The Linaro Digital Home Group (LHG) has extensive experience working with the Comcast RDK. LHG has been instrumental in leading open source initiatives in the RDK. At Linaro Connect (BUD17), the LHG Director, Mark Gregotski, along with 2 Comcast assignee engineers (Siva Patchaiperumal and Kalyan Nagabhirava) are demonstrating a port of the RDK to the Qualcomm 96Boards Dragonboard 410c. This demo shows the RDK media framework taking advantage of the GStreamer-V4L2 support provided by the DBD410C to use the hardware video decoder. The HD video is scaled and then a rotating triangle is overlaid using the open source Freedreno graphics support available with DB410C. The demo shows smooth video playback without any stuttering with smooth graphics overlay. Since the video decode is offloaded to the video hardware, the CPU is not heavily loaded.
Category: Exclusive videos
Linaro RDK with GStreamer-V4L2 video accelerator and Freedreno graphics overlay
Linaro Android AOSP TV, making Android TV Boxes and Smart TVs better
Interview with the core team behind the Linaro’s AOSP TV project. The project lead Khasim Syed Mohammed and team members Show Liu and Vincent Chou demonstrate Android TV running on the 96Boards HiKey platform. The team shares the goals of the AOSP TV project, how it will benefit the SoC vendors, OEMs and ODMs of Smart TVs and Advanced Set-top box manufacturers and Android TV application developers. They clarify the project goal, its to create AOSP TV as the open source subset of Android TV and is not to fork the Android TV work from Google. They also share the details on upcoming LHG’s AOSP TV m-lcr release, OPTEE security framework integration, DRM support to be added and a lot more.
Secure Debug IoT on ARMv8-M ARM Cortex-M33
Marc Moreno Berengue of ARM at Linaro Connect 2017 in Budapest shows TrustZone for ARM Cortex-M33 implementing a secure gateway between the Secure and Non-secure areas on the ARM Cortex-M33 SoC, with the ARM CoreLink SSE-200 subsystem, TrustZone, ARM CoreLink SIE-200, instruction cashes, power infrastructure components, Secure Debug with ARM CoreSight SoC, the optional ARM TrustZone CryptoCell and the optional ARM Cordio Radio. All these enabling security for IoT. This demonstration is running on the ARM Cortex-M Prototyping System (MPS2/MPS2+) which is a Versatile Express development board featuring a large FPGA for prototyping Cortex-M based designs and a range of different options for debug.
Secure IoT updates bootloader on NXP FRDM-K64F ARM Cortex-M4
David Brown at Linaro demonstrates the mcuboot project. mcuboot started as the bootloader for the Mynewt project. David has ported this to Zephyr, and the bootloader is now its own project.
Oliver “Ogra” Grawert talks Ubuntu Core on Dragonboard 410c at Linaro Connect Budapest 2017
Robert Wolff of the weekly 96Boards Open Hours show interviews Oliver “Ogra” Grawert of Canonical about the status of Snappy Ubuntu Core on the 96Boards including the Dragonboard 410c and more about Ubuntu Core, Canonical’s strategy in IoT, security and updates through the Build.Snapcraft.io platform. You can watch the 96Boards Open Hours episode featuring Robert Wolff and Ogra here.
Ubuntu Core, Snapcraft.io IoT package support/update, Dragonboard 410c, Raspberry Pi and more
Canonical shows some of the latest development boards where Ubuntu Core is supported, includes the 96Boards Qualcomm Dragonboard 410c, Raspberry Pi 3, Raspberry Pi Nano expecting to ship on a coin sized board. Also shipping on Samsung Artik, NXP i.MX6/i.MX7/i.MX8 and on Intel powered development boards also. Canonical also promotes their http://build.snapcraft.io platform to package any app for every Linux desktop, server, cloud or device, and deliver updates directly.
