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elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki Installation on Oracle VirtualBox

This video tutorial shows

elementary OS 0.4.1 installation

on Oracle

VirtualBox

step by step. This tutorial is also helpful to install elementary OS Loki on physical computer or laptop hardware. We also install Guest Additions on elementary OS 0.4.1 for better performance and usability features such as Automatic Resizing Guest Display, Shared Folder, Seamless Mode and Shared Clipboard, Improved Performance and Drag and Drop.

elementary OS 0.4.1 Installation Steps:

1. Create Virtual Machine on Oracle VirtualBox
2. Start elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki Installation
3. Install Guest Additions
4. Test Guest Additions Features: Automatic Resizing Guest Display and Shared Clipboard

Installing elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki on Oracle VirtualBox

elementary OS 0.4.1 New Features and Improvements

elementary OS 0.4.1

is based on

Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS

elementary OS Website:

https://elementary.io/

elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki Minimum System Requirements

1. Intel i3 or comparable dual-core 64-bit processor
2. 1 GB of system memory (RAM)
3. 15 GB of disk space
4. Internet access

Hope you found this elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki installation on Oracle VirtualBox tutorial helpful and informative. Please consider sharing it. Your feedback and questions are welcome!

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Quest For The Perfect Linux Distro – Unleaded Hangouts Posted on September 8, 2018

Matt Hartley

Datamation.com

and OpenLogic.com/wazi, Matt also once served as a co-host for a popular Linux-centric podcast. Matt has written about various software titles, such as Moodle, Joomla, WordPress, openCRX, Alfresco, Liferay and more. He also has additional Linux experience working with Debian based distributions, openSUSE, CentOS, and Arch Linux.

(Last Updated On: September 8, 2018)

Quest For The Perfect Linux Distro. Today the gang and I discuss what we’d like to see in the perfect Linux distro or any OS for that matter. Additionally, we also discuss what we really would love to see improved and can’t believe in 2018 remains a problem even to this day.

Join the Hangouts, become a Gold member today!

Datamation.com

and OpenLogic.com/wazi, Matt also once served as a co-host for a popular Linux-centric podcast.

Matt has written about various software titles, such as Moodle, Joomla, WordPress, openCRX, Alfresco, Liferay and more. He also has additional Linux experience working with Debian based distributions, openSUSE, CentOS, and Arch Linux.

Source

In this lesson, we will look at some most popular GUI tools to access

MySQL database

on Ubuntu 18.04. These vary in application size and ease of use but they are useful for some features specific to each application only. We will look at these GUI tools and features they offer differently in this post. Let’s get started.

MySQL GUI Tools for Ubuntu 18.04

Sequel Pro

Sequel Pro is an excellent and lightweight tool to access MySQL on local and remote machines. If you are looking for a tool which contains a simple purpose to access MySQL on local and remote machines, this is a very lightweight tool which allows you to quickly connect to a given database with necessary details:

MySQL GUI Tool: Sequel Pro

As seen in the image above, it allows us to connect to the database through SSH, Socket or Standard connection details. It is possible to save favourite connections so that we can connect to them again whenever needed quickly.

MySQL Workbench

The MySQL Workbench is a tool which is used for many more features than just accessing the database. First, we look at the primary feature this tool provides to us, connecting to a database:

MySQL GUI Tool: MySQL Workbench

Clearly, it also provides the same features to connect to a remote database as provided by the Sequel Pro tool we saw before. Apart from this, MySQL Workbench allows us to read tables and convert them directly to EER Diagrams with these steps:

Table to ER Diagram

The process is called Reverse Engineering. Once it is complete, we will see simply the required result:

Table to EER Diagram

This is an excellent use to prepare documentation for the currently existing databases and tables & much faster as well than manual work. It is helpful not only to the database administrators but architects and developers as well.

dbForge Studio for MySQL

The dbForge Studio for MySQL has been stated one of the most intelligent service to work with MySQL and MariaDB as well:

dbForge Studio for MySQL

It is a universal GUI tool for MySQL and MariaDB database development, management, and administration. According to its creators: “The IDE allows us to create and execute queries, develop and debug stored routines, automate database object management, analyze table data via an intuitive interface”. Just like MySQL Workbench, dbForge Studio also allows visual designer for a database:

dbForge Studio

The building, editing, and running queries, as well as measuring and optimizing query performance get much simpler with the following functionality:

• MySQL Debugger
• MySQL Code Completion
• Query Profiler
• SQL code formatting
• SQL syntax check

Try these functionalities and make use of this excellent.

