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T-Mobile has introduced a third version of its HTC-manufactured MyTouch 3G Android phone. The MyTouch 3G 3.5mm features more memory, a 3.5mm jack, an updated music player, and the Swype text-input software, which enables input via swiping motions across an onscreen keyboard, says T-Mobile.
Garmin-Asus announced a multi-touch enabled Android version of its navigation-focused Nuvifone smartphones for the European market. The Nuvifone A50 appears to have similar specs to the earlier Linux-based Nuvifone G60, but adds a comprehensive suite of Google apps, as well as new styling and a touchpad.
MIPS Technologies announced it will use Intrinsyc's RapidRIL software to offer 3.5G voice telephony on MIPS- and Android-based mobile devices, including smartphones. In two other announcements, MIPS said that mobile WiMAX chipmaker Beceem and 4G stack firm SySDSoft will help enable LTE and WiMAX on MIPS-based processors.
TES Electronics is shipping a Linux- and Android-ready hardware/software development kit for home automation, transportation entertainment systems, and industrial displays. The Magik-MX Kit offers a module based on a TI OMAP3530 system-on-chip, an I/O board, a seven-inch multi-touch display, and TES' Guiliani GUI/HMI framework.
Ksplice announced the availability of a subscription service that updates Linux servers with upgrades and security patches without rebooting. Based on an MIT-bred utility that has been considered for merging into the Linux mainline kernel, Ksplice Uptrack is claimed to reduce costly downtime, and speed installation of security patches.
TI (Texas Instruments) says it is now sampling the industry's first single chip to provide 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, FM transmit/receive, and a GPS receiver. The WiLink 7.0 reduces costs by 30 percent, trims size by 50 percent, and has hardware mechanisms that cancel out any interference between radios, the company says.
Fluffy Spider Technologies (FST) announced an Android-ready version of its FancyPants 3.0 lightweight embedded graphics framework for consumer electronics. FancyPants 3.0 will initially support Android 1.5 and 1.6 SDKs on MIPS and ARM platforms, providing “autonomous UI” capabilities for ongoing customization, says the company.
A comScore MobiLens study on the 4Q 2009 mobile phone market in the U.S. estimates that Android was the fastest growing smartphone operating system (OS), although it only barely topped a 5 percent share. In other findings, almost a quarter of the nation's 234 million mobile users had Motorola phones, says comScore.
Lantronix announced a design contest based on its recently introduced XPort Pro, touted as the “world's smallest Linux networking server.” Lantronix will award prizes of $6,000 and $3,000 to the two top entries for Best Linux Design, plus a separate $3,000 prize for the Best Student Linux Design, says the company.
Broadcom announced an ARM11-based SoC (system-on-chip) intended to provide low- and mid-range smartphones with HSUPA (high-speed uplink packet access networking). Providing data uploads at up to 5.8Mbps, the BCM21553 runs Android or Windows Mobile, includes a “high performance 3D graphics core,” and supports cameras up to eight megapixels, the company says.
Wind River released a new version of its Linux-compatible embedded virtualization software for single and multi-core processors. Wind River Hypervisor 1.1 adds support for Intel Nehalem and Core i5/i7 processors, enables new inter-virtual machine communications, and debuts virtual board debugging via the newly revised Wind River On-Chip Debugging, says the company.
Google's Nexus One Android phone is selling at a much slower rate than the Droid, according to a research firm — but happy customers include Linux creator Linus Torvalds, who endorsed the phone. Last week, meanwhile, the Torvalds-directed Kernel.org announced that Android code has been deleted from the Linux kernel.
Sony announced a high-speed wireless technology designed for data transfer within electronic products. To be shown off this week at a conference in San Francisco, millimeter-wave transmission will increase reliability and decrease circuit board size, the company claims.
Samsung has announced its first Android phone for the Korean market, the Android 2.1-ready SHW-M100S phone, says SamsungHub,. In other Android news, several sites have tipped an HTC-made “Incredible” phone, and Acer reports hot sales of its “Liquid” smartphone.
Adlink announced a Core i7-equipped COM Express module featuring Intel's embedded-specific Core i7 processor along with the QM57 Express chipset. The “Ampro by Adlink Express-CBR” features up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, CRT and LVDS display support, an optional SSD (solid state disk), and PCI Express Graphics (PEG) or PCI Express expansion, the company says.