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In 2009, mobile consumer devices including netbooks, e-readers, tablets, MIDs, PMPs, and mobile phones were increasingly dominated by embedded Linux or the Linux-based Android. LinuxDevices presents four updated showcases of story summaries for netbooks, phones, and other portable devices, recalls 2009 highlights ranging from the Kindle to the Droid, and looks in on new rumors about the Google Nexus One and Chrome OS netbook design.
Netbook shipments are expected to total 33.3 million units by year's end, for a year-over-year growth of 103 percent, says DisplaySearch. But in 2010, growth will slow to less than 20 percent, thanks to the new breed of notebook computers with ultra-low voltage processors and sub-$500 price points, the research firm adds.
Nvidia has confirmed it will release a version of the Ion GPU (graphics processing unit) compatible with Intel's new Pine Trail Atom platform. The new chip, which will reportedly boost performance substantially, will arrive during the first quarter of next year, adds the Engadget website.
One Laptop Per Child unveiled a roadmap for its Linux-ready XO netbooks, and confirmed it will deliver a Marvell/ARM-based XO-1.75 version in early 2011, says eWEEK. OLPC also released images of a prototype XO-3 tablet due in 2012, costing under $100, and made of a single sheet of plastic.
The O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) has issued a call for proposals for its next annual show. Scheduled for July 19-23, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OSCON 2010 is looking for sessions and tutorials covering everything from open source developments in smartphones, to virtualization, to open source in education and government.
Shipments of mobile devices will nearly double in the next five years, according to a report from ABI Research. While that might not sound surprising, the research firm adds that fewer and fewer of them will be mobile phones.
Korenix announced a VPN routing computer that comes with a Linux development platform. The JetBox 9533G is based on a 667MHz Intel IXP435 RISC processor, offers four PoE and four gigabit Ethernet ports plus a WAN connection, and has three USB ports.
Palm has released a beta version of a web-based GUI development platform called Palm Ares, said to streamline development for the Palm Pre's WebOS. Meanwhile, Palm announced lower than expected quarterly earnings, and said it's planning a marketing blitz to bolster sales of the Pre and Pixi smartphones, says Reuters.
Eurotech has spun a new version of its Linux-ready Catalyst computer-on-module (COM) that incorporates Intel's new 1.66GHz “Pineview” Atom CPUs: the N450 or dual-core D510. The Catalyst LP offers up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM and 64GB flash storage, plus gigabit Ethernet, SATA, and PCI Express expansion, the company says.
Broadcom Corp. announced a video processor intended to provide 1080p HD video playback for Atom devices based on Intel's new “Pine Trail” chipset. The BCM70015 provides “near-flawless playback” with low power consumption and CPU utilization, the company claims.
Dell announced an updated version of its Ubuntu-ready Inspiron Mini 10 netbook, using Intel's new Atom N450 processor and an optional Broadcom “Crystal HD” media accelerator. The Mini 10 now sports a redesigned keyboard, optional HD video support, and up to 9.5 hours of battery life, says the company.
Intel announced its new “Pineview” Atom processors, touting a 20 percent improvement in average power consumption and a smaller package size. The N450, aimed at netbooks, is a single-core Atom processor clocked at 1.66GHz, while the D410 and D510, single- and dual-core respectively, target entry-level desktop PCs, the company says.
Paragon Software Group (PSG) announced Paragon NTFS for Linux support for NetGear's new open source 802.11n router. With Paragon NTFS support for NetGear's RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router with USB (WNR3500L), users can share read/write access to attached NTFS-formatted Windows hard disk drives (HDD), says Paragon.
MontaVista Software LLC announced a partnership with CriticalBlue to integrate the latter's embedded multi-core analysis Eclipse plug-in into the MontaVista DevRocket integrated development environment (IDE). The CriticalBlue Prism plug-in enables MontaVista Linux customers to run simulations to analyze and tune the behavior of their code on multi-core processors, says MontaVista.
Kontron announced an updated design for a credit-card-size COM (computer on module) using the company's nanoETXexpress form factor. The nanoETXexpress-SP now supports up to 2GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard flash storage, and offers both LVDS and SDVO display outputs, the company says.