| News Archive (1999-2012) | | | 2013-current at LinuxGizmos | | | Current Tech News Portal | | | About |
Netgear announced the first of its Linux-based Wi-Fi routers to offer Mac-specific features such as native support for Apple's Time Machine backup and Bonjour automated networking technology. The $120 Wireless Extreme for Mac and PC features four gigabit Ethernet ports, a gigabit WAN port, a USB 2.0 port, DLNA streaming, and a broadband usage meter.
Qualcomm announced new chips that will let smartphone manufacturers upgrade existing designs to dual cores with no other hardware or software changes. The MSM8625 and MSM8225 run at up to 1GHz, include integrated 3G modems, and will work as drop-in replacements for the existing MSM7x27A and MSM7x25A devices, the company says.
Barnes & Noble announced a major update to its Nook Color e-reader, adding over 100 feature enhancements that begin to blur the lines with the more advanced Nook Tablet — including Netflix and Flixter support. Meanwhile, Amazon is readying a software update to the Kindle Fire, hoping to stem some of the growing complaints over the tablet, says The New York Times.
CentOS 6.1 has arrived to bring the features of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 to those who can live without a Red Hat subscription. CentOS 6.1 offers almost all the non-proprietary portions of RHEL 6.1, including virtualization performance optimizations, enhanced development and monitoring tools, and YUM package management enhancements.
Lanner announced a mid-range digital signage player with remote power activation support and a dual-core, 1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 featuring remote p. The fanless LEC-7105 supports up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, features dual display via VGA and DVI outputs, offers an eSATA port as well as internal SATA and CompactFlash storage, and provides gigabit Ethernet, USB, and serial connections.
Renault announced an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system that will arrive in its Renault Clio 4 and Zoe cars in 2012. R-Link is built around a seven-inch touchscreen tablet — reportedly running Android on a Texas Instruments ARM processor — and will feature TomTom navigation, telematics controls, multimedia, speech recognition, and an open SDK for third-party app developers.
HP announced it is relaunching its Linux-based WebOS mobile operating system as an open source project. HP will continue to sponsor WebOS, but it will be available publicly under an open source license, soon to be joined by WebOS' Enyo application framework, says the company.
Coby Electronics says it will unveil five tablets running Android 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”) at the CES show in Las Vegas, with shipments due in 1Q 2012. Meanwhile, Samsung is readying an Android 4.0 tablet for early 2012, offering 2560 x 1600 resolution and based on its Cortex A15-based Exynos 5250 processor, and Toshiba is prepping an “Excite” tablet running Android 4.0 on a TI OMAP4430 for February release, say reports.
Congatec and MSC have each announced Qseven carrier boards designed for x86 and ARM COMs (computer on modules), respectively. Congatec's conga-QMCB sports SD, Mini PCI Express, and CFast slots plus an HDMI video output, among other things, while MSC's Q7-MB-EP4 has goodies including two gigabit Ethernet ports, an MMC/SD slot and an mSATA slot, plus an optional 4/5-wire resistive touchscreen controller.
Fuhu announced it has begun shipping its “Nabi” Android tablet for kids, and says pre-order stock at Toysrus.com has already sold out. Running Android 2.2 on a dual-core 544MHz Cortex-A9 processor, the “Nabi” offers a seven-inch, capacitive 800 x 480 pixel screen, Wi-Fi, mini-HDMI, microSD, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1.
Adlink announced it will release a range of ARM-powered COMs (computer-on-modules) next year that sell for “far below $100,” supporting operating systems including Android, Linux, and Windows 8. The devices, which will consume less than three Watts, will employ a still-unnamed, ARM-oriented format recently announced by Kontron.
Meizu announced a high-end Android 2.3.5 phone equipped with an eight-megapixel, f/2.2 backside-illuminated camera with 1080p video recording. Aimed at the Chinese market for now, the Meizu MX features a 1.4GHz, dual-core Samsung Exynos 4210 system on chip (SoC), 16GB of storage, a four-inch, 960 x 640 pixel display, and a micro-SIM slot supporting pentaband 3G with HSPA+ support, says the company.
Cybernet announced a 19-inch, all-in-one PC designed for medical applications. Featuring a white case with antimicrobial coating, the CyberMed G45 includes Intel Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, or Pentium processors, up to 8GB of RAM, an SATA hard disk drive, and two Mini PCI Express expansion slots, according to the company.
IEI Technology announced a microATX industrial motherboard with an Intel H61 Express chipset and support for Intel Core i7/i5/i3 (“Sandy Bridge”), Pentium, or Celeron processors. The IMB-H610 supports up to 16GB of DDR3 SDRAM, and offers PCI Express expansion, four SATA connections, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, 10 USB 2.0 ports, six serial ports, and VGA and DVD-D ports, among other I/O.
PandaBoard.org is shipping a new version of its open mobile development board that advances from Texas Instruments' 1GHz dual-core, Cortex-A9-based OMAP4430 to the 1.2GHz OMAP4460. The PandaBoard ES keeps the same 4.5 x 4.0-inch dimensions, 1GB of RAM, and TI WiLink 6.0 wireless module, among other features, but adds a DSI expansion header and a new switch to control boot order.