DBManager Professional

The DBManager Professional’s flexibility makes it ideal for today’s rapidly changing business environment, as it is able to manage all the aspects concerning data management. Also, it has a built-in support for today’s most used database engines: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Interbase/Firebird, SQLite, DBF, MSAccess, MSSQL Server, Sybase and Oracle. Advanced User Interface, Powerful Features, Easy Database Integration.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we looked at the four most used MySQL GUI tools which are used across Operating Systems with amazing features and tools to ease the process of Database designing, modelling and debugging.

Source

E-commerce websites provide a platform for buyers and sellers and make online business easier than before. Ecommerce site can be developed with a variety of different types of web applications. Magento is a popular open source CMS to develop e-commerce website with numerous functionalities, security and minimum programming knowledge. This CMS is supported running on both Windows and Linux. How

Magento 2.2.6

can be installed on Ubuntu is shown in this tutorial.

You have to update the system and confirm that the following packages are installed and working properly before starting Magento Installation steps.

• Apache2
• MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB
• PHP 7+

Run the following commands to update and check your system is ready to start the installation.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ Apache2
$ PHP –v
$ mysql

If the following output appears then Apache, PHP and MySQL are installed.

Magento Installation Steps

Step-1: Download Magento Installer

Go to the following URL address, select the latest version of Magento and click on DOWNLOAD button. Here ‘Magento Open Source 2.2.6 tar.gz’ is selected and downloaded.

https://magento.com/tech-resources/download

You have to create an account in Magento site to download Magento. So, the following screen will appear before download. Create an account or login to your existing account to start the download process.

Step-2: Create folder and unzip Magento installer

By default, Magento will be downloaded on Downloads folder. Run the commands to create a folder named ‘magento’ under /var/www/html folder and copy the downloaded Magento file on that folder.

$ cd Downloads
$ ls
$ mkdir /var/www/html/magento
$ cp Magento-CE-2.2.6-2018-09-07-02-12-38.tar.gz /var/www/html/magento

Go to magento folder and unzip Magento installer.

$ cd /var/www/html/magento
$ ls
$ tar xzvf Magento-CE-2.2.6-2018-09-07-02-12-38.tar.gz /var/www/html/magento

Step-3: PHP Settings

You have to set permission to edit and save php.ini file.

chmod 777 /etc/php/7.1/apache2/php.ini

Open php.ini file from the location /etc/php/7.1/apache2/ and increase the memory limit and enable the following extensions.

Step-4: Database Setting

Login to MySQL server.

Create a database, ‘magento’.

Step-5: Setting Necessary Permissions

Run the following commands to set the necessary permissions for magento folder and restart the apache server.

$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/magento
$ sudo chmod -R /var/www/html/magento
$ sudo service apache2 restart

Step-6: Setup Magento

Open a browser and enter the following URL and click on Agree and Setup Magento button.

http://localhost/magento

If any necessary PHP extension is missing then it will be displayed in this page. Here, two extension are missing or not working, soap and bcmath.

Install the missing extensions.

$ sudo apt-get install php-soap
$ sudo apt-get install php7.1-bcmath

Again run the setup. If everything is ok then click on Next button. Fill up the following form with database hostname, username, password and database name. Click on Next button.

Set the base URL of the store and admin in this step. Here, I have removed admin prefix for easy access.

Next step is for customizing the store. Keep default settings and click on Next.

Create admin account to login to the dashboard of admin panel and click Next.

Click on Install Now button after completing all setup.

If the installation completes successfully then the following screen will appear.

Step-7: Verify Magento is working or not

Run the following URL from the browser to test the store view is working or not.

http://localhost/magento

Run the following URL to login to Admin Panel. Provide the valid username and password that you have created in previous step.

http://localhost/magento/admin

The following admin panel will appear if Magento is installed and working properly.

Hope, this tutorial will help you to learn and use Magento on Ubuntu.

Source

The first question you need to ask yourself is what you want the Android emulator to do for you. Many times, you only need it for a specific application that you cannot get for your Linux desktop. Some times you want to run a game and sometimes you are looking to develop your own application.

Which works best for what?

