Haier is launching their ARM Powered Haier Chromebook 11 to be shipping any day now at http://amzn.to/1yrxBY2 for shipping all over the USA with availability probably in all Chrome OS countries also imminently. The Haier RK3288 Chromebook 11 has a nice matte type of display, which may make it preferable for me over the Hisense and Asus one. But if matte or not is to be exclusive to this model or not, is to be confirmed. Again I would prefer a 13.3″ matte RK3288 Chromebook with 4GB RAM and with at least 13 hours of battery life. To challenge my $199 Acer Chromebook 13!
Category: Laptops
$169 Asus C201 ARM Powered Chromebook with RK3288
Posted by – April 19, 2015
Asus C201 is their new Rockchip RK3288 based ARM Chromebook to be sold at $169. With a nice keyboard and mousepad. The Asus Rockchip Chromebook is to be available imminently.
$149 Hisense RK3288 Chromebook Hands-on Multi-Tab Web Browsing Test
Posted by – April 15, 2015
Here’s some Web browsing and keyboard typing speed/accuracy test, I load a few random websites on the press room wifi featuring some smooth two-finger scrolling and clicking (consider trade show’s thousands of people creating a bit of interference affecting the speed maybe a bit). The Hisense RK3288 Chromebook is one of the world’s best value laptops at $149 I think, with I think the best mousepad among the $149 RK3288 Chromebooks (requires least/best pressure to click it seems) and the exterior design of the Hisense with some kind of granular texture I think is the nicest to handle and hold. But the Haier has a preferable matte display compared to the glossy display that I have seen on all the other RK3288 Chromebooks. While the idea of 4GB RAM may sound appealing, even if that increases the price by something like $20 (if they make such 4GB options available), maybe one can also consider that RAM usage on this RK3288 Chromebook, and RAM usage on Chrome OS in general, may be something that Google and Rockchip have been tweaking and optimizing alot, and it’s something that is always improving with the automatic and regular software updates that we can expect to be sent out by Google to these. Please understand that I do not believe in running certain browser benchmarks to measure the usability/speed and performance of real user web browsing. To do an optimal benchmark, someone with high-speed cameras should measure how long it takes certain novice and advanced users to do a whole range of things on the web. To me the performance seems extremely good and satisfactory. But of course I would like to have one of these and to be able to use them as my main laptop, to see if it feels like the 32bit RK3288 ARM Cortex-A17 quad-core can power all my web browsing needs! Imagine a smooth enough performance already achieve, how extra smooth the performance may be when Rockchip releases perhaps a next generation Chromebook optimized 64bit processor! Using the newly announced ARM Cortex-A72 perhaps! Check back also for my tests of the RK3288 Chromebooks by Asus and Haier.
Rockchip RK3288 Chromebooks $149 Hisense, Haier and $169 Asus
Posted by – April 15, 2015
Rockchip shows their super cool new $149 Chrome OS Chromebooks on their RK3288 quad-core ARM Cortex-A17 with ARM Mali-T764 GPU. The performance seems very smooth (see my other separate Hands-on Multi-Tab Web Browsing Test videos with each of the Chromebooks). Rockchip has been working for more than the past year with Google’s Chrome OS team to optimize and deliver an experience for Chrome OS on their RK3288 platform, stable enough for now launching massive mass productions with Hisense, Haier and Asus through big Laptop factories in Taiwan and China. They would like to see big volumes shipped, possibly more than 10 million units shipped, now available for pre-order the Haier RK3288 Chromebook for $149 at Amazon and the Hisense RK3288 Chromebook for $149 at Walmart
ARM64 Open Laptop Project by Vero Apparatus
Posted by – March 26, 2015
Vero Apparatus is trying to design the worlds most powerful ARM Powered Laptop, powerful enough for software developers at Linaro to use ARM Laptops for their ARM related software development. The open source hardware and software will address the concerns that many people have about proprietary products, and provide the most transparent assurances about absence of security vulnerabilities.
The ARM64 Open Laptop concept was announced in an ad hoc session at DebConf 2014 in Portland, Oregon, where over a dozen interested developers gathered at fairly short notice. They approved the concept and decided on some of the things to do next. See the slides of the presentation
The idea is to produce a small quantity (say 100) of replacement motherboards physically compatible with a laptop model that is already popular with developers. Lenovo or HP might have suitable chassis models. The Lenovo X220 is a good candidate but Vero Apparatus is open to alternative proposals. The design will re-use an existing case, SATA drive, display, battery, keyboard, touchpad, webcam, speaker and microphone to reduce development cost.
