Transmeta will announce on Jan. 21 whether it will continue producing microprocessors, according to an article at ExtremeTech. The company derives most of its revenue by licensing intellectual property (IP) to other chip vendors, and may move to a pure IP licensing business model, the article says. (more…)

SSV Embedded Systems is shipping a miniscule single-board computer (SBC) that it claims is the world's tiniest Linux system. The DIL/NetPC DNP/5282 matches the footprint of a 40-pin “DIP” (dual-inline-package) IC, is based on a 66MHz Freescale Coldfire processor, and comes preinstalled with uClinux, (more…)

Alereon, a fabless semiconductor house specializing in wireless chips for Ultrawideband (UWB) and Wireless USB (W-USB), has released an evaluation kit (EVK) for developing and testing “real world” UWB applications. The AL4000-EVK is based on the company's AL4000 series UWB chipset, which operates at speeds from (more…)

[Updated Jan. 5, 2005] — Coventive is shipping a mini-ITX SBC (single-board computer) targeting Linux-based DVRs (digital video recorders), wireless TVs, network MPEG encoding boxes, and surveillance systems. The Uranus board is based on a MIP64 Toshiba SoC (system-on-chip), along with a Vweb MPEG coprocessor. (more…)

O'Reilly has published another book about home automation projects. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks presents thirteen home projects involving Linux and Windows PCs, including systems for home automation, entertainment, and security. The book targets computer users of all abilities. (more…)

A company selling Linux thin clients since 1994 has added a new X compression technology to its latest firmware revision. SmartFlex says NX technology from NoMachine reduces the per-client bandwidth usage of its Netion SmartClients, enabling use on low-bandwidth networks, and greater scalability. (more…)

Smartvue has embedded Debian GNU/Linux in a security and surveillance system that supports DVD-resolution video capture from secure, wireless IP-based cameras. The S2 system uses next-generation compression and wireless standards, along with image processing chips capable of dynamically adjusting the exposure setting of each pixel. (more…)

Smartvue has embedded Debian GNU/Linux in a home security and surveillance system that supports DVD-resolution video capture from secure, wireless IP-based cameras. The S2 system uses next-generation compression and wireless standards, along with image processing chips capable of dynamically adjusting the exposure setting of each pixel. (more…)

[Updated 2:30 P.M.] — Taiwanese motherboard maker FIC will unveil a Linux-based portable media player (PMP) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. FIC's “Vassili” includes a 3.6-inch color LCD screen and a 20GB hard drive, and can play multimedia content downloaded directly (more…)

AMD is sampling a highly integrated MIPS32-based SoC (system-on-chip) targeting portable media players (PMPs) capable of displaying content from PCs and PVRs (personal video recorders). The Alchemy Au1200 supports embedded Linux, and comes with media player software that exploits low-level hardware acceleration for multiple media formats. (more…)