Hardware News: Freedom, Modding, Hackability on the Rise
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-04-14 08:44:38 UTC
- Modified: 2014-04-14 08:54:03 UTC
ARM
ARM Compiler 6 is beginning to use the LLVM/Clang compiler.
Velocity of open source Clang and LLVM combined with the stability of commercial products improve code quality, performance and power efficiency on ARM processors
With the release of Compiler 6 today, ARM moves from a proprietary architecture to one based on open sourced Clang/LLVM. Although there is going to be a lot contributed back the greater DS-5 Ultimate Edition are initially not going to be as fully open as SemiAccurate would like.
UK microprocessor-design company ARM has decided to move to an open-source compiler for the latest release of its software development tools, moving away from its own technology.
Raspberry Pi
Seven tutorials for seven days as we take you from Pi beginner to Raspberry Pro, and we also show you how to develop Android apps with Python in Linux User issue 138
Soon, there could be Pi in just about any device that needs embedded computing power. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced a new version of the Raspberry Pi platform that is aimed at a whole new class of devices and applications. Called the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, the new product puts all of the Pi’s core functionality onto a small board the size of a laptop memory module, allowing it to be plugged in to custom-built hardware.
As we've reported many times, the diminutive $25/$35 Linux computer dubbed Raspberry Pi has emerged as one of the biggest open source stories anywhere over the past couple of years. It's attracted all kinds of developers and tinkerers, is now running many different flavors of Linux, and there is even now a supercomputer consisting of many Pi devices lashed together with Lego pieces. In some of the more exotic new applications for Raspberry Pi, it's being used in music, robotics and security scenarios.
The compute module contains the guts of a Raspberry Pi (the BCM2835 processor and 512Mbyte of RAM) as well as a 4Gbyte eMMC Flash device (which is the equivalent of the SD card in the Pi). This is all integrated on to a small 67.6x30mm board which fits into a standard DDR2 SODIMM connector (the same type of connector as used for laptop memory*). The Flash memory is connected directly to the processor on the board, but the remaining processor interfaces are available to the user via the connector pins. You get the full flexibility of the BCM2835 SoC (which means that many more GPIOs and interfaces are available as compared to the Raspberry Pi), and designing the module into a custom system should be relatively straightforward as we’ve put all the tricky bits onto the module itself.
With the new Compute Module, the Foundation manages to pack the Raspberry Pi’s SoC with 512MB of memory and 4GB of storage onto a board the size of your standard DDR2 laptop memory. The Compute Module is seen above to the left of the standard PI unit. It's not entirely a size thing here though, the company is looking to offer a more universal version of the system, stuffing it on a board with a much more standard connector. This will allow developers to implement the system in whatever way they want as opposed to being tied to the traditional Pi I/O.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm revealed 20nm, 64-bit Snapdragon SoCs featuring Cortex-A57 and –A53 CPU cores, 4K video encoding, LTE Advanced, DDR4 RAM, and more.
Qualcomm announced this morning their next-generation 64-bit processors for what they hope yields "the ultimate connected mobile computing experiences" with a ton of new features and capabilities.
This is all done at 20nm compared to Beast’s 45nm and about 100 watts less power waste. I probably wouldn’t even have a fan to annoy me, not on the PSU, and not on the CPU. Beast’s replacement will likely be just big enough to hold a few hard drives or SSDs. Qualcomm will ship in 2014, probably just in time for Christmas.
Development
Embedded Linux Pioneer Launches Yocto Project-Based Linux BSPs for Boards in the Freescale Vybrid Controller Solutions Ecosystem
Habey unveiled a tiny, open-spec, Freescale i.MX6-based SBC that runs Ubuntu and Android, and features stackable daughter boards, PoE, and wing extensions.
Mainline Linux kernel support enables ease of migration by providing consistent access to new devices and the latest features
Open Hardware
For more advanced robots, there will be other available parts such as an infrared distance sensor. TinkerBots’ use of the Arduino-compatible micro-controller platform enables older enthusiasts to dabble in programming (C) for their TinkerBots creations.
I bought an Arduino Mega and started putting together the custom electronics in the form of a daughter board (Arduino calls them "shields"). However, it needed to be a standalone unit, so what could I do for user interfacing to the Mega that was flexible? Touch screens.
Novena
At 8-years old, Andrew "Bunnie" Huang appreciated the fact that his Apple II came with schematics and source code because it allowed him to figure out how it worked.
Andrew “Bunnie” Huang lists a bunch of reasons why you’ll want his open-source laptop, the Novena. You can modify it yourself so that its battery will last however long you want it to. You can inspect the software to see if there’s any present from the National Security Agency. And you don’t have to pay a tax to any big corporation just because you want to do some computing.
In a post-Edward Snowden’s disclosure world, where people and companies are seriously exploring options to keep their digital data and communication secure from NSA (or other illegitimate) snooping, here’s some good news.
Project Novena is alive and kicking, promising to bring you the world’s “almost” fully open source laptop. And it doesn’t just have open source software, but open source hardware. Hardware with open designs for anyone to manufacture and implement as they deem fit.
Hackers Bunnie Huang and Sean “xobs” Cross have launched a fundraiser for their open source laptop, the Novena. It looks very different from its prototype, but the idea behind it remains the same: a computer with transparent and easily modifiable hardware and software.
Mods
The last time I wrote about the best hacks available for a board, I had so much to choice between; now instead, writing about Arduino Yún and all of its best hacks, it was difficult to me to find really good projects, because the platform is so young. While Raspberry Pi had a strong community, Arduino Yún is still growing up.
