Devices, Open Hardware, and Mobile Systems

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 10, 2025

• Devices/Embedded

  • Tarlogic ☛ Tarlogic detects a hidden feature in the mass-market ESP32 chip that could infect millions of IoT devices

    Tarlogic Security has detected a hidden functionality that can be used as a backdoor in the ESP32, a microcontroller that enables WiFi and Bluetooth connection and is present in millions of mass-market IoT devices. Exploitation of this hidden functionality would allow hostile actors to conduct impersonation attacks and permanently infect sensitive devices such as mobile phones, computers, smart locks or medical equipment by bypassing code audit controls.

  • CNX Software ☛ Hidden proprietary Bluetooth HCI commands in ESP32 microcontroller could pose a security risk

    Security is hard. Just as Espressif Systems announced PSA Level 2 for the ESP32-C6 microcontroller, Spain-based cybersecurity company Tarlogic published their findings about a hidden Bluetooth functionality that can be used as a backdoor in the previous generation ESP32, and gave a presentation in Spanish at Rootedcon 2025.

  • CNX Software ☛ Adafruit Metro RP2350 development board follows Arduino UNO form factor, features HSTX DVI output

    The Adafruit Metro RP2350 is a Raspberry Pi RP2350 development board that closely follows the Arduino UNO form factor for compatibility with existing Arduino shields. Key features include 37 GPIOs, a microSD card slot, a 5V buck converter (6–17V input), an onboard RGB NeoPixel, a Stemma QT port for I2C peripherals, a 22-pin HSTX port for DVI video output, and a USB Type-C port for power and data.

• Open Hardware/Modding

  • Mike Rockwell ☛ Framework Introduces a Desktop Computer

    I wish Framework’s first attempt at a desktop computer was as repairable as their laptops — the lack of upgradable memory is a big miss for me — but the case is such a neat design.

  • Framework Computer BV ☛ Framework | Introducing the Framework Desktop

    With that in mind, we leveraged all of the key PC standards everywhere we could. Framework Desktop’s Ryzen AI Max-powered Mainboard is a standard Mini-ITX form factor with ATX headers, a PCIe x4 slot, and a broad set of rear I/O (including 2x USB4, 2x DisplayPort, HDMI, and 5Gbit Ethernet), so you can drop it into your own case if you prefer. We developed a semi-custom 400W power supply with FSP in a standard Flex ATX form factor. We use standard 120mm CPU fans with a thermal system co-developed with Cooler Master and Noctua, and you can choose to bring your own fan as well if you prefer. We enabled two PCIe NVME M.2 2280 slots for up to 16TB of storage and Wi-Fi 7 through an RZ717 Wi-Fi module.

  • Marcin Juszkiewicz ☛ I built my first mechanical keyboard

    During last year I looked at several keyboards. Checked KMK, QMK, ZMK and other solutions of keyboard firmware. Watched countless videos on how to make keyboard and read many articles about it.

    One layout caught my eye: TGR Alice as it was quite simple ergonomic one. Then found Arisu which added cursor keys and did some other changes. And finally Adelheid which added function keys.

  • The Register UK ☛ Europe bets on RISC-V for homegrown supercomputing platform

    The DARE project is supported by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS). The project aims to create three chiplets – individual chip dies that can be combined to form complete processor packages – and has already picked leaders for each effort: [...]

• Mobile Systems

  • The New Stack ☛ Get Started With Swift

    This article introduces the Swift programming language, including its characteristics, advantages (and disadvantages), and challenges. I also compare it with Python, another common programming language many Apple developers use.

    Swift is mainly used to develop apps for the Apple ecosystem of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. It integrates effectively with Apple’s Xcode IDE, the Apple App Store, and Apple developer resources.