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Renesas announced a Linux development platform for its SH-Mobile R Series system-on-chip. The Renesas Multimedia Solution Linux platform incorporates an MS7724 development board equipped with a 500MHz SH-Mobile R2R, and offers Ethernet, USB, and DVI I/O, as well as optional 7-inch touchscreen and 3.5-megapixel, 720p-ready camera modules, says the company.
Ottawa, Canada-based Crank Software is shipping a Linux-ready, cross-platform GUI development suite for embedded R&D designers. The Eclipse-based Crank Storyboard Suite includes an embedded GUI design and prototyping application called Crank Storyboard Designer and a runtime component called Crank Storyboard Embedded Engine, says the company.
Data Ltd Incorporated (DLI) has announced an Ubuntu Linux-ready tablet PC designed to allow retailers to accept payments anywhere in a store. The DLI 8800 includes a 7-inch touchscreen display and magstripe reader, survives four-foot drops, and is available with a barcode scanner and RFID reader, the company says.
Google's Android project has posted a bugfix update that fixes the Droid's cameraphone problems, says eWEEK Meanwhile, Android is not so popular in Europe, says an IDC report, and rumors are flying about new Android phones, including HTC's QWERTY-enabled Espresso, plus the La Jolla flip-phone and iDEN-focused Opus One from Motorola, says eWEEK.
VMware is refining technology that will allow mobile phones to run two operating systems — Android and Windows Mobile, for example — simultaneously. With the company's Mobile Virtualization Platform (MVP), both OSes would be live, and could coexist in as little as 256MB of RAM, an executive reportedly told Computerworld Australia.
Freescale Semiconductor announced two Linux-ready system-on-chips based on its PowerPC-driven QorIQ platform. The QorIQ P1012 and dual-core P1021 SoCs are similar to Freescale's QorIQ P1013 and P1022 processors, respectively, but add the company's microcode programming QUICC engine, which supports customers using legacy multi-protocol interfaces, says the company.
PsiXpda announced a UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) with a five-inch touchscreen display, an Intel Atom Z510, and a 16GB SSD (solid state disk). The “PsiXpda” includes WiFi, Bluetooth, and optional 3G, and weighs under a pound, and although it pre-installs Windows XP, the company says it will help customers load Android.
Motorola venture capital arm Motorola Ventures has made an investment in multi-touch technology firm Sensitive Object. The French touchscreen technology company has developed patent-protected technology that uses acoustics to analyze sound waves caused by touching any surface of a device.
Taiwanese vendors wanted to launch their netbooks featuring Intel's next-generation Atom N450 (“Pineview”) this month, but have put them on hold following pressure from the chipmaker, Digitimes reports. The device will instead go on sale Jan. 11, following a formal launch of the new CPU and chipset, the publication adds.
Google is working on a mobile application that enables Android smartphone users to take a photo and run an image search to bring up additional information, says eWEEK. The Google Visual Search technology could also be used to drive mobile advertising based on taking photographs of billboards, says the story.
Techsol is shipping a low carbon-footprint touch-panel PC, targeting building automation and factory HMI. The Linux-ready Medallion TPC-43C “Green Tech” Touch Panel Computer is equipped with Techsol's ARM-based Medallion module, plus a 4.3-inch, WQVGA touchscreen, and an enclosure made of recycled steel, which is “greener” than plastics, says the company.
Direct Insight is readying a SODIMM-sized computer-on-module (COM) based on Freescale's ARM Cortex-A8 i.MX51 system-on-chip. The 800MHz, 2.7 x 1.0-inch Triton-TX51 module offers extensive I/O, including Ethernet and USB 2.0 On-The-Go and host, plus an available “StarterKit-5” baseboard with a Linux BSP, says the company.
Libelium announced a ZigBee-enabled wireless mote-sensor platform with open source code and a Linux-compatible IDE. The Waspmote runs on an Atmel microcontroller, boasts low 0.7uA power consumption, provides 2.4GHz, 900MHz, and 868MHz radios, and offers add-ons for GPS, GPRS, and SD, as well as gas, events, and prototyping sensors.
Linus Torvalds announced the release of a stable Linux 2.6.32 kernel. Major new features include the implementation of kernel-based mode setting (KMS) plus 3D graphics support for new Radeon cards, plus new kernel shared memory (KSM) technology for KVM virtualization, power-saving and performance improvements, and a faster “Devtmpfs” boot technology.
Pika Technologies announced a new FreePBX image for its Linux-based Pika Warp IP-PBX appliance, which offers both VoIP and PSTN functionality. The Warp Enterprise distribution combines the previous open source Asterisk PBX software stack with an image based on the FreePBX GUI for Asterisk, the company says.