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Adobe's upcoming Flash Player 10.1 may bypass devices running Android versions prior to 2.0. The software will also require that phones have ARM Cortex-A8 processors, according to recent posts by Antonio Flores, identified as a Flash product manager on Adobe online forums.
Dell announced an “Performance Plus” version of its Inspiron Mini 10 netbook, including a 1366 x 768 display, a Broadcom “Crystal HD” media accelerator, and a six-cell battery. The Ubuntu-ready Mini 10 also gets up to 9.5 hours of battery life, the company says.
STMicroelectronics says it is now shipping four Linux-ready SoCs (system on chips), based on similar ARM926EJ-S cores but targeting different market segments. The SPEAr300, 310, 320, and 600 have single or dual cores, run at up to 400MHz, and sell for as little as $7 in production quantities, the company says.
BVM Limited announced an eight-inch panel PC that's available with either resistive or capacitive touchscreens. The AFL-F08A includes a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, a 2.5-inch hard disk bay and a CompactFlash slot, a webcam, plus both 802.11b/g wireless networking and Bluetooth, the company says.
Leopard Imaging is shipping two Texas Instruments DaVinci-based vision/imaging development boards supported by the company's Designsomething.org development community. The $84 Leopard Board 355 and $129 Leopard Board 365 tap TI's TMS320DM355 and TMS320DM365 processors, respectively, support 720 video, and ship with a Linux SDK from RidgeRun, says the company.
Broadcom demonstrated an Android-ready tablet design that offers video-conferencing and DLNA streaming to IP set-top boxes and HDTVs. The Persona Tablet is equipped with a BCM11211 VoIP processor, coprocessors including one or two BCM11181 chips, and can process simultaneous 720p video streams, says the company.
General Dynamics Canada announced a ruggedized, conduction-cooled, single-board computer (SBC) designed for combat vehicles. Complying with VPX-REDI, the PX3030 is equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and 16GB of flash, plus two gigabit Ethernet ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and four serial ports, says the company.
Amazon.com has signed a patent agreement with Microsoft over the use of Linux in its Kindle e-readers. In other open source legal news, the Jacobsen v. Katzer model railroad software case was settled, providing precedent for open source developers to seek monetary damages for copyright infringement, says BetaNews.
Aaeon announced a COM Express module featuring Intel's GS45 SFF (small form factor) chipset. The COM-45GS supports up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, includes gigabit Ethernet, has eight USB ports and three SATA II channels, and provides both PCI and PCI Express expansion, the company says.
The handset market rebounded during the fourth quarter of last year, with 8.3 percent year to year growth and a smartphone market that grew 41.1 percent, a new report says. Among smartphone operating systems, Android grew at a 3.5 percent rate in 2009, second only to Apple's 6.2 percent growth, says Gartner.
The CompactFlash Association announced a specification that could someday allow memory cards to hold up to 144PB (petabytes). The CF5.0 spec also permits faster data transfer via 48-bit commands, reduces performance degradation over time, and enables a “video performance guarantee” feature, the organization says.
Lanner announced a fanless industrial PC with built-in GPS and 3G cellular capabilities. The LEC-7020 has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, two gigabit Ethernet ports, digital I/O, 2.5-inch disk storage, and a Mini PCI Express expansion slot, the company says.
Garz and Fricke GmbH announced a seven-inch panel PC that's available with either resistive or capacitive touchscreens. The Linux-compatible “Cupid 7.0” incorporates a 532MHz Freescale i.MX35 CPU, can be powered via Ethernet, offers CANbus and multiple serial ports, and includes a stainless-steel housing, the company says.
The Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL) announced the release of the “Latest Stable” Linux mainline real-time kernel, based on Linux 2.6.31. The “PREEMPT RT”-based release will be demonstrated on Mar. 2-4 at Embedded World 2010 in Nuremberg, Germany, which offers a number of sessions on Linux and Android development.
Habey USA announced an ultra-compact PC with a choice of Intel Atom processors. The BIS-6620 has a 4.7 x 4.7-inch footprint, runs at 1.1 or 1.6GHz, comes with CompactFlash and SD expansion slots, and uses just nine Watts, the company says.