Kontron announced a new rackmount Kontron Industrial Silent Server (KISS) with a more rugged and easier maintained chassis. The Kontron KISS 4U Q57 is equipped with 64-bit Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors and the Intel Q57 Express chipset, and offers PCIe and PCI expansion, multiple storage options, dual gigabit ports, ten USB 2.0 ports, and four serial ports.

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Copenhagen, Denmark-based Lumigon offered new details on its upcoming Android smartphone, including the inclusion of a Bang & Olufsen ICEpower audio system. The Lumigon T1 incorporates Freescale's 1GHz i.MX51 system-on-chip (SoC), and it offers a 3.5-inch glass capacitive touchscreen and a “self-learning” universal remote function, says the company.

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LiquidWare announced an open source hardware development platform for Android-based tablet or HMI devices. Designed for rapid prototyping, the DIY Android Modular Gadget Platform is based on modular hardware, including a 720MHz TI OMAP3530-based BeagleBoard, a 4.3-inch OLED touchscreen, and a “BeagleJuice” battery pack.

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Altera announced that it has licensed ARM's Cortex-A9 core, and will incorporate it into a 28nm chip integrating FPGA (field programmable gate array) technology during 2011. Meanwhile, a soft processor core based on MIPS Technologies MIPS32 architecture will be released earlier in the year, the company added.

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Verizon Wireless will launch the Samsung Galaxy Tab on Nov. 11 at a steep $600, says eWEEK. Meanwhile, Samsung unveiled a seven-inch “SMT-i9100” Android tablet aimed at Japan, MSI is postponing a Windows-based tablet in favor of an Android model due in 1Q 2011, and Lenovo is postponing its “LePad” tablet until next summer, waiting for Android's “Honeycomb” release, say reports.

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Linus Torvalds announced a trimmer new Linux kernel release, which includes the long-awaited AppArmor security framework. Linux 2.6.36 also features support for the Tilera multicore architecture, a redesign of workqueues, an Out-of-Memory (OOM) killer, debugging improvements, latency enhancements, and a partial implementation of VFS virtualization scalability patches.

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Despite announcing strong 3Q profits of 529 million euros, Nokia says it will lay off 1,800 as part of a significant restructuring. In a major strategy shift, Nokia will focus on the Qt framework for both its MeeGo and Symbian mobile operating systems instead of using older Symbian development platforms.

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Android 3.0 (“Gingerbread”) will feature video chat support, SIP support for Google Voice on Android devices, and a major graphical redesign, says an industry report. Due this fall, Gingerbread will also provide support for Google TV and its “Youtube Leanback” feature, says the story.

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MontaVista Software released an updated Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) embedded distribution with a RTOS-like “Bare Metal Engine” option for maximizing performance on multicore designs. MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) 6.0 features a multicore resource management scheme for virtualization, adds support for Linux Containers, KVM, and EMVisor virtualization schemes, and upgrades OpenSAF support and power management features.

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Zotac announced two mini-PCs that include Intel's dual-core Atom, Nvidia's Ion 2 GPU (graphics processing unit), and an integral Blu-ray drive. The slimline HD-ID33BR-U and HD-ID34BR-U include DVI and HDMI video outputs, analog and S/PDIF audio outputs, three USB ports, an eSATA port, and 802.11b/g/n wireless networking, the company says.

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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has provided a glimpse of its upcoming “Llano” APU (accelerated processing unit), which integrates computing and graphics capabilities onto a single piece of silicon. Scheduled for release in mid-2011, the processor is being touted for its “world-class performance.”

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Austria-based Ronetix has begun shipping a 2.6 x 1.3-inch module and evaluation board built around Atmel's 400MHz, ARM926-based AT91SAM9G45 system-on-chip (SoC). The PM9G45 module includes 128MB of DDR2 memory and 256MB NAND flash, as well as interfaces for Ethernet, USB ports, serial ports, LCD touchscreens, memory card readers, and more, says the company.

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Broadax Systems Inc. (BSI) announced a fanless embedded computer that's sealed against dust and can withstand immersion in water. The EMS-3701 offers a 1.1GHz Intel Atom Z510PT CPU, 1GB of RAM, CompactFlash storage, a variety of sealed ports that include analog video input, and optional 802.11b/g/n wireless networking, the company says.

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Freescale says it is now sampling two automotive-focused SoCs (system on chips) that employ ARM Cortex-A8 cores clocked at 800MHz. Targeting “reconfigurable instrument cluster applications,” the i.MX534 includes dual graphics processors for 2D/3D video acceleration, while the i.MX536 adds a video processor capable of 1080p decoding and 720p encoding “with minimal CPU loading,” the company says.

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Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) announced an “ObamaBerry”-like smartphone security solution for open source mobile platforms, based on the company's OKL4 mobile virtualization technology. Available initially for Android, SecureIT Mobile combines software and services that will let governmental agencies, contractors, integrators, and OEMs build secure devices using commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software, says OK Labs.

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