Android Virtual Device

Designed especially for testing your own code when coding from Android Studio. The built-in emulator is superior for testing your own applications, as expected this works best for using the Android SDK but you can use the emulator stand-alone. The images take a lot of disc space and use a lot of memory when used but all the features are there and it runs almost flawlessly. With this package you can also emulate the phone moving around, low battery and other hardware related situations.

Shashlik

Shashlik still works and is surprisingly powerful and simple to get started. Once you have it installed, you can install android applications by starting the Shaslik emulator and connecting to it using adb. Applications can then be started directly from your desktop. They will look like regular applications, but will be a little slow to start since the VM has to start before the application itself. Note that this package is still in beta and the last update was back in 2016 so make sure you don’t rely on updates. If, however, your application works then you can keep using it.

Android_x86

Android_x86 is also possible to run in a Virtual machine, Virtualbox is an idea but not the only one. The fun part about this package is that you can install it as a second OS on your disc and run it. When you do this you are no longer emulating, instead the whole install is done for your laptop. This also works when you want to use have more battery life from your Laptop, it usually uses much less power than your regular OS. Since it can replace your OS, it emulates everything near exactly. The analysis tools for your own applications is not something that has been prioritized in this project so it may lack a little in that area but for regular use it is great. Upgrading it is also simple, as the image is an ISO and there is an RPM file for the install.

Anbox

Anbox is aiming to give you the ability to run Android Apps in Linux; In a box, as the name suggests. The package comes as a snap only, unless you are going to develop. If you want to build the code yourself, you need to download the entire source code for Android. This application is excellent for running small applications directly on your desktop. To install Android apps, the easiest way is to find a package manager and use that. The adb program contacts any Android connected to the computer, Anbox will act as a mobile connected to the computer it is running on. You can also add Google Play yourself, it is not included for legal reasons. F-Droid is a popular open source alternative.

Genymotion

Genymotion is only available as a closed source distribution but you can use it for free. When it is installed it is fully capable of emulating everything a phone can make. It uses VirtualBox in the background but has a nice GUI on top of it that makes running the tests a breeze. The company also offers online farms of emulated hardware that you can rent. This comes at a hefty price of course and it is only intended for professional developers.

Chrome Browser

If you use the Chrome browser, you can also use ARC-welder. This is an app from the Chrome Web store, the install takes a while since the app is large, it does include an emulator. Once it is installed and you start it, you are greeted with an extremely simple screen. The screen contains one big plus and the text ‘Add your APK’, here you have to have the apk file ready in local storage. Once the app is installed, there is an icon on your new tab, which you can click to start the app again. ARC-welder is intended for testing only and there are serious bugs for the Linux version but it integrates well with the Gnome desktop.

Illustration 1: ARC Welder running F-Droid

Conclusion

Sometimes you want to test apps, as a hobbyist use your own, as a pro, use online systems. For playing games, use Anbox, it is still early but already useful. When you are developing yourself, the Android SDK is your best option and their own virtual device will be the easiest to use. Genymotion comes into it’s own though when you need to test hardware related features and mapping applications.

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Enroll now for a free laptop!!

Best Linux Training!

Upcoming Classes

Linux Fundamentals

October 18 – October 19, 2018
[Virtual live ]

Linux System & Network Administration

October 20 – October 21, 2018
[Virtual live ]

Hands On Embedded Linux Development

October 10 – October 12, 2018 [Virtual live ]

Linux Device driver Development

October 15 – October 17, 2018 [Virtual live ]

Linux Kernel Internals

October 22 – October 24, 2018 [Virtual live ]

Shell Programming

October 22 – October 23, 2018 [Sunnyvale, California][Virtual]

Linux Development Essentials: Fundamentals, Tools and Techniques

October 24 – October 26, 2018 [Virtual live ]

Android Development Training

TBD [Sunnyvale, California] [Virtual]

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Ubuntu 18.04 aka Bionic Beaver was released on April 26th, 2018 with a lot of changes on front end as well as on backend. Major change that anybody who has ever used Ubuntu, will notice is the Desktop Environment.

Update : Ubuntu 18.10 aka Cosmic Cattlefish release is around the corner & it will be released on Oct 18, 2018. This tutorial can also be used to Dual boot Ubuntu 18.10.

