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Adobe Systems announced a downloadable Release Candidate (RC) version of its Flash Player 10.1 software, citing a long list of performance enhancements and bug fixes. The software is presently available only for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems, but showcases mobile-centric features such as multi-touch and H.264 hardware acceleration.
A Swedish firm called People of Lava has announced what appears to be the world's first Android-powered TV. The Scandinavia Window to the World TV runs Android 1.5 on a Cortex-A8 processor, and offers HD with 1920 x 1080 resolution, available in 42-, 47-, and 55-inch models, says the company.
Data Robotics is shipping a new network-attached storage (NAS) device focused on file-sharing and back-up for SOHO and small-office users. The Drobo FS is equipped with an ARM-based, dual-core Marvell SoC that runs both Linux and VxWorks, a gigabit Ethernet port, up to 10TB storage with automated “BeyondRAID” data protection, and access to Oxygen Cloud services.
Texas Instruments announced four new low-end members of its industrial-focused Sitara SoC family, this time building on ARM9 cores instead of the ARM Cortex-A8. The AM1808, AM1806, AM1707, and AM1705 Sitara processors offer peripherals including MMC/SD, Ethernet, SATA, and USB, and also supply a new Programmable Real-time Unit (PRU) for customizable I/O.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported that worldwide semiconductor sales in February decreased 1.3 percent from January, but were 56.2 percent higher than Feb. 2009, led by sales to emerging economies. On Friday, meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted a slight dip in computer-related jobs in March, after months of steady gains, reports eWEEK.
Texas Instruments (TI) announced the availability of a version of its WiLink 6.0 WL1271 wireless module for the Mistral-manufactured Cortex-A8-based OMAP35x Evaluation Module (EVM). The tiny 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.1+ WL1271 chip is pre-integrated and optimized for TI's OMAP35x system-on-chip, thereby accelerating wireless development time, says TI.
Axiomtek is readying a fanless, embedded PC with six PCI/PCIe expansion slots. The IPC916-211-FL incorporates the Intel GM45 Express chipset, supports Intel Core 2 Duo and Celeron M processors, and offers up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, as well as gigabit Ethernet, USB, and serial connectivity, says the company.
Faced with disappointing sales, HP and Dell are scaling back investments in 10-inch netbooks, with HP possibly quitting the format entirely, according to DigiTimes. Other motivators were said to include expectations for re-invigorated sales of larger, more expensive notebooks fueled by a recovering economy.
Dutch “digital security” company Gemalto announced a lighter, more mobile version of its Linux-based Magic3 family of point-of-sale (PoS) terminals. The Magic3 W-1 runs the company's “Open&Sec” PoS security stack on top of Linux, and offers a USB port, an Ethernet port, and WiFi dongle support, says the company.
Win Enterprises announced a fanless box computer designed for a variety of embedded applications. The PL-80190 is equipped with an Intel Atom N450, D410, or dual-core D510, and offers CompactFlash and SATA storage, Mini PCI expansion, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, four USB 2.0 ports, and a serial port.
Intel and AMD both announced new high-performance computing (HPC) processors, with Intel unveiling four- to eight-core Xeon 7500 “Nehalem EX” processors and AMD announcing eight- to 12-core Opteron 6000 “Magny-Cours” chips, says eWEEK. Meanwhile, an iSuppli survey says that AMD's semiconductor market share grew 1.6 percent to 12.1 percent in the fourth quarter.
The MeeGo community has “opened the repositories” on early code for the open source mobile Linux operating system, which combines the Intel-backed Moblin and Nokia's Maemo platforms. Images are now publicly available for the MeeGo distribution infrastructure and OS base “from the Linux kernel to the OS infrastructure up to the middleware layer,” says the community.