Alcatel-Lucent is planning to switch from VxWorks to embedded Linux for its network switch equipment, says an industry report. The shift is intended to be transparent to users of the overlaying Alcatel-Lucent Operating System (AOS), which has been upgraded to version 6.3.4, says the story. (more…)

Livio has announced a Linux-based Internet “radio” that plays back customized streams from Pandora, as well as approximately 11,000 other stations. The “Livio Radio” includes 802.11 wireless networking, an RJ45 port for wired Ethernet, plus “thumbs-up” and “thumbs-down” controls for rating songs, according to the company. (more…)

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has announced a microATX motherboard designed to promote use of its Athlon, Athlon X2, and Phenom processors in embedded products. The “AM2+DB780E” includes four DIMM slots, gigabit Ethernet, 12 USB ports, five SATA ports, plus PCI and PCI Express expansion, says AMD. (more…)

Moxa has announced a 19-inch rackmount computer that is intended for power substations and other industrial automation applications. The DA-681 runs Linux from flash storage and includes a 1GHz Celeron processor, four RS232 ports, eight RS485 ports, six Ethernet ports, and dual power inputs, says Moxa. (more…)

The Indian company Procsys has announced a Linux-friendly computer with an Intel Atom CPU and a built-in thermal printer. Targeting POS (point of service) applications, the “Ion 2600” includes a fingerprint sensor, RFID reader/writer, LAN and WAN connectivity, and a 4.1-inch touchscreen display, Procsys says. (more…)

Portwell has announced a COM (computer on module) based on the Qseven form-factor. Targeting medical, industrial, gaming, and military markets, the PQ7-M100G features Intel Atom Z5xx processors, 512GB of DDR2 memory, gigabit Ethernet, eight USB ports, plus LVDS and SDVO display support, the company says. (more…)

Foreword — This is the second of two articles describing the V4L2 (Video for Linux 2) interface, along with the first steps toward developing a device driver that uses the interface. It is based on Linux 2.6.28, and may not apply to other kernel versions. (more…)

Intel has posted better-than-expected first quarter financial results, and declared that personal computer sales have “bottomed out.” But the chipmaker disappointed investors by not providing clear revenue predictions for the second quarter, and surprised by saying revenue from its Atom CPUs (left) was down… (more…)

The Linux Foundation (LF)'s Collaboration Summit last week in San Francisco featured a variety of announcements ranging from the LF's new role in hosting Moblin to new collaboration tools to the latest kernel changes. (more…)

Cavium Networks released a new family of multi-core, MIPS64-based “Octeon” networking system-on-chips (SoCs) with up to 32 cores. The Octeon II Internet Application Processor (IAP) family delivers up to four times the performance of its Octeon Plus processors, plus dozens of application accelerator engines, Cavium says. (more…)

The Google-sponsored Android mobile Linux project has released a rough-hewn “Early Look” version of the Android 1.5 SDK, says our sister publication, eWEEK. Code-named “Cupcake,” Android 1.5 offers faster Gmail conversation list scrolling, as well as UI refinements to the browser, says the story. (more…)

MSI has announced a netbook that uses Intel's 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor and offers an optional TV tuner. The “Wind U123” has a 10-inch display, 80GB, 120GB, or 160GB hard disk drives, “EasyFace” security software, and available HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) networking, says MSI. (more…)

ABI Research predicts that Linux and “alternative operating systems” (OSes) will overtake Windows XP in netbook sales by 2012. Reasons cited by ABI include the arrival of low-end ARM-based netbooks, as well as mobile stacks such as the Linux-based Android that are suited for these platforms. (more…)

IDC is projecting that spending on Linux-related software will grow 21 percent this year, and 23.6 percent through 2013, compared to two- and five-percent growth, respectively, for the general software market. Sponsored by the Linux Foundation, the study sees the recession, virtualization, and cloud computing as key drivers behind Linux. (more…)

A new technology combining the easy setup of Bluetooth with the higher transfer speeds of WiFi will be released next week, reports our sister publication eWEEK. Bluetooth 3.0 uses AMP (alternate MAC/PHY) technology, which enables Bluetooth to piggyback on WiFi transmissions when available, says the story. (more…)