You should start noticing the changes beginning with the Ubuntu Installation, we now have a new wallpaper when we boot into Ubuntu & during installation, we now get option to have a minimal installation, that gives you a web browser & some basic utilities.

The Unity Desktop environment has been replaced with GNOME, as Ubuntu has ended development on Unity.LightDM login manager has been swapped with Gnome’s GDM login manager. Ubuntu 18.04 still uses XORG display server by default, which was replaced to Wayland display server in Ubuntu 17.10. Ubuntu 18.04 now has support for color emoji icons, also Ubuntu now allows us to live patch our systems i.e. we can now patch our kernels without having to restart our systems.

On the software front, most of the defaults remains the same. We have usual thunderbird, libre office, Firefox , Nautilus file manager etc at our disposal, their versions have been upgraded. Also, you should not worry about Spectre & Meltdown attacks with Ubuntu 18.04.

Recommended Read : How to Add and Remove Users in Ubuntu

Also Read : Easy guide on how to install Java on Ubuntu systems

So that was something brief about Ubuntu 18.04, let’s now get to our main topic, which is how to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows 10 system. So let’s get starting,

For purpose of this tutorial, we assume that you have Windows 10 system with at least 25 Gb free HDD space. If you have than move onto the article,

1- Login into your Windows 10 system. Once done, we need to open Disk Management Console. To open Disk Management console, open run prompt (by pressing Windows Key + R or by typing ‘run’ in search bar) & type ‘diskmgmt.msc’

2- We need to free up some space from our HDD, we will do it by shrinking the volume that has some free space. Select the partition with some free space (at least 25 Gb), right click & select ‘Shrink Volume’,

3- On next screen, select the amount you want to shrink and press ‘Shrink’. For our tutorial, we will be using 40 Gb,

4- As shown is the screenshot below, we now have 40 Gb of unallocated space that will be used for Ubuntu 18.04 installation.

5- Next step will to shutdown your system & insert a bootable USB or a Live DVD for Ubuntu 18.04 onto the system & than boot the system into the Ubuntu image,

6- Once the Ubuntu image has been booted up, we should see the following options. Select ‘Install Ubuntu’,

7- On next screen, we will be asked for ‘Keyboard Layout’, I am leaving it at default, modify it as per your needs & press Continue,

8- On the next screen we are introduced to a little change, we have an extra option to select what apps we need to install on our system & we can either select Normal installation with all the default applications or we can also select Minimal Installation with only a web browser & some basic utilities. Select the option, you see fit & press Continue,

9- On the next screen, we will select the installation type. Since we are dual booting with Window 10, we will select the first option ‘Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10’, rest options can be chosen when we are installing Ubuntu afresh,

10 – On the following screen, press ‘Write changes to disk ’ to proceed further with the installation,

11- Now we would be asked about our Geographical location, select your country & proceed by clicking on the Continue button,

12- Now comes the part of installation, where we need to create information about our User, our computer name & password etc. Enter all the requested information & once done, press Continue,

13- We have now entered all the needed information, Ubuntu will now proceed with the installation & depending on the allocated system resources it can take anywhere between 5 to 20 mins,

14- Once the installation has been completed, we will be asked to restart our system. Press on ‘Restart Now’. Also remove the installation media from system before restarting the system,

15- Now when the system is restarted, we will see the following boot menu first. Here we can either opt to login to Ubuntu installation by selecting the first option or we can also boot into Windows 10 installation by selecting the last option. We will boot into Ubuntu,

16- Now after completing the bootup process, we will see the login screen. Select the created user & enter the password to login,

17- That’s it guys, we have successfully installed Ubuntu along with Windows 10 & can now use both the operating systems without an issue,

This completes our tutorial on how to dual boot Ubuntu with Windows 10. Hope the tutorial was clear enough. If have any questions or queries, please let us know using the comment box below.

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The graphical Calendar tool available on your Ubuntu system is pretty useful. However, if you are more Terminal-savvy, you can use the powerful command line utilities like cal and ncal in order to customize the way you want to view calendars for a specific month or year. This article explains the cal and ncal commands in detail alongwith the options you can use with them.

We have run the commands and procedures mentioned in this article on a Ubuntu 18.04 LTS system.

Since you will be using the Linux Terminal in order to view customized calendars, you can open it through the Dash or the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut.

