Synaptics announced a range of capacitive touchscreens that will range up to 10.1 inches in size and support 10 simultaneous finger touches. Meanwhile, Digitimes predicted that demand for glass-based capacitive panels will grow steadily, at the expense of resistive touchscreens.

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Marvell announced the availability of an open source installer, simplifying software deployment on its Linux-based Plug Computer reference design. The Easy Plug Computer Installer (EPI) is the first wizard-based installation tool for Marvell's Plug Computer, which is being supported by more than 20,000 developers worldwide, says Marvell.

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Acrosser announced a single board computer (SBC) built around the Intel Atom N450 processor. The AR-B6050 offers up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, CompactFlash and SATA storage, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, six USB 2.0 ports, two serial ports, plus PCI-104 and Mini PCI Express, says the company.

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Ibase announced an embedded Mini-ITX motherboard built around Intel's single-core Atom N450 or dual-core Atom D510. The MI889 offers a PCI Express x 4 expansion slot, two gigabit Ethernet ports, CRT and LVDS video outputs, plus both SATA and IDE support, the company says.

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Google has upgraded Android Market with a security tool to prevent the illegal use of paid Android applications, says eWEEK. The move follows an announcement earlier this week that Google will add a new carrier billing option to Android Market, according to another eWEEK. report.

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Intel says it has developed a prototype silicon photonics link that moves data at 50Gbps, the equivalent of an entire HD movie being transmitted every second. Unlike present-day versions, silicon-based optical technologies will be affordable enough to be integrated into PCs, embedded devices, and consumer electronics, the chipmaker says.

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NetLogic Microsystems announced a multi-core “solution” using its MIPS-based XLP processor architecture, and says it will soon introduce nine new XLP SoCs. Aimed at high-end networking applications, the Linux-ready XLP8128S integrates four eight-core XLP832 SoCs clocked at up to 2GHz and offers over 160 programmable processing engines, for up to 160Gbps throughput and 240 million packets-per-second (Mpps) processing, says NetLogic.

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Variscite announced a SODIMM-sized COM (computer on module) based on TI's DM37xx CPUs, with ARM Cortex-A8 cores clocked at up to 1GHz. The VAR-SOM-OM37 includes up to 256MB of RAM and 256MB of flash storage, offers a touchscreen interface supporting resolution up to 2048 x 2048 pixels, and is available with a Linux 2.6.32 or Windows CE 6.0 BSP (board support package), the company says.

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Kmart has begun touting a seven-inch “Gentouch78” Android 2.1 tablet for $150, as well as a Linux-based seven-inch color e-reader called “TheBook eReader,” both from Augen. Meanwhile, TheStreet quotes analyst Ashok Kumar as saying Motorola will release a 10-inch tablet this November running Android 3.0.

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Exacq Technologies is shipping a line of Linux-based hybrid video surveillance appliances with Intel Atom processors. The ExacqVision EL-S systems offer eight or 16 analog inputs and up to 24 IP inputs, allowing creation of systems with up to 40 channels overall, says the company.

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Indian retailer Infibeam.com is readying two seven-inch tablet computers to be sold in India, one running Android 2.1, and one running Windows CE 6.0. Both known as the “Phi,” the devices have different CPUs and dimensions, but both offer 800 x 480 pixel resistive touchscreens and up to five hours of battery life, the company says.

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Via announced three “device development kits” incorporating a previously announced Em-ITX motherboard and related expansion modules. The AMOS-5110, AMOS-5210, and AMOS-5430 are complete PCs that respectively focus on digital signage, factory automation, and GPS functionality, according to the company.

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LiMo Foundation and GNOME Foundation announced a partnership to collaborate on further extending GNOME's open source tools to LiMo (Linux Mobile) compliant devices. In addition, LiMo Foundation has joined GNOME Foundation's Advisory Board, and GNOME will become an Industry Liaison Partner for LiMo, says the partners.

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Fujitsu announced resistive multitouch screens that may be operated either via fingers or a stylus. To be offered in sizes ranging from 5.6 to 12.1 inches, the devices will target POS (point of sale), kiosk, and banking systems.

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A photo of a T-Mobile-destined, Android-based HTC “G1 Blaze” phone has popped up on Engadget, and Droid Life has unveiled Motorola's Droid 2, due for a Verizon launch next month. Meanwhile, Verizon's Droid X delay has been extended, some minor screen and security problems have emerged, and the phone has been rooted but not fully conquered, according to reports.

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