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Archive for May, 2009

Head-mounted computer offers voice recognition

May 11, 2009

Kopin is showing off a Motorola-branded computer built into a Bluetooth headset (left), providing a “virtual 15-inch display” via a swing-down eyepiece. The “Golden-i” incorporates speech recognition, weighs three ounces, and runs Linux or Windows CE for more than eight hours per charge, says the company. (more…)

Android growing at 900 percent clip, says study

May 11, 2009

Strategy Analytics has published a study predicting 900 percent growth for Android in 2009, says eWEEK. In other Linux smartphone news, Palm is prepping an electromagnetic induction charger for its upcoming Pre phone, and Garmin's Nuvifone will slip to a second-half release, say industry reports. (more…)

Qt opens up to contributions

May 11, 2009

Nokia-owned Qt Software has followed through on its promises to open up source code repositories for its Qt cross-platform GUI application framework. The company has invited developers to contribute to a web-based source code management system based on Git and Gitorious, and published a roadmap for the Linux-compatible framework. (more…)

Atom makes the leap into servers

May 11, 2009

Super Micro is promoting the use of Intel's Atom processor in servers. The “X7SLA” motherboard is designed to be mounted in a 1U rack (left) or minitower chassis, offers single or dual gigabit Ethernet ports, and includes four SATA ports with RAID support, Super Micro says. (more…)

Micro-display PMP runs Linux, Android

May 8, 2009

[Updated: May 11, 2009] — BlueRadios announced a “near-eye” portable media player with a SVGA micro-display. The WiFi-enabled WiPC runs Linux or Android on an ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP3530 SoC, weighs three ounces, consumes one Watt, and offers the viewing experience of a 15-inch display, claims BlueRadios. (more…)

Flashrom enables BIOS flashing via Linux

May 8, 2009

Coreboot.org released an almost-final 0.90 version of open source BIOS flashing firmware it says was nine years in the making. Flashrom offers Linux and UNIX users a BIOS flashing mechanism they can call their own, with support for 150 flash-chip families and 75 chipsets, Coreboot.org says. (more…)

Atom-based handheld knows just who you are

May 8, 2009

Amrel announced a handheld biometric computer that scans faces, fingers, and iris patterns and checks them in real time. The Linux-compatible “HBS-2” runs on a 1.6GHz Atom processor, has a five-inch touchscreen, includes three cameras and built-in flash, and has a fingerprint scanner, says Amrel. (more…)

ARM11 MIDs run Ubuntu

May 8, 2009

Chinese portable media player (PMP) vendor SmartDevices is selling an ARM11-based mobile Internet device (MID) and larger 7-inch screen tablet device. Both the SmartQ 5 MID ($150) and SmartQ 7 ($190) devices run Ubuntu Linux, and offer WiFi and Bluetooth, according to Chinese retailer EWorld. (more…)

Connection broker broadens thin client horizons

May 8, 2009

2X Software has announced what it's touting as the industry's most flexible connection broker for thin clients. The Linux-compatible “2X VirtualDesktopServer” (left) supports desktops hosted on Microsoft, Parallels, VirtualBox, Virtual Iron, VMware, and other virtualization platforms, the company says. (more…)

Routers use Linux for proximity marketing

May 7, 2009

[Updated: 7:30PM] — Libelium is shipping two Linux-based WiFi and Bluetooth routers that deliver proximity marketing services. The outdoor-mountable “N-Vio” and indoors-only “N-Vio Lite” devices offer public WiFi access, as well as Bluetooth or WiFi-based interactive marketing services, says the Zaragoza… (more…)

Service offers a “jump-start” embedded Linux platform

May 7, 2009

Swedish telecom software firm Enea announced a services-based Linux development platform to jump-start development of embedded Linux projects. The Enea Embedded Linux Project Framework (ELPF) offers “core components, tools, and services common to virtually all embedded Linux projects in a single, one-stop package,” says the company. (more…)

Novell prepping Moblin version of SUSE

May 6, 2009

Novell announced it is developing a Moblin-based version of SUSE Linux that is optimized for Intel Atom-based netbooks. In addition, Intel and Novell today announced a partnership to collaborate and encourage original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) to adopt the Linux-based Moblin distribution. (more…)

3D benchmarking software gains new UI tests

May 6, 2009

Futuremark's OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics benchmarking software has been upgraded to support new UI (user interface) technologies for mobile devices. The “enhanced” version of 3DMarkMobile ES 2.0 adds two new tests focused on new UI scenarios, according to the Finnish company. (more…)

Is Dell prepping an Android netbook?

May 6, 2009

Dell appears to be preparing a netbook based on the Android stack, says eWEEK. According to the story, software firm Bsquare issued a press release today stating that it would be porting Adobe Flash Lite 3.17 to a Dell netbook running Android. (more…)

Amazon super-sizes the Kindle

May 6, 2009

[Updated, 10:35 AM] — Amazon announced a new version of its Linux-based e-book reader, with a 9.7-inch screen and native PDF support. The “Kindle DX” sports a thin (1/3-inch) profile, 4GB of storage, and a 1200 x 824 display that rotates from portrait to landscape modes. (more…)