The cal Command

The cal utility displays the calendar in the traditional horizontal format. The following simple cal command is used to view the calendar for the current month with the current date highlighted:

$ cal

Cal Command Options

You can view the calendar according to the following syntax, based on the options explained below:

$ cal [-m [month]] [-y [year]] [-3] [-1] [-A [number]] [-B [number]] [-d [YYYY-MM]] [-j]

Option	Use
-m [month]	Use this option to display the calendar for the specified month. You can specify the entire month name such as “January” or the three letter abbreviated form such as “Jan”. Alternatively, you can also specify the month number with this option. This switch also gives you the option for viewing calendar for a month of the next year; in that case, you can add the letter f after the month number such as -m 1f
-y [year]	Use this option in order to view the calendar for a specified year. For example ‘-y 2019’ will display all months for the year 2019
-1	Use this option to view the calendar of only one month. Since this is the default setting, you can avoid using this switch unless necessary.
-3	Use this option in order to view calendars for three months; these include the current month, the previous month, and the coming month.
-A [number]	Use this option when you want to view an X number of coming months along with the calendar you have already set for viewing. Example 1: cal -3 -A 1 (this command will display the calendar for the current, previous and next month, and also 1 more month after the next month) Example 2: cal -y 2019 -A 1 (this command will display the calendar for the year 2019 along with one more month i.e. January for 2020
-B [number]	Use this option when you want to view an X number of previous months along with the calendar you have already set for viewing. Example 1: cal -3 -B 1 (this command will display the calendar for the current, previous and next month, and also 1 more month before the previous month) Example 2: cal -y 2019 -B 1 (this command will display the calendar for the year 2019 along with one month of the previous year i.e. Dec for 2018
-d [YYYY-MM]	You can view the calendar of a specific month of the specific year by mentioning that year and month in YYYY-MM format with -d option.
-j	You can use this option to view the calendar in Julian format rather than the default Gregorian format.

Cal Command Examples

The following command will display the entire calendar for the current year:

$ cal -y

The following command will display the calendar for January 2017 as it is specified in the YYYY-MM format in the command:

$ cal -d 2017-01

The ncal Command

The ncal command is more powerful than the cal command. It displays the calendar in a vertical format with some more additional options. These include displaying the date of Easter, viewing calendar with Monday or Sunday as starting days and much more.

The following simple ncal command is used to view the calendar in vertical format for the current month with the current date highlighted:

$ ncal

Ncal Command Options

You can view the calendar according to the following nval syntax, based on the options explained below:

ncal [-m [month]] [-y [year]] [-h] [-3] [-1] [-A [number]] [-B [number]] [-d [YYYY-MM]] [-C] [-e] [-o] [-p] [-w] [-M] [-S] [-b]

Note: The options already explained for the cal command can be used in the same manner for the ncal command.

Options	Use
-h	By default, the cal command highlights today’s date. However, if you use the the -h option, it will not highlight the date.
-e	Use this option to view the date of Easter for western calendars.
-o	Use this option to view the date of the Orthodox Easter.
-p	Use this option to view country codes and switching days that are used for switching from Julian to Gregorian calendars for that country.
-w	When you use this option, ncal will print the week number under each week.
-C	By using this option, you can use all the options of the cal command with the ncal command.
-M	Use this option to view calendars with Monday as the first day of the week.
-S	Use this option to view calendars with Sunday as the first day of the week.
-b	When you use this option, ncal will display the calendar horizontally as it is displayed through the cal command

Ncal Command Examples

The following command will display the calendar for the current month without highlighting today’s date:

$ ncal -h

The following command will display the calendar of the current month with Monday as the first day of the week.

Through this article, you have learned to view calendars according to the many options available for the cal and ncal commands. By using these options you can customize the way you want to view calendars instead of the usual way calendars are displayed in Linux.

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Airtame has released a faster new “Airtame 2” version of its Linux-based HDMI dongle for mirroring content to a TV, adding WiFi-ac, 2GB RAM, and a growing enterprise focus.

One category that often gets overlooked in the discussion of Linux computers is the market for HDMI dongle devices that plug into your TV to stream, mirror, or cast content from your laptop or mobile device. Yesterday, Google announced its third-gen version of its market-leading, Linux-powered Chromecast device. The latest Chromecast has a new design and Google Home support, and it’s claimed to be 15 percent faster than the 2015 version, with new support for [email protected] video. However, the rumored addition of Bluetooth did not materialize.

