[Updated Apr. 13] — The Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF) hosted a technical conference in Santa Clara, Calif. this week. LinuxDevices.com's roving reporter attended, and brought back slides and photos from an interesting demo session at the event (including the photo of “King Tux,” pictured here). (more…)

Oki is shipping a low-cost ARM7-based SoC (system-on-chip) targeting smart card reader/writers for POS (point-of-sales/services), identification, authentication, e-ticketing, and other applications. (more…)

The Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF) hosted a technical conference in Santa Clara, Calif. this week. LinuxDevices.com's roving reporter attended, and brought back slides and photos from an interesting demo session at the event (including the photo of “King Tux,” pictured here). (more…)

Sun is shipping an AMD-based blade server with a choice of MontaVista carrier-grade Linux, or Solaris. The Netra CT900 is based on the open standard AdvancedTCA architecture and is powered by an AMD Opteron processor. (more…)

A trend toward outsourcing emerged at this year's Embedded Systems Conference, writes Curt Schacker, CEO of embedded outsourcing specialist Embedded Solution Partners (ESP), in this guest retrospective. (more…)

Freescale is shipping an ultra-low power WLAN baseband chip compatible with its i.MX21 mobile applications processor in video and audio conferencing, video streaming, and voice-and-video-over-IP (V2IP) applications. The LP1070 chip supports 802.11a/b/g, has Linux drivers, and saves power in both active and standby modes, without sacrificing range and speed, Freescale says. (more…)

LynuxWorks says its commercial embedded Linux distribution was selected by Xperex for use in a family of POS (point-of-sales/service) and kiosk applications. Xperex uses BlueCat Linux in a variety of systems aimed at providing targeted marketing, product recommendations, and support services in retail environments. (more…)

A trend toward outsourcing emerged at this year's Embedded Systems Conference, writes Curt Schacker, CEO of embedded outsourcing specialist Embedded Solution Partners (ESP), in this guest retrospective. (more…)

Hong Kong-based systems integrator Quataris is shipping a flat-panel PC/TV that runs a multimedia OS based on SUSE Linux. The QuaNext PC is based on a Pentium 4, and has a built-in, widescreen 19-inch LCD flat-panel display, along with a PAL-format (European) TV receiver. (more…)

Sealevel Systems claims its new PC/104 serial port module is the first to include 16 RS-485 interfaces. The SIO-104+16.485 automatically handles RS-485 driver-enable, to simplify communications by making the RS-485 ports appear as standard COM ports to a host operating system. (more…)

STMicroelectronics (ST) is sampling an “ultra-low-power,” single-component 802.11a/b/g WiFi chip that operates at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz and supports both OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) and CCK (complementary code keying) signal modulations. The highly-integrated STLC4420 targets cellular and WiFi phones, PDAs, cameras, and laptop computers, according to the company. (more…)

Sonos is shipping a Linux-based music player and wireless mesh node that brings its multi-room digital music system to existing audio systems, such as stereos, home theaters, and high-end table radios. (more…)

Nokia is offering European customers the option of purchasing LinkSys wireless routers along with its Linux-based 770 Internet tablet. The company's “Go Wireless at Home” promotion offers a choice between four LinkSys router models, including versions with extended throughput,… (more…)

TimeSys has published its schedule of free embedded Linux webinars for April and early May. The schedule includes four half-hour events that discuss embedded Linux implementation processes, in the context of the company's LinuxLink service for embedded Linux developers creating or maintaining custom distributions. (more…)

[Updated Apr. 11] — A project to create complete open source firmware stacks for COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) PDAs and other devices has achieved its first release. The Letux project's first release supports Acer's thin, inexpensive n30 PDA, which can dual-boot Letux through “the simple exchange of an SD memory card,”… (more…)