Here is a list of things to do to make a truly successful Linux PDA. This is a list that I have been putting together in my free time the last few years as I have been interacting with this growing field. Some ideas you may like, some you may disagree with. A few ideas you might not have known about, and many that you probably could list yourself. (more…)

Samsung is shipping a high-end smartphone powered by embedded Linux from Mizi Research that supports both Chinese and English. The device is being distributed in China, initially, where it works with #2 China wireless provider Unicom's CDMA2000 1x network. This confirms an earlier rumor that Samsung would ship a Linux smartphone in 2003. (more…)

This interview with FSMLabs CEO Victor Yodaiken is the first in LinuxDevices.com's new “CEO/CTO Interview Series.” Yodaiken addresses general trends in the embedded market, as well as specific projects his company is involved with. (more…)

The Utronix IP-SwitchBox800 uses embedded Linux to provide remote control of power mains and a serial device. The IP-SwitchBox800 can switch up to eight 230-Volt mains, with maximum combined current of 16 amps. It features simple, open control interfaces, and several configuration options. (more…)

The robots are coming, the robots are coming . . .

According to a fascinating article at TechNewsWorld, Linux is poised to play a central role in an emerging industry that many expect to overtake the PC industry in size: robotics. (more…)

Foreword: The following detailed technical whitepaper was written by Don Davies, who developed it in the course of his work with the PROTOR, a distributed vibration monitoring system. Below is an excerpt, followed by a link for downloading the complete 24-page whitepaper. (more…)

Foreword

A team of computer scientists at IBM and the University of California/Lawrence Livermore Labs have used Linux and embedded System on Chip (SoC) technology to achieve a breakthrough in supercomputer technology expected to radically reduce the size and cost of highly scalable systems, while dramatically increasing performance. (more…)

Roku calls its first product, the $499 HD1000, “the world's first high-definition digital media player.” The product displays content from memory cards or networked PCs on High Definition TVs (HDTVs) including LCD and Plasma TVs. The HD1000's open, Linux-based architecture makes it especially interesting to embedded hackers, and Roku encourages such use. (more…)

Eben Moglen, General Counselor for the Free Software Foundation, has issued his second statement concerning the recent SCO lawsuits. The statement comprises an entertaining and accessible (for a legal document) summary of SCO's failure to provide either factual or legal support for its lawsuit against IBM alleging copyright infringements. (more…)

Foreword: This whitepaper describes an approach to solving the “device driver crisis” that plagues both the embedded and non-embedded computer system markets. SciTech claims its System Neutral Access Protocol (“SNAP”) device driver architecture, the result of over a decade of research and development, represents a new paradigm for device driver development that is radically different from… (more…)

Linux is being used as the embedded operating system platform for lottery terminals located at thousands of sporting arenas throughout Korea. The devices, called “Toto,” leverage commodity hardware, open source technology such as X and Java, and, in recent models, Sangoma WAN cards to produce unobtrusive, inexpensive, and reliable gaming terminals. (more…)

The Mono and DotGNU projects are Open Source projects that, after several years of development, are beginning to bear fruit. Mono aims to create an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET application frameworks and services. (more…)

In last month's article, I had explored the problems associated with writing timing sensitive code under Linux and looked at how RTAI solves them in an elegant manner. (more…)

The fundamentals

To most people, embedded systems are not recognizable as computers. Instead, they are hidden inside everyday objects that surround us and help us in our lives. Embedded systems typically do not interface with the outside world through familiar personal computer interface devices such as a mouse, keyboard and graphic user interface. (more…)

The C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT) is an Eclipse plugin that extends Eclipse for use with C/C++, rather than Eclipse's native language, Java. This article outlines how to use Eclipse for C/C++ development, including how to use CDT. (more…)