Airtame 2 (left) and signage examples
(click images to enlarge)

Here, we look at a similar Linux-based HDMI dongle device that launched this morning with a somewhat different feature set and market focus. The

Airtame 2

is the first hardware overhaul since the

original Airtame

generated $1.3 million on Indiegogo in 2013. The new version quadruples the RAM, improves the Fedora Linux firmware, and advances to dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, which is now known as WiFi 5 in the new

Wi-Fi Alliance naming scheme

that accompanied its recent WiFi 6 (ax) announcement.

Airtame 1 prototype

In its first year, Copenhagen, Denmark-based Airtame struggled to fulfill its Indiegogo orders and almost collapsed in the process. Yet, the company went on to find success and recently surpassed 100,000 device shipments. With a growing focus on enterprise and educational markets, Airtame upgraded its software with cloud device management features, and expanded its media sources beyond cross-platform desktops to Android and iOS devices.

The key difference with Chromecast is that Airtame supports mirroring to multiple devices at once, as long as you’re video is coming from a laptop or desktop rather than a mobile. Chromecast also requires the Chrome browser, and it lacks cloud-based device management features.

Third-gen Chromecast

The $35 Chromecast is still a major player in the low-end consumer media player segment, but its dominance has faded due to greater competition from devices such as the Linux-based Roku and the Amazon Fire. Airtame has further backed away from that competition by focusing more on the enterprise, signage, and educational markets. Accordingly, the Airtame 2 price went up by $100 to $399 per device.

Airtame 2 extends its enterprise trajectory by “re-imagining how to turn blank screens into smart, collaborative displays,” says the company. Airtame recently released four Homescreen apps, providing “simple app integrations for better team collaboration and digital signage.” These deployments are controlled via Airtame Cloud, which was launched in early 2017. The cloud service enables enterprise and educational customers to monitor their Airtame devices, perform bulk updates, and add updated content directly from the cloud.

Twice the RAM, five times the WiFi performance

The Airtame 2 offers the same basic functionality as the Airtame 1, but it adds a number of performance benefits. It moves from the DualLite version of the NXP i.MX6 to the similarly dual-core, Cortex-A9 Dual model. This has the same 1GHz clock rate, but with a more advanced Vivante GC2000 GPU. Output resolution via the HDMI 1.4b port stays the same at 1920×1080, but you now get a 60fps frame rate instead of 30fps. As before, you can plug into VGA or DVI ports using adapters.

Airtame 2 with new magnetic mount (left) and spec comparison with Airtame 1
(click images to enlarge)

More importantly for performance, the Airtame 2 quadruples the RAM to 2GB. In place of an SD card slot, the firmware is stored on onboard eMMC.

The new Cypress (Broadcom) CYW89342 RSDB WiFi 5 chip is about five times faster than the original’s Qualcomm WiFi 4 (802.11n) chip, which also provided dual-band MIMO 2.4GHz/5.2GHz WiFi. The Airtame 2 has twice the range, at up to 20 meters, which is helpful for its enterprise and educational customers.

Other hardware improvements include a smaller, 77.9 x 13.5mm footprint, a Kensington Lock input, an LED, and a magnetic wall mount. A USB Type-C port replaces the power-only micro-USB OTG, adding support for HDMI, USB host, and Ethernet.

Airtame 2 with Kensington Lock (left) and new power cable and adapter
(click images to enlarge)

As before, there’s also a micro-USB host port that with the help of an adapter, supports Ethernet and Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). (Unfortunately, the device is no longer powered over HDMI, so if you don’t have the upcoming PoE option, you must plug in via a new power jack with a thin cable that includes a power adapter.)

Ethernet can run simultaneously with WiFi, and can improve throughput and reliability, says Airtame. We saw no mention of the new product’s latency, which is said to be improved, but on the previous Airtame, WiFi streaming latency was one second with audio.

Once again, iOS 9 devices can mirror video using AirPlay. However, Android (4.2.2) devices are limited to the display of static images and PDF files, including non-animated PowerPoint presentations. Desktop support, which also includes a special optimization for Chromebooks, includes support for Windows 10/7, Ubuntu 15.05, and Mac OS X 10.12.

Airtame 2 video

This article is copyright © 2018 Linux.com and was originally published here. It has been reproduced by this site with the permission of its owner. Please visit Linux.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.

