Rockchip’s RK3188 processor is one of the fastest ARM Cortex-A9 chips around. The 28nm quad-core processor outperforms the chips found in the Samsung Galaxy S III and Google Nexus 7, for instance. And it’s a relatively inexpensive chip, which explains why it’s proven popular with Chinese tablet and TV box makers. Most devices featuring the […]
Tag: source code
Allwinner releases kernel source code for A31 quad-core chip
The Allwinner A31 processor is a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor with PowerVR SGX 544 graphics. Like other Allwinner chips, it’s proven popular with budget tablet makers in China, as a low-cost quad-core processor that offers decent performance. Allwinner also has a decent reputation with some folks in the Linux community, since the company’s earlier (and […]
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean for MIPS processors now available
Low power chip designer MIPS has released the source code for a version of Google Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean optimized for devices with MIPS processors. Right now most Android phones and tablets feature ARM-based processors, but some very low cost devices have MIPs chips, including the Karbonn Smart Tab 1, a $125 tablet for the […]
Open source graphics drivers for the Raspberry Pi on the way
The Raspberry Pi is a dirt cheap mini-computer with a Broadcom BCM2835 700 MHz ARM11 with Broadcom VideoCore graphics. A basic model with 2 USB ports, HDMI and Ethernet sells for about $35, and the developers plan to offer an even cheaper $25 model without Ethernet soon. While the processor isn’t very powerful, the Broadcom […]
Google releases Android 4.1 Jelly Bean source code
Google is releasing Android 4.1 Jelly Bean source code to the Android Open Source Project today. This will allow device makers to bring the latest version of Android to their phones and tablets. It will also make it a lot easier for independent developers to design custom firmware based on Android 4.1 for existing phones […]
ZaTab: ZaReason launches a $349 Android tablet
Linux computer builder ZaReason is now selling its first tablet. But while all of the company’s laptop and desktop computers are sold with Ubuntu Linux, the ZaTab is an Android tablet. The good news for folks who like to tinker is that ZaReason sells the tablet with the bootloader unlocked which means that the tablet can […]
HP releases TouchPad Android kernel source code
HP never planned to release the HP TouchPad tablet to the public with Google Android. Instead, when the 9.7 inch tablet hit the market last summer it was running HP webOS 3.0 software. But a handful of customers purchased tablets that had Android installed instead. These devices appeared to be running builds of the operating […]
Google Android 4.0 source code now available
Google has released the source code for Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The operating system is designed to run on phones and tablets, and this is the first time Google has released the source code for a tablet-friendly version of the operating system. The company never felt that Android 3.x Honeycomb was ready to […]
HTC offers up source code for the HTC Flyer tablet
HTC has released the kernel source code for a number of Android devices including several of the company’s most recent smartphones and the HTC Flyer 7 inch Android tablet. The Google Android operating system is based on an open source Linux kernel, but not every bit of software that runs on top of that kernel […]
Asus Eee Pad Transformer source code now available
Asus has released the kernel source code for the Eee Pad Transformer Android tablet. On the one hand, that’s not too surprising, since the tablet uses open source technology that’s licensed using the GNU General Public License which requires anyone distributing GPL licensed software to make the relevant source code available. What is a little […]
List of Android tablets that make source code available
Google’s Android operating is based on the Linux kernel, which means that it’s bound by the GPL (General Public License) that requires anyone distributing devices using Android to make the Kernel source code available. A number of major Android tablet makers including Archos, Barnes & Noble, Dell, Samsung, and Velocity Cruz have done that — […]
Dell Streak Android tablet source code now available
Dell has released the source code for its Streak and Aero devices. The Streak is a 5 inch Android tablet or smartphone, depending on how you look at it, while the Aero is pretty inarguably a phone. Google Android is built on open source software and uses a version of the Linux kernel at its […]