Koen Kooi talks about Kodi on ARM, V4L2, OpenCDM, EME for HTML5
Koen Kooi, release manager at Linaro, talks about wanting to watch Netflix from inside Kodi and the work going on to make that possible. This video was filmed at the Linaro Connect Budapest 2017.
MotoMods on Indiegogo and Hackathons for the ultimate Moto Z modular Smartphone platform
The Lenovo Moto Z MotoMods ecosystem team got 700 submitions, launching 35 of those campaigns for ideas for new MotoMods on Transform the Smartphone challenge on Indiegogo with ideas ranging from barcode scanners, Edge Light LED lights for notifications wireless charging, sliding physical keyboard and many more ideas for new MotoMods that can be made for the Moto Z ecosystem. Motorola organized a Hackathon in San Francisco and one New York You can also see my video of the Moto Z and its MotoMods here and my 32-minute interview with the Motorola team about the Moto Z and its MotoMods ecosystem here
Voice control powered by NXP i.MX ARM Processors in Amazon Echo, Google Home and more
NXP Semiconductors has on display the Amazon Echo, for which they are partners. An NXP representative explains the different applications for which NXP provides solutions, and how voice recognition can be run on multi-core ARM processors for power-efficient computing. The IMX 6, 7 and 8 series cover the full range from low-power to high-performance solutions, with applications for the 8 being consumer high-performance video and audio, automotive, and heavy industrial usage. NXP supplies everything from the CPU to the I/O to the software. The Kindle series use IMX 6 and 7 processors, for example. NXP talks about the upcoming i.MX8 Quad max, i.MX8M for multimedia and another i.MX8 coming for the embedded world.
SafeMotion smartwatch for personal alarm, safety for kids and the elderly
SafeMotion provides mobility safeguarding assistance service for their consumer, here they are showing off their SmartWatch which works in entire Europe with multiple network provider without requiring to swapping the SIM card, instead, it chooses the best network available in the area. The watch allows user to generate SOS alerts which include calling up to 10 people automatically when the SOS button is pressed where user can add the company’s call center number in case if other people are not available, it also has feature of calendar, reminder, voice calling service and active GPS tracking facility which scans the user and generates an alert if the user goes outside of predefined area the monthly subscription for the service is USD 14.90 / month and price of smart watch is USD $249.
Oppo shows 5X lossless optical dual camera zoom
Oppo showcases their technology that allows 5X zoom inside a smartphone body. The technique used involves a periscope-style structure that diverts light through a prism and onto a wide-angle lens, that allows for a claimed lossless 5X zoom. It is demonstrated on a prototype Oppo phone using a 6″ QHD with Oppo VOOC fast charging.
$799 Lenovo Yoga 520
Lenovo Yoga 520 is a 14″ or 15″ convertible laptop with a FHD display, Kaby Lake processors, and Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU. There is room for both an SSD and HDD, with ram options up to 16 GB. There is also a fingerprint reader for security. There is an activie digitizer pen. Prices for the Yoga 520 series range from $799 and up depending on region and configuration also with the optional stylus pen input and an optional fingerprint sensor.
Qualcomm X50 modem for 5G New Radio
The next step in cellular technology, 5G, is demonstrated here by Qualcomm. It is in the research phase, and the current application shown involves the broadcasting of RF power to a moving target at a frequency of 28GHz. A major limitation of 5G is the easy dissipation of the signal when faced with even minor obstructions, which Qualcomm aims to overcome by installing multiple towers and handing over users between them.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with Gigabit LTE
Qualcomm demonstrates their X16 Cat16 Gigabit LTE modem integrated in the upcoming Sony Xperia XZ Premium using Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 which features 4×4 MIMO (multiple input multiple output). The phone uses 4 LTE antennaes instead of the usual 2 to boost throughput speeds to 1Gbps using carrier aggregation. The technology is expected to be more power efficient since the faster downloads would finish quicker, effectively lessening the time cellular data is used.
