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STMicroelectronics (ST) announced a new member of its dual-core Cortex-A9 SPEAr1300 SoC (system on chip) line that adds a 2D/3D-accelerating ARM Mali 200 graphics processing unit (GPU). The SPEAr1340 also includes a hardware video accelerator, supporting up to 1080p at 30fps, and it can handle multiple concurrent video flows for surveillance applications, says the company.
HP announced a revamped version of its Mini 210 netbook that includes upgraded audio plus color that's skin-deep. Still with a choice of Intel Atom processors and Windows 7 operating systems, the device now includes a social-media-centric upgrade to the available, Linux-based QuickWeb operating system, according to the company.
The MEPIS project announced the release of the Debian Linux based SimplyMEPIS distribution. SimplyMEPIS 11 moves up to Linux kernel 2.6.36.4 and the KDE 4.51 desktop, switches from OpenOffice.org to LibreOffice 3.3.2, and provides FireFox 4.0, which was recently recompiled to run much faster on Linux.
Freescale Semiconductor announced a faster, 1.5GHz version of its quad-core QorIQ P2040 processor called the QorIQ P2041, claimed to deliver up to 10Gbps performance and ship with a Linux BSP. The P2041 system-on-chip (SoC) is available in a newly announced, 1U MR-630 networking appliance from Lanner called the MR-630, equipped with 12 or 16 gigabit Ethernet ports and aimed at the unified threat management (UTM) market.
Smartphone sales were up nearly 80 percent during the first quarter of 2011, which saw 99.6 million units shipped, says IDC. As choices migrated from mostly high-end units to more mid-range and entry-level offerings, Samsung — whose offerings span the market — grew the fastest, the research firm added.
Red Hat released Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.1 to select customers at this week's Red Hat Summit, in which the Linux market leader promoted a greater tolerance for open-ended hybrid platforms. The event featured announcements of a “Red Hat CloudForms” cloud-computing initiative plus a related “OpenShift” platform as a service for open source cloud developers, among other news.
Researchers at Microsoft Research claim to have come up with a way to turn any wall into a touch-sensitive surface. The technology, which relies on the body's ability to deflect electromagnetic radiation, could provide a new way for devices to be controlled from anywhere in the house, according to a report in MIT's Technology Review.
Is an Android smartphone worth $300 plus a two-year contract? In the case of the Samsung Droid Charge, which offers Verizon 4G bandwidth, a beautiful 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, and an eight-megapixel camera, the answer is just maybe, says this eWEEK review.
Samsung and AT&T announced new details on their 4.5-inch Android 2.2 smartphone, said to be just over a third of an inch thick. The Samsung Infuse 4G will be available May 15 for $200 plus contract, and features a 1.2GHz Hummingbird processor, HSPA+, an eight-megapixel camera, and (possibly) the ability to load apps from third-parties.
U.K. games developer David Braben has launched an OLPC-like foundation called Raspberry Pi, hoping to sell a tiny ARM/Linux computer aimed at K12 computer education for as little as $25. Braben demonstrated a single board computer (SBC) prototype running Ubuntu 9.04 on a 700MHz, OpenGL-enabled ARM11 processor with 128MB SDRAM, HDMI, USB, and SD connectivity, supporting 1080p video.
Sony Ericsson has upgraded its Xperia Mini and slider keyboard-equipped Xperia Mini Pro phones with faster 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, larger three-inch screens, and Android 2.3. Claimed to be the smallest smartphones available that can play and record 720p video, the phones include all the wireless features of a big-screen phone, plus a five-megapixel camera and new Facebook integration features.
Kontron announced a PCI/104-Express SBC (single board computer) with Intel's single-core Atom D425 or dual-core D525. The Microspace MSM-LP includes up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, one IDE port and two SATA ports, LVDS and VGA video, four serial ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and two gigabit Ethernet ports, the company says.
Motorola Mobility and Sprint announced two enterprise-focused Android smartphones with 3.1-inch touchscreens, exposed QWERTY keyboards, and five-megapixel cameras. The Motorola Xprt is a 1GHz Android 2.2 phone with enterprise security features and international roaming, and the ruggedized, Android 2.1-based Motorola Titanium makes use of Sprint's Nextel Direct Connect Push-to-Talk network, says Sprint.
Intel's new 3-D transistor technology will enable the giant chip maker to continue extending Moore's Law in PCs and servers for at least the next few years. Nonetheless, say analysts, ARM Holdings and its many licensees will continue to dominate the mobile space — and a new IDC report claims ARM will have 15 percent of the “PC processors” market by 2015.
Novell's new Spacewalk-based SUSE Manager 1.2 deserves points for its support of both SUSE and Red Hat enterprise Linux flavors, says this eWEEK review. But, author Jason Brooks adds, while the server management tool makes sense for users coming from a Linux perspective, it suffers from some configuration hiccups, due in part to the challenge of integrating two different distributions.