resolution but comes with several upgraded features, including AI algorithms to distinguish living beings, customizable detection zones, customizable privacy zones, sleep mode, enhanced low-light image quality, and flexible storage management. Although it’s packed with several enhancements, its price is lower than the Gen1. Let’s delve into the details! SONOFF CAM Slim Gen2 unboxing Inside the box, you’ll find a compact manual, a USB-C cable, a mounting kit, and a sticker template acting as a drilling guide. The camera is smaller than your palm and comes mounted on a versatile, rotatable base, making installation in various positions [...]

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The Khronos Group has just announced the release of Vulkan 1.4 cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API. The new release makes some of the optional extensions and features mandatory, adds streaming transfers, and supports 8K rendering on up to eight targets. Minimum hardware limits have also been increased including at least seven maxBoundDescriptorSets and eight maxColorAttachments. Vulkan 1.4 highlights: Streaming Transfers: new implementation requirements to ensure applications can stream large quantities of data to a device while simultaneously rendering at full performance. Previously optional extensions and features critical to emerging high-performance applications are now mandatory in Vulkan 1.4, ensuring availability across multiple platforms. These include push descriptors, dynamic rendering local reads, and scalar block layouts. Maintenance extensions up to and including VK_KHR_maintenance6 are now part of the core Vulkan 1.4 specification. 8K rendering with up to eight separate render targets is now guaranteed to be supported, along with several other [...]

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Silicon Labs SiWG917Y and SiWN917Y are pre-certified, ultra-low power 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) 5.4 modules made as an extension of the Wireless Gecko Series 2 Arm Cortex-M33 microcontroller family and designed for IoT applications such as Smart Home devices, building automation solutions, healthcare devices, industrial sensors, and asset trackers. The SiWG917Y module is used as a standalone solution where all application code runs on an Arm Cortex-M4 core, and the SiWN917Y module is designed as a Network Co-processor so customers can execute their application on a separate MCU while the wireless module manages WiFi 6 and BLE 5.4. Silicon Labs SiWx917Y modules specifications: Microcontroller MCU Arm Cortex-M4F application core up to 180 MHz (225 DMIPS performance) Arm Cortex-Mnetwork wireless processor running up to 160 MHz, Accelerators – Integrated FPU, MPU, NVIC, Matrix vector processor (MVP) Memory 672 KB embedded SRAM shared by Cortex-M4 and network [...]

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CapibaraZero open-source firmware aims to offer a low-cost alternative to Flipper Zero for ESP32-S3-based hardware platforms and soon other gizmos with ESP32 wireless microcontrollers, notably the LilyGO T-Embed CC1101, similar to the original T-Embed with ESP32-S3 WiSoC, but also featuring a Texas Instruments CC1101 Sub-GHz microcontroller and an NXP PN532 NFC/RFID module. The Flipper Zero is a popular portable multi-tool for pentesters and hardware hackers based on STMicro STM32WB55 Bluetooth 5 LE & 802.15.4 wireless microcontroller and a TI CC1101 Sub-Ghz MCU that got involved in controversies such as a ban proposal in Canada last year due to its (dubious) potential use for car theft. Since then we’ve seen several alternatives such as Monstatek M1 (that’s yet to be delivered to backers…) and HackBat open-source hardware with Raspberry Pi RP2040,  ESP8266 WiFi module, and the CC1101 RF transceiver. The CapibaraZero firmware offers another way to create your own cheap Flipper [...]

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Renesas RZ/T2H industrial MPU is the most powerful member of its RZ/T2 series of real-time microprocessors. The MPU features four Arm Cortex-A55 CPUs for application tasks and two Cortex-R52 CPUs for real-time control. It supports 9-axis motor control with 3-phase PWM timers, delta-sigma interfaces, and encoder interfaces. It also supports Industrial Ethernet protocols like EtherCAT, PROFINET, and TSN. These features make it ideal for industrial applications such as industrial robots, PLCs, motion controllers, and CNC machines. Renesas launched the RZ/T2L single-core Arm Cortex-R52 MPU just last year, and before that, in 2022, they launched the RZ/T2M dual Arm Cortex-R52 MPU. The RZ/T2L was just a cost-down version of RZ/T2M with an EtherCAT controller, compared to those old controllers the latest RZ/T2H supports 9-axis motor control and compatibility with various industrial Ethernet protocols. Renesas  RZ/T2H specifications: CPU 4x Arm Cortex-A55 (64-bit) clocked at up to 1.2GHz with 32KB L1 I/D cache, 1MB L3 cache 2x [...]

