Opera Software is distributing a free beta version of a lightweight, Java-based mobile Web browser in Scandinavia, with worldwide distribution planned soon. The tiny Opera Mini browser offers a full Web experience on any low- or mid-range phone that can run Java apps, the company says. (more…)

O'Reilly has published a book for software developers and managers who have started, or are considering starting, an open source project. Producing Open Source Software, by Karl Fogel, aims to help projects avoid failure by outlining best — and worst — practices. (more…)

TimeSys will present a free (with registration) Webinar next week on using its online tools to build custom embedded Linux distributions. The hour-long event is entitled, “Building Linux Distributions using LinuxLink,” and is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 1 PM Eastern / 10 AM Pacific time. (more…)

Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. this week began marketing a technology that inexpensively adds face recognition to camera-equipped cellphones. Oki's “Face Sensing Engine” (FSE) “middleware” decodes facial images within 280mS on a 100MHz ARM9 processor, and can restrict access to mobile devices by recognizing their owners, the company… (more…)

An open source embedded training and services company in the South of France has expanded its collection of freely licensed French- and English-language educational materials about embedded Linux. Free Electrons says the lectures, presentations, and practical labs can be useful for either corporate training or self-study. (more…)

Via has created a reference design for an 8U, 64-processor cluster based on 32 dual-processor mini-ITX boards. The Cluster Server Platform requires only one kilowatt, and can be powered from a standard wall outlet. (more…)

M-systems has announced new form-factors and capacities for uDiskOnChip, its line of tiny, embeddable flash storage devices based on a USB 2.0 electrical interface. The devices target gaming machines, POS, thin clients, servers, printers, and SBCs (single-board computers), and are supported under Linux. (more…)

Neuros Audio has asked LinuxDevices.com readers to help define its next product, a Linux-based handheld portable media player/recorder (PMP/R) featuring audiophile-quality sound. The company says feedback is easiest to respond to early in the design, and calls its approach “the next step” in developing… (more…)

Fabless chipmaker Wavesat hopes to increase deployments of its WiMAX controller chips in low-cost and small form-factor customer premises equipment (CPE) through the release of a mini-PCI reference design. (more…)

Cavium Networks will sample a chip at the top of its Nitrox II security processor line in Q1, 2006. The CN28xx will support emerging cryptography algorithms, while retaining backward compatibility with the Nitrox II API, the company says. Linux drivers and sample applications will be included. (more…)

A company offering intellectual property management tools is offering free access through the end of the year to a hosted code scanning service. Black Duck says ProtexIP/OnDemand can be used to identify open source software within intellectual property assets. (more…)

Trolltech has enticed a pair of top mobile phone industry executives to join its management team. Benoit Schillings, former CTO of mobile phone software stack vendor Openwave, joins Trolltech as CTO. And, Dr. Karsten Homann, former VP of mobile devices at Siemens, joins as VP of professional services. (more…)

Four embedded software and services companies will team up on a series of half-day seminars on device security. LynuxWorks, Arrow OEM Computing Solutions, Ojective Interface Systems, and Certicon will hold the seminars in 12 cities, starting Oct. 25. (more…)

Coraid is shipping an ATA-over-Ethernet NAS (network-attached storage) filer that can connect size-unlimited heterogeneous networks to unlimited amounts of add-as-needed storage, the company says. (more…)

Agere Systems is sampling a two-chip mobile phone chipset targeting GPRS/EDGE multimedia phones running Linux and other OSes. The Vision X115 chipset includes an analog baseband chip, along with a tri-core digital baseband chip integrating an ARM9 applications processor, ARM7 communications processor, and Agere “DSP1600” for physical layer/audio processing. (more…)