Red Hat has announced that it will assign all of its copyrights in the eCos open source operating system to the Free Software Foundation (FSF). In conjunction with the eCos development community, Red Hat agreed that it would be best to have all eCos copyrights held by a single party. (more…)

The RTAI project has accomplished its third major release, with the 3.0 version of the Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI), codenamed “Kilauea.” The release offers significant new features and supports x86, PPC, ARM, MIPS, and CRIS processor architectures. (more…)

By 2006, only 45% of corporate users will count a traditional desktop as their primary information device, according to a market research summary report from the META Group Inc. published at DeviceForge.com. Another 40% will primarily use a notebook or tablet PC, with the final 15% focusing on thin-client or other information appliances (e.g., custom device, handheld). (more…)

MontaVista will present a series of technical, two-day classes promoting embedded Linux as an alternative to legacy RTOSes. To a lesser extent, the $995 courses will promote MontaVista's embedded Linux products. The classes are intended for experienced real-time programmers. (more…)

Samsung Electronics is shipping a two-chip chipset for high definition television (HDTV) and set-top-boxes. The S5H2010 MPEG-2 decoder and S3C2800 Digital TV central processing unit (CPU) silicon duo target low- to mid-range HDTVs and HD STBs, and will be supplied with embedded Linux. (more…)

Updated — 12:40PM, PST — The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has created a legal defense fund that will likely be used initially to cover its expenses and those of OSDL Fellow Linus Torvalds in response to the SCO subpoena of November, 2003. The fund could also be used to aid end users in certain kinds of cases, should any arise. (more…)

IBM has published the following ten technical articles, tutorials, and downloads on its developerWorks and alphaWorks Websites. They cover a range of interesting (though not necessarily embedded) technical topics. Some require free registration. (more…)

DVD software specialist InterVideo has come out with a Linux-based “InstantOn” media-centric operating system that it hopes to license to PC makers as a dual-boot option. InterVideo claims its product boots in under 10 seconds, turning standard x86 PCs into “complete home entertainment centers” operated by remote control. (more…)

Toshiba is shipping updates to its Magnia line of firewall/security devices for the small and medium business (SMB) market that run Astaro Security Linux. Toshiba's Linux-based security server devices previously deployed a Red… (more…)

Japanese embedded Linux house Lineo Solutions has demonstrated embedded Linux technology that it hopes can meet one of the high-priority requirements outlined by the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF): hard, real-time performance. Lineo Solutions demonstrated its real-time Linux implementation running on a Via Epia-ME6000 at the Boot Fest session of CELF Plenary Meeting held in Las Vegas, January 8,… (more…)

Intel unveiled a new moniker for its next-generation audio specification for PCs, previously codenamed “Azalia”: High Definition Audio. Intel says High Definition Audio — a name intended to reflect the marriage of advanced audio capabilities in PCs and consumer electronics (CE) — will be used to implement a range of CE-quality audio, modem, and communications functions in PCs, handhelds, and… (more…)

Metrowerks Senior Software Engineer and veteran real-time programmer Bernhard Kuhn has created a Linux kernel patch that he claims enables hard, real-time performance in the Linux kernel by adding priorities to interrupts and spinlocks. Kuhn believes his approach to be more “natural” and akin to traditional real-time operating systems (RTOSs) than the dual-kernel approach taken by real-time projects such… (more…)

Pigeon Point Systems is marketing GPL “editions” of its Monterey Linux that support three Texas Instruments (TI) DSP-based digital media processors. The $1,500 offerings include “comprehensive documentation” and tools, and target digital media receivers, set-top boxes, video conferencing, and other consumer electronics products. (more…)

Wyse Technology has added optional support for DVD recording and playback technology to its IPV500 set-top box (STB) that supports Linux and is based on an Intel digital STB reference design. The new DVD support comes from Sonic Solutions' AuthorScript software. (more…)

Wind River Systems has taken yet another step toward embedded Linux, announcing it has joined the CE Linux Forum (CELF), an industry group focused on the advancement of Linux as an open source platform for consumer electronics devices. (more…)