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Verizon Wireless announced Jan. 25 availability of two modified versions of Palm's WebOS-based smartphones, the Palm Pre Plus and the newly WiFi-enabled Palm Pixi Plus. Meanwhile, Palm announced that its WebOS developer program is now open to all developers, and plans to launch a WebOS plugin development kit, says eWEEK.
Atmel announced a version of its ARM926EJ-based “SAM9” line of industrial-focused system-on-chips, this time integrating a video decoder and graphics acceleration. The SAM9M10 ships with a Linux evaluation board and BSP, and supports video at up to 720 x 576 pixels and 30 frames per second, says the company.
Quartics Inc. used last week's CES (Consumer Electronics Show) to show off a VPU (video processing unit) claimed to improve video quality on the fly and do real-time conversion to 3D. The Windows-ready QV1721 targets netbooks, laptops, and other PCs, and includes an on-chip ARM926EJ processor, the company says.
EMC subsidiary Iomega is readying a WiFi-enabled, Linux-based network-attached storage (NAS) device that costs $100. The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station has no storage of its own, but acts as a wireless hub that shares data stored on devices hooked up to its four USB 2.0 ports.
Lenovo unveiled a Qualcomm Snapdragon-based Android smartphone aimed for a 1H 2010 release in China, says eWEEK. Meanwhile, Dell officially announced a version of the Mini 3 Android smartphone aimed at AT&T's U.S. network, and showed off a MID-like Android “slate” prototype.
Nvidia announced the latest in its family of ARM-based SoCs (system on chips), claiming up to four times the performance of the previous generation. The Tegra 250 includes eight processors including a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU, streams 1080p HD video, and offers “days” of battery life, the company says.
Eurotech is readying a COM Express (Type 2) computer-on-module (COM) that incorporates Intel's new Core i7 processor and Mobile Intel QM57 Express chipset. The Linux-ready Adbc8031 module supports Intel hyperthreading technology and ECC memory, and offers interfaces including SATA, gigabit Ethernet, and PCI Express, says the company.
HP announced three netbooks using Intel's N450 “Pineview” processor that support SUSE Linux: the Mini 210, Mini 2102, both with 10.1-inch screens, and the Mini 5102, which offers 10-hour claimed battery life and an optional touchscreen. Meanwhile, at CES the company unveiled a prototype Qualcomm Snapdragon-based Android “smartbook,” says Engadget.
MSI and Novell will soon ship MSI's new Intel Atom N450-based MSI U135 netbook with SUSE Moblin Linux v2.1. Loaded with the netbook-focused Moblin UI, the U135 offers up to 2GB RAM, a 10.1-inch screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 160GB or 250GB hard disk drives, say the companies.
Intel used an early-morning conference at today's Consumer Electronics Show to roll out 27 new processors, including 12 specifically aimed at embedded devices. Additions to the chipmaker's Core i3, i5, i7, and Xeon families, the CPUs have two or four cores, include on-chip graphics, and incorporate “Turbo Boost” technology, according to the company.
Motorola announced its third Android phone, featuring a reverse-flip QWERTY keyboard and Mot's MotoBlur UI. The Backflip is equipped with a 528MHz Qualcomm processor, and offers 2GB of memory, a 3.1-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, aGPS, five-megapixel camera, and a “Backtrack” touchpanel on the back of the device.
Texas Instruments (TI) announced an e-book reader development platform for Linux and Android, based on its OMAP3621 system-on-chip. The eBook Development Platform is equipped with an E Ink electrophoretic EPD display, TI's new TPS6518x EPD power management IC, plus an integrated WiLink chip (WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM) and 3G support.
AT&T announced plans to launch five Android devices from Dell, HTC, and Motorola in the first half of the year, as well as two Palm WebOS phones, say reports. In separate announcements, AT&T and T-Mobile said they had completed upgrades to provide HSPA 7.2 service across their 3G networks, says eWEEK.
Google asked the Federal Communications Commission to let it help administer “white space” networking, tapping into unused TV spectrum to deliver broadband services. Yesterday, Google proposed that it be allowed to create a geolocation database that will protect licensed TV and wireless microphone signals from harmful interference, says the company.
Lenovo announced two “smartbooks” that run Linux on an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC. The Skylight is a 10.1-inch netbook, while the IdeaPad U1 is hybrid mini-notebook that runs Windows 7 on an Intel Core 2 Duo and — when its tablet/display is detached — Linux on a Qualcomm Snapdragon.