India-based E-con Systems announced a three megapixel version of its camera daughtercard, intended for the company's Marvell PXA270 reference platform and other products. The “e-CAM” supports Linux, and now offers image stabilization, plus support for LED and strobe flashes, says E-con. (more…)

The Securities Technology Analysis Center (STAC) has benchmarked Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time (SLERT) delivering record-breaking performance, says Novell. SLERT results showed “the lowest mean and maximum latencies ever recorded at high rates with the Reuters Market Data System… (more…)

Via announced a “mini-server kit” that targets home media storage. Touted as being the same height as a CD, the Linux-compatible Artigo A2000 includes two 3.5-inch bays for hard drives, a bootable CompactFlash slot, gigabit Ethernet, three USB ports, and a wireless LAN option, says Via. (more…)

The Open Handset Alliance (OHA), which oversees the Google-sponsored Android mobile Linux specification, has added 14 members. New members include AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer (Asus), Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software,… (more…)

Maemo.org has released a “pre-alpha” version of its Maemo 5 SDK (software development kit). Based on Linux, and designed for Internet tablets such as Nokia's N810, Maemo 5 brings hardware-based graphics acceleration for OMAP3, cellular connectivity, and support for HD cameras, the… (more…)

McObject is shipping a new release of its flagship Linux-ready in-memory database for real-time applications, including high-availability applications. ExtremeDB 4.0 beta enhances multi-user performance, adds a second native application programming interface (API), and adds support for the KD-Tree database index, used for pattern matching, says the company. (more…)

A Nokia Research Center engineer has written a whitepaper explaining the relationship of the SCOPE Alliance and the Linux Foundation's Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) working group. Writing on behalf of the SCOPE Alliance, Nokia's Tapio Tallgren reveals how SCOPE identifies advanced features needed in tomorrow's kernels. (more…)

Texas Instruments (TI) released a library aimed at making it easier for developers to exploit its VICP (video/imaging coprocessor) hardware accelerator. The free library lets C programs control the VICP, which offloads media processing tasks from the DSP (digital signal processor) core of certain Linux-compatible DaVinci system-on-chips (SoCs). (more…)

The netbook category grew at a quarter-to-quarter rate of more than 160 percent in the third quarter, and Acer bypassed Asus as the top vendor, says a DisplaySearch study. (more…)

Google is offering SIM- and hardware-unlocked HTC G1 phones to members of its Android developer network. Priced at $400 ($425 with network member fee), the “Android Dev Phone 1” aims to provide developers with real hardware to test their applications on. (more…)

[Updated: Dec. 9, 2008] — Sierra Wireless is shipping a Linux software development kit (SDK) for its 3G wireless modules. The Linux SDK supports its HSPA- and EV-DO Rev-compatible modems, says the company, which also announced it was acquiring embedded wireless vendor Wavecom. (more…)

Foreword — This brief paper explains the forward-looking work done by the SCOPE Alliance in identifying the advanced features needed in tomorrow's Linux kernels. Though focused on “carrier grade systems” for telecom networks, the group's work results in mainline contributions that ultimately benefit any Linux developer, including device developers. (more…)

[Updated: Dec. 9, 2008] — An alpha-stage “social” media center distribution is bringing Netflix video downloads to Linux desktops for the first time, says an industry blog. The Boxee software offers a unified gateway to a variety of social- and media-networking services, says Boxee. (more…)

The recession is hindering smartphone sales, says Gartner, which reported the segment's weakest year-on-year growth since the study began. Sales totaled 36.5 million in 3Q 2008, up 11.5 percent from 3Q 2007, but Linux's share held fairly steady at 7.2 percent from the previous quarter. (more…)

Db4objects, Inc. has sold its Linux-compatible Db4o object database for Java and .Net objects to Versant Corp., and has changed its name to Servo Software. Going forward, Servo Software will focus on a forthcoming user data management service for wireless devices, it says. (more…)