| News Archive (1999-2012) | | | 2013-current at LinuxGizmos | | | Current Tech News Portal | | | About |
Nokia announced its “N900” heir to the N810 Internet Tablet, running its new Maemo 5 Linux distribution. Upgrading to a Texas Instruments ARM Cortex-A8-based OMAP3430 SoC with 1GB of memory and 32GB flash, the device adds 3G HSPA connectivity, and offers a 3.5-inch, 800 × 480 touchscreen and five megapixel camera.
Sharp announced an heir to its Zaurus line of Linux-based PDAs: an Ubuntu Linux-based palmtop with claimed three-second boot-ups and ten-hour battery life. The “NetWalker PC-Z1 Mobile Internet Tool” is equipped with an ARM Cortex-A8 based Freescale i.MX515 SoC, a five-inch WSVGA touchscreen, and a QWERTY keyboard, says Sharp.
MIPS Technologies announced two more video-oriented system-on-chip vendor partners who will use its MIPS-architecture Android implementation, developed by Embedded Alley. Sigma Designs is demonstrating an Android- and MIPS-based set-top box (STB) prototype displaying 1080p video, and ALi Corp. announced it is also joining MIPS' Android partner program.
Octagon Systems announced a ruggedized mobile computer for police, taxi, medical, trucking, transit system, and mesh security network applications. The Linux-ready Fleet Core computer offers an Intel Atom N270, GPS, and gigabit Ethernet, and provides fanless operation over a -25 to 70 deg. C temperature range, says the company.
Motorola has sent out “save-the-date” notices for an Android-themed press event on Sept. 10 that is likely to see the announcement of the company's first two Android phones, says eWEEK. The manufacturer is expected to announce a “Sholes” smartphone, destined for Verizon Wireless and/or a “Morrison” model, headed for T-Mobile, says the story.
Portwell is shipping a fanless, Intel Atom-based PC that uses less than seven Watts and measures just 4.5 x 4.0 x 1.05 inches. The WEBS-1010 includes a miniSD socket and a 2.5-inch disk bay, HDMI video output, an IR receiver, and six USB ports, the company says.
NEC Electronics is shipping a Linux-ready image-processing system-on-chip for IP set-top boxes (STBs). The EMMA3SL/P offers dual MIPS32 cores, is compliant with H.264 high definition (HD) and China's audio/video standard (AVS), and offers multi-format video support for IPTV, says the company.
Concurrent Technologies announced a 6U CompactPCI SBC aimed at the defense, industrial control, and transportation markets. The PP 531/06x includes a dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo clocked at 1.86GHz or 2.26GHz, up to 8GB of soldered DDR3 SDRAM, dual PMC/XMC sites, and four gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
Korean company Miutech has announced a Linux-compatible device claimed to squeeze an Atom-powered PC and an ARM-based mobile phone into a single package. Sporting dual displays, the HDPC (hybrid dual portable computer) offers a 5-megapixel camera, dual VGA video cameras, Ethernet, WiFi, cellular, GPS, and T-DMB terrestrial video, says Miutech.
Timesys announced a new version of its LinuxLink software development framework for embedded Linux that supports the 2.6.30 kernel and Atmel's industrial- and PoS-focused, ARM9-based AT91SAM9G45 processor. LinuxLink now supports Atmel's SAM9G45 evaluation kit and provides a wide variety of peripheral drivers, says the company.
Palm has been accused of collecting private data from Pre smartphone users, says eWEEK. In other Pre news on eWEEK, Apple's Steve Jobs allegedly offered Palm a potentially illegal Pre-related non-compete agreement back in 2007, and an analyst predicts rough sailing for the Pre unless it quickly adds more apps.
A San Francisco-based startup announced an Android-based VoIP desktop phone for business users. Powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP SoC and a SIP-ready AudioCodes VoIP processor, Cloud Telecomputers' reference platform offers an 8-inch, 800 x 600 touchscreen, handset, Bluetooth, HD speakerphone, and an open, Android-based “Glass” development platform.
Eyecon Technologies has announced a media “control point” reference design based on Marvell's tiny, Linux-based SheevaPlug Plug Computer reference design. Due this fall from unnamed consumer electronics companies, the device offers an embedded version of Eyecon's UPnP/DLNA-compatible home media content aggregation software, says the company.
The Novell-backed Moonlight project announced a beta version of Moonlight 2.0, an open source Linux/Unix clone of Microsoft's Silverlight multimedia framework. Moonlight 2.0 offers improved media streaming enabling media codecs like Ogg Vorbis, Ogg Theora, and BBC Dirac, via a runtime for its sister project, .NET clone Mono.
The PCI SIG has officially delayed the release of the PCI Express 3.0 specification until the second quarter of 2010. As a result, graphics cards and other products tapping into the new spec's 7.99GT/sec. (gigatransfers per second) bandwidth won't be released until 2011, according to industry reports.