Tag Archives: freescale

Meet Utilite, a $99 quad-core ARM-based PC running Ubuntu

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Meet Utilite, a $99 quadcore ARMbased PC running Ubuntu

That box you see above? It's a quad-core ARM-based PC running Ubuntu called Utilite. The desktop system, made by Compulab, will be available next month starting at $99. While there are plenty of Android dongles built on ARM SoCs out there, few (if any) can truly offer a PC-like experience. The company -- best known for its Trim Slice, Fit-PC and MintBox products -- wants to change this.

Utilite packs a single-, dual- or quad-core Freescale i.MX6 Cortex-A9 MPCore processor (up to 1.2 GHz), up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM (1066MHz), an mSATA SSD (up to 512GB), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI and DVI-D outputs, two Gigabit Ethernet sockets, four USB 2.0 ports, one micro-USB OTG connector, audio jacks (analog and S/PDIF), a micro-SD XD slot and two ultra-mini RS232 interfaces -- phew!

Rounding things up is support for OpenGL ES, OpenVG and OpenCL EP plus multi-stream 1080p H.264 on-chip decoding. All this fits in a chassis mesuring just 5.3 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches (135 x 100 x 21mm) and only consumes 3-8W using a 10-16V supply (unregulated). Those are impressive specs for the price, and the system sure looks positioned to compete favorably with some of the x86 boxes out there.

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Source: FanlessTech

Freescale fashions world’s smallest ARM-powered microcontroller

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Freescale fashions world's smallest ARM-powered microcontroller

If you're looking for an exceedingly tiny ARM-based microcontroller, Freescale says it's just cooked up the world's smallest. Dubbed the Kinetis KL02, the piece of kit is 25 precent smaller than the previous record-holder and measures up at a 1.9 x 2.00 x 0.56 millimeters. Having trouble visualizing exactly how small that is? Just take a gander at the photo above. A 48 MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ processor has made it onto the wafer-level chip-scale package and it's paired with 32KB of flash memory and 4KB of RAM. The outfit reckons it'll be a good match for 'internet of things' devices that are tight on space, and says it beats its older L Series kin in power efficiency. Manufacturer sampling for the KL02 is slated for March, while wide availability is penciled in for July, and it'll set buyers back 75 cents a piece when purchased in 100,000-unit loads. Hit the jump for more details in the press release.

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Source: Freescale

Ca-Fi Dashlinq upsizes in-car Android infotainment, arrives in January

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CaFi Dashlinq upsizes incar Android infotainment, arrives in January

There may be a size war brewing among Android-based infotainment system builders. Ca-Fi thought it was sitting pretty with its 6.2-inch unit earlier this year, but we're starting to think it was rankled by similarly-sized devices like Parrot's Asteroid Smart -- that would help explain its upcoming, 7-inch Dashlinq. Along with one-upping a nemesis, the double-DIN system brings multitouch zoom to a heavily customized (if slightly creaky) Android 2.3 interface. Otherwise, we're looking at a familiar, if fairly sophisticated approach: there's a dedicated media DSP, GPS navigation, an SD card slot for local content and internet access through 3G or WiFi. Ca-Fi expects the Dashlinq to arrive in January for €499 ($657), at which point we hope there's at least a momentary truce in the battle for the car's center stack.

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Via: Android Central

Source: Ca-Fi

Ca-Fi Dashlinq upsizes in-car Android infotainment, arrives in January

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CaFi Dashlinq upsizes incar Android infotainment, arrives in January

There may be a size war brewing among Android-based infotainment system builders. Ca-Fi thought it was sitting pretty with its 6.2-inch unit earlier this year, but we're starting to think it was rankled by similarly-sized devices like Parrot's Asteroid Smart -- that would help explain its upcoming, 7-inch Dashlinq. Along with one-upping a nemesis, the double-DIN system brings multitouch zoom to a heavily customized (if slightly creaky) Android 2.3 interface. Otherwise, we're looking at a familiar, if fairly sophisticated approach: there's a dedicated media DSP, GPS navigation, an SD card slot for local content and internet access through 3G or WiFi. Ca-Fi expects the Dashlinq to arrive in January for €499 ($657), at which point we hope there's at least a momentary truce in the battle for the car's center stack.

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Via: Android Central

Source: Ca-Fi

Hands-on with Kobo’s Glo and Mini e-readers (video)

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Handson with Kobo's Glo and Mini ereaders video

Earlier today we had a nice sit-down with Kobo, where we got some quality hands-on time with the company's Arc Android tablet. As you can imagine, that was the marquee product on display, but we also had the chance to handle the outfit's newest e-readers: the Glo ComfortLight, which has built-in frontlighting, and the Mini, which is exactly what it sounds like. Both will be available October 1st, with the 6-inch Glo going for $129 and the 5-inch Mini priced at $79. Neither will have ads, which might be one of the biggest differentiators between these and some of Amazon's offerings. If you're short on time, we've got some hands-on photos below, but if you've got a few minutes to spare, a walk-through video awaits after the break.

