The upcoming XTEINK X4 Pro, also known as the X4P or X4 Pro V2, is an ultra-portable 4.3-inch E-Ink touchscreen e-reader scheduled for announcement on July 21st. Priced at approximately $99 USD, this premium version of the minimalist X4 adds highly requested features such as integrated lighting and a slim 5.98mm profile.
* 220 PPI E-Ink touchscreen with physical page-turn buttons.
* Integrated reading light for low-light environments.
* 16 GB internal memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 1,000 mAh battery.
* Magnetic pogo-pin charging system (USB-C adapter included).
* Support for EPUB and TXT formats via micro SD or cloud sync.
* 220 PPI E-Ink touchscreen with physical page-turn buttons.
* Integrated reading light for low-light environments.
* 16 GB internal memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 1,000 mAh battery.
* Magnetic pogo-pin charging system (USB-C adapter included).
* Support for EPUB and TXT formats via micro SD or cloud sync.
An investigation into how smart TVs collect and transmit user data back to manufacturers. This research examines the extent of telemetry in modern televisions, focusing on privacy implications and methods used for tracking viewer habits through Automatic Content Recognition (ACR).
- The mechanics of background data collection within operating systems
- Privacy risks associated with continuous monitoring
- Differences in tracking practices across various major brands
- The mechanics of background data collection within operating systems
- Privacy risks associated with continuous monitoring
- Differences in tracking practices across various major brands
Building an affordable Home Assistant dashboard does not require expensive hardware. This guide explores several low-cost methods to create functional control panels and information displays using existing or cheap equipment.
Ways to build a budget dashboard include:
* Repurposing old tablets, phones, or even Kindles from your junk drawer using kiosk browsers or the Home Assistant companion app.
* Purchasing second-hand hardware like older tablets or digital photo frames through online marketplaces.
* Using small ESP32 touchscreen modules for low-power desktop dashboards.
* Implementing E-Ink displays for minimal, always-on information such as weather and calendars.
* Jailbreaking used smart displays to bypass manufacturer limitations and run custom software.
Ways to build a budget dashboard include:
* Repurposing old tablets, phones, or even Kindles from your junk drawer using kiosk browsers or the Home Assistant companion app.
* Purchasing second-hand hardware like older tablets or digital photo frames through online marketplaces.
* Using small ESP32 touchscreen modules for low-power desktop dashboards.
* Implementing E-Ink displays for minimal, always-on information such as weather and calendars.
* Jailbreaking used smart displays to bypass manufacturer limitations and run custom software.
ESP-Claw is an AI agent framework by Espressif that enables ESP32 series chips to function as active decision-making centers rather than passive executors. It implements a full intelligence loop involving sensing, reasoning, and execution locally on edge hardware. Through conversational programming via chat interfaces, users can define device behaviors using dynamic Lua loading without traditional coding expertise.
- Event-driven architecture with millisecond response times
- Structured memory management that prioritizes privacy by keeping data off the cloud
- MCP communication support allowing devices to act as both a client and a server
- Broad compatibility with various LLM APIs including OpenAI, Anthropic, Qwen, and DeepSeek
- Support for multiple development boards via web-based flashing or local builds
- Event-driven architecture with millisecond response times
- Structured memory management that prioritizes privacy by keeping data off the cloud
- MCP communication support allowing devices to act as both a client and a server
- Broad compatibility with various LLM APIs including OpenAI, Anthropic, Qwen, and DeepSeek
- Support for multiple development boards via web-based flashing or local builds
A wireless 24GHz mmWave motion tracking system consisting of a standalone radar node that reports detected targets over Wi-Fi to a separate display unit.
Key details:
- Multi-target tracking for up to 3 people within a 7m range
- Live radar-style visualization on an Arduino GIGA Display Shield
- Distance-reactive audio alerts via a passive piezo buzzer
- Battery-powered operation with USB-C recharging and LED level indicators
- Includes 3D-printable enclosure files and full firmware for the XIAO ESP32-S3 and GIGA R1
Key details:
- Multi-target tracking for up to 3 people within a 7m range
- Live radar-style visualization on an Arduino GIGA Display Shield
- Distance-reactive audio alerts via a passive piezo buzzer
- Battery-powered operation with USB-C recharging and LED level indicators
- Includes 3D-printable enclosure files and full firmware for the XIAO ESP32-S3 and GIGA R1
This project is an ESP32-based ADSB tracker that provides a real-time flight radar display similar to FlightRadar24 on a small round TFT screen. It displays aircraft positions, trails, and local airport markers using data from sources like ADSB.lol or OpenSky. The system includes advanced visual features such as auto zoom cycling, decorative day/night sky layers with sun and moon calculations based on solar math, and optional GPS support for localized tracking.