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The Orange Pi 5 Ultra is a Rockchip RK3588 SBC that’s slightly larger than a business card and visually identical to the Orange Pi 5 Max introduced last August, but replacing one of the two HDMI 2.1 video outputs on the latter with an HDMI 2.0 input port. The new single board computer is still offered with up to 16GB LPDDR5, an eMMC flash module connector or soldered-on eMMC flash, an M.2 socket for an NVMe SSD, 2.5GbE and WiFi 6E networking, and four USB 3.0/2.0 ports. Orange Pi 5 Ultra specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588 CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz Arm Mali-G610 MP4 GPU with support for OpenGL ES1.1/2.0/3.2, OpenCL 2.2, and Vulkan 1.2 6 TOPS AI accelerator with support for INT4/INT8/INT16/FP16 mixed operation VPU – 8Kp60 H.265/VP9/AVS2 10-bit decoder, 8Kp30 H.264 decoder, [...]

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We covered the Matter 1.3 specification in May 2024, but the Connectivity Standards Alliance is wasting no time and the Matter 1.4 specification is already out with features and improvements such as “Enhanced Multi-Admin”, Matter certifiable Home Routers and Access Points, energy management enhancements, and several new device types such as solar power equipment and batteries. Matter has been deployed in millions of Smart Home products in just a few years and aims to enable interoperability between devices from multiple vendors. Paisit reviewed a few Matter products from SONOFF including the MINIR4M Smart Switch, SONOFF Zigbee Bridge Ultra, and SwitchMan M5 Matter wall switch, and while Matter interoperability is working since devices can be controlled from Matter-compatible apps (e.g. Apple Home), users do lose some features found in the “native” app such as eWelink in the case of SONOFF devices. Matter 1.4 key improvements and new features: Home Routers and [...]

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Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) routers and modules have only been launched recently, but engineers are already working on Wi-Fi 8 (802.11bn) “Ultra High Reliability (UHR)”, and MediaTek shared some details in a whitepaper detailing some of the improvements of the new standard for its upcoming Filogic Wi-Fi 8 SoCs. Surprisingly, there aren’t any enhancements to the maximum performance with Wi-Fi 8 still offering up to 320 MHz channel bandwidth, 23 Gbps maximum PHY rate, and support for 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz frequency bands, as well as up to 8 spatial streams. The Wi-Fi 8 improvements are all meant to improve Wi-Fi reliability, network efficiency, and power consumption in IoT use cases, which will end up improving the overall WLAN performance when many nodes are connected. Wi-Fi 8 new features: Coordinated Target Wait Time (TWT) allows low-power IoT devices to negotiate specific times for transmission with access points in order to [...]

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M5Stack has recently launched the M5Stack ATOMIC Display Base, an HDMI display driver designed to emulate traditional SPI TFT-LCD data output using Gowin GW1NR-9C FPGA and a built-in LT8618SX RGB-to-HDMI chip and designed to work with the company’s Atom IoT controller family based on ESP32 wireless microcontrollers. The module supports up to 720p (1280×720) image output with a 24-bit color depth and has an average frame rate of 12–16 FPS. Additionally, it can be paired with ATOM series hosts for various memory and application needs. These features make this compact device suitable for industrial control displays, smart home information screens, educational and conference presentations, and remote monitoring displays. The only downside of this device is that it requires a display with adaptive resolution scaling to avoid compatibility issues. M5Stack ATOMIC Display Base (HDMI display driver) specifications FPGA – Gowin GW1NR-9C (PDF datasheet) FPGA with 8,640 LUTs used to simulate SPI TFT-LCD data [...]

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u-blox has introduced the SARA-R10001DE, an LTE Cat 1bis module with integrated eSIM featuring multi-IMSI technology and eUICC functionality. The module is pre-provisioned with Wireless Logic’s Conexa IoT Network SIM profiles for global IoT deployments. The eSIM supports OTA using Remote SIM Provisioning, allowing the module to switch between multiple stored SIM profiles to connect to the best available network. Multi-IMSI technology allows eSIMs to store multiple International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) profiles, enabling dynamic network switching for uninterrupted connectivity. eUICC functionality, based on the GSMA standard, facilitates OTA updates and profile management, simplifying operator switching and ensuring global compliance. Although SARA-R10001DE is u-blox’s first LTE Cat 1bis module with an embedded SIM (eSIM), we previously covered the u-blox LEXI-R10 LTE Cat 1bis module and associated evaluation kit, as well as Cavli C17QS Cat 1bis module built around the Qualcomm QCX217 microcontroller. u-blox SARA-R10001DE module specifications: LTE module – SARA-R10001DE [...]

