The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a publicly accessible database that will be a key step in U.S. trials of white space networking, leveraging spectrum previously occupied by analog T.V. channels. To be operated by Florida-based Spectrum Bridge starting Sept. 19, the database will be tested to ensure it can prevent unlicensed broadband devices from interfering with wireless microphones and vice versa, the agency says.

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Harris Corp. announced a multimedia-enhanced PC designed for a variety of mission-critical military and public safety applications. The compact, ruggedized Falcon III RF-7800N-CP Mobile Computing Platform (MCP) runs Linux on a 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, and features 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 160GB SSD, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, and numerous Fast Ethernet, serial, and USB connections expressed via avionics ports.

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Intel released an open source engine for JavaScript that will let the language tap into multi-core CPUs and their vector extensions. Code-named “River Trail,” the Parallel Extensions for JavaScript will extend browser-based apps into new areas, such as photo and video editing, physics simulation, and 3-D gaming, according to the company.

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Samsung's Galaxy S II, Epic 4G Touch is a mouthful to say and a handful to hold, but the 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Sprint's 4G WiMAX network make it worth the $200 on contract, says this review. Battery life suffers on 4G, but from the 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display to the responsive cameras, there's a lot to like.

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Prepaid phone provider Boost Mobile announced a mid-range Samsung smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and a $230 no-contract price tag. The Samsung Transform Ultra runs Android 2.3 on a 1GHz processor, and offers 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, a three-megapixel camera, a front-facing VGA webcam, and Android Market support, the mobile provider says.

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Aaeon announced a 3.5-inch single board computer (SBC) with dual display support and a touchscreen controller. The GENE-LN05 Rev. B offers a choice of Intel Atom N455 or dual-core, 1.8GHz D525 processors with up to 2GB or 4GB of DDR3 memory, respectively, and includes CompactFlash, SATA, gigabit Ethernet, USB, serial, Parallel, and expansion interfaces, says the company.

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Intel announced a series of 25-nanometer, multi-level cell (MLC) solid state drives (SSDs) aimed at enterprise data centers as well as embedded applications. Offering more than 30 times the write endurance of Intel's current MLC SSDs, the Intel SSD 710 Series is available in 100GB, 200GB, and 300GB capacities, according to Intel.

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Axiomtek announced a rugged, DIN-rail industrial computer with power isolation features and ruggedization protection against ingress, shock, vibration, and temperature. The fanless rBOX101 is equipped with Intel Atom Z510PT (1.1GHz) or Z520PT (1.33GHz) processors, magnetically isolated 10/100/1000 and 10/100 Ethernet ports, dual USB 2.0 ports, and either four (rBOX101-4COM model), or six (rBOX101-6COM) isolated COM ports, according to the company.

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Despite a surging worldwide tablet market that rose 89 percent in 2Q 2011, Android's share slid to 26.8 percent from the first quarter's 34.1 percent, says IDC. While Apple's iPad 2 dominated, inching up to 68.3 percent global share, RIM's PlayBook nabbed 4.9 percent, and the bargain-basement TouchPad could claim 4.7 percent in Q3, the research firm added.

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Integrated Display Technology (IDT) announced a display controller with integrated PSR (panel self-refresh) technology, claimed to offer significant power savings and “extended battery life.” The Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) 1.3-compatible timing controller works by storing static images in an integrated frame buffer, the company says.

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VMware announced a new version of its Linux-compatible VMware Workstation 8 software, designed to make it easier to build, share, and upload virtual machines (VMs) to cloud environments. VMware Workstation 8 offers 50 new features, with a special focus on connections with VMware's cloud-oriented virtualization software, including new remote connections and drag and drop to hosts running in vSphere.

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Netgear announced a dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi router, aimed at home users but featuring a 3×3 antenna array and high-power amplifiers for greater bandwidth and range. The N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router runs Linux on a new Broadcom processor, offers dual USB 2.0 ports, provides four gigabit Ethernet ports, and supports up to 900Mbps combined throughput, claims the company.

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[Updated: Sept. 14] — Kontron announced three low-end versions of its COM Express-compliant Kontron ETXexpress-SC computer-on-module (COM) product line. Available with both Type 2 and Type 6 pinouts, the modules are equipped with new single- or dual-core Celeron processors based on Intel's “Sandy Bridge” architecture, with clock rates up to 1.6GHz, SATA 3 storage, and simultaneous multi-display capabilities, according to the company.

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[Updated: Sept. 14] — Intel announced it will collaborate with Google to optimize the Android OS for Intel's Atom processor platform, helping the chipmaker in its push into the smartphone market. Also on the opening day of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Intel spoke about the upcoming “Haswell” Core processor, also talking up ultrabooks and McAfee embedded security.

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AT&T will begin selling the 4G version of its 10.1-inch Iconia Tab Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”) tablet Sept. 18 for $480 outright, or $330 on contract. The Acer Iconia Tab A501 4G closely follows the typical Honeycomb script, from the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor to the five- and two-megapixel cameras, but it's significantly cheaper than most of its rivals.

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