Eurotech's U.S. arm, Parvus, will demonstrate the company's innovative wrist-worn PC at a military technology conference June 19 in Washington, D.C. The Zypad WL 1000 runs Linux or Windows CE, and features hands-free operation, wireless networking, GPS tracking, and patent-pending… (more…)

The new 2.6.17 Linux kernel features several new system calls and ext3 features aimed at improving performance. It also features better WiFi support, and automatic detection of SMP-capable hardware, writes Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in a summary of new features published by Linux-Watch.com. (more…)

Jungo Software has updated its development kits for cross-platform, user-space PCI/USB host and device drivers. WinDriver USB/PCI 8.02 adds support for Linux 2.6.14 through 2.6.16 kernels and Windows Mobile 5.0, along with various enhancements and bug fixes. (more…)

Silicon Valley startup a la Mobile plans to ship in September the industry's first “complete” Linux-based smartphone operating system. The Convergent Linux Platform (CLP), which aims to streamline Linux phone rollouts by ODMs, OEMs, and operators, will enter a field crowded with alternatives from MontaVista, Trolltech, ACCESS/PalmSource, and Wind River, among others. (more…)

Foreword — Positioning the intellectual property that goes into embedded systems as “service” rather than “product” distributes risk more evenly between client and vendor, writes embedded services company founder Curt Schacker. The service model fits the “no-cost” nature of software copying, and has been proven successful by free software vendors, Schacker argues in this guest column. (more…)

The largest thin client vendor has updated its Linux-based thin-client OS, adding modularity, support for wireless LAN adapters and security schemes, broader SmartCard support, and support for double-byte Asian languages. (more…)

Inter-Tel has added a new, high-end model to its line of Linux-based voice-over-IP communications servers for small- and medium-sized businesses. The CS-5600 supports up to 250 IP devices, and offers trunk expansion through a “digital expansion interface” (DEI) supporting up to 96 analog and digital phones, according… (more…)

IBM has published the following new technical articles, tutorials, and downloads on its DeveloperWorks website. They cover a range of interesting (though not necessarily embedded) technical topics, primarily related to Linux and open source system development. Some require free registration. Enjoy . . . ! (more…)

Securtex International is shipping a line of Linux-powered DVRs (digital video recorders) for security and surveillance applications. The Network Advanced Video Surveillance – Embedded (NAVS-E) DVRs support 4, 8, or 16 cameras, and offer simultaneous remote recording/playback/monitoring through Windows… (more…)

AOL this week extended its Open AIM initiative to include support for AIM Bots, location-based services, and PC-to-PC voice calling. The updated SDK also now includes support for developers targeting Linux, Windows Mobile, Mac OS X, and Java. (more…)

An embedded software house in St. Petersburg, Russia, is offering a high-reliability, small-footprint embedded Linux implementation that supports several 668-based CompuLab SBCs (single-board computers). Intrasoft's “IS Linux G686” OS uses JFS to minimize the risk of unrecoverable data loss, compared with ext3, according to the company. (more…)

Four large mobile phone vendors, together with two major wireless operators, will create an open Linux implementation for mobile phones. Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone say their Linux implementation will provide a global standard, and prevent the “fragmentation” of mobile phone… (more…)

Raza Microelectronics, Inc. (RMI) has agreed to acquire AMD's MIPS RISC (reduced instruction set computer) architecture-based Alchemy processor line and business unit. AMD, meanwhile, will invest in RMI. Additionally, RMI will back AMD's recently announced “Torrenza” AMD64 ecosystem. (more…)

Eclipse was the third most commonly used IDE (integrated development environment) among 1,200 developers surveyed worldwide by Evans Data Corp. However, in terms of user satisfaction, Eclipse ranked dead last, behind nine commercial IDEs and Sun's NetBeans IDE. (more…)

An embedded benchmark publisher is soliciting “novel benchmarks” aimed at measuring the real-world performance of Java ME (micro-edition) implementations for mobile phones. Winning entrants will receive $2,000, and their entries will be included in GrinderBench 2.0, to be published by the EEMBC (EDN Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium). (more…)