The newest Linux-based PMP (portable media player) from Archos is much larger than most, but its bright, detailed, 7-inch screen justifies the extra bulk, according to several early reviews. At $550, the 704 features an 80GB hard drive, a 802.11b/g WiFi radio, and an Opera browser. (more…)

Arabella Software, a San Diego-based PowerPC microcode and embedded Linux specialist, will be acquired by Entropic Communications, a privately held Israeli company that makes coaxial cable networking equipment for the digital home entertainment market. Entropic says the deal with strengthen and expand its Linux and embedded software capabilities. (more…)

Funambol is touting an open-source middleware component that enables its “push” data synchronization technology to be used with Db4Object's object database for mobile devices. The company says “Funambol Connector for db4o” simplifies the problem of pushing up-to-date information to field workers equipped with low-powered devices, such as mobile phones. (more…)

STMicroelectronics (ST) is sampling a pair of configurable SoCs (system-on-chip processors) powered by ARM9 cores and 600K-gate configurable logic blocks. The SPEAr (structured processor enhanced architecture) Head600 and dual-core SPEAr Plus600 run Linux, support DDR/DDR2 external memory, and target printer, fax, and POS (point-of-sales) devices. (more…)

Opera Software reports that its community website now hosts more than 1,000 user-contributed “Widgets” — small, freely downloadable Web applications that run on the desktop of Linux- and Windows-based PCs and embedded devices equipped with the Opera 9 browser. (more…)

A Chinese government-funded company reportedly has gifted 1,000 miniPCs to partners, developers, and fans. Lemote hopes to challenge Apple and Microsoft in home-media and car-computing applications, and market the systems — which run Debian Linux on a MIPS64-like processor — to people in rural China. (more…)

Bangalore-based Mistral Software is shipping a WiFi development kit targeting designers of wireless-enabled mobile and embedded devices. The “WLAN Solution for DaVinci” is based on Murata/Sychip's WLAN6101EB WLAN module, supports TI's DaVinci DM644x SoCs (system-on-chip processors), and is supported by drivers for Linux and… (more…)

Enea has updated its RDBMS (relational database management system) for carrier-grade network equipment. Polyhedra 7.0 adds improved multiprocessor performance, better memory exhaustion handling, and strict version control for enhanced field upgradeability, among other enhancements, the company says. (more…)

Nuvation is demonstrating an ultra-compact, Linux-powered, intelligent IP camera reference design, at the TI Developer Conference in Dallas this week. The engineering consultancy firm says its camera can encode and stream D1 (720×480) video over Ethernet at 30fps. (more…)

Taiwan-based phone designer and manufacturer Accton Technology Corp. is marketing a Linux- and Qtopia-based dual-mode phone design said to support both quad-band GSM and 802.11b/g networks. The VM3228T offers rich multimedia capabilities, and features seamless cellular/WiFi switch-over based on 3GPP standards,… (more…)

KwikByte is shipping a tiny, low-powered ARM-based SBC (single-board computer) aimed at applications such as kiosks and streaming audio clients. The KBAT9261 (“BAT6”) is based on an Atmel ARM9 processor, supports PoE (power-over-Ethernet), runs Linux and native development tools, and is available with an optional enclosure. (more…)

Record U.S. sales and exploding ultra-low-cost markets in India helped worldwide mobile phone shipments to end users grow 21 percent, to reach 990.8 million in 2006, according to Gartner. Additionally, sales to distributors surpassed a billion units for the year, as Asian distributors prepared for New Year's demand. (more…)

An ultra-efficient new RISC-based processor architecture has gained its first Linux distribution support, according to representatives of the open source T2 SDE project. (more…)

Online retailer and embedded supplier Logic Supply has added two small, Intel-based systems to its catalog. AOpen's MiniPC MP945 and Digital Engine DE945 support Intel Core 2 Duo processors clockable up to 2GHz, run Linux, and target embedded and small form-factor computing. (more…)

Embedded Linux service provider TimeSys has added support for a PowerPC SoC (system-on-chip) targeting networking and pervasive computing applications, such as printing/imaging, wireless access, industrial control, and media processing. The company says its LinuxLink subscription for AMCC's 440EPx offers on-demand access to continuously updated processor-optimized Linux packages, components, and tools. (more…)