SD Card UHS-III with 624MB/s and microSD A2 (Application Performance Class 2)
SD Card Association, the standard organization of SD cards, just released two new specification meeting new market needs.
The first is Application Performance Class 2 (A2) – a new performance class that consider Random & Sequential performance meeting the new need of storing and running applications from cards allowing means to consumers which cards to purchase in point of sale meeting their products needs. Coming after A1, introduced last November, A2 is a higher level of performance enabled by new features supported now by SD – like command Queuing and Cache.
The second enhancement of the standard is UHS-III. It is enhanced physical interface that enables byte rate of up to 624MB/s!
I am hoping that some device makers will implement devices with 2 or more microSD slots to increase the total available maximum capacity and even doubling the speed if a parallel access can be allowed.
Rockchip OP1 in Samsung Chromebook Plus
Rockchip made the OP1 the world’s most optimized Chromebook processor. OP1, also known as RK3399-C, Hexacore dual ARM Cortex-A72, quad ARM Cortex-A53 with Mali-T860MP4 GPU. Rockchip is the only chip maker which has been optimizing processors for Chromebooks over the past 3 years, with all the lessons they learned with the RK3288 quad-core ARM Cortex-A17 which shipped in several Chromebooks in 2015, they were able to improve on that, optimize every detail and in collaboration with Google and Samsung.
$299 Gemini PDA, QWERTY keyboard, PSION style, Helio-X25 Deca-core, 5.7″ QHD, now on Indiegogo
Interview with the Gemini PDA team of Planet Computers at MWC 2017, presenting the awesome looking Gemini PDA, designed by the PSION designer Martin Riddiford, with fully integrated tactile QWERTY keyboard, Android 7 and Linux dual-boot. 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, dual USB Type-C. They’ll have 2 versions, one WiFi only starting at $299 and the other fully equipped with WiFi and 4G starting at $349 on Indiegogo. the final retail price might be more if they can get support to get it mass manufactured, perhaps at around $599. With the giant 8000mAh battery, it will have two weeks of stand-by time or 12 hours of talk time. With the fully tactile keyboard that is recognised as the smallest keyboard for finger touch typing. Dual side mounted speakers, Integrated Voice Assist button, SD card slot. The display will be a 5.7″ 2880×1440, 564ppi, 18:9 aspect ratio display (the same that LG is using in the LG G6).
Masayoshi Son Keynote at MWC 2017
Masayoshi Son, CEO and Founder of SoftBank which is owner of ARM since September 2016, is giving the opening keynote at the 2017 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. You can also watch the official video of this keynote here. On his way out of the keynote area I was able to do my 1 minute Interview with Masayoshi Son which you can watch here.
Android Continuum: OXI by Auxens with Laptop Dock (Nexdock) with Vernee Apollo 2 on MediaTek X30
At the Vernee booth, as Vernee is the first to announce their upcoming 10nm Vernee Apollo 2 smartphone, running on the Helio-X25 in the Vernee Apollo, they are introducing their French startup software partner Auxens presenting the OXI Android OS Android Continuum platform! OXI is a slightly modified Android OS (adding in a few extra APIs to the normal Android firmware), it can display a desktop-like user interface with multitask features such as multi resizable windows, desktop, notifications, “Start menu” and more. It can also display this interface on the external display using DisplayLink, wireless (miracast or chromecast) or by mhl or slimport. Meanwhile the smartphone screen is still completely usable and independent, with regular Android. OXI is compatible with any current Android app. It doesn’t require any specific action from the apps developers.