Recent Techrights' Posts
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- Microsoft's latest "results"
- What May 1 Means to Us (and to Many Others)
- To me, May 1 means something
- Microsoft Lunduke is 'Pulling a Garrett' by Turning Technical and Legal Debate Over Rust Into a 'Trans Debate'
- Don't fall for the demagogue
- Microsoft "Buyout" Offer is Less Than One Year's Salary
- So our assumption about this was correct
- In New Letter Sent to Chair and Heads of Delegation of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation the Staff Union Explains How to End European Patent Office Strikes
- If Campinos continues to behave as he does right now, the Council can show him the door
- Microsoft Debt Rose Almost $50 Billion Since We Moved to Debian
- GAFAM has a new name for debt
- European Patent Office Management Mocked for Trying to 'Bribe' Staff With a Little Food
- The Office is having a crisis; a little breakfast treat won't solve it
- The Corporate Media Intentionally Overlooks How Google's Debt Trebles in Just Over a Year
- We'll soon see how much more money Microsoft has borrowed
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- What Linus (Torvalds, the Linux Dude) Meant by "Show Me the Code"
- "Show Me the Code" is a common cultural reference
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- Millions of Playstation 3 owners will never forget what Sony did to them
- Dealing With Demagogue in Free Software
- Don't spread their ideology and never participate in any of their projects
- Links 01/05/2026: Regulatory Trouble for Apple, Now Even Mozilla Pushes Back Against Google
- Links for the day
- The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part X - European Patent Office Managers Have Crossed Red Lines, According to Themselves
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- Bullying us for 2+ years does not result in fear, it results in us feeling more emboldened and motivated
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 63 Out of 200: Graveley as a Stripped-Down Version of Garrett in the Particulars of Claim (5RB Barrister Could Do This in One Minute)
- Lazily and sloppily, it looks like the barrister took Garrett's claims and tweaked them a little (shortened) for Graveley
- Lots of People Leave IBM, Today IBM Has About 1,000 Workers Fewer Than Yesterday
- Confluent "last day" for 800+ people
- Been a Very Busy Week
- Next week, as we have no upgrades to prepare for, we should be able to publish at the usual pace of 20+ pages per day
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- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
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- IRC logs for Thursday, April 30, 2026
- Google News Sloppy Again
- Today was disappointing
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 62 Out of 200: Garrett and Graveley Issue Astounding Copy-Paste Masterpiece Asserting Publicly-Accessible Embarrassing Facts Must Remain Hidden
- Are Garrett and Graveley twins separated at birth but joined by GNOME and Microsoft?
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- Links for the day
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- Microsoft will shrink
- (Trigger Warning) Jeremy Bicha & Debian-Edu, TecKids, Ubuntu incest scandal at DebConf25
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- Upgrade Successful
- we had a downtime of only 1-2 minutes overall (for two reboots)
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- Links for the day
- Then Come the DDoS Attacks
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- The "Alicante Mafia" (as staff calls it) is a disgrace to Europe
- The Register MS Running Spam Pieces for Huawei, a Banned Company
- Money does not excuse bad behaviour
- Apparently Last Day for Nearly 1,000 Confluent Workers IBM Laid Off Last Month
- IBM is a dying company pretending to be strong because of its age
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 29, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, April 29, 2026
- Gemini Links 30/04/2026: Outdoor Time, Old Computers, and Joining Geminispace
- Links for the day
- In Past 6 Months IBM Lost About 100 Billion Dollars in 'Value' While Debt Ballooned to 70 Billion Dollars
- Welcome to a universe of fake finances and phony accounting based on fictional assets with made-up 'worth'
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Weaponising Morality Against Technofascism and Slop
- It's longer than a "tweet", so social control media addicts are likely mentally unfit to read it
- Six Months
- Techrights will be around (and active) for a very long time to come
- If We Move Everything to Devuan...
- IRC, Git, Apache and so on
- Why We Publish "The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt"
- We intend to report the facts, fearlessly, until real and lasting solutions are reached
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 61 Out of 200: Garrett and Graveley Must Understand That Reporting Women's Issues in the United States of America (“the US”) is Not Impermissible
- when you cover Microsoft corruption and have real effect
- Weeks After Mass Layoffs of Red Hat Engineers We Learn of European "Buyouts" and Layoffs at IBM
- At Microsoft, they tell us there are merely "buyouts", but they don't tell us what happens if you say "no!"
- OS Upgrade Tentatively Scheduled for Tomorrow
- We have some contingencies in case the upgrade goes wrong
- Campinos is a Lame Duck President This Year at the European Patent Office (EPO)
- The strikes are not ending. If anything, they intensify further.
- Links 29/04/2026: LLM Chatbot Usage Goes Down Sharply (as Do Stocks Associated With Them), Microsoft's Circular Financing Accounting Fraud at Risk
- Links for the day
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- Links for the day
- Slop Has a Long Way to Go Before It Gets Basic Facts Right
- Please do not rely on slop for anything
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- People who shamelessly violate the European Patent Convention (EPC) have the audacity to lecture workers on "ethics"
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- Canonical is looking for money in the wrong places
- Links 29/04/2026: "Snowden Affair 13 Years Later" and "Landmark Data Center Pause"
- Links for the day
- Seems Like Only Techrights Covered IBM Laying Off About 33% of Confluent Staff
- How can such a large round of layoffs evade today's media?
- Over at Tux Machines...
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