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Microsoft has entered into a patent-licensing agreement with Wistron that for the first time covers Google's Chrome OS as well as Android. The agreement — announced a day after a Microsoft-led consortium beat out Google for Nortel's wireless patents — covers smartphones, tablets, and e-readers, suggesting Wistron may be working on a Chrome OS tablet.
Cypress Semiconductor announced what it says is the first USB 3.0 solution for smartphone and other handheld devices. The West Bridge Benicia (CYB0263) offers 5Gbps data transfers and faster battery charging, while both it and the USB 2.0-only West Bridge Bay (CYWB0163) include a “data transfer offload engine” and an ARM9 core for audio processing, the company says.
AMD is planning a tablet-specific processor featuring fanless operation, “active standby,” and the ability to provide continuous Wi-Fi connectivity. Using between two and 4.5 Watts, “Hondo” will be accompanied by a downsized “Hudson M2T” I/O controller that drops PCI Express but adds SDIO, according to the Donanim Haber website.
Netflix has launched a certification program for its Netflix HD application, awarding its first seal of approval to Texas Instruments' OMAP 4 processor and WiLink 7.0 chipset running on Android 2.3. TI's dual-core OMAP 4 won the certification thanks to its ability to play 1080p video at 30fps and its on-chip support for DRM (digital rights management).
IndigoVision announced a doubling of capacity to 2TB disks on its NVR-AS 3000 of Linux-based, surveillance-oriented network video recorders (NVRs). The NVR-AS 3000 systems are now available with up to 6TB of usable RAID 5 storage, as well as RAID 0/1 options, and can record full framerate video and audio from 64 cameras, and play back 20 streams simultaneously, says the company.
Google announced an online tool allowing developers to convert Flash animations to HTML5. Thanks to “Swiffy,” those animations can then be run on Apple's iPad and other devices that do not support Adobe Flash.
Vizio announced the VTAB1008, an eight-inch tablet that includes infrared “universal remote” capabilities and runs Android 2.3. The company added that it will employ Android and its own Vizio Internet Apps Plus (V.I.A. Plus) additions in forthcoming TVs, Blu-ray players, smartphones, “and more.”
Calls for papers were announced for CELF's Embedded Linux Conference Europe, co-located with LinuxCon Europe in Prague on October 26-28, as well as the Australian Linux.conf.au, planned for Jan 16-20, 2012 in Ballarat, Australia. Meanwhile, the Linux Foundation announced Kim Blanche's “Flying Penguins” as the winner of the 20th Anniversary of Linux T-shirt contest, earning her a trip to next month's LinuxCon Gala in Vancouver.
The Wi-Fi version of the 9.7-inch HP TouchPad tablet went on sale today for $499 (16GB) and $599 (32GB). Early reviews follow the same general pattern as those of the original Palm Pre two years ago: praise for the promise of WebOS, but disappointment over bugs, performance, lack of apps, and limited battery life.