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ORICO sent me a COM2-T3 SSD enclosure capable of 40 Gbps speeds for review along with the company’s 1TB O7000 NVMe SSD rated at up to 7000MB/s read speed which converts to about 56 Gbps and should be plenty enough to test 40 Gbps SSD enclosure. Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 are not always equivalent But before going into the review itself, here’s some background information. When I test the USB-A and USB-C ports in mini PC reviews, I rely on an ORICO M234C3-U4 NVMe SSD enclosure with an Apacer SSD. That enclosure was falsely advertised as a “USB4″ enclosure but still works at 40Gbps with an Intel JH7440 Thunderbolt 3 chip that works with 40 Gbps USB Type-C ports and a JMS583  “USB 3.1 Gen 2 to PCIe NVMe Gen3” bridge for USB 3.0 ports up to 10 Gbps. I always assumed a 40Gbps USB-C peripheral would always work with [...]

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Boardcon Compact3588S SBC is another Raspberry Pi 5 alternative powered by a Rockchip RK3588S octa-core Cortex-A76/A55 SoC with a 6 TOP NPU for AI acceleration, up to 16GB RAM, up to 256GB eMMC flash, and all the features found in the Raspberry Pi 4, plus an M.2 socket supporting either an NVMe SSD or a 4G LTE module in conjunction with a Nano SIM card slot. It more closely follows the Raspberry Pi 4 form factor, but Rockchip RK3588S’ performance and capabilities make it a direct Raspberry Pi 5 competitor. Contrary to most credit card-sized single board computers, it follows a carrier board + soldered-on system-on-module design, rather than a single PCB. Boardcon Compact3588S specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3588S CPU – Octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A76 cores @ up to 2.4 GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 cores @ up to 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G610 GPU with OpenGL ES 3.2,  OpenCL [...]

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Founded in 2003, Bittele Electronics is a PCB manufacturer with factories in China and Canada that specializes in turn-key PCB assembly for prototype and low-to-mid volume PCB fabrication and assembly services. The facility in Toronto, Canada incorporates the company’s head office, sales office, parts procurement team, and a state-of-the-art PCB assembly line that allows the company to offer low-cost, one-stop PCB assembly services, including PCB fabrication, parts procurement, and PCB Assembly to their customers mostly based in the United States and Canada. The company also offers expertise in DFM (Design for Manufacturing) & DFT (Design For Test) checking for each order. They verify all details of your files, including BOM (Bill of Materials) and Gerber files, to allow you to correct your PCB design before starting production saving significant time and cost, and avoiding unnecessary repeats of the prototyping assembly process. Bittele Electronics provides an instant online quote for printed [...]

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Pimoroni Picade Max USB Controller is a Raspberry Pi RP2040 board designed for arcade game consoles with support for two joysticks and up to 30 buttons through standard DuPont socket connectors and one Plasma button connector. The board comes with a 2MB QSPI flash for the firmware, a USB-C port for power and programming, one of DuPont socket connectors exposes three ADC inputs, 3.3V, and GND, and there’s also a Qwicc/Qt STEMMA connector for I2C module expansion, plus BOOT and RESET buttons for programming.   Picade Max USB Controller specifications: Microcontroller – Raspberry Pi RP2040 dual-core Arm Cortex M0+ MCU @ 133 MHz with 264kB of SRAM Storage – 2MB QSPI flash supporting XiP USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming User inputs DuPont socket connectors 2x 4-way joystick inputs 30x arcade button inputs Plasma button connector Expansion Qw/ST (Qwiic/STEMMA QT) connector for I2C modules 3x ADC [...]

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There are already many USB-to-TLL debug boards on the market, but Olimex USB-SERIAL-L open-source hardware USB-to-serial board is more advanced than most with not only Tx/Rx pins, but also CTS/RTS pins, support for up to 3 Mbps speeds, and an adjustable voltage from 0.65V to 5.5V to cater to a wide range of boards. Olimex USB-SERIAL-L specifications: USB-to-serial chip – Silicon Labs CP2102N Seven signal lines – +5V, GND, CTS, RTS, TX, RX, Vref Baud rate from 50bps up to 3Mbps Output buffers with adjustable levels from 0.65 up to 5.5V USB – USB Type-C port for power and connect to host Misc – Power, Tx, and Rx status LEDs Power Supply Input – 5V via USB-C port Output – +5V to the target Dimensions – 35 x 35 x 8 mm (Custom 3D printed plastic box) Seven 200 mm long cables The Vref signal is used to adjust the [...]