Gallery: Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini hands-on

Continue reading Hands-on with Kobo's Glo and Mini e-readers (video)

Hands-on with Kobo's Glo and Mini e-readers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Freescale’s new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

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Freescale's new touchscreen works even in water

Freescale is announcing a new industrial touch sensing technology that'll even sense your swipes and prods through a film of water. Xtrinsic 3.0 is designed to be used in industrial, medical and in-car systems, with pre-built user interfaces ready to be added to any device its jammed inside. In addition to being able to work through water, it can withstand noise, detect electrical interference and reduce false touches. It's being demonstrated at the company's technology forum in India from today, presumably ready to be licensed by passing equipment manufacturers in short order.

Continue reading Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain

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Freescale's new industrial touchscreen tech even works in the rain originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Aug 2012 01:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TakkTile turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch sensors

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Tactile Array turns digital barometers into opensource robot tactile senors

Freescale Semiconductor's MPL115A2 is a tiny thing that will sit quite comfortably on the tip of your finger. It's hard not to marvel at the engineering that went into the creation of something so small, yet so sensitive. The little metal square is minute enough to be plunked into a cell phone, offering up location pinpointing technologies that supplement GPS, gauging positions based on changes in atmospheric pressure. Harvard's Biorobotics team was clearly impressed when it discovered the technology, devising a fascinating implementation that extends beyond the walls of the cell phone. The sensors would go on to form the core of the department's TakkTile open-source boards capable of bringing sensitive touch sensing to robot hands.

The I2C bus / USB-compatible boards incorporate several of the sensors, with the whole thing covered in 6mm of rubber, to help protect them. The rubber lends some durability to the TakkTile -- in fact, if you click on after the break, you can see footage of the team placing a 25 pound dumbbell on the board and banging it with a hammer (which seems to be a fairly popular activity over there). Even with that extra layer, the TakkTile is still quite sensitive -- as evidenced by the five gram weight in the video. In fact, it's even possible to get it to detect a pulse by placing it against your wrist, though the team was unable to recreate that during our visit.

Also compelling is the price -- bought in bulk, the tiny barometers will run you $1 a piece, making the tactile array relatively inexpensive to assemble. Once you buy one, you can also get the most bang for your buck by snapping off the rows for individual use, a possibility given the symmetry of the design. Or you can just make one yourself, as the department has opted to open-source the technology, to help make it even more readily accessible to interested parties.

Gallery: Tactile Array turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch senors

Continue reading TakkTile turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch sensors

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TakkTile turns digital barometers into open-source robot touch sensors originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics

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Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics

Rambus has lost the ITC dispute it filed with most of the electronics industry back in the day. Only LSI and STMicroelectronics remained as respondents after the company negotiated settlements with Freescale, Broadcom, MediaTek and NVIDIA. In its decision, the court found that some of the patents were unenforceable, while others ceased to be under the "clean hands" doctrine because Rambus had allegedly destroyed relevant documents. Company general counsel, Thomas Lavelle, has said in a statement that its next move might be to make an appeal to the Federal Circuit -- where it's hoping for better luck.

Continue reading Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics

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Rambus planning appeal after losing ITC patent case against LSI and STMicroelectronics originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure

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VIA makes its first ARMbased PicoITX board, adds dual graphics for your incar pleasure

VIA has only ever really had a dalliance with ARM; the VAB-800 might be a sign that it's willing to go steady for awhile. As the company's first Pico-ITX board with an ARM chip, the 800 stuffs up to a 1GHz, Freescale-made ARM Cortex-A8 and 1GB of RAM into a tiny, 3.9 x 2.8-inch board. Somehow, it still fits up to four USB 2.0 ports, mini HDMI, VGA and as much as 64GB of storage. The board's real tricks are its dual integrated graphics processors: the VAB-800 can independently steer two displays, just in case your in-car infotainment system can't be contained by merely one screen. You'll likely have to be a car designer or an industrial device maker to make an order, although the 5W power draw and support for Android, Ubuntu Linux and Windows Embedded Compact 7 should soon see the VAB-800 crammed into logic-defying spaces everywhere.

Continue reading VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure

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VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kinetis L Series MCUs use ARM Cortex-MO+ to sip least power, cost 49 cents each per 10K order

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Freescale aims to drag 8- and 16-bit manufacturing into the modern era with a 32-bit MCU that's cheaper than a cup o' Joe. The ARM Cortex-MO+ based Kinesis L series MCU is now available in alpha to interested parties, it's capable of sipping a scant 50 µA/MHz of power and will cost just $0.49 when you buy 'em in lots of 10,000. While the cheap chips will no doubt go on to help power the internet of things, the associated debut of a $12.95 development board coming in August will also be a boon to developers and hobbyists. The platform will allow "quick application prototyping and demonstration" according to the company, and provide a GUI tool for generating start-up code and device drivers. So, if you've gotta have that new beer dispenser mock-up running at a full 32-bits, check the PR after the break.

Continue reading Kinetis L Series MCUs use ARM Cortex-MO+ to sip least power, cost 49 cents each per 10K order

Kinetis L Series MCUs use ARM Cortex-MO+ to sip least power, cost 49 cents each per 10K order originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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