The picture below essentially demonstrates the current working state of my Travelmate C100 in Linux. The EMR stylus is working, as is suspend/resume (to disk only), X in rotated mode, and wireless. It now fits my main uses, which are reading academic papers, writing notes, and doing calculations. (more…)

Intel and Sun announced a collaboration to optimize Sun's CDLC (Connected Limited Device Configuration) “HotSpot Implementation” for Intel's XScale family processors. Sun will then provide optimized JVMs to manufacturers of mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs. (more…)

Winfessor Inc. announced its latest release of the SoapBox Framework, a tool developers can use to build their own XMPP/Jabber instant messaging clients and servers. It supports the .NET Framework, .NET Compact Framework, and Mono, the company said. (more…)

This lengthy opinion column at oreillynet.com provides Karim Yaghmour's perspective on the topic of “Embedded Systems, Linux, and the Future.” Yaghmour surveys the current status and positioning of the traditional embedded software vendors, reviews the impact Linux is having, and suggests what forces are most likely to determine where the market will go. (more…)

This highly detailed 101-page how-to article provides the necessary background and procedures to turn a SEGA Dreamcast gaming console into a Linux-based software router with firewalling and virtual private networking capabilities. The article explains how to create the necessary toolchain for compiling both programs and the Linux kernel, and shows how, starting from scratch, you can build a Linux operating… (more…)

The Embedded Linux Consortium (ELC) announced that it has been included in the first annual SD Times 100 list, as one of nine organizations in the “Standards Bodies & Consortia” category. (more…)

Linux based point-of-sale made its latest inroad into the fast food industry today, with the announcement that Papa John's Pizza has selected Wincor Nixdorf's BEETLE /NetPOS point-of-sale (POS) terminals as its next generation hardware platform. (more…)

Interpocket has announced a CompactFlash device that can turn Sharp Zaurus or Linux-based iPAQ PDAs into “USB hosts”, allowing them to connect to external “USB devices” such as digital cameras, scanners, printers, and even keyboards and mice. Although these PDAs do have built-in USB ports, those ports are suitable for using the PDA as a peripheral to a host PC, not for connecting external USB devices to… (more…)

[Updated 10:45am PDT] — TimeSys announced today that they have joined OSDL with a focus on Carrier Grade Linux (CGL). TimeSys said it is currently working toward bringing its embedded Linux distribution into compliance with the OSDL's CGL specifications. (more…)

Introduction

This highly detailed 101-page how-to article provides the necessary background and procedures to turn a SEGA Dreamcast gaming console into a Linux-based software router with firewalling and virtual private networking capabilities. The article explains how to create the necessary toolchain for compiling both programs and the Linux kernel, and shows how, starting from scratch, you… (more…)

IBM has published the following six Linux-related articles and tutorials on its developerWorks website. They cover a range of interesting (though not embedded) technical topics. Some require free registration. Enjoy . . .

• Build a cross-platform test network with Samba and GRUB — This (more…)

This article by two developers at Intel provides an introduction and overview to Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), a standards-based technology for transparent network device connectivity that allows devices from various vendors to “just work” when plugged into the network, eliminating the administrative hassle typically associated with networking devices and making them programmable entities that can be… (more…)

AbsoluteValue Systems (AVS) announced a Linux-based wireless application development platform for developers of access points, residential gateways, Ethernet bridges, and other embedded systems. The platform, which is based on AVS' own “dot11Linux” embedded Linux distribution, provides support for multiple wireless 802.11 standards including 802.11g and 802.11a using Intersil's PRISM GT and Duette… (more…)

Motorola released a downloadable AltiVec function library for Linux that is supposed to significantly enhance CPU efficiency and throughput for networking and communications applications in systems using Motorola's G4 processor containing a PowerPC core. The library includes AltiVec-enabled equivalents of the Linux string.S and checksum.S files, along with modification process descriptions. (more…)

Overview: Making PCs Easier to Set Up and Use

I have a friend — an energetic senior citizen named Pat. About a year ago, she and her husband Darryl decided to buy a new computer system — a computer, printer, scanner, and digital camera, so that they could send e-mail to their friends and family, browse the Web, view online stock quotes, and print and e-mail digital photos. (more…)