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DFRobot has fulfilled KS orders for its Kaby Lake based LattePanda Alpha SBC, and is shipping a model with 8GB RAM and 64GB eMMC without OS that supports Windows 10 or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

DFRobot’s LattePanda project has fulfilled its Kickstarter orders for its community-backed, Intel 7th Gen Core based LattePanda Alpha after several months of delays, and public sales have switched from pre-order to in-stock fulfillment for at least one model. Like the earlier, Intel Cherry Trail based LattePanda, the LattePanda Alpha is notable for being a community backed (but not fully open source) hacker board loaded with Windows 10. Yet with the LattePanda Alpha, you can also choose a more affordable barebones version without a Windows 10 key that supports an optimized, downloadable Ubuntu 16.04 LTS image.

LattePanda Alpha
(click image to enlarge)

The almost identical LattePanda Delta board that was promoted in the same Dec. 2017 Kickstarter campaign is still not ready, although like the Alpha it’s been

available for pre-order

since June. The Delta delay may well be due to shortages of the Intel’s 8th Gen

Gemini Lake

follow-on to its lower-power Apollo Lake SoCs. Yet, Gemini Lake has shipped on a few computers such as the Windows-equipped

Alldocube KNote 5

2-in-1 tablet PC and

Beelink S2

mini-PC.

LattePanda Alpha

It appears that the only LattePanda Alpha model currently in stock — and only at DFRobot — is the $358 barebones version with 8GB LPDDR3 and 64GB eMMC. A $298 barebones model without the 64GB eMMC and a $398 model with 64GB eMMC and Windows Pro 10 are both listed as pre-order, without a promised ship date. The $358 price for the shipping, Linux-ready model is $60 to $70 more than the original Kickstarter packages.

The LattePanda Alpha’s 7th Gen Kaby Lake Core m3-7Y30 is a dual quad-thread 1.6GHz/2.6GHz processor with 900MHz Intel HD Graphics 615. The processor has a configurable TDP of 3.75W to 7W, and like the original LattePanda, is accompanied by an Arduino-compatible co-processor.

In addition to the 8GB LPDDR3 RAM and optional 64GB eMMC 5.0, there’s a microSD slot and an M.2 M Key interface that supports PCIe x4, SATA SSD, and NVMe SSD expansion. (The upcoming Delta model instead has an M.2 B-Key without NVMe support, which was the only major difference from the Alpha aside from its Gemini Lake SoC.)

LattePanda Alpha front detail view
(click image to enlarge)

The Alpha is also equipped with an M.2 E-Key slot with PCIe x2, USB 2.0, I2C, and UART support. This offers additional wireless possibilities in addition to the standard dual-band 802.11ac (now called WiFi 5), which is accompanied by Bluetooth 4.2. A GbE port is also onboard.

LattePanda Alpha back detail view
(click image to enlarge)

The LattePanda Alpha provides 3x USB 3.0 host ports and a USB Type-C port with support for USB 3.0, power input, and DisplayPort. Dual simultaneous 4K display support is available via the Type-C DisplayPort, as well as an HDMI port and eDP interface that supports optional 7- and 10.1-inch touchscreens.

Dual 50-pin GPIO connectors include one with an Arduino pinout. Other features include a 12V input, an audio jack, a PMIC, an RTC, and a cooling fan. We’re still not seeing dimensions for the SBC except for the slim 13mm height except to say it’s 70 percent smaller than iPhone Plus. For more details, see the spec list and other background in our original LattePanda Alpha and Delta story.

One novel feature is a streaming cable that enables Linux, Mac, or Windows desktop users to plug the LattePanda into a USB port to provide easy access to a Windows device without requiring partitioning or dual booting. The streaming configuration, which enables a PiP (Picture in Picture) view for “seamless interaction,” is intended primarily for Linux and Mac developers who want to develop Windows 10-based IoT devices. As noted, however, you can also buy the barebones version loaded with Ubuntu.

LattePanda has a thriving community site with a forum and extensive documentation, including GPIO pinouts, but so far, only for the original LattePanda. No schematics are provided.

Further information

The LattePanda Alpha is now available in a barebones package with 8GB RAM and 64GB eMMC, with shipments due Oct. 20. Other models are available on pre-order, as linked to farther above. More information may be found at the DFRobot LattePanda shopping page.

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