The main processor will probably be an AMD Opteron A1100 system-on-chip code named “Seattle”. In short, this has four or eight 64-bit Cortex-A57 cores, supports up to 128GB RAM, SATA and LAN. Being a server chip it lacks video, audio and USB, so either those must be added to the motherboard or another, more versatile chip must come along soon. Hardware choices will opt for longer battery life rather than 3D graphics performance.
Debian GNU/Linux is the default OS and distribution choice but Open Source implies freedom for the user. UEFI is the preferred firmware architecture, realistically in the form of Tianocore EDK2.
ARM Cortex-A72
Posted by – March 3, 2015
ARM Cortex-A72 is ARM’s highest-performance and most advanced processor. Based on the ARMv8-A 64bit Architecture, the Cortex-A72 CPU builds on the wide success of the Cortex-A57 processor across mobile and enterprise markets, ARM has done a number of micro-architectural changes and made some engineering improvements in the design, to deliver three and a half times the performance of ARM Cortex-A15 based devices in the smartphone power budget, as well as significant reductions in overall power consumption also optimizing the design for upcoming 16nm FinFET and smaller process technology.
Related articles
- ARM Cortex-A72 Is the Most Powerful Mobile CPU Ever (arm.com)
- ARM’s most powerful core (computermagazine.com)
- ARM outlines Cortex-A72, Mali-T882 chip designs for 2016 smartphones (electronista.com)
- ARM unveils 64-bit core second-gen Cortex-A72 CPU (telecompaper.com)
- GCC & Clang Now Support ARM’s New Cortex-A72 (phoronix.com)
- ARM’s Mali-T880 GPU To Be 80 Percent Faster Than Mali-T760, Arrives In 2016 (tomshardware.com)
- ARM wants PC-like graphics for mobiles (electronicsweekly.com)
Samsung Booth Tour with my 12-year old cousin
Posted by – January 28, 2015
Samsung Gear VR 360-degree panoramic video with Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, 4K TVs, curved, straight, Samsung washing machines and more.
superMHL 8K 120fps, USB Type-C, 40W, more bandwidth
Posted by – January 20, 2015
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Smartphones, Set-top-boxes, HDMI Sticks, Projectors, Displays, Cameras, Wearables, Gaming, 4K UHD, Cars, Exclusive videos, MediaTek, Qualcomm, Samsung, CES, Android
The MHL Consortium has outdone itself with their latest technology mega specification, now perhaps setting the spec at a very future proof level (shall we say at least until 2020?), supporting up to 8K at 120fps, with up to 40W for power charge, delivering higher resolution, faster frame rates, support for the upcoming USB Type-C (dual side reversible) connector for up to 8K 60fps output from a phone (wow wow!). For the first time, MHL also introduces a new superMHL connector for 8K TVs (as in the first 8K TV from Samsung shown at CES). The SuperMHL spec is for mobile devices, set-top boxes (STBs), Blu-ray players, Audio/video recorders, HDMI sticks and other source devices to TVs and monitors, as SuperMHL should be included in most future FHD/4K/8K TVs, PC Monitors, MHL has shipped in over 750 Million devices thus far. The new SuperMHL spec is also offering wider color gamut, deeper colors (to reduce color banding), high dynamic range (HDR) supported through signaling and through higher bandwidth.
ADSC 10″ Rockchip Android Laptop
Posted by – December 17, 2014
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Exclusive videos, Members Content, Rockchip, Intel, China Sourcing Fair, Android
ADSC makes a 10″ reference tablet with either Rockchip or Intel Baytrail CPUS with either Windows or Android. The reference tablet/laptop convertible features a detachable keyboard.
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Rockchip RK3288
Posted by – November 17, 2014
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Set-top-boxes, HDMI Sticks, Exclusive videos, Rockchip, Android, Chrome OS
As Rockchip is ramping up the output of their new RK3288 processor, this is the official presentation video for the Rockchip RK3288 processor. Some of the advantages highlighted are 10-second boot time, Fast app loading, Multi-window UI, Fast Web browsing, up to 2560×1600 display, H265 4K playback, 4K HDMI2.0 at 60fps, Turstzone PlayReady HDCP Widevine DRM, Dolby audio, 13 Megapixel back camera and some of the Mali-T764 GPU features such as Transaction Elimination, Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression, ARM Frame Buffer Compression, Stereoscopic 3D Game Driver and the POP-Star Searching Entertainment Engine. You can read more about it at http://www.rock-chips.com/a/en/products/RK32_Series/2014/0504/484.html and you can watch all the RK3288 videos that I posted thus far at http://138.2.152.197/?s=RK3288
$149 RK3288 Chromebooks from Lenovo and Asus coming soon according to Digitimes
Potentially released as soon as next month by Lenovo, Digitimes reports that Lenovo and Asus are preparing to release $149 Chromebooks based on the Rockchip RK3288 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A17 with Mali-T764. The rumored screen size is 11.6″ according to Digitimes.
