Internet of Things (IoT)

The NB2 SoC includes four RISC-V cores produced by SiFive, as well as an iGPU, NPU and VPU. LeapFive employed 12 nm nodes to produce the chips and also offers motherboards that expand the SoC capabilities with additional ports and features.

The EncroPi is a USB stick based on the RP2040 microcontroller. Billed as being capable of encrypting files quickly and securely, the EncroPi has a display, a real-time clock (RTC) and can be backed on Kickstarter for as little as £35.

FriendlyELEC has introduced the NanoPi R4SE, a variant of the NanoPi R4S with built-in eMMC flash storage. Available with 32 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, FriendlyELEC intends people to use the NanoPi R4SE as a router, for which it has included two Gigabit Ethernet ports. The NanoPi R4SE retails for US$70 and can be purchased as a bare board or with a CNC metal case.

Intel has announced that its Foundry Services have been chosen by MediaTek as a new chip supplier. The decision help the latter expand its portfolio of processors for the internet of things (IoT) market, as well as make sure it has stock of those new chips to sell. This, according to MediaTek, will help it stay in its current industry-leading position in general.

Banana Pi has unveiled the BPI-W3, a single-board computer (SBC) that the company intends people to use as a router. For some reason, the BPI-W3 only features two Gigabit Ethernet ports, plus three HDMI connections. Banana Pi has equipped the BPI-W3 with a Rockchip RK3588 too, and states that there will be support for Android 12, Linux and OpenWrt.

The WeAct RP2040 may resemble the Raspberry Pi Pico, in large part because of its RP2040 microcontroller. However, WeAct has added a USB Type-C port and more QSPI flash, among other changes. The WeAct RP2040 starts at US$3.03 and rises to US$5.62 with 16 MB flash.

Banana Pi has introduced the BPI-Leaf-S3, a 65.25 x 26 mm device powered by the Espressif Systems ESP32-S3. Available for US$7.50, the Banana Pi BPI-Leaf-S3 also has 8 MB of flash storage, 2 MB of SPRAM, Wi-Fi 4 connectivity and dual 22-pin headers, among other features.

Huawei has unveiled a competitor to the Apple AirTag, marketed simply as the Apple AirTag. The Huawei Tag and the Apple AirTag lookalike, and there are even some technical similarities between the two products. Unsurprisingly, Huawei undercuts the Apple AirTag on price.

Clockwork has started selling an adapter for the DevTerm Kit, allowing it to work with the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. Retailing for US$19, the adapter gives the CM4 SO-DIMM connectors and also comes with a heatsink and a Wi-Fi gain antenna.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has unveiled new Raspberry Pi Pico boards. Starting at US$5 for the Pico H, the Foundation has priced the Pico W and Pico WH at US$6 and US$7, respectively. While the Pico W and Pico H are orderable from today, the Pico WH will not launch until August.

Qualcomm asserts that its latest radiofrequency front-end (or RFFE) solution is the ideal companion for an up-to-date mobile modem, as it confers the new spec of "5G/Wi-Fi coexistence" on a given device, as well as battery savings and improved performance. It is compatible with smartphones - as well as other use-cases such as IoT, VR headsets and in-car systems for the first time.

Think Silicon's NEOX GPU is a scalable chip based on the RISC-V architecture that can integrate 4 to 64 cores and can be utilized in a wide array of devices including smartwatches, smart home IoT appliances, electric car dashboards, and even large data centers.

Highlights for the new Embedded R2000 series include up to 4 Zen+ cores with 8 threads, support for dual-channel DDR4-3200 and 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, and up to an 8 CU iGPU that can easily handle 4x 4K video outputs.

A new entry in the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3 series has surfaced online. Known as the Compute Module 3E or the RPI-CM3E-R1, the system-on-module (SoM) features the chipset from the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and is already shipping in some devices.

The Google Pixel Watch made its first real-world appearance yesterday after it was "forgotten" at a restaurant in Chicago. The leaker has now come on Reddit to provide a thorough look at the smartwatch, in the form of an enthusiastic Q&A.

