Portwell has announced an “embedded industrial” motherboard that uses the micro-ATX form factor and supports Core Duo or Core Solo CPUs. The RUBY-9713VG2A features dual gigabit Ethernet ports, PCI and PCI Express expansion, RAID support, and up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM. (more…)

Novell has updated its Linux distribution for administrators wishing to manage and customize point-of-sales/service (POS) systems. SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service (SLEPS) supports Linux-compatible equipment such as NCR's RealPOS 80XRT terminal, and can be used in large, “multi-tier” POS environments such as major retail… (more…)

Subscribers to super-fast “4G” broadband wireless subscribers will exceed 90 million in 2013, says a new ABI Research study. Yet 4G, which includes LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WiMax (802.16m) technologies, will still represent only a small fraction of total subscribers at that date. (more…)

Google has announced a data-caching browser extension aimed at enabling Javascript-based Web applications to work better on intermittently connected devices. Initially released for Windows Mobile, but with a Linux-based Google Android version in the works, Google Gears requires only minor changes to Javascript applications, the search giant claims. (more…)

Led by embedded consumer electronics device deployments, Linux is on “a trajectory to be the emerging platform of choice,” says Mark Shuttleworth in an interview. The Canonical founder discusses plans for a user-friendly version of the popular Ubuntu desktop OS just for mobile and embedded devices, among other topics. (more…)

Texas Instruments (TI) will join the Linux Foundation in order to “collaborate with industry leaders who define both technical and operational best practices around open source software,” it announced. TI's open source strategic marketing manager, Eric Thomas, will join the Foundation's board alongside new members Larry Augustin and Chris Schlaeger. (more…)

A Seattle-based nonprofit organization called Literacy Bridge hopes to create a low-cost audio player for the developing world. The $5 “Talking Book” is an iPod-sized flash-based mp3 player that juices up on health, educational, and other audio programming at Linux-based content distribution… (more…)

The Apache Software Foundation will host a conference in Amsterdam, from April 7-11. The open source conference will start with two days of “intense” training classes, says the Foundation, followed by three days of over 50 sessions on open source software. (more…)

Axiomtek has announced a computer-on-module (COM) using the COM Express Type II form factor. The CEM820 supports Intel Pentium M and Celeron M processors, includes PCI Express expansion, Gigabit Ethernet, and eight USB 2.0 ports, and is available with a development baseboard. (more…)

Mobile phone design company Openmoko has posted industrial design source CAD files for its Linux-based, open source Neo 1973 phone (pictured at left). Openmoko has also committed to providing open source access to the mechanicals for its upcoming Neo Freerunner phone design. (more…)

Berlin-based VoIP phone vendor Snom will show off its new line of Linux-based cordless VoIP phones at this week's CeBIT 2008 Conference in Hannover, Germany. Snom will also launch its Snom Hacker Shootout program to encourage hacker community involvement in addressing VoIP security issues. (more…)

[Updated Mar. 4] — Intel has branded its next-generation mobile device chips, previously codenamed “Silverthorne” and “Menlow.” Built on 45 nanometer process technology, the Atom processor uses a new single-issue x86-compatible micro-architecture designed to compete with ARM in mobile designs, while mating with… (more…)

IBM's DeveloperWorks has published a tutorial on using Eclipse to develop for the Google Android mobile phone platform. Frank Ableson's “Develop Android applications with Eclipse” tutorial explores the Android Development Tools Eclipse plugin and generates two sample… (more…)