Foreword

Last December, LinuxDevices.com published an article that I wrote about a high-res network camera I designed that is based on a reconfigurable FPGA and is running Linux. About a third of the inquiries I received subsequent to that article were specifically related to the “open” (in the sense of… (more…)

Bruce Forsberg set out to find an MP3 player that could both work with Linux, and be capable of playing “Old Time Radio” (OTR) shows — CD-Rs loaded with radio broadcasts from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s in MP3 format. OTR shows are typically encoded at 24, 32, or 48 kbps in mono format, with a sample rate of 22050 and are 1/2 hour to 1 hour in length, and not all MP3 players work well under these conditions. (more…)

AMD announced availability of a hardware/software reference design for developing tablet form-factor portable multimedia and data terminals based on the company's Alchemy Solutions Au1500 RISC system-on-chip processor. (more…)

Recently I have been looking for an MP3 player that would satisfy several criteria. One, be usable with Linux and second, be usable with Old Time Radio shows. I am a big fan of what is called Old Time Radio here in the USA. This is radio shows from the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. One can buy a CD-R full of shows all in MP3 format. (more…)

This article at IBM's developerWorks website offers some insight into a few of the surprising uses of virtual filesystems (VFS). Several popular programming languages now support VFS constructs, including Java and Perl, and Tcl's filesystem is completely virtual filesystem aware and is way ahead of other languages in its VFS sophistication. (more…)

This is an update to a previous news item, Toasting mp3's with Linux. Michael Palmer now reports that his Toaster does much more than mp3s — in fact, it has evolved into a full-fledged “Digital Convergence Device,” with support for viewing mpegs, digital photos, and (of course) playing/ripping entire collections of mp3s. (more…)

Here's an interesting technology tidbit that may impact tomorrow's smart devices. An article from the New York Times explores new biometric security techniques being investigated for safeguarding access to handheld devices such as PDAs. Technologies highlighted in the story include fingerprint recognition, and handwriting pressure detection as an aspect of signature validation. (more…)

Subsequent to publishing an article by Jim Butler, a researcher in Intel's Emerging Platforms Lab, about Intel's current research into wireless mobile robotics technology, LinuxDevices.com requested further details regarding the XScale/Linux based hardware/software robotics platform that Intel has developed. (more…)

Wiscore Inc. (Taipei, Taiwan) announced an ARM7TDMI evaluation kit that includes a uClinux operating system. Previously available exclusively in Taiwan, the “NET-Start!” kit is intended for use by system developers, instructors, and students, the company said. (more…)

[Updated May 8, 2003] — O'Reilly has released a new book on embedded Linux, Building Embedded Linux Systems by Karim Yaghmour. (more…)

This article by a researcher in Intel's Emerging Platforms Lab details some of Intel's current research into wireless, mobile robotics technology. A key goal of the effort is to efficiently combine two technologies — mobile robotics and wireless networks — so that mobile robots can serve as gateways into wireless sensor networks. (more…)

Market researcher IDC reports that worldwide mobile phone shipments grew by 16.6 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2003, “reflecting broad consumer interest in voice-enabled mobile devices.” Nokia maintained the #1 position in the market while LG Electronics bumped Sony Ericsson out of the top 5, IDC said. (more…)

Overview

It is well known that Intel leads the industry in wireless sensor network research. What may not be quite as well known is Intel's recent work in mobile robotics. In particular, Intel is helping researchers create small, sophisticated mobile robots that can act as gateways into wireless sensor networks. (more…)