McObject reports that the latest release of its in-memory real-time embedded database has been “tested compatible” with MontaVista's Linux implementation for telecommunications equipment. ExtremeDB 3.1 features an improved high-availability subsystem said to fit well with MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) 4.0. (more…)

IBM's DeveloperWorks website has published a broad, technical article describing the history, architecture, and salient features of the Linux kernel. Written by M. Tim Jones of Emulex, the article examines Linux's major subsystems, architecture-dependent features, and interesting functionality such as KVM… (more…)

Freescale is readying a reference design kit that promotes its PowerQUICC II SoCs (system-on-chip processors) in industrial automation and control applications. Due in Q3, the MPC8360E-RDK includes a COM Express processor module based on the MPC8360E, said to be inexpensively re-programmable in microcode to accelerate complex industrial networking protocols. (more…)

Emerson Network Power's embedded computing business (formerly Artesyn Communications Products) will employ an engineering team dedicated specifically to supporting MontaVista's Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) OS on Emerson's telecom blades and systems. (more…)

After nineteen months of work, the Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum has started publishing its first open, royalty-free specification, aimed at reducing fragmentation among Linux implementations for mobile phones. (more…)

Crossbow Technology will demonstrate its tiny XScale-based platform for wireless sensing, at the Sensors Expo tradeshow next week. The Imote2 is supported by a 2.6.14 Linux port from Intel's Mote 2 project, and will soon gain support for .NET Micro Framework, Microsoft's new low-end embedded platform. (more…)

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

PrismTech has ported its software-defined radio (SDR) middleware to a tiny ARM-based single-board computer (SBC), in order to demonstrate the stack's low SWaP (size, weight, and power) requirements. (more…)

A pioneer in the mobile Internet tablet market is offering support to other devicemakers developing Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) based on Linux. PepperPad producer Pepper Computing says it plans to ship its Pepper Linux implementation this fall to multiple adopters of Intel's MID hardware platforms. (more…)

Data Evolution, which recently acquired AMD's low-cost Personal Internet Communicator (PIC), is offering the device at the discounted price of $99 without an OS. The “DecTop” is based on an AMD Geode GX processor, includes a 10GB hard drive, and supports both Linux and Windows CE. (more…)

TimeSys has published a half-hour podcast in which two developers discuss strategies for reducing the real and perceived boot times of embedded Linux devices. Topics broached include staged booting, SysV inefficiencies, pruning kernel protocols and polling cycles, bootup message suppression, and initramfs, among others. (more…)

Embedded board-maker VersaLogic has started shipping free Linux BSPs (board support packages) for two more of its single-board computers (SBCs). Based on Debian Linux, the BSPs are expected to streamline hardware setup for customers of the company's Gecko and Puma boards. (more…)

Following two months of planning, Canonical Ltd. has updated the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded (UME) project's architecture roadmap. UME aims to create a version of the popular Ubuntu desktop Linux OS tailored to the requirements of Intel-based “mobile Internet devices” (MIDs), expected in 2008. (more…)

Microsoft and LG Electronics, best known for its DVD players, home theater systems, and cellphones, announced on June 7 that they have entered into a patent cross-license agreement to enable LG to use Microsoft patented technology in its product lines, including in its Linux-based embedded devices. (more…)

Apple's Apple-TV (A-TV) is based on a more-or-less standard Intel PC architecture, according to an in-depth “under-the-hood” analysis. Additionally, a community project has already reported success in getting a Linux kernel and various device drivers to operate on the platform. (more…)