FLiP Multicore Module Rev B Adds USB-C and Expanded Power Input

California-based Parallax Inc. has released Revision B of its FLiP Multicore Module, updating the design with USB-C connectivity, a wider input voltage range, and additional identification features. The module is built around the Propeller P8X32A, an 8-core microcontroller with 32 general-purpose I/O pins. It operates with a 5 MHz oscillator and can run at frequencies […]

DIY ESP32-S3 Internet radio features Winamp-styled user interface

Volos Projects recently showcased an easy-to-reproduce, inexpensive DIY ESP32-S3 Internet radio based on a Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-1.54 development board and an Arduino sketch with a Winamp-styled user interface. As its name implies, the hardware is based on the ESP32-S3 WiFi and Bluetooth SoC, connected to a 1.54-inch 240×240 color display and a speaker that delivers better-than-expected audio quality, according to Volos Projects. Waveshare ESP32-S3-LCD-1.54 specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP32-S3R8 CPU – Dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller up to 240 MHz with vector instructions for AI acceleration Memory – 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM Wireless – WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE + Mesh...

PineTime Pro smartwatch to feature dual-core Cortex-M33 MCU, 2.13-inch AMOLED, GPS, and more

Pine64 has announced progress on the PineTime Pro smartwatch, powered by a dual-core Cortex-M33 microcontroller with Bluetooth 5.2 Classic and LE and 800KB SRAM. The watch also features a 2.13-inch AMOLED display, GPS support, a heart rate monitor, and a 6-axis motion sensor. It’s an upgrade to the PineTime project unveiled in September 2019, and one of the most popular Pine64 devices thanks to open-source software projects such as InfiniTime firmware. For reference, the PineTime ships with a Nordic nRF52 Arm Cortex-M4 Bluetooth MCU with 64 KB SRAM, a 1.3-inch IPS display, and basic HRM and accelerometer. The PineTime Pro...

The rise and fall of IBM's 4 Pi aerospace computers: an illustrated history

The morning of April 12, 1981, 20 years to the day after Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, the Space Shuttle thundered into the Florida sky. Commander Young and Pilot Crippen were at the controls as the Shuttle ascended on its first flight. But the launch, like much of the flight, was really under the control of four computers in the avionics bays one deck below the crew. A fifth computer stood ready to take over in case of a catastrophic computer malfunction. These computers, Model AP-101B, were part of IBM's System/4 Pi family.

Jetway F35-ARU1 Combines Core Ultra SoC in 3.5-inch Form Factor

Jetway has shared early details of the F35-ARU1, a 3.5-inch subcompact board based on Intel Core Ultra processors from the Arrow Lake-U series. The board integrates CPU, GPU, and NPU resources within a low-power platform intended for embedded and industrial systems. The system is offered with Intel Core Ultra 5 225U or Core Ultra 7 […]

Vividnode Mobile AI Packs RISC-V Processor and 60 TOPS AI Engine

A compact system from ZUIKI based on a K3 RISC-V processor has appeared on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Kibidango. The Vividnode Mobile AI is presented as a small form-factor system for local inference and development. The system is based on an 8-core RISC-V processor (K3 platform) paired with an AI engine rated at up to […]

M5Stack Stamp-P4 – A tiny ESP32-P4 USB-C board with optional Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4

M5Stack has just introduced the Stamp-P4, a tiny USB-C development board built around the ESP32-P4 high-performance RISC-V MCU chip, featuring 16MB of Flash and 32MB of PSRAM, and optional Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 support through the ESP32-C6-MINI-1-based Stamp-AddOn C6 module. Despite its small size (29.8 x 22.0 x 4.3mm), the Stamp-P4 offers a wide range of interfaces, including a MIPI-CSI camera connector, as well as a MIPI DSI display interface, RMII Ethernet, USB 2.0 HS, and up to 44x GPIOs via 1.27mm/2.00mm pitch castellated holes and a few through holes. M5Stack Stamp-P4 specifications: SoC – Espressif Systems ESP32-P4NRW32 CPU...

Two TFT Graphics Libraries

This article describes two alternative graphics libraries that support a range of different colour TFT displays, and combine fast performance with minimal memory usage:

The Sampler example running on an ATtiny85 and
driving an Adafruit 1.28" round 240x240 colour TFT display.

TerraMaster F2-425 Plus NAS review – Part 2: Configuration, benchmarks, and AI-enhanced media storage

I received the TerraMaster F2-425 Plus 3+2 Hybrid NAS for review last month, and after checking out the hardware in the first part of the review, I’ve finally had time to test the Intel N150 NAS. After installing two 4TB SATA drives and an M.2 NVMe SSD, I’ll report my experience setting up the system with the TNAS Android app, before running some benchmarks, and testing features like photo backup with AI search capabilities. Hard drive installation I already had an old, but little-used, 4TB HGST SATA drive, and I bought a “new” 4TB SATA drive online for a pretty...

Introduction to the PineTime Pro

How is your day/night going RSS readers? In this blog post we go in depth on the new PineTime Pro hardware and share some pre-production information from JF.