This in-depth, hands-on article introduces Android, Google's Linux/Java mobile phone SDK (software development kit). After a tour of Android's tools, documentation, and code samples, it suggests a path for further exploration and concludes with a simple applet showing the power and simplicity of the Android… (more…)

This article celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Open Source Automation Development Lab, an industry group working to improve Linux for use in industrial automation. Included are retrospectives of the group's history and accomplishments, along with an outline of its agenda and ongoing activities. (more…)

Embedded market analysts from Venture Development Corp. (VDC) attended the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) held in Boston earlier this month. This guest column presents VDC's summary of the event, extracted from the firm's latest Embedded Systems Bulletin. (more…)

Foreword: This guest column posits six causes for Linux's meteoric rise in popularity among handset manufacturers. Author Andreas Constantinou, founder of a market research firm, discounts widely accepted truisms like customizability and developer preference for source code access, instead fingering pragmatic factors he says are unrelated to Linux's “free” qualities. (more…)

Foreword: This whitepaper, by market researchers at Venture Development Corp., provides a number of top-level findings from VDC's most recent analysis of the embedded Linux software, tools, and services market. The findings come from VDC's “2007 Embedded Software Market Intelligence Program — Volume 3: Linux in the Embedded Systems Market.” (more…)

Foreword: This guest whitepaper explains how a hypervisor can be used to leverage GPL software while isolating it from proprietary code, in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of the GPL. It was written by a TRANGO Virtual Processors product manager, and uses that company's hypervisor as an example. (more…)

Foreword: This guest whitepaper offers suggestions on creating Linux stacks that are fully compatible with proprietary software. It was written by three Access employees, and at times uses the Access Linux Platform (ALP) as an example of such a stack. (more…)

Foreword: Today's nascent robotics market has engendered about 10 general purpose software development frameworks for service robots, including nine that support Linux. This article surveys seven of them, and sketches the other three, before concluding with an analysis of market trends likely to shape the robotics software landscape of tomorrow. (more…)

Foreword — This article traces Linux's transformation into one of the most popular mobile phone environments today. It was written by Jim Ready, founder and CTO of MontaVista — and arguably one of the most important pioneers in the market for off-the-shelf commercial embedded operating systems. (more…)

Foreword: This article by Jean-Charles Verdie, CTO of software development firm Pleyo, introduces the Origyn Web Browser, a new open-source browser that targets a wide range of consumer electronics (CE) devices, including mobile phones, PMPs (portable media players), and STBs (set-top boxes). (more…)

Levelstar used embedded Linux to create a PDA (personal digital assistant) for visually impaired users. The “Icon” has a custom hardware design with built-in 30GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB, and comes with a full complement of “life managing software,” much of it written from… (more…)

This article describes how to build your own silent, fast, eco-friendly Linux-based PC for use in a digital music listening system. The PC is based on a high-end Via mini-ITX board, passively cooled case with heatpipe technology, Debian Linux, and a little creative embedded elbow grease. (more…)

Nokia's Navigation Kit for the N800 Internet Tablet works great when used in a car in metropolitan outskirts. However, the unit seems a bit pricey for what you get, is ill-suited to outdoor use, and seems to struggle holding a fix when the battery gets low. (more…)

Yoggie's innovative Yoggie Pico may well be the first hardware firewall that is truly practical for mobile workers running Windows-based computers. The device appears to work well, except for a simplistic web-based user interface that may not satisfy technical users. (more…)

SysMaster used embedded Linux to create a four-line IP (Internet protocol) video phone with built-in PBX and audio/video playback capabilities. The Tornado M30 can help network operators deliver voice or audio/video services to consumers and business users, according to the company. (more…)