To be seen if those include 2GB or 4GB RAM. I think 4GB RAM would be nice, even if that adds a few $ to BOM cost. Perhaps they can just let consumers choose to double RAM to 4GB if they just pay $10 or $20 more. I think it would also be nice if they also provide a larger $169 13.3″ skew. Both with 1366×768 matte displays would be good I think. At least one, or multiple SD card slots for storage, HDMI output, at least 2 USB3 would be nice.
It was here on ARMdevices.net on June 5th that I was the first post a video about the RK3288 Chromebook and back on April 13th about Chrome OS for RK3288 on the development board.
I think if the performance is smooth, if the keyboard/mousepad/display qualities are great, if the designs by Lenovo and Asus are classy “like a Macbook Air” and not purposefully cheap looking, the RK3288 Chromebooks may become more popular than RK3288 in Android Tablets, and Chrome OS on RK3288 Set-top-boxes may also be more popular than RK3288 Android Set-top-boxes. If priced right, and if mass produced at absolute maximum capacity by brands like Lenovo and Asus, I think this could potentially become one of the most popular laptops in the world, potentially overtaking Wintel laptops faster than anyone can imagine.
Related articles
- Asustek and Lenovo prep $149 Chromebooks – report (kitguru.net)
- Expect Lenovo & ASUS to launch $149 Chromebooks early in 2015 (HEXUS.net)
- Brace yourselves: $149 Chromebooks are coming (techreport.com)
- Asus and Lenovo Set to Release $149 Chromebooks: Report (techpp.com)
$240 Macbook Air clones run Windows 8 by ENZ
Posted by – October 19, 2014
Running Intel Celeron with Windows 8, the price is about $250 for 500 units. They can also use the Intel Core-i3/5/7 processors starting at $390. Weight is 1.4Kg, battery life is about 4-5 hours, they also have 10.1″ and 11.6″ Windows Tablets starting at $310. They sell about 10K laptops per month.
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Allwinner Nobel64 Board, Octa-core H8 for OTT Boxes, Octa-core A83 for HD Tablets
Posted by – October 14, 2014
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Set-top-boxes, HDMI Sticks, 4K UHD, Development Boards, Exclusive videos, Allwinner, China Sourcing Fair, Android, Ubuntu
Allwinner presents the 1st 64-bit Board: Nobel64 Board:
The Nobel64 Board is a dev board based on Allwinner’s first 64-bit quad-core processor, which is also the first 64-bit dev board based on application processors from Chinese design houses. Allwinner claims it has industry-leading system performance and ultra-high system integration, they present their Nobel64 Board as suitable for development projects such as tablets, OTT boxes, notebooks, digital signage and AIOs and more.
Octa-Core A83 for HD Tablets:
Based on TSMC’s 28nm HPC process, Allwinner A83T is designed to be a high performance and an extremely power-efficient Octa-core processor. For that reason, A83T packs eight highly energy-efficient ARM Cortex-A7 cores that can run simultaneously at around 2.0GHz, and Allwinner says that it implements the advanced big.LITTLE architecture to maximize the battery life. Imaginations Technology’s PowerVR GPU is also combined in A83T to deliver balanced graphic processing performance and power consumption. Another noteworthy feature of A83T is its implementation of Allwinner’s next-gen SmartColor technology, Allwinner’s latest achievements in display technology, for delivering higher image quality with higher resolutions. The first Octa-core tablet sporting Allwinner A83T is to hit in Q4 2014.
Octa-core H8 for Set-top-Boxes:
Allwinner also shows their new Octa-core H8 SoC for high-end gaming and video OTT box markets at the HongKong Electronics Fair. Based on TSMC’s 28nm HPC process, this new SoC delivers high system performance with low heat, enabling ODM/OEM manufacturers to produce Octa-core OTT boxes at competitive BOM costs.