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STMicro unveiled the STM32WL3 sub-GHz wireless MCU family last year and has now announced the general availability of the STM32WL33 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller, along with two development boards namely the NUCLEO-WL33CC1 and NUCLEO-WL33CC2 for battery-powered smart meters and smart building and industrial monitoring solutions using wireless M-Bus, Sigfox, WiSun, LoWPAN or Mioty LPWAN protocols among others. The NUCLEO-WL33CC1 and NUCLEO-WL33CC2 development boards look the same, but the former supports 826-958 MHz high-band frequencies, while the latter handles 413-479 MHz low-band frequencies. STMicro NUCLEO-WL33CC1/2 specifications: SoC – STMicro STM32WL33CCV6 MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M0+ up to 64 MHz Memory – 32KB SRAM with full retention Storage 256KB flash 1 KB OTP flash (user data) Sub-GHz Wireless 413-479 MHz or 826-958 MHz frequency bands with OOK, ASK, 2(G)FSK, 4(G)FSK, D‑BPSK, and DSSS modulations Compatible with proprietary and standardized wireless protocols such as WM-Bus, Sigfox, Mioty, KNX-RF, and IEEE 802.15.4g Low-power autonomous wake-up [...]

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If you’re in need of a low-end, cheap x86 platform you’re in luck since XCY is selling the X46G industrial fanless mini PC powered by an Intel Celeron 2955U Haswell processor or a Pentium 3805U Broadwell CPU for just about $60 as a barebone system, or around $74 with 4GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD, and a WiFi module as part of a Black Friday 2024’s promotion. It’s even cheaper in some other shops, as we’ll see below. Both CPUs have been discontinued since 2021, and nobody should use those in a desktop system unless you are of the very patient type. However, if you want to run some lightweight Windows or Linux application(s), make use of RS232 ports for industrial control, set up a Full HD HTPC, configure a dual GbE server, or need to run FreeDOS or similar x86-only operating systems, those ultra-cheap Intel mini PCs might prove [...]

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Waveshare has announced four new USB-C and USB-A development boards based on the Raspberry Pi RP2350 MCU: the Waveshare RP2350-Plus dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-Zero Mini dev board, the Waveshare RP2350-ETH Mini dev board, and the Waveshare RP2350-GEEK USB dev board. The RP2350-Plus is a low-cost, high-performance Pico-like development board with the RP2350 MCU, various I/O, battery support, USB Type-C, and compatibility with Raspberry Pi Pico modules.  The RP2350-Zero Mini is another compact dev board with castellated pins, 29 GPIOs, USB Type-C, PIO, and versatile peripheral support, ideal for IoT, robotics, and embedded systems. The RP2350-ETH Mini dev board has Ethernet support and various GPIO functionalities, making it ideal for IoT development. Like any other RP2350 board, the Waveshare RP2350 boards support C/C++ and MicroPython SDKs with drag-and-drop firmware flashing via USB mass storage. Waveshare RP2350-Plus development board The Waveshare RP2350-Plus is a low-cost development board that comes in a [...]

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Banana Pi BPI-WiFi5 is a low-cost WiFi 5 AC1200 router with four gigabit Ethernet ports powered by a 1.2 GHz Siflower SF19A28 dual-core MIPS SoC coupled with 64MB DDR2 and an 8MB flash. It’s not the first low-cost router from the company, as the Banana Pi BPI-WiFi6 Mini was introduced this summer for $30 with Triductor TR6560 SoC, and with the Banana Pi BPI-WiFi5, they’ve now introduced a lower-end WiFi 5 router going for just about $16 plus shipping on AliExpress or $29.99 on Amazon. Banana Pi BPI-WiFi5 specifications: SoC – Siflower SF19A2890S2 dual-core MIPS processor @ 1.2GHz System Memory – 64MB DDR2 RAM Storage – 8MB flash Networking Switch – Airoha AN8855R Gigabit Ethernet switch 1x Gigabit Ethernet WAN port 3x Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports Wireless 2.4 GHz WiFi 2×2 MIMO up to 300 Mbps 5 GHz WiFi 2×2 MIMO up to 866.7 Mbps Frequency bands 2.4GHz – 2.4GHz [...]

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