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Axiomtek has introduced a “3.5-inch” SBC (single board computer) that uses the “PT” versions of Intel's Atom, offering an operating range of -40 to 185 deg. F. The SBC84823 includes VGA and LVDS video, six USB ports, four serial ports, plus Mini PCI Express and CompactFlash expansion, the company says.
Ibase announced an embedded Mini-ITX motherboard that supports AMD's Athlon, Athlon X2, and Sempron processors. The MI952 includes DVI-I, DVI-D, and HDMI video outputs, six 3.5mm jacks for 7:1 surround sound, and a PCI Express x16 expansion slot.
Japanese software firm Access and Israeli mobile design firm Emblaze Mobile today demonstrated a smartphone prototype and device stack based on the LiMo-compatible Access Linux Platform (ALP) 3.0. The Else phone incorporates a Texas Instruments OMAP3430, 16GB internal flash, 3G, WiFi, GPS, and jointly developed “Else Intuition” software.
Wind River and PrismTech announced a jointly developed “Spectra SDR” software-defined radio (SDR) middleware platform for both military and public sectors, compatible with Wind River's Linux and VxWorks distributions. Meanwhile, Wind River launched a blog feature, starting with President Ken Klein explaining how Wind River is a “firewalled subsidiary” of Intel, committed to independence.
Xilinx and ARM Holdings announced they are collaborating to enable ARM's processor and interconnect technologies on forthcoming FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays). Xilinx will adopt ARM's Cortex processor IP and its AMBA (advanced microprocessor bus architecture), the companies said.
ARM Holdings has spun a Cortex processor design for feature phones and other low-cost mobile devices that supplants its ARM926EJ-S and ARM1176JZ-S cores while offering over twice the speed and about twice the power efficiency. The 40nm-fabricated ARM Cortex-A5 MPCore is available for uniprocessor designs or for SoCs with as many as four cores, says ARM.
Rave Computer announced an Atom-powered vehicle computer with GPS, hard disk and CompactFlash storage, and a PCI-104 expansion slot. The RCV 6100 supports DVI-D, VGA, and LVDS displays, has two Mini PCIe sockets, and features optional GSM or WCDMA cellular modules, the company says.
Dell is preparing an Android-based mobile Internet device (MID), according to two web sites. The Dell Streak is said to offer a five-inch WVGA touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G connectivity, say the reports.
Texas Instruments (TI) announced two Linux-compatible, Cortex A8-based processors that are based on its OMAP35x SoCs, but aimed at the industrial market. The Sitara AM3505 and AM3517 run at 500MHz while using less than one Watt, include 10/100 Ethernet, support DDR2 memory, and offer CAN controllers, according to the company.
Barnes & Noble announced its long-anticipated eBook reading device, which it bills as being the first Android-based e-reader. The “Nook” offers the usual six-inch E Ink display, but also supplies a 3.5-inch color subdisplay for an Android interface, plus 2GB storage, a microSD slot, WiFi, and 3G, says the company.
Spring Design announced an Android-based e-book reader that boasts two displays and full browser capabilities. The WiFi- and 3G-enabled “Alex” offers both the typical 6-inch monochrome EPD (electronic paper display) display for reading, plus a linked, 3.5-inch color display for Android content and multimedia, says the company.
Marvell has announced four processor families — Armada 100, Armada 500, Armada 600, and Armada 1000 — based on ARM cores. Touted as “a top to bottom solution for mobile computing and intelligent devices,” the SoCs offer single or dual cores with clock speeds from 400MHz to 1.2GHz, the company says.
Google will release its own unlocked Android phone for retail sales this fall, says The Street. Meanwhile, a fully open source version of Android called Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is near completion, says LWN.net,, and eWEEK's Don Reisinger says Apple has plenty to worry about with the existing Google/Verizon alliance.
Freescale Semiconductor and E Ink Corporation announced they will jointly develop SoCs (system on chip) products integrating the former's i.MX processor technology and the latter's Vizplex display controller. The collaboration will “spark innovation” and lower the cost of producing e-readers, according to the companies.
MontaVista Software announced a new release of its Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) 4.0 compliant Linux distribution for networking customers, adding support for 4G wireless networks including LTE and WiMAX. MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) 5.1 also integrates OpenSAF High Availability (HA) capabilities and is the first to offer virtual routing and forwarding, says MontaVista.