The GT Neo3 is Realme's first-ever smartphone rated to charge at up to 150W. Now, the OEM has announced it is bringing that top-end spec with it when it lands in India later in April 2022. It will launch alongside the Mini version of Realme's first-gen Android tablet, as well as a new TV and more.

TCL has announced a range of electronics designed to make the user's home life "easier" today (April 12, 2022). They include the latest generation of its Sweeva robotic vacuum cleaners and Breeva air purifiers. They are joined by TCL-brand "smart" washer/dryer and air conditioners this year.

Xiaomi has now released its financial performance report for 2021, a year in which the OEM now claims to have shipped a "record high" 190.3 million units. These sales netted the major smart-device company a net profit of nearly 70% more than that in 2020, derived from revenue that increased nearly 34% year-on-year (YoY). Xiaomi also shipped more premium phones worldwide compared to 2020.

Compared to the NUC 1200 BOX mini PCs launched earlier this month, the iBOX 1200 come with a slightly larger chassis and feature lower TDP processors from Intel's Alder Lake-UE family. Despite the limited power scheme, these models can easily handle 4x 4K video signals and feature a robust port selection.

A designer from Google has unveiled a stylish in-house lamp that it is handing out to its employees for free, at least in the US. The dLight has a USB Type-C port, automatic firmware updates over Wi-Fi and an adjustable colour temperature to provide optimal lighting when on video calls.

Telstra has revealed its AU$100 million deal to outfit Intellihub's smart meters with IoT SIMs. Telstra proposes that this plan will enable better energy management as well as provide insight and remote monitoring of the energy network. The company also posits that its IoT SIMs will provide Intellihub with price certainty over the next 10 years.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has brought the option to install an OS on a Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 400 without needing a secondary computer. While not a headless setup, Network Install brings greater versatility to the two single-board computers.

64-bit versions of Raspberry Pi OS have arrived, allowing the Raspberry Pi 4 to utilise more than 4 GB of RAM natively. Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit is available to download now and is compatible with all Raspberry Pi SBCs that contain 64-bit processors, including the Raspberry Pi Zero 2.

RWE has collaborated with Inmarsat to bring IoT connectivity to its hydroelectric power stations in rural Snowdonia, Wales. Inmarsat claims that its network provides 99.9 percent coverage, which aids RWE in reliability and safety. IoT data also tracks weather conditions and increases efficiency in electricity production.

OPPO has introduced one of the latest products of its research and development as Zero-Power Communication, a new technology that might enable electronics to stay on by simply "harvesting" energy from other nearby devices that are using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi at the time. This potential replacement for batteries might end up as the way to sustain the IoT systems of the future.

In addition to a different design, the second iteration of the Rock space AX1800 wireless router also comes with WPA3 security and TWT support for lower power consumption on the connected devices. The list of features inherited from the first version includes WiFi 6, OFDMA, BSS Coloring, and more.

The new Matter connectivity protocol could improve the interconnectivity between smart devices from different manufacturers. One element of this standard relates to TVs and streaming devices, which would mean that you could control your Amazon TV using a Google Nest hub.

TEAMGROUP announced two new industrial storage solutions, the N75A-M80 and N75G-M80, which are designed to operate in changing and volatile environments. The company claimed that these SSDs were developed to meet the increasing demands of the 5G and smart edge computing markets. These devices also feature amazing cooling performance and are suitable for small industrial spaces.

RISC-V International is pushing for increased adoption with the introduction of 15 new specifications for the RISC-V ISA. Most prominent are the Vector specs that expand support for AI / machine learning, the Scalar Cryptography specs that make it easy to add improved security features even on the smallest IoT devices, and the Hypervisor specs that add compatibility with other OSes for data center environments and allow for increased malware protection.

Despite its single PCIe 2.0 lane support, the Raspberry Pi can easily identify up to 20 PCIe devices through the Broadcom PCIe switcher provided on the Seaberry carrier board. This setup enables the use of multiple Tensor Processing Units or Wi-Fi and Ethernet interfaces.

A developer has brought PlayStation games to the Game Boy Advance via a Raspberry Pi 3 and RetroPie. The mod can be built at home without changing your Game Boy Advance, too.

