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The EE Times Group has announced keynotes and tracks for its ESC (Embedded Systems Conference) Boston, set for Sept. 20 to 23. ESC Boston includes a Linux/Android track, with half-day tutorials on each plus sessions on MeeGo, and once again offers its “Build Your Own Embedded System” track, this time using a BeagleBoard-xM.
Kontron announced a fanless industrial box computer that runs on an Intel Atom N270 and can withstand temperatures of between five and 140 deg. F (-15 to 60 deg. C). The Kontron Embedded Box PC CB 752 is equipped with dual gigabit Ethernet ports and six USB 2.0 ports, plus serial, optional CAN bus, and Mini PCIe connectivity, says the company.
Google formally released the open source Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) operating system, and announced two new widgets: “Voice Actions” for voice commands and an enhanced search widget. Meanwhile, an audio streaming flaw in Froyo is heading for a fix, says reports.
Axon Logic announced a 10-inch tablet designed to run Linux, Windows, or — the company coyly suggests — Apple's OS X. The Axon Haptic has a 320GB hard drive for multiple operating system (OS) installation, a resistive touchscreen, optional Bluetooth and Verizon-compatible 3G, plus a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, the company says.
Gartner reports surging global handset sales in the second quarter, with Android taking second place over Apple's iPhone in smartphone OS market share. Meanwhile, the “partial fork” of Android from the Linux kernel has been debated at LinuxCon, with some claiming it's a temporary split, while others warn about the fork's long-term impact.
Keith and Koep GmbH announced a SODIMM-sized, Linux-compatible single board computer (SBC) and a compact baseboard to go with it. The Trizeps VI offers Marvell Armada 100-series processors clocked at 800MHz or 1.1GHz, up to 256MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage, and an onboard microSD socket, while the baseboard adds an Ethernet port and HDMI, among other functionality.
This week's LinuxCon show featured some lively discussions over the fate of the fast-growing open source operating system, says eWEEK. Hosted by the Linux Foundation (LF), the event explored cloud computing, social networking, Android integration, GPL licensing, Linux kernel challenges such as multicore processing and code complexity, and MeeGo, among other issues.
Sprint announced that it will start selling the Samsung Epic 4G for $250 with rebate and contract on Aug. 31. The Samsung Epic 4G is one of several variations of Samsung's Galaxy S line of Android 2.1 smartphones, and offers a 1GHz Samsung “Hummingbird” system-on-chip, four-inch Super AMOLED display, a 4G radio, and a QWERTY keyboard.
Bluewater Systems is shipping a $145 computer-on-module (COM) built around an ARM9 Atmel AT91SAM9G45 processor clocked at 400MHz. The Snapper 9G45 module measures only 2.7 by 1.0 inches, offers 128MB SDRAM, 1GB NAND flash, a wide variety of interfaces, and a Linux 2.6.33 BSP.
A 3.2-inch, Android 2.1 tablet called the Archos 32 has been spotted on the FCC's website. Like the Archos 5 and Archos 7, the Archos 32 is said to run on an ARM Cortex A8 system-on-chip (SoC), and offers GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accelerometers, and composite video out, according to a manual posted on the FCC site.
The recently unveiled $35 tablet from India turns out to be running Android, according to an Indian TV report. In other tablet news, Amazon is said to be considering a color tablet companion to the Kindle, and more details have emerged about HP's printer-focused Android e-reader.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) is preparing a “Zeen” Android e-reader that interfaces with a new HP printer, says an industry report. Meanwhile, HP has postponed its WebOS-based “Hurricane” tablet to 1Q 2011, and the company — beleaguered by the recent resignation of CEO Mark Hurd — lost the lead designer of the WebOS-based Palm Pre, say reports.
E Ink is now sampling two new touch-enabled displays for e-readers, one offering a capacitive digitizer and using electromagnetic technology, DigiTimes reports. Meanwhile, a color E Ink display is shipping and will be offered in a Hanvon device in the fourth quarter, the publication adds.
Amahi released a “Plug Edition” version of its Amahi Linux Home Server for the Marvell Plug Computer, and is sponsoring a contest giveaway of Ionics' Stratus version of the device. Meanwhile, Marvell announced “PlugIN,” its first-annual developer camp for the Plug Computer, to be held on Aug. 18 in Santa Clara, Calif.
Axiomtek announced a digital signage computer that includes a 42-inch display and a choice of Celeron or Core 2 Duo processors. The DSA-142 features a removable CPU board, an optional motion detection sensor and available infrared touchscreen, a Mini PCI Express expansion slot, up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM, an 80GB hard disk drive, and two speakers, the company says.