According to Allwinner, the H8 octa-core delivers:
· High-speed high performance computing system
· Premium multimedia features
· Video output system
· High system integration
$130 10.1″ IPS RK3188 Laptop, $80 8.1″ MT8382 with tempered glass back Chitech
Posted by – October 12, 2014
Category: Tablets, Laptops, Wearables, Exclusive videos, Members Content, Rockchip, MediaTek, HKTDC Electronics Fair, Android
Chitek shows their tablets, ARM Powered laptop/tablet convertibles and more also their $30 Rockchip Tablet and their Smartwatch.
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Acer Chromebook 13 on Nvidia Tegra K1
Posted by – September 23, 2014
Acer’s first ARM Powered Chromebook, to be released from around October onward, the price starts around $279/279€ for the basic HD 2GB RAM version, $20/20€ more for 4GB instead of 2GB RAM, going up to $379/379€ for the version with FHD display and 4GB RAM.
Toshiba Chromebook 2
Posted by – September 23, 2014
Toshiba releases their 13.3″ FHD Glossy 4GB RAM at $349/349€ and HD Matte 2GB RAM $249/249€ Chromebooks, based on Intel Celeron processors, they are thinner, 200gr lighter, better designed and with a battery life of 9hr for the FHD and 11.5hr for the HD one, where Google says the battery life can be enhanced even further with software update.
Toshiba booth tour with my 12-year old cousin at IFA 2014
Henry walks around the Toshiba IFA 2014 booth and checks out their Chromebooks, their Intel Laptops, Intel Tablets, Sports camera, 4K TVs, smart mirrors, and experimental 4K TVs.
Firstview ARM Powered Ultrabook, $199 (retail) on RK3188
Posted by – July 25, 2014
Firstview has sold 6 million ARM Powered Laptops since 2009, making them posibly the leading ARM Powered Laptop maker in the world thus far. Firstview’s 11.6″ RK3188 Ultrabook, with 360 degree rotating 11.6″ 1366×768 capacitive touch-screen, 3 USB Host ports, Mini HDMI, BT4, 86keys keyboard, Audio-jack and a full sized SD card slot. 1GB RAM, 16GB built-in Flash memory. 15mm thickness and 1.5Kg in weight. It supports USB Hard drive, USB Printer, with a 7000mAh battery letting it playback video for more than 4 hours, 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video-chat, 2.4/5Ghz dual-band Wi-Fi, supports external 3G/4G USB dongle. This Android 4.4 laptop supports and comes pre-installed with e-reader software (Aldiko), word/excell/powerpoint editing (OfficeSuite), Skype and much more with full Google Play Google Apps support.
You can contact Firstview here (please only for interested distributors):
Michael, Project Director
Email: michael@efirstview.com
Email: sales@efirstview.com
http://www.efirstview.com
Phone: +86 755 86307804
Skype: michael870212
QQ: 610189718
Address: Room 213 Block A, Mingyou Sourcing Center, Baoyuan Road, Baoan District, Shenzhen, China
MHL Laptop Dock from AmTRAN
Posted by – June 27, 2014
Using MHL 2.0 and 3.0, these ultra thin ultra-book looking Laptop Dock shells, here AmTRAN shows the upcoming extremely nice looking 11.6″ MHL Laptop Dock, with an MHL input along with drivers to run the display, a sleek keyboard, mousepad, and USB Host ports to connect more if you want. Then your MHL enabled Smartphone reconfigures the Android home UI to optimize for a Laptop usage, for productivity. MHL 3.0 Laptop Docks are also going to be released with faster input/output bandwidth from the phone, 4K, touch screen and more functionality. The idea is to bundle the MediaTek MT6582 Quad-core phone with this 11.6″ Laptop Dock for sub-$300, all inclusive, no contracts needed. MediaTek among other ARM Chip makers are working with MHL to optimize Smartphones and Laptop dock designs for MHL Laptop productivity.
Rockchip RK3288 Chromebook
Posted by – June 5, 2014
13.3″ RK3288 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A12 with Mali-T764 Powered Chromium OS Laptop. Meet some from the team working on Chrome OS at Rockchip, finalizing Chromium OS optimizations for the RK3288 ARM platform, with commercial Rockchip Chromebooks launching worldwide in Q3 of this year. What do you think is going to be the price for this ARM Powered Chromebook? $149? $179? $199? How is the performance? Battery life? I test a bit of web browsing and the Fish Tank benchmark at the end of this video. I will try to test it more and post some more web browser tests in another video to be posted soon, let me know of anything else you would like to see tested on the RK3288 Chromebook.
You can also watch my video of the unveiling of RK3288 at the HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair here. Also my videos of RK3288 in a Pipo tablet, at Vido, Sunchip HDMI Stick, Tena HDMI Stick and at the Unuiga PCB design house.
