The Mozilla Foundation will ship a mobile version of the popular Firefox browser in 2008, according to a blog post from Mike Schroepfer, VP of engineering. Schroepfer writes that “Mobile Firefox” (MoFi?) will be based on Gecko 1.9 with “significant changes” for improved performance and footprint. (more…)

X Media Research has announced a technology conference devoted to set-top boxes (STBs) and the “related technology ecosystem.” Set Top Box 2.0 will take place Dec. 6 in San Jose, Calif. (more…)

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — Analysis — MontaVista's inaugural partner event this week attracted 400, including many long-time embedded industry vets. Well-run and successful, the “Vision” event nevertheless underscored the modest role embedded developers play in Linux development, despite an explosion in… (more…)

[Updated Oct. 16] — Qnap Systems has updated the firmware for its Linux-powered multifunction NAS (network-attached storage) devices, adding DLNA media-sharing capabilities usable with Sony's PlayStation3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. (more…)

CCID Consulting, which claims to be one of China's leading market research providers, has released a report and forecast on the state of the country's embedded software industry. While the sector is growing rapidly, it still represents a minuscule portion of the nation's overall software industry, the analyst firm says. (more…)

CompuLab has introduced a tiny SBC (single-board computer) aimed at mobile device applications. The EM-X270 is based on a PXA270 processor, and integrates a touchscreen LCD controller, WAN, WLAN, and WPAN wireless, GPS, and an assortment of I/O ports, and is offered with a Linux OS. (more…)

A “significant portion” of development teams continue to use Linux as their primary embedded OS, a recent VDC survey finds. Additionally, the results suggest the trend will persist, “as the majority of current Linux users surveyed plan to use Linux again as their primary operating system on future [embedded] projects.” (more…)

Attendees of last month's Boston Embedded Systems Conference got a glimpse of where Microsoft thinks the device software market is heading. In his ESC keynote, Kevin Dallas, GM of Microsoft's Windows Embedded business unit, discussed four key trends that are influencing the evolution of next-generation devices. (more…)

Opera Software, Freescale, and NEC have collaborated on a port of Adobe's embedded Flash player plug-in to Opera's device-oriented browser on Freescale's i.MX31 multimedia applications processor. The port currently targets the Linux version of Opera for Devices, and will enable the viewing of “video websites” such as YouTube on handhelds, Opera said. (more…)

Horizon Semiconductors has announced a system-on-chip (SoC) targeting “low-cost” universal high-definition DVD players/recorders. The “Hz7220 HD-DVD/Blu-Ray” features a built-in Linux-capable applications processor, and is touted as the first DVD player/recorder SoC to enable true 1080/60p decoding of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats, along with legacy red laser DVD format. (more…)

[Updated Oct. 11] — An embedded Linux vendor that helped pioneer Carrier Grade Linux has joined a group of network equipment providers (NEP). MontaVista claims its six years of experience integrating highly reliable Linux OSes will help the Scope Alliance promote the interoperability of COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) hardware and software for infrastructure equipment. (more…)

Via Technologies has announced a computer that attaches, piggyback-fashion to the VESA mounting holes on any VESA flat-panel display, turning it into a complete PC. Aimed at signage, kiosk, and other intelligent display applications, the vm7700 runs Linux, among other OSes. (more…)

Fabless chipmaker Cavium is readying a pair of low-power networking SoCs (system-on-chip processors) targeting passive optical networking and fiber-to-the-home/office (“xPON/FTTx) gateway devices. The single-core CN5010 and dual-core CN5020 will sample in Q4, while Linux development kits and simulators are on demo at the Broadband World Forum in Berlin this week. (more…)

A startup funded by some of the world's largest PC makers is reportedly set to unveil an interesting virtual Linux environment on Oct. 9. DeviceVM's “Splashtop” will reportedly let desktop and notebook PC users instantly and securely browse the Web, play MP3s, and watch DVDs without booting Windows. (more…)

The program has been announced for this month's Embedded Systems Technical Conference, set for Oct. 17 and 18 in Birmingham, England. Said to be the U.K.'s largest forum for the embedded system design community, the event is co-located with the Embedded Systems Show (ESS) 2007. (more…)