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Embedded virtualization vendor Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) announced the completion of a four-year research project aimed at developing a highly secure, “100 percent bug-free” hypervisor for mobile phones. The “seL4” project developed a formal mathematical proof of the correctness of the microkernel used by OK Labs' Linux-compatible OKL4, the company says.
At this week's OpenSource World, a Dell executive reportedly said the company's Linux netbook returns are roughly equivalent to those for Windows-based netbooks. The remarks were in response to Microsoft's COO Kevin Turner, who gave a recent speech claiming Linux netbook returns were four or five times higher.
O'Reilly has published two books about the Palm Pre and its Linux-based WebOS operating system. Palm CTO Mitch Allen's Palm webOS shows how to build native JavaScript applications for WebOS, while Ed Baig's Palm Pre: The Missing Manual offers a thorough tutorial on the smartphone itself.
When Hong Kong-based Eston Technology Limited lost its first-generation MID (mobile Internet device) prototype to theft, it created a new one that added Android support. The MID-02 reportedly includes a 624MHz Marvell PXA300 CPU, a 4.3-inch touchscreen display, WiFi, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
An Israeli Internet video search and classification vendor has announced an IPTV receiver based on Marvell's Linux-based SheevaPlug Plug Computer reference design. WebTView's compact, low-power WebTVPlug device connects to the company's WebTView service to enable Internet TV on any DLNA/UPnP-enabled home device, says the company.
Gartner estimates that overall mobile phone unit sales decreased 6.1 percent to 286.1 million units in the second quarter, but smartphone sales rose 27 percent year-to-year, to over 40 million units. Meanwhile, Frost & Sullivan projects that downloads from mobile app stores will reach 6.67 billion in 2014.
[Updated: 6:15AM] — The LiMo Foundation mobile Linux consortium announced two new members, as well as nine new LiMo-compatible phones from NEC and Panasonic, aimed at NTT DoCoMo's 3G network in Japan. The new members include the second-ranked carrier in Japan, KDDI Corp., as well as haptics touchscreen technology firm Immersion Corp.
Nokia is moving forward with rumored plans to use Maemo Linux on some of its smartphones, and will eventually phase out Symbian on smartphones altogether, says an industry report. Meanwhile, Nokia announced a new name — Qt Development Frameworks — for its Qt Software division, known for its cross-platform Qt development framework.
Gigabyte says it is now shipping a netbook that offers a swiveling touchscreen and an Intel Atom N280 processor. The T1028X/G has a 10-inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, an ExpressCard slot, a HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access) cellular modem, and optional WiMAX, the company says.
SDG Systems is porting Linux to a rugged handheld computer that currently runs Windows Mobile. Aimed at applications including parcel delivery, Bluebird Soft's BIP-6000 offers a 3.5-inch VGA touchscreen, 3-megapixel camera, 1D/2D barcode scanner, RFID and IrDA readers, WiFi, GPS, and HDSPA.
Always Innovating says it is shipping a netbook based on the Texas Instruments (TI) OMAP3x ARM Cortex-A8 processor. The Touch Book uses a modified version of TI's open source BeagleBoard SBC, and offers a detachable, 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 touchscreen, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and accelerometers, says the company.
Dell has decided to retreat from the 12-inch netbook market, declaring that “larger notebooks require a little more horsepower to be really useful.” The Linux-compatible Inspiron Mini 12, is ready “to ride off into the sunset,” according to Dell, but the company is also reintroducing its low-end Inspiron Mini 9.
Advantech announced a fanless, aluminum-cased computer aimed at the transportation industry. The ARK-3400 uses a Celeron M processor, includes hard disk or CompactFlash storage, accepts 2GB of RAM, and has two PCI expansion slots, the company says.
German embedded firm SSV announced a touchscreen control unit designed for HMI industrial applications. The EUI/57V is equipped with an x86-based Vortex86DX processor clocked to 800MHz, a 5.7-inch VGA touchscreen, and HMI (human machine interface) connections that include Ethernet, serial, USB, CAN, GPIO, and SPI, SSV says.
In the second quarter of 2009, x86 processor shipments increased 10 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to IDC. The market research firm calls the results “unusually positive” but cautioned that OEMs' inventory refreshes were the driver, not increased demand for PCs.