MediaTek recently stated that it would be showing off a WiFi 7 demo at CES 2022. During a presentation for a company event, MediaTek highlighted how WiFi 7 could be up to 2.4 times faster than the existing WiFi 6 standard, and that it will be showing off a WiFi 7-capable device at the technology expo next year.

Microsoft recently rolled out Xbox Cloud Gaming on the Xbox One and Xbox One S in over 25 regions. This feature allows gamers on previous-gen hardware to stream next-gen exclusive titles like The Medium via xCloud, opening a door to new cross-gen possibilities.

Recently, Cloudflare experienced one of its largest DDoS attacks in history. The DDoS assault peaked at 2 Tbps and was multi-vector in nature. Cloudflare reassured its consumers that its system is ready to discover and mitigate attacks of this scale.

The KIWI310 is a new single-board computer (SBC) built around the Raspberry Pi form factor. The SBC features an x86 processor rather than an ARM one though, and supports 5G connectivity.

Nissan and Verizon have developed a project to improve driver safety. Sensors detect potential emerging hazards from visual obstructions. The sensory data is processed by Verizon's 5G Edge and rapid alerts can be communicated to the driver.

Tencent Cloud, the Chinese giant's cloud services subsidiary, recently unveiled three new AI chips its working on that reportedly deliver significantly faster results than existing systems.

Recent Raspberry Pi 4 units have natively supported 1.8 GHz out of the gate. Now, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has brought 1.8 GHz support to all revisions of the Raspberry Pi 4 with the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS.

Gatik and Walmart have revealed that they are the first companies ever to accomplish fully autonomous deliveries using self-driving trucks without safety drivers. Gatik claimed that its vehicles are safe and reliable and has operated in North America since 2019. During this time, the autonomous trucking company has retained a perfect safety record.

Built using the 14 nm technology, Samsung's first 16 Gb LPDDR5X memory chips promise to drive further growth beyond the mobile sector, also targeting 5G and AI applications, as well as the metaverse. The new 16 Gb LPDDR5X comes three years after Samsung introduced the industry's first 8 Gb LPDDR5 modules.

The Radxa CM3 can be used instead of a Raspberry Pi CM4 or with carrier boards that support it. Radxa's compact board has a few advantages over the CM4 too, with greater eMMC bandwidth being one of them.

Farmers have employed IoT sensors, designed by smaXtec, to monitor the well-being of their farm animals. The data produced by these sensors can save farmers money by detecting illnesses as well as decreasing their workload. These devices utilize AT&T's global network and are used in many countries across the world.

Zoox announced that it will initiate testing of its self-driving vehicles in Seattle in 2022. The company plans to deal with Seattle's rainy weather by employing specialized hardware in its vehicles. The Amazon company hopes to gain beneficial information from these tests to further develop its AI technology. Zoox is striving to make these vehicles commercially fit for sale when they are deemed safe.

Yuzu's resolution scaling feature recently received a massive update. Alongside a more effective texture scaling solution, Yuzu developers added in support for AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling feature, making 4K Breath of The Wild more accessible than before.

Xiaomi has now debuted the next generation of TVs in its Redmi Smart TV X series. The aptly named Redmi Smart TV X (2022) series launched in China yesterday with 4K 120 Hz displays and a compilation of solid hardware. Pricing, however, is a bit tough.

The IoT Solutions Group has created IoT sensors that produce data on disabled parking spots. Sutton Council in the UK aims to use this data to enhance the parking experience of disabled drivers. Furthermore, the IoT Solutions Group has claimed that the data from the IoT sensors will help Sutton Council to develop policies involving transportation and area development.

MediaTek has unveiled a new "high-performance" series dedicated to the latest standard of wireless connectivity. It now consists of the Filogic 830 and 630, the line's first examples of system-on-chips (SoCs) and network interface cards (NICs) respectively. They are slated to confer top-end Wi-Fi specs on devices such as PCs, smart TVs and peripherals.

In an effort to clamp down on fake and compensated reviews, Amazon has banned over 3000 merchant accounts, connected to approximately 600 Chinese technology brands.