Flash memory pioneer SanDisk has created an innovative memory card packaging technology that enables memory cards to plug into both SD card slots and USB ports. The company debuted the new combo SD/USB cards at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. (more…)

The leading Linux distributor in China has joined the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL). Red Flag sells embedded, server, desktop, and vertical market Linux stacks, and will contribute to working groups that include Carrier Grade Linux (CGL), Desktop Linux (DTL), and Data Center Linux (DCL). (more…)

[Updated Jan. 12, 2004] — HP plans to ship a Linux-based HDTV media hub later this year, according to an article at PC Magazine. CEO Carly Fiorina demonstrated a non-working prototype of the Linux media hub at the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas. (more…)

A real-time computing conference has invited the OSDL's open source evangelist and embedded Linux expert, Bill Weinberg, to deliver a keynote address. Weinberg will speak at the Real-time and Embedded Computing Conference (RTECC), January 27th in Santa Clara, Calif., about how Linux fits into the future of the embedded market. (more…)

eCosCentric has added support for Swell Software's portable, small-footprint C-language GUI to its commercially supported development toolkit for eCos, an open source RTOS (real-time OS) for deeply embedded systems. The new eCosPro-C/PEG toolkit can produce runtimes as small as 140KB, targeting mobile phones, MP3 players, industrial controllers, and instrumentation devices. (more…)

Yesterday's beta release of Opera 8 for Linux lacks the speech capabilities of the corresponding Windows beta released last month, according to DesktopLinux.com. An article there says Opera's voice support depends on technology from IBM unavailable for Linux, making speech capabilities unlikely to arrive in Opera's Linux browser anytime soon. (more…)

A startup has created a unique Linux-based home music distribution system based on “secure peer-to-peer wireless mesh” networking technology. Sonos says its Digital Music System can route the same or different songs, sourced from any connected computer, to as many as 30 audio output devices simultaneously. (more…)

[Updated Jan. 5, 2004] — Archos will begin distributing its Linux-based “fourth generation” personal video recorder/player (PVR/PVP) this month. The Pocket Media Assistant PMA400 boasts a 30GB hard drive, wireless Internet access, and “a host of additional new features,” according to an Archos (more…)

Codetelligence is shipping an development kit for embedded programmers using Linux and other OSes in devices that support SD (secure digital) and SDIO (SD input/output) memory cards and peripherals. The Embedded SDIO Developers Kit includes an SDIO stack that supports Linux 2.6.9. (more…)

CPU-maker Transmeta has announced an Efficeon initiative targeting digital entertainment centers, where Linux has been an early leader, in systems such as the TiVo. The initiative comprises two components: a digital entertainment center reference design, and a third-party partner integration and support program. (more…)

A startup has created a unique Linux-based home music distribution system based on “secure peer-to-peer wireless mesh” networking technology. Sonos says its Digital Music System can route the same or different songs, sourced from any connected computer, to as many as 30 audio output devices simultaneously. (more…)

IBM's DeveloperWorks has published the first in a series of articles discussing how to migrate embedded Linux project prototypes from x86 to PowerPC. By way of example, the story also discusses a robotic submarine that was migrated to the KuroBox, an inexpensive PowerPC development system. (more…)

STMicroelectronics (ST) is sampling a high-integration SoC (system-on-chip) for low-cost set-top boxes (STBs) and other video-oriented consumer devices. The STB7100 integrates a SuperH core, H.264 and WMV9 decoders, and a multiplicity of on-chip peripheral interfaces, and targets set-top boxes, DVRs (digital video recorders), car multimedia centers, HD- and BlueRay-DVD players, (more…)

Espial has optimized its Java-based set-top box GUI stack for Intel's 830M4 graphics chipset. Espial's Escape browser and Espresso GUI toolkit target Linux-based IP set-top boxes (IP-STBs) with customizable, internationalizable interfaces based on HTML and Flash, it says. (more…)

[Updated Jan. 6, 2005] — A project to produce a free, lightweight X11 window manager for resource-limited embedded systems has achieved a new release. Matchbox 0.9 features improved internals, and targets handhelds, set-top boxes, kiosks, and other systems where screen space, input mechanisms, or system resources are limited. (more…)