- ESP32 DevKit V1 compatibility with Waveshare 1.28 inch GC9A01 round TFT display
- WiFiManager integration for easy network configuration
- Real-time aircraft trails and deconfliction to reduce visual clutter near airports
- Dynamic zoom cycling from 25 km to 250 km range
- Local solar math for sun position and moon phase rendering
- Optional TinyGPSPlus support for live location coordinates
- ESP32 DevKit V1 compatibility with Waveshare 1.28 inch GC9A01 round TFT display
- WiFiManager integration for easy network configuration
- Real-time aircraft trails and deconfliction to reduce visual clutter near airports
- Dynamic zoom cycling from 25 km to 250 km range
- Local solar math for sun position and moon phase rendering
- Optional TinyGPSPlus support for live location coordinates
Secluso is an open-source DIY home security camera system built around the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. It focuses on privacy by using true end-to-end encryption (E2EE) via Messaging Layer Security (MLS), ensuring that even untrusted relays cannot decrypt video feeds. The system features on-device AI for detecting humans, pets, and vehicles. To enhance security, the core software is written in Rust to prevent memory-related bugs and includes post-quantum encryption to protect data against future threats.
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2W based hardware architecture
- End-to-end encryption using MLS (RFC 9420)
- On-device AI for human, pet, and vehicle detection
- Memory-safe software core written in Rust
- Post-quantum encryption support
- Minimal Yocto-based Secluso OS
- Support for self-hosted relays or official beta services
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2W based hardware architecture
- End-to-end encryption using MLS (RFC 9420)
- On-device AI for human, pet, and vehicle detection
- Memory-safe software core written in Rust
- Post-quantum encryption support
- Minimal Yocto-based Secluso OS
- Support for self-hosted relays or official beta services
An overview of ESPConnect, a free self-hosted web utility used to manage and flash ESP32 microcontrollers. The tool provides detailed hardware profiling for various MCU models, allows for advanced partition management, and enables flashing firmware or creating system backups through filesystem access. It also includes essential debugging features like an NVS Inspector and a Serial Monitor.
- Detailed hardware profile generation (MAC address, memory, clock speeds)
- Partition layout modification and flash backup capabilities
- File system support including SPIFFS, LittleFS, and FATFS
- Debugging via UART logs and session history tracking
- Easy deployment on Proxmox using LXC scripts
- Detailed hardware profile generation (MAC address, memory, clock speeds)
- Partition layout modification and flash backup capabilities
- File system support including SPIFFS, LittleFS, and FATFS
- Debugging via UART logs and session history tracking
- Easy deployment on Proxmox using LXC scripts
An exploration of high-performing small language models with under 7 billion parameters that can run locally on consumer hardware like laptops and smartphones. The article explains how advancements in training data quality, model distillation from larger frontier models, and architectural improvements like Mixture-of-Experts have enabled these compact models to compete with much larger versions on reasoning benchmarks. It provides a curated guide of top available models on Hugging Face, detailing their specific strengths, benchmark performance, and providing Python code for implementation.
Key models covered:
- Qwen3.5-4B for multilingual tasks and long context windows
- Microsoft Phi-4-mini-instruct for reasoning-heavy English workloads
- Google Gemma 3 4B IT for coding and mathematics
- Google Gemma 3n E4B for efficient mobile and on-device deployment
- Meta Llama 3.2 3B Instruct for tool calling and community support
- SmolLM3-3B for research transparency and open-source projects
- DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B for lightweight reasoning on edge devices
- Qwen3-0.6B for ultra-constrained hardware and text classification
Key models covered:
- Qwen3.5-4B for multilingual tasks and long context windows
- Microsoft Phi-4-mini-instruct for reasoning-heavy English workloads
- Google Gemma 3 4B IT for coding and mathematics
- Google Gemma 3n E4B for efficient mobile and on-device deployment
- Meta Llama 3.2 3B Instruct for tool calling and community support
- SmolLM3-3B for research transparency and open-source projects
- DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B for lightweight reasoning on edge devices
- Qwen3-0.6B for ultra-constrained hardware and text classification
Clawdmeter is a custom-built desk dashboard powered by the ESP32-S3 that provides real-time monitoring of Claude Code token usage. Utilizing a 2.16-inch AMOLED screen and Bluetooth LE connectivity, the device displays animated pixel art that reacts to usage rates and acts as a HID keyboard for quick command shortcuts via BLE.
