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Trinity Audio Group announced an upgrade to its Linux-based “audio operating system,” with an improved user interface, the real-time kernel 2.6.31, and a player that lets users change the speed of a song without altering pitch. “Transmission 4.0” is available as a download, on a USB stick, or preloaded on a netbook or ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), the company says.
Just desserts? Motorola has posted a timeline for when users of its Android-running smartphones can expect an OS upgrade. While all eyes are on “Froyo,” or Android version 2.2, some users will have to be happy with 2.0 and 2.1 — also known as “Éclair.”
Hewlett-Packard confirmed during its Aug. 19 earnings call that a device running its recently acquired Palm WebOS operating system will ship sometime in early 2011. Although the company executive who confirmed the “product” offered no other details, the general assumption is that HP will load WebOS onto a tablet-like device.
Intel announced a dual-core Atom CPU for netbooks and says devices based on it will begin shipping this week. The 1.5GHz N550 will offer a “more responsive experience” in products from Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, MSI, and Toshiba, the chipmaker says.
ViewSonic says it will introduce two new tablet computers next week at a Berlin tradeshow. An unnamed ten-inch model will boot into either Android or Windows, while the seven-inch ViewPad 7 will offer Android, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS, plus front- and rear-facing cameras, the company says.
Actel Corporation announced the addition of Red Hat Linux and Windows 7 support to its Libero IDE (integrated design environment) for FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays). The SmartFusion FPGAs are also being treated to a tiny “Unison” Linux, capable of running in as little as 1KB of RAM, the company says.
Borders is now taking pre-orders for two seven-inch Android tablets, the $200 Cruz Reader and the $300 Cruz Tablet, and says the first of the devices will ship by the end of this month. Both tablets offer conventional backlit color touchscreens, but the Reader is resistive while the Tablet is capacitive, the reseller says.
Shuttle says it's now shipping a mini PC that comes with a dual-core Intel Atom D510 CPU and is available with Nvidia Ion 2 graphics. The XS35 includes an Ethernet port, five USB ports, plus both HDMI and VGA video outputs, the company says.
Strategy Analytics is projecting that the Connected Convergent Devices (CCDs) market, ranging from MIDs to netbooks, will achieve a global installed base of over 400 million units by 2014. In a separate report, firm estimates that consumer electronics devices with embedded Wi-Fi will reach 570 million units in 2010, representing 42 percent growth over 2009.
Dell shipped a lighter new Insipiron Mini 10 netbook in Europe on Aug. 19, and it may cross the pond this fall. The Dell Inspiron Mini 1018 is equipped with an Intel Atom N455 processor, 1GB of DDR3 memory, a 10.1-inch WSVGA display, 802.11 b/g/n, and a webcam, and weighs under three pounds.
After two years of inflated prices, NAND flash memory will return to $1-per-gigabyte pricing by the end of the year, giving SSDs a fighting chance against HDDs, says iSuppli. Meanwhile, the DRAM industry had its best quarter since 1995, with revenues rising 14.4 percent since the previous quarter to $10.8 billion, says another iSuppli report.
MIT spinoff Lyric Semiconductor is introducing new processor circuitry that is claimed to calculate probabilities at a faster rate and at a fraction of the cost of x86 chips from Intel and AMD. The debut Lyric product — LEC (Lyric Error Correction) chip — is aimed at alleviating the ECC bottleneck in flash memory for smartphones, cameras, and other devices.
Paving the way for embedded devices to include more built-in security features, Intel announced it will acquire McAfee for $7.68 billion in cash. Separately, Odyssey Software and Wavelink Corporation both released upgrades to their management frameworks for mobile devices.
ChipWrights announced a Linux application development kit (ADK) for its CW5631 SoC, aimed at low-cost IPTV STBs and IP cameras. Like ChipWrights' Linux-based CW5631 SDK announced earlier this year, the H264-ready ADK supports the CW5631, which combines a 400MHz ARM9 core, a DSP, and a RISC core.
Worldwide PC microprocessor units and revenue showed uncharacteristic growth during the second quarter of 2010, according to IDC. Mobile units rose while desktops fell, and Intel dominated all categories.