Auxens has posted some more info in some posts are at:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/rom-oxi-smartphone-computer-oneplus3-t3558293
In French: http://forum.frandroid.com/topic/254304-alpha-oxi-et-le-smartphone-devint-pc/
http://www.phonandroid.com/forum/oxi-et-le-smartphone-devint-pc-t166635
MediaTek Helio X30, 10nm Tri-Cluster 10-core dual ARM Cortex-A73, quad ARM Cortex-A53, quad ARM Cortex-A35
MediaTek’s Tri-Cluster 10-core design features dual-core ARM Cortex-A73 at up to 2.5GHz, quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 at up to 2.2GHz and quad-core ARM Cortex A35 at up to 1.9GHz, with some really interesting features including low heat, high performance, 4K HDR, 4G LTE-Advanced WorldMode modem that uses 3x Carrier Aggregation with performance of 450MBit/s.
MediaTek Helio X30 increases performance by up to 35% and saves power by up to 50% over the MediaTek Helio X20.
CorePilot 4.0 with Centralized, Intelligent Task Scheduling, Thermal The 10nm fabrication by TSMC increases performance by up to 22% and saves power by up to 40% versus 16nm.
The 450MBit/s with 3x Carrier Aggregation downstream and 150Mbit/s with 2x Carrier Aggregation upstream for high volume content streaming and reliable connectivity. Category 10 4G LTE-Advanced WorldMode modem features new ETM 2.0 and TAS 2.0 technologies that saves battery power in everyday use by up to 35%, and up to 45% on multimedia specific scenarios.
X30 features Imagiq 2.0 with two 14-bit ISPs supporting 16+16MP dual camera functionality allows such as wide+zoom combination lenses allow real-time depth of field effects, fastest auto exposure, improved real-time denoise in low-light conditions. X30 Vision Processing Unit (VPU) paired to the Image Signal Processors (ISP) that provides a dedicated processing platform for numerous camera features, freeing up the CPU and GPU and saving power. Key advantages include:
– Programmability and Flexibility: The VPU provides a platform that allows brands the ability to customize camera functionality and drive product differentiation.
– Huge Power Reduction: The VPU is a dedicated camera-assisting hardware unit it has the ability to perform real-time processing functions, that were typically assigned to CPU or GPU, with only 1/10th power usage.
– Performance Boost: The VPU can still be used in isolation or as part of a team with the CPU/GPU, employing heterogeneous computing on same memory subsystem for advanced system or multi-application/function tasks.
The Helio X30 is the World’s first mobile SoC to bring a power efficient, hardware-based HDR cinema viewing experience to mobile devices. While other newly announced 4K HDR Smartphone SoCs might be doing the 4K rendering work in software, the X30 does it in hardware. 4K HDR10 standard offers a dynamic range of up to 10,000 nits. Paired with the latest, premium display technologies yields a never-seen-before quality and a true-to-life viewing experience.
Imagiq’s Dual Camera Zoom offers 2x optical zoom in a super slim form factor.
ClearZoom and Temporal Noise Reduction (TNR) technologies enable a sharp, crisp digital zoom up to 10x magnification.
Works for both video and photography.
MiraVision EnergySmart Screen is MediaTek’s advanced power saving technology for mobile displays, reducing power consumption (up to 10% of device’s total power or up to 25% of panel power, depending on brightness) while preserving viewing experience.
Instant AE
MediaTek Instant Auto Exposure (AE). The dedicated Camera Control Unit (CCU) hardware delivers considerably faster, automatic exposure adjustment when environmental lighting conditions change suddenly. AE convergence speed is up to twice as fast as competitive auto exposure performance.
Up to 8GB LPDDR4X
4×16-bit LPDDR4X 1866MHz memory is up to 50% more power efficient than previous generation LPDDR3, while also delivering up to 50% more performance.
Unique GPU Design: Deep MediaTek-Imagination Co-operation
The fully customized IMG PowerVR 7XTP-MP4 @ 800MHz is designed for lowest power usage while still delivering incredible performance. It saves up to 60% power versus while increasing performance by up to 2.4 times compared to the Helio X20.
Deep Learning
Access to MediaTek’s deep learning SDK featuring support for Caffe and Google’s TensorFlow frameworks, opening up the latest in machine intelligence to developers.
