It is finally here...

The $99 EFIKA - on the Road to Mobility

...and so is the next Freescale SoC.

R&B 8)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Could you state a bit more on what is changed for next efika compared to the curren efika? Backwards compatible?

On taking a look on the mpc512x site i see things like:
AXE, a 32-bit RISC audio accelerator engine
PowerVR® MBX Lite 2D/3D Graphics Engine
DIU Integrated Display Controller supports up to XGA resolution

Does this mean the next efika has an onboard video card and hardware accelerated openal and opengl WOW!!

Where and when can i find more info on that?

What will the power usage be?

That's really a good news, because that makes the price very competitive !

Well done Genesi !

Will the graphic drivers be open-source, or even available to regular users?

They'll be available. As for open source.. at least DRM framebuffer drivers are already open source. 2D and 3D drivers for X.org are provided as binary blobs for x86. We are working on this driver support with Freescale.
It's the same CPU core, the same peripheral serial controller designs and so on. There are added modules, more of everything, and improvements.

How do you mean "backwards compatible"?
You can do a lot with the AXE engine besides accelerate audio. But it does mean the chip can play MP3, Ogg, AC3 and so on without involving the CPU so much.
Later.
Same as the MPC5200B with all those devices added on. Still pretty low, and still far lower than discrete options (an audio accelerator, 3D graphics chip etc. added to a board as chips would use more power).

The PowerVR MBX chip is used in high-end mobile phones and PDAs. You can be sure it's friendly on battery life.

Note that this may not be the ONLY next Efika.

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Matt Sealey

Matt is right. It will not be the only EFIKA. Keep in mind that this new SoC could be a YEAR away from shipping. We don't control that. In any case, if you check the Freescale Press Release you will note that the MPC512X will ship with and without a graphics core. We feel that the work we do with the XGI V3XT needs to pass into the next generation of the EFIKA and so we intend to produce a version using this same engine.

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

With this i mean that an app running on the current efika would also run on the next efika without the need for recompiling the application with the same os. Or as the sound part is embeded on the current board will the next efika have that same sound part also or is that replaced with another sound part requirering new drivers. But as you state it is the efika with extra's i gues it is backwards compatible.

Hardware is not always backwards compatible: On my work a color laserprinter malfunctioned and was replaced with an newer model. However the feature for direct printing of pdf was changed and made that a great part of our pdf files were not printeable with the new printer an example pdf is now being analysed by the printer manufacturer.

we're talking about computers here, not printers :)
whatever options will be included in the future Efikas it will be backward compatible as the CPU will still be a PowerPC, no need to recompile anything.

You can run any PowerPC Linux application on Efika. Debian installs fine and gets the same packages for Mac as it does for Efika, and Pegasos and so on.

There is very little difference.'

What will change is the required drivers; some more, some less.

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Matt Sealey

There are many technical questions and many things that can be done. Now the hard part...

Can many people in many places create a business out of this low cost hardware?

Look here: http://www.novatium.com/nova_B2B/Custom ... comput.jsp

They are doing fine. There are many other possibilities.

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

sorry for asking the obvious but ...

$99 EFIKA has the MPC5200B included in the price right ? The wording of the press release makes it sound like you get only the mobo and you have to source the processor yourself.

You cannot drop the CPU from the motherboard. It is a surface mounted device. You don't have something like a sockel or slot on the motherboard. Take a look at the pictures here: http://www.genesippc.com/efika.php

-corsair

Back on sale again here:

http://www.directron.com/efika.html

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Sadly - nothing for us here in Europe. The postage is twice the Efika's price. It wouldn't be using normail mail services, but I do not see such option on directron. Well, I guess I have to live without Efika.

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